All items in Job 606.
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Identifier |
Title |
Date |
Description |
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OH0154.0.0 |
Milton J. Silverman Oral History Interview |
27-Aug-96 |
Commander Silverman, a native of Colorado, enlisted in the U.S. Navy after high school and was assigned to the USS New Mexico. He subsequently received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy as a member of the Class of 1941. In this interview, Commander Silverman reviews his background, describes his experience at Pearl Harbor aboard the USS Montgomery during the Japanese attack, and comments on subsequent minelaying duties. He also describes putting the USS Ross in commission as its executive officer and participating in shore bombardments throughout the South Pacific. Other comments concern his ship hitting two mines at Leyte Gulf, efforts to repair the Ross in a floating drydock, and a kamikaze attack upon the drydock. He also reports on the repairs to the ROSS, its action at Iwo Jima, going ashore at Tokyo, and showing the flag in China as commander of the USS Vammen.
1 cassette. Transcript digitized under PID 00011286.
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OH0156.0.0 |
Malcolm E. Wolfe Oral History Interview |
28-Aug-96 |
Captain Wolfe, a native of Texas and a member of the USNA Class of 1941, describes his background and experiences at the U.S. Naval Academy. Concerning his naval career, he discusses assignment to the USS Chandler at Pearl Harbor; duty in Alaska where the Chandler was involved in a collision with other destroyers; and assignment to flight training. He describes his training and duty as a naval aviator, duty aboard the USS Intrepid, raids against Japanese airbases, a kamikaze attack on the Intrepid, and the end of World War II. Discussion of post-war duty includes service on the USS Norton Sound, duty on the USS Pine Island during its voyage to the Antarctic, assignment to a secret United Nations mission to India and Pakistan as observer for the Cashmere problem, as well as a variety of other stateside and foreign duty assignments.
2 cassettes. Transcript digitized under PID 00011288. This may be two interviews.
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OH0157.0.0 |
David L. Byrd Oral History Interview |
30-Aug-96 |
Commander Byrd comments on his schooling at the U.S. Naval Academy, his assignment to the USS NEW MEXICO at Pearl Harbor, the NEW MEXICO's service in the North Atlantic on convoy duty, and its return to the Pacific for patrols in the Aleutians. Commander Byrd discusses his assignment to and duty aboard the USS QUINCY, including the Normandy Invasion, support of landings in Southern France, experience of transporting President Franklin D. Roosevelt to and from the Yalta Conference, assignment to the 5th Fleet to support the invasion of Okinawa, and his return to the United States. For the Korean War, he describes service as carrier staff, where planes supported ground forces in Korea, including the Inchon landing and the shooting down of a Russian plane. He comments on a variety of other assignments prior to his retirement in 1961 and his subsequent civilian career in satellite and laser development.
2 cassettes. Transcript digitized under PID 00010963.
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OH0158.0.0 |
Walter L. Small Jr. Oral History Interview |
30 September 1996 and 1 October 1996 |
Admiral Small, a native of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, is a member of the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1938. During his first interview, Admiral Small recounts his background in North Carolina and his experiences at the Naval Academy. He comments on service in the USS PORTLAND stationed in Long Beach, California, before volunteering for submarine school in 1940. He describes duty in the World War I vintage submarine R-3 in the Panama Canal Zone and his reassignment to the new USS FLYING FISH in September 1941. For World War II Admiral Small reports on spotting a German submarine off South America, an attack upon the FLYING FISH by an American plane, and the problem of attacking Japanese ships with defective torpedoes. He also describes his eight submarine patrols in the Pacific, including encounters near the Truk Islands, Taiwan, the Palau Islands, and off China. He describes being depth-charged, chasing a convoy for seventy-two hours, a battery explosion in one of their torpedo tubes, and using ten torpedoes to sink a tanker. After commenting on assignment to new construction aboard the USS ICEFISH, he tells of being part of a wolfpack of three subs off the Philippine Islands, suffering depth charge attacks, taking command of the USS BATFISH, and being bombed by friendly fire. During his second session, Admiral Small examines his post-World War II career, including teaching ordnance and gunnery at the U.S. Naval Academy, serving as aide to Admiral Chester Nimitz, commanding the USS CLAMAGORE and the DD VANVALKENBERG, and being assigned as commander of SubDiv 61 and subsequently to the staff of CINCLAN Fleet. Other assignments described include the Naval War College; chief of staff for Sub Flotilla 41; command of the USS SPERRY; director of Science and Engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he had an encounter with Admiral Rickover concerning offering a nuclear engineering major; command of Sub Squadron 10; and a variety of other stateside and foreign duty stations.
2 cassettes. Transcript digitized under PID 00011238. Two interviews with Walter Small.
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