Collection (1862-1994) containing correspondence, service records, photographic prints, newspapers, newsletters and clippings, scrapbook, publications, pamphlets and other miscellaneous papers relating to the American Civil War, the Spanish American War, World War I and World War II; also relating to the U.S. Navy, its ships, stations, and personnel; donated by various individuals to the U. S. Naval Memorial Foundation and transferred to its collection at various times; arranged in original order.
Historical notes on principal ships and subject matters mentioned in the collection:
USS COLUMBUS (CA-74): Re-commissioned at the beginning of December 1962 after a sustainable overhaul, the Columbus was deployed in August 1964 to the Western Pacific for a cruise that ended in February 1965, just prior to the full-scale U.S. entry into the Vietnam war. The ship was then transferred to the Atlantic Fleet in January 1966 and in October of that year began her first deployment to the Mediterranean Sea. Following the end of that Sixth Fleet tour early in 1967 COLUMBUS operated in the Caribbean and off the U.S. East Coast. She operated again in the Mediterranean in January to July 1968, December 1968 to May 1969, October 1969 to March 1970, and August 1970 to February 1971. The 1970-71 cruise included service during the Jordanian crisis. Columbus conducted her final Sixth Fleet deployment between November 1973 and May 1974. The ship was decommissioned at the end of January 1975, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in August 1976, and sold for scrapping in August 1977.
USS MISSISSIPPI (BB-41, later AG-128): Built in Newport News, Virginia, the USS MISSISSIPPI was in December 1917. On June 12, 1924, during routine gunnery practice, the ship suffered a turret fire that killed 48 crew members. The Mississippi was one of the ships on the "Good Will" tour of the U.S Fleet during 1925. She also served as the test ship for the Navy's first surface-to-air guided missile, the "Terrier". After nearly 40 years of service, the ship was decommissioned in September 1956 and sold for scrapping.
USS RENVILLE (APA-227): Launched on October 25, 1944, the RENVILLE was commissioned on November 15 of the same year with Captain William W. Ball in command. Involved in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater in World War II, the ship was decommissioned on June 30, 1949, in Vallejo, California. The RENVILLE was re-commissioned on January 5, 1952 and served as part of the Occupation and China service in the Far East. The Renville went on to serve in both the Korean and Vietnam War, before it was decommissioned for good on April 23, 1968.
USS SIBONEY (ID-2999): Originally launched in August 1917 as the S.S. ORIENTE, the SIBONEY gained its name in February of 1918. Involved in World War I, the transport ship made six-round trip voyages from the U.S to France supplying troops. And when the Armistice of WWI came, the SIBONEY made an additional ten trips bringing troops back to the United States. In September of 1919, the ship was decommissioned and given to the U.S. Army, where it spent time as a mail steamship, an army transport, and an army hospital ship. The ship was scrapped in 1957.
USS TENNESEE (BB-43): Commissioned in June 1920 and built in at the New York Navy Ship Yard. The USS TENNESSEE was one of the eight ships attacked at Pearl Harbor, December 7th, 1941 and later provided support to the Iwo Jima operation in February and Mary of 1945. The ship was decommissioned February 1947 and sold for scrapping in July 1959.
Navy Day: The first Navy Day was created by The Navy League for the United States in 1922. The date was selected to honor the birth date of President Theodore Roosevelt who had been the Assistant Secretary of the Navy and as such a strong proponent of the Navy. In addition, October 27 was the anniversary of a 1775 report issued by a special committee of the Continental Congress favoring the purchase of merchant ships as the foundation of an American Navy. Navy Day was last observed on Oct. 27, 1949.
WAVES: Beginning in August 1942, WAVES, or Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service" provided a position for women to join the efforts of World War II. While it took some creative tactics to get it passed through congress, President Roosevelt signed the bill into law on July 30, 1942. Women served not only in traditionally female roles, but also duties in the aviation community, medical professions, communications, intelligence, science and technology offices.
Sources:
Naval History and Heritage Command: http://www.history.navy.mil/
History of Navy Day, U.S. Department of Defense: http://www.defense.gov/afd/navy.aspx
The collection consists of an original donation and 13 subsequent accessions. The collection is arranged in original accession order, in two series: Series 1 consists of Manuscripts & Printed Materials; Series 2 consists of oversized materials. Individual donations are arranged in subseries within each series in order of accession. Oversized materials are files separately but in accession order.
The U.S Navy Memorial Foundation, the official donor of this collection, received it from various individuals at various times and transferred the donations to the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation Collection in the East Carolina Manuscript Collection at Joyner Library periodically. The collection contains material including correspondence, newspapers and newsletters, clippings, photographic prints, pamphlets, ship publications, a scrapbook, and other memorabilia dealing with the United States Navy from the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, and later spanning between the years of 1862 and 1994.
Gift of U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation Cochran, Lynn Munger (Ms.) Draper, David W. (Mr.) Etters, Melvin J. (Mr.) Fain, Warren R. (Mr.) Freson, Carl L. (Mr.) Hartmann, Albert (Mr.) Higgins, Robert M. (Mr.) Hill, Norman W. (Mr.) Irvine, John H. (Mr.) Irvine, John H. (Mrs.) Kitterman, John (Mr.) Nugent, John M. (Mr.) Reimer, Rita (Ms.) Rice, Clifford E. (Mr.) Small, John (Mr.) Stock, Allan (Mr.) Urquhard, Din (Mr.) Wiener, Marilyn (Ms.)
Encoded by Apex Data Services Processed by Chelsea E. Weger, 6 May 2014; revised by Jonathan Dembo, 9 June 2014
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.