Vice Admiral Murrey L. Royar graduated from the University of California and joined the Navy in 1917 when the United States entered World War I. Royar's memoir is unusual among those in the U.S. Naval Institute's oral history collection in that it deals with the career of a Supply Corps officer; most are from line officers. Royar wound up his career in the mid-1950s as Chief of Naval Material. Previously, he was Paymaster General of the Navy and Chief of the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts. He had a good deal to say on the Navy's old bureau system.
In this excerpt, Vice Admiral Royar discusses his time at the Navy Supply Depot at Norfolk and the conundrum of what to do with two million pounds of sugar that had been stored under tarpaulins in the Philippines.
For VADM Royar's Oral History on the U.S. Naval Institute website, click here.
To read more about the Naval Institute Oral History Program, click here.
