Papers (1930–1963) including correspondence, military orders, engineering notes, weather, handbooks, diaries, reports, newsletters, programs, photographs, clippings, citations, certificates and miscellany.
Josiah Baker Henneberger (1918–) enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves in 1937 and was honorably discharged to enter the U.S. Naval Academy. He was a member of the 23 Club at the academy, consisting of academy graduates whose commissions were delayed due to vision deficiencies. He subsequently was assigned to the cruiser USS Louisville in 1941 and in 1943 was transferred to the USS Houston. During 1945-1946, he served on the USS Tucson, after which he was assigned to various commands within the Supply Corps. Henneberger became supply officer for the USS Sicily in 1949 during which time the ship saw duty off the coast of Korea. Subsequent assignments included the Navy Supply Department in Cherry Point, N.C. (1951), naval facilities inspection duty in Europe and the U.S., and service with the Navy Purchase Office in San Francisco. Henneberger retired in 1963 as commander in the Supply Corps.
Early military papers in the collection concern Henneberger's entrance into the academy, including a request for honorable discharge from the Marine Corps Reserves. Routine schedules for the 1940 practice cruise on the USS Texas are also included. Memorandums, promotion notifications, routine schedules and roster of officers, duty assignments, lists of auditing boards, and transfer requests for the ships on which he served reflect his active duty service. Two personal handbooks contain military notes for the main-propelling units, mid-watch log, a speed and RPM table, as well as other technical information.
Personal correspondence between Henneberger, his parents, and his wife concerns family life.
Henneberger's diaries cover the years 1936–1951, from his entrance into the academy through his involvement in World War II and the Korean War. In 1936, Henneberger was in college in Laramie, Wyoming, working toward admittance to the academy. The same year he entered the Fleet Marine Corps Reserves in Washington, D.C. His diary notes classes, social activities, and the weather.
While at the academy, Henneberger gives accounts of his academic and social life. He discusses exams, classes, and dances, as well as liberty. He also mentions the practice cruise in 1940 aboard the USS Texas and briefly discusses teaching new students arriving at the academy in 1941 after he had graduated.
On 17 July 1941, Henneberger was transferred to the USS Louisville and was promoted to ensign. The diary gives accounts of some of the action in which the ship was involved, along with its drills and daily routines. The bombing of Pearl Harbor and the aftereffects are mentioned. Other topics mentioned are the ship's adoption of the wartime "man overboard" policy; raids (1942) in the Pacific, including those in the Gilbert Islands and Jaluit and Mili in the Marshall Islands; refueling; kamikaze attacks on other ships; inspections; crossing the date line; rating exams; and the ship's involvement in action in the Aleutians, including bombing raids on such islands as Kiska.
In 1943, Henneberger was assigned as assistant gunnery officer in the newly commissioned USS Houston. His diary contains descriptions of firing practice, battle rations, contact with and attack on Japanese forces, picking up Japanese out of the water, and bombarding the islands of Guam and Rota.
Henneberger boarded the USS Tucson in 1945. He mentions the atomic bomb, peace talks, and the peace announcement in August 1945. He also briefly writes about getting fresh meat and milk on board the ship.
In 1950, Henneberger served on the USS Sicily. It was during this time that the Korean War began and his diary depicts such activities as loading and unloading supplies, giving support for two Marine ground operations at Pohang and Inchon, and food shortages aboard ship. As supply officer for the Sicily, his diary gives the totals of food supply for July–December 1950.
Publications in the collection include two Reef Point handbooks that Henneberger received at the academy (1937–1940) which describe some of the campus buildings, club and sport activities, and the history of the Navy. There are academy yearbooks, The Log, for 1940–1941. Pamphlets from the academy and newsletters from the USS Louisville (1942–1943) and the USS Tucson (1945) are also included.
The collection contains a few photographs, including the 23 Club (1941), the practice cruise crew on the USS Texas (1940), and the naval supply officers at Cherry Point, North Carolina (1953).
Clippings from the year 1939–1940 concern battles and skirmishes between the Allies and Germany before the U.S. entered World War II, while other clippings note sporting events at the Naval Academy between 1937 and 1941.
Miscellaneous items include citations and awards Henneberger received, programs, graduation invitations, and sports schedules from the academy. There is also the Neptunus Program that concerns crossing the date line.
An oversize map shows Kiska, an island in the Aleutian chain off of Alaska.
Gift of Commander Josiah B. Henneberger, USN (Ret)
Processed by A. Fouts, March 1989
Encoded by Apex Data Services
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.