U. S. NAVAL INSTITUTE
Naval History/Proceedings: It was the dream of a lifetime. Twenty-five years after he took command of the USCGC Eagle (WIX-327), the Old Man regarded her ten miles seaward of Sydney Harbor, in the wake of the Australian Bicentennial observance, for a cruise to Pago Pago. But as he came on board, an unexpected and incongruous scene began to play itself out on the barque’s forecastle head. A lithe young blonde dressed in white was singing and dancing, waving a microphone. The crowd of Coast Guard cadets around her was swaying to the music’s beat with arms outstretched. Then, as though on cue, they swarmed into the rigging as television cameras rolled.
The Old Man was incredulous. "What’s this?” he growled.
“That’s Olivia Newton-John. She’s on Board for a visit. They’re filming it for TV.”
What had happened to the Eagle he knew and loved?
Despite the off-putting first impression—and the shock of hearing a clear soprano voice deliver the command, Heave in the anchor to short stay,” as toe barque prepared to get under way— Captain William K. Earle, U. S. Coast Guard (Retired), eventually concluded toat the scope and diversity of the Coast Guard’s sail training today exceeds even toat of his own generation.
Look for a full account with color photos of his nostalgic return to the Eagle in the August Proceedings.
Oral History: Two volumes of oral history are near completion as the summer comes to an end. In his second and final volume, retired Rear Admiral Francis D. Foley picks up his career with service as a plankowner in the carrier Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB-42) right after World War II. Foley went from navigator to air officer to executive officer in this ship. He was later a pioneer of helicopters in the Navy, working with Igor Sikorsky and commanding one of the Navy’s first squadrons, HU-2. Among his commands in the 1950s were the seaplane tender Salisbury Sound (AV-13) and the carrier Shangri-La (CVA-38), the latter winning the Pacific Fleet Battle Efficiency “E” under Foley’s leadership. In the late 1950s he served as a planning officer on CinCPac’s joint staff. In the early Sixties, he commanded Task Force 77 and Carrier Division One. Other billets discussed include assistant chief for program management at the Bureau of Naval Weapons, deputy assistant chief of staff, plans and policy, at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers, Europe, and assistant deputy chief of naval operations (fleet operations and readiness). As commandant of the Third Naval District in the late Sixties and early Seventies, he dealt with a variety of problems, including teacher and postal worker strikes in New York City. His final tour was as senior member of the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission in Seoul, Korea. Admiral Foley retired in July 1972.
Commander Paul H. Backus graduated from the Naval Academy in 1941. He was serving as signal officer in the battleship Oklahoma (BB-37) when she was attacked by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. He spent much of World War II in the battleship South Dakota (BB-57), involved in many of the fiercest engagements of the war, including action at Santa Cruz Islands. Commander Backus later commanded the destroyer Isherwood (DD-520) and served as assistant naval attaché in London. From 1956 until his retirement from the Navy in 1961, he was assigned to the ballistic missile branch in OpNav and was a member of the Navy Ballistic Missile Committee and the steering task group for the Office of Special Projects during the planning stages for the Polaris program. As a civilian, he worked for several defense contractors, served as president of Trident Associates, and was senior editor of the Journal of Electronic Defense until his second retirement in 1981.
By way of “coming attractions,” several new oral memoirs have been started in recent months: Captain Frank Manson, U. S. Navy (Retired), who served as special assistant to CNOs Robert Carney and Arleigh Burke, and Rear Admiral Robert B. Erly, U. S. Navy (Retired), a Pearl Harbor survivor from the destroyer Cassin (DD-372), who retired as head of the Iberian Atlantic Command in 1974.
In response to the enthusiasm generated by the “In Profile” feature on Albert Murray in the winter 1988 issue, Mr. Murray has agreed to further interviews that will complete his oral memoir. Look for news of this welcome addition to our collection in future columns.
Naval Institute Press: Fresh from a highly successful spring season with such acclaimed books as Flights of Passage by Sam Hynes, Tom Cutler’s Brown Water, Black Berets, and the sumptuous Armada by Peter Padfield, the Naval Institute Press (NIP) is looking forward to an equally exciting fall.
One of the United States’s most historic naval expeditions is recounted in Voyage to the Southern Ocean: The Letters of Lieutenant William Reynolds from the U. S. Exploring Expedition, 1838- 1842. Reynolds’s fascinating letters to his sister, Lydia, describe encounters with cannibal cultures, the voyage’s successful effort to find Antarctica, and sailing under the later infamous Charles Wilkes.
James R. Reckner brings us an account of an even more famous voyage in Teddy Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet. Using previously untapped sources, Reckner draws an engrossing picture of America’s thrust into naval and world power in the early years of the 20th century.
One of the most interesting submarines in history is the subject of Dwight Messimer’s book, The Merchant U-Boat: Adventures of the Deutschland. 1916- 1918. Messimer relates the intriguing adventures of this German cargo-carrying submarine’s two voyages to the United States during World War I in search of nickel and intelligence.
These titles are a sample of the varied interests the press has in naval history. Following the publication of two bestselling novels, the editors find themselves reading an ever-mounting pile of fiction manuscripts. Nevertheless, the press remains strongly committed to first- rate naval history, both popular and scholarly, and for the foreseeable future, history will remain at the core of the Naval Institute Press’s list.
In recent years, the NIP has searched for qualified authors on particular topics. They would be especially pleased to hear from anyone writing a history of naval aviation, working on the naval war in the Mediterranean during World War II, or contemplating a biography of Admiral William A. Moffett. The press is always interested in learning about new manuscripts, and serious writers on any naval subject are urged to get in touch with the editors at the Naval Institute Press.
Two NIP authors were recent recipients of Navy League awards. Robert Erwin Johnson received the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize from the New York Council of the Navy League for his history of the Coast Guard, Guardians of the Sea. Professor Johnson, who served in the Coast Guard in World War II, teaches history at the University of Alabama. Jack Sweetman. a member of the history department faculty at the U. S. Naval Academy, is this year’s winner of The Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Literary Achievement. Dr. Sweetman was recognized for the excellence of his many literary contributions during a 20-year relationship with the Naval Institute. He is the author of numerous books, including The Landing at Vera Cruz and American Naval History: An Illustrated Chronology, and he is founder and general editor of the NIP series. Classics of Naval Literature.
NAVY HISTORY
By Carolyn Stallings, Naval Historical Center
The Naval Historical Center (NHC) is pleased to announce the recipients of its 1988/1989 research grants in U. S. naval history. Dr. William R. Braisted of the University of Texas was selected for the Secretary of the Navy’s Research Chair in Naval History for 1988. Dr. Braisted is the author of the two-volume study. The United States Navy in the Pacific. His research at the Naval Historical Center will focus on military and diplomatic relations in the Pacific in the period from 1922 to 1941, from the close of the Washington Naval Conference until the outbreak of World War II. Three scholars were awarded the Vice Admiral Edwin B. Hooper Research Grant in U. S. Naval History for 1988: Dr. Spencer C. Tucker of Texas Christian University for his study of Thomas Jefferson’s gunboat program from 1803 to 1811; Dr. Richard Elliott Winslow III for his research on the Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Navy Yard during the Civil War; and Dr. William N. Still, Jr. of East Carolina University for research to complete his work on the U. S. Navy in European waters from 1917 to 1940. Ms. Eleanor Sparagana of Brandeis University was awarded the Rear Admiral John D. Hayes Predoctoral Fellowship in U. S. Naval History for 1988. The grant will support research on her doctoral dissertation on the use of propaganda and psychological warfare against the Japanese during World War II.
Captain Rosario “Zip” Rausa, author, aviation historian, and naval aviator, retired 30 June after completing 30 years of naval service. Rausa was director of the NHC’s Naval Aviation History and Publication Division as well as Special Assistant for History and Publications to the Deputy CNO (Air Warfare). Rausa served as director of the 75th Anniversary of Naval Aviation project. He spearheaded the worldwide, year-long commemoration, and helped plan the “Magic Week” celebration of naval aviation in Pensacola, Florida, as well as the reenactment of the first transatlantic flight. Captain Rausa will continue his writing career as editor of Wings of Gold, the magazine of the Association of Naval Aviation.
The frigate Constitution (IX-21) will celebrate her 200th birthday during 1997- 1998. She is the oldest ship in continuous commission in the U. S. Navy and one of the most famous, having compiled an outstanding battle record in the Quasi- War with France (1798-1801), the Barbary Wars (1801-1805), and the War of 1812 (1812-1815). A steering committee has been established to consider appropriate ways of making this a truly national event—a birthday party worthy of the ship. In February 1988, representatives of the Naval Historical Center, the Navy League of the United States, the National Park Service, the Superintendent of Ships (Boston), the Chief of Naval Information, Trustees of the USS Constitution Museum, and the commanding officer of the Constitution met to plan appropriate ceremonies, presentations, symposia, publications, and naval events, such as a tall ships review, for this unique celebration. Led by retired Vice Admiral Joseph Metcalf III, the group discussed the many steps that arc essential in bringing the ship to readiness for her bicentennial.
Historians from the NHC recently presented a “Midway Staff Ride," a historical analysis of the strategy and tactics of the Battle of Midway, to officers as- signed to the Operational Plans and Interoperability Division of the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This series of briefings and discussions is modeled after as Army tradition, where participants meet at the scene of a famous battle to analyze and discuss the strategy and tactics used. Participants of the Midway study convened, instead, at the Washington Navy Yard on 28 and 30 June to study the strength of forces available at Midway analyze the intelligence gathered, an review both American and enemy plans. They took into account command styles, the personalities of Admirals Nimitz, Spruance, Fletcher, and Yamamoto; Plans for Army-Navy cooperation; and communications intelligence in assessing "'hat happened at the battle, and analyzing lessons learned.
“Gulf of Peril—Views from the Persian Gulf” is the subject of an exhibit of Paintings by artist William S. Phillips now on display at the Navy Museum at the Washington Navy Yard through 30 September. The exhibit features six Paintings commemorating the Navy’s role in policing the Persian Gulf. Phillips Ravelled to the Gulf in January with Commander Paul Stillwell, USNR, as Part of the NHC’s oral history program (hat documents current naval operations. The exhibit also features a Soviet-designed “MYaM” mine and a disarmed warhead from an Exocet missile that hit the destroyer USS Stark (FFG-31) in May 1987.
The Navy Museum’s World War I-era railway gun, on display in Willard Park at the Washington Navy Yard, continues to attract attention. Since the spring, mentors of the museum’s production staff and naval reservists, under the direction of Senior Chief Robert Strobeck, worked to restore the gun carriage to its original appearance. They used the original drawls of the gun to replace missing sections of the armor covering with quarter-inch steel sheets, and then painted the gun carriage according to the original specifications.
Following the dedication of the railway Sun on 1 July, the NHC sponsored a Panel discussion on major caliber gunnery. Mr. John Reilly of the Ships’ History Branch spoke on the evolution of the naval guns from the smoothbore muzzle loaders to the battleship guns of World War I. Dr. Emanuel Raymond Lewis, military historian, discussed the development of the American 16-inch gun after World War I. Master Chief Steven Skelley, fire control gunner in the Iowa (BB-61), spoke on the use of the 16-inch gun in today’s Navy and its potential for the future.
The NHC is planning the first general conference of professional personnel connected with U. S. Navy museums, archives, and historical programs. The conference will be held at the Washington Navy Yard on 17-19 October. Sessions will focus on collections management, exhibit planning, preservation of collections, computers in museums, and oral history programs. Call Dr. Dean Allard at (202)433-7230 for further information.
The NHC expanded its internship program this year to include 12 interns. The program gives college students the opportunity to gain professional experience and learn about careers in history by working in the NHC’s museum, archives, library, research offices, and art and artifact collections during the summer. Interns work on such diverse projects as helping to develop a museum exhibit on World War II, completing a study of drug abuse during the Vietnam War, and researching the history of the USS Langley (CV-1). They gain valuable experience, and the NHC benefits by the results of their hard work and enthusiasm for their projects.
As part of a project on the development and construction of the American submarine fleet from 1900 to 1960, Dr. Gary Weir of the Contemporary History Branch conducted several interviews focusing on naval science, engineering, and technology. Rear Admiral Albert Mumma, USN(Ret.), former Chief of the Bureau of Ships, discussed the development of submarine propulsion systems from an engineer’s perspective, and shared his views on the nuclear submarine fleet. Rear Admiral Robert L. Moore, USN (Ret.), described his career with submarines, including his service as design superintendent at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, his work with the Nuclear Power Division of the Bureau of Ships, and the vital supervisory role he played in the construction of the Nautilus (SSN- 571) and Seawolf (SSN-575).
Ambassador J. William Middendorf, a former Secretary of the Navy, donated copies of his collection of early manuscripts on the U. S. Navy to the Early History Branch of the NHC. The collection consists of 80 documents from the American Revolution through 1920, and is especially rich in the Civil War period. A few notable items include a letter from Thomas Jefferson to John Paul Jones dated 1788, orders to Matthew Fontaine Maury to report for duty in the Confederate Navy, reports of battles of the campaigns of the Army of Northern Virginia, and Robert E. Lee’s farewell address to his army. The collection is cataloged and open to researchers.
The Operational Archives Branch recently acquired additions to the Papers of Rear Admiral Ernest M. Eller, USN(Ret.). The extensive collection documents Admiral Eller’s illustrious naval service as Director, Office of Public Information, Commander Middle East Force, and Director of Naval History and Curator of the Navy Department. The Archives also received the papers of retired Rear Admiral Roscoe E. Schuirman relating to his tenure as technical advisor at the 1935 Naval Conference in London, and two scrapbooks of speeches, statements, and articles written by Rhoda P. LeCocq for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal. Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, and other government officials during her naval service in the WAVES during World War II. A valuable addition to the Archives Early Records Collections includes a group of letters, transferred by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, that span the years 1799 to 1846. These letters to Secretaries of the Navy Benjamin Stoddert and Samuel Southard document the purchase of the site for the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and the subsequent boundary disputes with owners of land adjacent to the yard. To complement its early records, the archives is copying on microfiche the history of the Naval Petroleum Reserves compiled by R. G. Tracie, Senior Petroleum Engineer, Department of the Navy. The history discusses the legislation and the litigation regarding the petroleum leases from 1910 through the 1930s. Duplicate copies of the microfiche will be available to the public for a minimal charge. New World War II materials at the archives include an account of the downing of Admiral Seigo Yamagata’s plane on 17 March 1945, “The Day VADM Yamagata Joined His Honorable Ancestors,” by Ralph T. Briggs and Paul F. Stevens, and an oral history de tailing the activities of the 29th U. S. Naval Construction Battalion in Europe and the Pacific.
Several branches of the NHC are looking for volunteers to assist in their historical programs or help care for curatorial collections. The Navy Museum is looking for docents to give guided tours of the museum and interpret the history of the U. S. Navy. Volunteers should contact Ms. Susan Silverstein at (202)433-4882. The Curator Branch is looking for volunteers to do data entry and filing, and to pack and store various collections of historic naval artifacts. Those interested should contact Dr. Norman Cary at (202)433-2220 or 433-2318, Monday- through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
MARINE CORPS HISTORY
By Brigadier General Edwin H. Simmons, U. S. Marine Corps (Retired)
The Marine Corps Historical Center has been very much involved in the events in the Persian Gulf, in Panama, and in the ongoing reorganization of Headquarters, Marine Corps and Quantico. General Alfred M. Gray, who is completing his first year as Commandant, has decreed the expanded use of Marine and military history throughout the Marine Corps and most particularly in officer education.
General Gray has also underscored the practical applications of military history by including a historical section in the assessment branch of the new War Fighting Center at Quantico. The mission statement for the section reads: “Conduct historical research to support the development and assessment of concepts, plans, and doctrine.” As a nucleus for this section. Dr. V. Keith Fleming, a historical writer with the History and Museums Division and a Marine rifle company commander in Vietnam, was transferred to Quantico.
Also directly responsive to an initiative by the Commandant was a staff ride at Antietam in Washington County, Maryland, on a cold and overcast Saturday, 16 April. General officers stationed in Washington and Quantico were taken back in time to 16-17 September 1862 to the bloodiest day in U. S. history. These officers were given roles to play, complete with maps and briefing books, as brigade to army level commanders of the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac. The battle was played with the considerable help of Dr. Jay Luvaas, noted Civil War historian, and several of his colleagues from the Army War College at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. This was followed by a grilling “congressional” investigation modeled after the actual hearings of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War.
The response of the generals—some 24 of them, including the Commandant— was enthusiastic, and similar trips to Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville in Virginia are being planned.
During the summer, two more “occasional papers” (limited distribution publications of lasting research value) should be completed. One will be the holographic account by retired Brigadier General Woodrow M. Kessler of his experiences as a first lieutenant and seacoast artillery battery commander at Wake Island in December 1941 and his subsequent imprisonment by the Japanese in China and Japan.
On a different plane, the second occasional paper is a well-documented history of the curriculum evolution at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College at Quantico, from 1920 to the present. Researched and written by Lieutenant Colonel Donald F. Bittner, USMCR, the military historian on the college’s staff, this paper is a direct product of Congress’ current probing interest in professional military education and in the role of military history in that process. Representative Ike Skelton (Democrat-Missouri) chairs a Panel of Military Education created by the House Armed Services Committee. This panel has specifically concerned itself with examining the professional education system to ensure that it is geared to producing officers who are both strategists and competent in the operational and tactical employment of joint and combined forces. Congressman Skelton required each of the services to produce a history of the evolution of the curriculum at their respective command and staff colleges.
All four of the chiefs or directors of the services’ historical programs met with Congressman Skelton in an informal hearing on 14 March. A statement on the value of the military history programs subsequently appeared in the Report of the Committee on Armed Services on the National Defense Appropriation Act for Fiscal Year 1989.
On the oral history front, longtime head of the program, Mr. Benis Frank, has recently completed in-depth interviews of six retired lieutenant generals. William K. Jones and Charles G. Cooper, whose last tours of duty were as commanding general, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific; Thomas H. Miller, Jr. and Philip D. Shutler, both prominent Marine aviators; Harold A. Hatch, a former Deputy Chief of Staff for Installations and Logistics; and Bernard E. Trainor, whose last service was as Deputy Chief of Stat for Plans, Policies, and Operations and who is now a military columnist with The New York Times. General Jones is also the author of our recently published. A Brief History of the 6th Marines.
In addition to these interviews, which must still be processed, two other major interviews have been transcribed, decked and edited by the principals, and accessioned into the oral history collection. One is the memoir of former Commandant and Medal of Honor recipient, General Louis H. Wilson. The other is from Lieutenant General Leo J. Dulacki, who had a varied career in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, including some investing and unusual intelligence assignments.
This spring the Commandants’ Corridor was installed in the Pentagon in one of the transverse hallways radiating inward from the Secretary of the Navy’s E-Ring suite of offices. There is already a Chief of Naval Operations Corridor. The Marine Corps area has 53 framed items, in most cases very high quality reproductions of existing art, telling the story of the Marine Corps since its creation in 1775 in terms of its top leaders. The display includes copies of all the official commandant portraits. As a focal point, at the end of the hallway is the original of Colonel Charles Waterhouse’s large-scale Minting of the Tarawa assault.
Colonel Waterhouse, a retired reservist extended active duty, is currently at work on yet another series of historical paintings, this time focusing on memorable events of the second half of the 19th century. He recently completed “Marines at Cuzco Well, Guantanamo, Cuba, 1898,” and is now putting final brush strokes to “Marines with Perry on Okinawa, 1853” and “Marines in Panama, 1885.”
His earlier 12-painting series, “Marines in the Conquest of California,” which had been on exhibit at the Houston Museum of Art of the American West, is now hung in the new command museum at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego. The “75th Anniversary of Marine Corps Aviation” art show and an exhibit of David Douglas Duncan’s Korean and Vietnam photographs are also being shown in the San Diego museum this summer.
The Marine Air-Ground Museum at Quantico reopened for the season on 5 April and will remain open until mid- November. The old metal hangars in which the museum is housed continue to experience environmental problems (i.e. hot in summer, cold in winter, and leaky when it rains), but are currently being “re-skinned,” which will improve them greatly. Hangar 3 is being reworked, and when completed will house a new exhibit, “Jets, Helicopters, and the Korean War—1946-1956,” which should open in 1989.
Recently the Air-Ground Museum acquired a 1916 King armored car from the Army Ordnance Museum at the Aberdeen Proving Ground. The King was the first Marine Corps armored vehicle and served in the 1st Armored Car Squadron from 1916 to 1921.
A new organization, the A. A. Cunningham Foundation, is actively pursuing the possibility of a major Marine Corps aviation museum at the Cherry Point air station. The group has the support of the state of North Carolina.
At the Marine Corps Museum in the Washington Navy Yard the special exhibit, “The Eagle and the Dragon,” which tells the story of the Boxer Rebellion, continues to draw much attention. It will remain at the museum through 1988. Museum hours are 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. weekdays and Saturdays, 12:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. on Sundays. During the summer season the museum remains open on Friday evenings to accommodate visitors attending the evening parade at the nearby Marine Barracks.
Use of the Marine Corps Historical Center’s reference and research facilities by serious researchers and scholars is encouraged. For a pamphlet describing available facilities and resources, write to the Director of Marine Corps History and Museums, Marine Corps Historical Center, Building 58, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C. 20374-0580.
COAST GUARD HISTORY
Dr. Robert L. Scheina
The Coast Guard is pleased to an announce that the first of its hardbound bi-centennial publications, The United kites Revenue Cutter Service in the Civil War by Florence Kern, is now available. Mrs. Kern is a most accomplished author works related to the early history of the Revenue Cutter Service. Her writings include ten small booklets focusing on the first ten cutters in the service and a biography of Captain William Pease, one of the service’s most prominent mid-19th century officers. The United States Revenue Cutters of the Civil War is available to the public through the Government Printing Office at $8.50 a copy. The Coast Guard would be pleased to present a copy to any nonprofit institution that believes that this publication would complement its collection.
During the spring the Coast Guard contracted to have ten paintings done depicting important moments in the service’s history. These complement 12 others which were begun last year. Artist guides to each event have been prepared by such historians as Mrs. Florence Kern, Professor John Tilley of East Carolina University, Mr. Kevin Foster, formerly of The Mariner’s Museum, and Professor Robert E. Johnson of the University of Alabama. Professor Johnson is the author of the award-winning book, Guardians of the Sea: A History of the U. S. Coast Guard, 1915 to the Present (Naval Institute Press, 1987).
The paintings which are being undertaken will depict the cutter Eagle on quarantine duty off Savannah (1793); the cutter Virginia seizing the privateer Unicorn (1794); the cutter Eagle capturing the privateer Bon Pere (1799); enforcing tariff collection at Charleston (1833); suppressing a mutiny on the Star of the West (1851); the Mirlo rescue (1918); the Star of the Falklands rescue (1927); the sinking of the lightship Nantucket (1932); the actions of Petty Officer Douglas Munro (1942); and the Prinsendam rescue (1980). Also, the Coast Guard Academy class of 1958 is funding a painting in this series depicting the cutter Vigilant capturing the privateer Dart (1813).
The Coast Guard has contracted the Historic American Building Survey of the National Park Service to document the Block Island Lighthouse in New York. The work will be undertaken this summer and should be done in a year.
HISTORIC NAVAL SHIPS ASSOCIATION
By James W. Cheevers
As a follow-up to the story in the last issue about the fifth graders of Millsap Elementary School in Cypress, Texas, and their efforts to raise funds for the restoration of the Texas (BB-35), as of 16 April, the class has raised more than $30,000 with their “Two bits for the Texas" campaign, and the amount is still growing. On 16 April, the association presented its highest award to the 26 children and their teacher, Cassie Johnson, during ceremonies aboard the World War I-era battleship. The Casper J. Knight Award presented to them is named for the late Captain Knight of Philadelphia whose hard work and valiant efforts saved Admiral George Dewey’s flagship, the Olympia (C-6), as a historic naval ship in the 1950s. Today the cruiser Olympia, one of the world’s oldest surviving steel ships, is a museum at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia. Captain Knight was a founding member and early leader of the Historic Naval Ships Association (HINAS).
Another battleship received good news recently. The Massachusetts Legislature passed a special appropriation of $6 million, which was signed into law by Governor Michael Dukakis, for the repair of the Massachusetts (BB-59). The funds will permit “Big Mamie” to be towed to Boston from her berth at Battleship Cove in Fall River in late 1988 for drydocking and hull repair. She has not been drydocked since 1950. Besides her normal daily visitors, Massachusetts annually provides on board camping facilities and programs for more than 12,000 scouts and other youth groups.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has published an important new report on the status of maritime preservation in the United States. Entitled Maritime America: A Legacy at Risk: Issues and Needs in Maritime Preservation, it was prepared by Ms. Marcia L. Myers, who heads the trust’s maritime department. The report states that the public is much more aware of naval history and maritime resources than it is of the merchant marine or working vessels. Myers recommends national strategies to meet the pressing needs in maritime preservation, including tax credits for historic vessels and new methods in designating and documenting such ships. The study calls for “a new coalition” of those interested in preserving ships and other groups involved in maritime preservation. Copies of the report are available from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1785 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.
There has been much news flowing into the association as a result of the initiation of this column. The Batfish (SS- 310), located in Muskogee War Memorial Park in Muskogee, Oklahoma, has resurfaced. HINAS had not heard from this high and dry submarine for several years. Mr. C. B. Streeter, her new manager, is searching for new sources of revenue to get Batfish back in shipshape condition.
At Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts, Kenneth Preble, a crew member for 12 years, has been promoted to ships’ superintendent, and James Sunderland is the new store manager. Educator/curator Mark Newton recently assisted a school class in Quincy in producing videotaped interviews with former Bethlehem , Steel workers who had helped build the Massachusetts.
The Cod (SS-224) in Cleveland, Ohio, the only World War II submarine not modernized after the war, has had her teak deck replaced and her hull sand-blasted and repainted gray to conform to her appearance on her last war patrol. Captain Donald Gairing, U. S. Navy (Retired), is the new skipper of the Cod's operating committee.
The Confederate Naval Museum, Columbus, Georgia, has initiated a living history program with uniformed sailors of CSS Chattahoochee performing musket drills and other demonstrations. On both sides of the Atlantic, research and discussions continue on the possibility of raising the wreck of the CSS Alabama off Cherbourg, France, and preserving it. Meanwhile, a determined group of Arkansans have chartered the Arkansas Museum of Navy History and plan to raise $2 million for construction of a full- scale, functioning replica of the Confederate ironclad Arkansas. The original ram, famous for running past the Union fleet at Vicksburg in 1862, was later destroyed by her crew.
An inspection of the aft magazine in the USS Constitution has revealed a sag in one of her overhead supporting beams and water in the powder room. Rot was found in an area last restored in 1927, and temporary repairs were made to prevent increased damage until her next major overhaul in 1992. A new bowsprit and two carronades cast by the Norfolk Naval Shipyard foundry have been added.
New York City’s Sea-Air-Space Museum will soon be expanded with the addition of the Growler (SSG-577) alongside the Intrepid (CVS-11). The Growler, a Regulus guided-missile submarine, was launched in 1958.
The Nautilus (SSN-571) Memorial and Submarine Force Library and Museum, Groton, Connecticut, has a new chief curator, Robert W. Bruce. New exhibits feature the Holland (SS-1), Simon Lake’s Argonaut, and a diorama showing a submarine tender at work.
The North Carolina (BB-55) has been credited by the Wilmington Morning Star as a major asset to the local economy. A survey showed that of the 240,000 visitors to “The Showboat” in 1987, 70% came to town only to see the ship, but, of course, they also bought food and gasoline, some stayed overnight in local hotels, and all learned about other attractions in the area. Captain Frank Conlon, G- S. Navy (Retired), director of the battleship memorial, said the study proves his ship is more than photogenic. Beyond the tourist dollars, the battleship has an operating budget of $1.3 million, employs a staff of 18, and continually works to lure more visitors to the city of Wilmington, North Carolina. Janette C. Meek is the newly hired and first-ever curator of the North Carolina.
Visitors to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, this summer will see the results of much labor put into restoring the Kidd (DD- 661). Fabrication of roller loaders for her depth charge projectors and gratings for the balsa life rafts are being added. Acquisitions include “head” gear, metal troughs and urinals, from the Wisconsin (BB-64), which will be refitted into the aft crew’s head. The Kidd's very active oral history program with former crew members continues to collect valuable information for use in interpreting the ship.
On the Pacific coast, two part-time students have been added to the crew of the Pampanito (SS-383) at Fishermen’s Wharf, San Francisco. A collection of period main storage batteries, an Arma master gyro compass, two Mark 14 torpedoes, two dive klaxons, and teak wood salvaged from the cruiser Los Angeles (CA-I35) have been acquired for use on board the boat. “Visitor-proofing” measures continue in hopes of stopping souvenir hunters who tour the submarine, and new exhibits have been installed in the after battery compartment showing the complete history of the vessel.
Dr. Steve Ewing is the new exhibits consultant in the flagship Yorktown (CV-10) at Patriots’ Point, South Carolina. Current displays include material on the Battle of Midway, naval aviation test pilots, and Bevo Howard’s Buecker Jungmeister stunt plane. In preparation are aircraft carriers and presidential unit citations and a new room devoted to the USS Missouri (BB-63). An F4F-3 Wildcat and a Douglas SBD-5 are recent acquisitions. The research library, which contains more than 6,000 volumes, is undergoing renovations.
While its members are busy maintaining their vessels and educating their usual heavy summer visitor crowds, the Historic Naval Ships Association itself is busy planning its annual meeting. Set for 7-10 September in Erie, Pennsylvania, the theme will be “Operating ships as professional museums.” Program chairman, Tim Rizzuto of the Kidd, has already put together many of the sessions, including such topics as collection cataloging, cooperative exhibitions, collection appraisals, fund-raising, and steel and wooden ship preservation. This year’s meeting will climax with participation in the spectacular celebration of the 175th anniversary of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry’s victory on Lake Erie, including a major patriotic parade through the streets of Erie and the launching ceremonies for the newly renovated U. S. brig Niagara, one of Perry’s flagships in the famous battle.