NHHC Director Retires After Spearheading Changes
On 27 June Captain Henry J. Hendrix, director of the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC), retired after two years in the position during a ceremony at the Washington Navy Yard. In a release from the command, Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work, who had originally recommended Hendrix for the position, noted, “Under Jerry’s direction, the [NHHC] dramatically improved the condition and the awareness of the Navy’s historical artifacts and heritage, all while advancing historical scholarship in the Navy, and public outreach.”
In 2011 a Navy Inspector General (IG) investigation charged the NHHC with taking inadequate care of its archives, artifacts, and art. During Hendrix’s tenure, the organization made significant strides in addressing its shortcomings. Under his leadership, the NHHC restructured its organization; embarked on projects to improve its storage facilities; hired more historians, project managers, curators, and conservators; and reduced backlogs of published documents and artifacts in need of accessioning. It also published formal facilities requirements for the preservation of documents, books, and artifacts. This led to the renovation of fire-protection and -suppression systems in multiple Navy Yard buildings and the improvement of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) in the library special collections room, historic weapons vault, uniform storage room, and artifact room.
The NHHC also started a program to assess the condition of the more than 1,200 historic aircraft on loan around the world and provided staff support for the ongoing maintenance of the USS Constitution and historic submarine Nautilus.
“The primary achievement I’m the most proud of is setting goals for coming back from where we were with the IG report and then actually accomplishing and achieving those goals,” Hendrix told Naval History. “The two paramount goals were probably processing the archival paper backlog while coming up with a plan to renovate facilities. We processed about 8,000 linear feet of paper while simultaneously installing a new vapor barrier and new HVAC, killing all of the mold there.
“The second thing I’m the most proud of is happening right now,” he continued. “We’re consolidating all of our artifacts into one holding facility at a DLA [Defense Logistics Agency] warehouse in Richmond, Virginia. It’s a modern warehouse, and we’ll be able to adjust the temperature and have the controls to store everything properly. It will be state-of-the art.”
In recognition of the command’s improvements, Vice Admiral Scott Swift, director of Navy Staff, awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation to the NHHC. Signed by Admiral Jonathan Greenert, the chief of Naval Operations, the award recognizes the service of the individuals assigned to NHHC’s headquarters and its nine museums from December 2011 to January 2014 who “first stabilized and then systematically improved the Navy’s historical and heritage assets that were in jeopardy in 2011.”
The NHHC has not yet announced who the new director will be, and Hendrix said he looks forward to finding out. “I think the organization is in a great place for a new leader to come in, now that there is a firm foundation in place.”
Ohio Ghost Ship’s Naval Past
Run aground on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River near Lawrenceburg, Indiana, is a 112-year-old ship with a storied history that includes time as a passenger and fishing vessel as well as naval service in the two world wars. Known now as the “Ghost Ship,” the 186-foot steel vessel was found a few years ago by local kayakers. The ship, launched in 1902, was built by Pusey and Jones in Wilmington, Delaware, as the steam yacht Celt. With the outbreak of World War I, the Navy acquired the vessel from her owner, M. B. Metcalf, in July 1917, and she was placed in service in August.
The Navy renamed her the Sachem (SP-192) and operated her as a harbor patrol craft for the 3rd Naval District until she was returned to her New York owner in February 1919. In the interwar years, the vessel had multiple owners and duties. During World War II the Navy again sought the services of the Sachem and acquired her from Mr. J. Martin, also of New York, in February 1942. Converted by Robert Jacobs Inc., she was renamed the Phenakite (PYc-25) and commissioned in July 1942 as a coastal patrol yacht under the command of Lieutenant John D. Lannon. Assigned to Service Squadron 9, she headed to Key West, Florida, for duty with the Fleet Sonar School. During her second naval tour she embarked student officers and sailors for at-sea training cruises, practicing sonar tactics and maneuvers. The Phenakite was then assigned to 3rd Naval District in November 1944 where she worked with the Naval Reserve Midshipman Training School, Flushing Bay, Long Island.
She was placed out of service on 2 October 1945 and returned to the Maritime Commission on 8 November. The next month the Navy returned her to her former owner, J. Martin, as the Sachem, and she was struck from the Naval Register on 7 February 1946. In her next life, she was bought by the Circle Line in New York City, renamed the Sightseer then the Circle Line V, and served as a sightseeing vessel, giving tourists views of the city skyline from the water.
In the mid-1980s a Cincinnati-area man reportedly bought the ship with the intention of restoring her and turning her into a museum ship, which did not happen. Today, she’s settled on the creek bed. While nature has overtaken her, signs of her previous lives are still visible.
To see a kayaker’s video of the ship, go to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IIN7gRSrpY.
The Slater Returns Home
On 30 June, the USS Slater (DE-776) began her voyage from Staten Island’s Caddell Drydock and Repair Company up the Hudson back to her permanent home in Albany, New York, where she will serve as the Destroyer Escort Historical Museum dedicated to the “DEs” of World War II. Destroyer escorts were built to address the shortage of antisubmarine vessels in the Atlantic at the beginning of the war. The United States developed the warship based on the British Hunt-class destroyer and went on to build 536 such vessels between 1943 and 1945. These small destroyers had heavy antisubmarine and antiaircraft weapons as well as electronics to detect the enemy; they were maneuverable, fast, and could operate at long range. Today there are fewer than 12 surviving Cannon-class destroyer escorts, and the Slater is the only one still afloat and with her World War II configuration.
Commissioned in May 1944, the Slater served as a target and sonar school ship before being assigned to Atlantic convoy duty. After the Allied victory in Europe, she escorted convoys in the Pacific before she was deactivated in April 1946. In 1951 she was transferred to the Hellenic Navy, renamed the Aetos, and sailed in Greek service until 1991.
In 1993 the Destroyer Escort Sailors Association, which had recently established the Destroyer Escort Historical Museum, raised $290,000 to bring the Slater back home. She was towed from Crete to New York by a Ukrainian tug, and in 1997 she moved from New York City to Albany. Over the past 15 years she has been restored to her 1945 condition, a sizeable effort that included the removal of all Greek modifications, the installation of authentic World War II naval equipment, and work on her hull, deck, and bulkheads.
Many of the repairs during her most recent drydock are not evident to visitors, but they will certainly notice her camouflage. During World War II, naval researchers experimented with two different types of camouflage: one that would blend the ship into its environment and the other that featured bold patterns to confuse the enemy. The Slater’s painted hull was designed to do the latter; it would blend into the ocean if it was seen from above and blur with the horizon if viewed from the water.
The vessel is open to the public 1000 to 1600 Wednesday through Sunday. Visit www.ussslater.org to learn more.
Call for Submissions from Korean War Sailors
For nearly 25 years, the Center for the Study of the Korean War, located in Independence, Missouri, has been collecting and preserving archival materials of those who fought in the war, and then making them available to veterans, students, and scholars. Initially started as a private collection, it has expanded into a nonprofit foundation that houses more than 100,000 documents, 12,000 photographs, and a massive library.
A recent evaluation revealed the Navy and Coast Guard are underrepresented in the collection, although both services participated in the Korean War. The organization would like to encourage sailors and Coast Guardsmen who served on the sea in and around Korea during the conflict to consider donating any materials such as papers, orders, maps, promotions, citations, or letters to the center, where they will be preserved and used by visiting researchers.
For more information, contact Paul Edwards, Senior Fellow at the Center, at [email protected]. Materials can be sent to the Center for the Study of the Korean War, 503 W. Lexington Street, Independence, Missouri, 64050.