Stuart Hotchkiss Oral History Interview

July 16, 1989
Oral History #OH0115
Creator(s)
Lennon, Donald R. (Interviewer); Hotchkiss, Stuart T., 1913-2001 (Interviewee)
Physical description
0.005 Cubic Feet, 1 audiotape, 1.5 hours, 22 pages
Preferred Citation
Stuart Hotchkiss Oral History Interview (#OH0115), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Repository
ECU Manuscript Collection
Access
No restrictions

Captain Stuart Hotchkiss describes his experiences as a young man in yachting and international yacht racing. Having been a Naval ROTC student at Yale University, Hotchkiss received a US Naval Reserve commission and volunteered for active duty in April 1941. His wartime experience in command of the schooner BOWDOIN while conducting hydrographic studies along the coast of Greenland, in command of the COOLBAUGH (DE 217) and his final wartime command of the DD 939 (former Z-39) are all discussed as is his postwar time in command of the USS GRIDLEY (DD 380).


Biographical/historical information

Captain Hotchkiss grew up on Long Island Sound where at an early age he became involved in yachting and international yacht racing. As a Naval ROTC student at Yale University, Hotchkiss received a US Naval Reserve commission and volunteered for active duty in April 1941.


Scope and arrangement

After assignment to a minesweeper, he received command of the schooner BOWDOIN and conducted hydrographic studies along the coast of Greenland. In June 1943 Hotchkiss was given command of the COOLBAUGH (DE 217) in which he experienced a violent storm in the Atlantic and participated in convoy and firing exercises in the Pacific. The COOLBAUGH participated in the Leyte Gulf invasion as well as engagements at Luzon and Manila Bay. In August 1945 Hotchkiss took command of the DD 939 (former Z-39) and in November the USS GRIDLEY (DD 380), the latter of which he cruised the Mediterranean. Both the interview and the Stuart Hotchkiss Papers detail the above experiences.


Administrative information
Source of acquisition

Gift of Stuart Hotchkiss

Processing information

Encoded by Apex Data Services

Copyright notice

Repository does not own copyright to the oral history collection. Permission to cite, reproduce, or broadcast must be obtained from both the repository and the participants in the oral history, or their heirs.

General note

1920s-1950s


Key terms
Personal Names
Hotchkiss, Stuart T., 1913-2001
Corporate Names
Bowdoin (Ship)
United States. Navy--Officers--Interviews
Topical
Leyte Gulf, Battle of, Philippines, 1944
Sailing--New York (State)--Long Island
World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Pacific Ocean
World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Philippines
Places
Greenland--Description and travel