ANCESTRY.COM SPOTLIGHT: U.S. NAVY SUPPORT BOOKS, 1901-1902, 1917-2010

Navy support books are "yearbooks" for naval units based on land rather than onboard ship. For example, this collection includes books for the U.S. Navy Preparatory School, Navy ROTC programs at various colleges and universities, U.S. Naval Officer Candidate School, U.S. Naval Training Centers, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, mobile construction battalions, recruiting depots, naval air stations, and others.

Content of support books varies. Some contain labeled individual head shots or group photos of unit members, while others contain only candid (unlabeled) photographs of unit members at work and play. Some contain photos documenting significant events in the history of that naval unit, and most include short biographies of prominent currently-serving officers. Photos are sometimes color, sometimes black and white (sometimes both types in one support book). A majority of these books date from World War II era forward.

It is possible to search or browse these books. The following searches are possible:

• First & Middle Name
• Last Name
• Keyword
• Year (covered by Support Book)
• School, Station, or Unit

You can also browse by:

• Location (state or territory)
• City
• Year (covered by Support Book)

I browsed through a Support Book for the Parris Island Recruit Depot (South Carolina), 1973. This 128 page item includes a photo and bio sketch of the commanding officer, an historical sketch of Parris Island, and a photo essay (in color) concerning the training of Marine Second Battalion, Platoon 226. This unit began training on 19 March 1973, and graduated on 5 June 1973. The photo essay begins with the arrival of these recruits at Parris Island, and ends with their graduation ceremony. These photos are not labeled, but are generally sharp and clear, so that it would be fairly easy to identify recruits of interest. Next are labeled black and white head shots of training officers and enlisted men, followed by labeled head shots of graduating recruits.

ANCESTRY.COM SPOTLIGHT: U.S. Navy Cruise Books, 1918-2009

This data collection within Ancestry.com contains U.S. Navy cruise books for various ships and years from 1919 to 2009. It includes volumes in the Navy Department Library, which owns the nation’s largest collection of cruise books. You can locate this collection by searching in Ancestry’s Card Catalog using Navy in Title or Keyword.

Cruise books are similar in some ways to high school yearbooks. They are put together by volunteers on board ship to commemorate a particular deployment. They generally include a history of the vessel in question, plus labeled portraits of high-ranking officers. There is generally a biographical sketch of the current commanding officer. Some cruise books also include portraits of sailors and other personnel aboard the ship, accompanied by the individual’s surname and naval rate. When provided, portraits are generally organized alphabetically by surname within each division or department. Other features usually include candid photographs (often not labeled) of crew members at work and recreation.

I browsed through a cruise book for the U.S.S. Missouri (BB 63, 1946). It included a section on the commissioning of the vessel, a history of its cruise, and a special section on the acceptance of the Japanese surrender on the vessel, which was anchored at the time in Tokyo Bay. There is also a section on President Truman’s visit to the U.S.S. Missouri while it was anchored in New York Harbor after its return from the Pacific.

Cruise books are not official Navy publications, so the Navy does not sell or republish these books. This can make copies of some cruise books, especially older volumes, rare and difficult to locate.

This collection is searchable by ship name, ship ID, year, and name of crew member.

Given that photographs are often unlabeled, it may be necessary to page through cruise books for vessels on which a sailor was stationed should an index search prove unsuccessful. You can sometimes discover which vessels a WWII-era sailor was stationed on using a separate Ancestry.com data collection, U.S. World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949.

THE WAR FOR THE RIVERS (1862)

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OLD SALTS

This class meets this Saturday. I hope to see you there!

Old Salts
17 May 2014
10:30 am--Noon
Central Library
1301 Olive Street
2nd Floor Training Room

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THE BATTLE OF IWO JIMA: A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

The Battle of Iwo Jima (aka Operation Detachment) was a major battle in which the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps made an amphibious landing on the island of Iwo Jima and captured it from the Japanese. The intent of the American invasion was to gain control of the island's three airfields that (it was hoped) could be used to provide a staging area for attacks on the Japanese homeland. This five-week battle (19 February–26 March 1945) included some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

Wikipedia article—Battle of Iwo Jima:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Iwo_Jima

LIBRARY LOCATIONS

HG: History, Geography, & Travel Room (Central Library)
ELB: Entertainment, Literature, & Biography Room (Central Library)
SS: Social Sciences (Central Library)
ST: Stacks (Central Library)

BU: Buder Branch
CP: Carpenter Branch
DA: Julia Davis Branch
KI: Kingshighway Branch
MA: Machacek Branch
SC: Schlafly Branch

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Title: American Spartans: the U.S. Marines: a combat history from Iwo Jima to Iraq.
Author/Compiler: Warren, James A.
Local Call Number: SS [359.960973]
Publication Date: 2005.
Format: Books.

Title: Finding my father: the lifelong quest by an Iwo Jima Marine's son to know the man who was his father.
Author/Compiler: Pace, Robert Sidney.
Local Call Number: CP [306.8]
Publication Date 2009.
Format: Books.

Title: Indestructible: the unforgettable story of a marine hero at Iwo Jima.
Author/Compiler: Lucas, Jack; and D. K. Drum.
Local Call Number: ELB [B LUCAS JACK]
Publication Date: 2006.
Format: Books.

Title: Island of terror: Battle of Iwo Jima.
Author/Compiler: Hama, Larry; Erksine, Gary; and Anthony Williams.
Local Call Number: BU [940.5425213]
Publication Date: 2006.
Format: Books.

Title: Iwo Jima. Foreword by Harry Schmidt.
Author/Compiler: Newcomb, Richard F.
Local Call Number: ST [940.92]
Publication Date: 1965.
Format: Books.

Title: Iwo Jima: legacy of valor.
Author/Compiler: Ross, Bill D.
Local Call Number: ST [940.5426]
Publication Date: 1985.
Format: Books.

Title: Iwo Jima: monuments, memories, and the American hero.
Author/Compiler: Marling, Karal Ann. Wetenhall, John.
Local Call Number: ST [940.5426]
Publication Date: 1991.
Format: Books.

Title: Iwo Jima, springboard to final victory.
Author/Compiler: Henri, Raymond.
Local Call Number: ST [940.92]
Publication Date: 1945.
Format: Books.

Title: Iwo Jima: World War II veterans remember the greatest battle of the Pacific.
Author/Compiler: Smith, Larry Earl.
Local Call Number: HG, MA [940.542528]
Publication Date: 2008.
Format: Books.

Title: Iwo Jima: the young heroes.
Author/Compiler: Muscarella, Tony.
Local Call Number: ST [940.5426]
Publication Date: 1989.
Format: Books.

Title: Never in doubt: remembering Iwo Jima.
Author/Compiler: Kessler, Lynn. Bart, Edmond B.
Local Call Number: ST [940.5426]
Publication Date: 1999.
Format: Books.

Title: The quiet hero: the untold medal of honor story of George E. Wahlen at the battle for Iwo Jima.
Author/Compiler: Toyn, Gary W.
Local Call Number: HG [940.542528]
Publication Date 2006.
Format: Books.

Title: Red blood, black sand: fighting alongside John Basilone from boot camp to Iwo Jima.
Author/Compiler: Tatum, Charles W.
Local Call Number: HG [940.542528]
Publication Date: 2012.
Format: Books.

Title: Shadow of Suribachi : raising the flags on Iwo Jima.
Author/Compiler: Albee, Parker Bishop; and Keller Cushing Freeman.
Local Call Number: ST [940.5426]
Publication Date 1995.
Format: Books.

WAR BENEATH THE WAVES

INTRODUCTION

Sometime in the spring of 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the U.S. Navy to patrol shipping lanes to Europe. By July, U.S. warships were convoying for protection against German U-Boats, and by September were attacking German submarines when necessary (see the book below by Michael Gannon for more information). In November, the Neutrality Act was partly repealed to allow continuing U.S. military aid to Britain.

Submarine Warfare (Wikipedia article): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_warfare

ABBREVIATIONS

DA—Julia Davis Branch
HGT—History, Geography, and Travel (Central Library)
MA—Machacek Branch
ST—Stacks (Central Library)

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bekker, Cajus. Hitler's Naval War. Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday, 1974. ST—940.5459

Calvert, James F. Silent Running: My Years on a World War II Attack Submarine. New York: J. Wiley, 1995. ST—940.5426

Fluckey, Eugene B. Thunder Below! The USS Barb Revolutionizes Submarine Warfare in World War II. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1992. ST-940.545974

Galantin, I J. Take Her Deep!: A Submarine Against Japan in World War II. Chapel Hill, N.C: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1987. ST—940.5451

Gannon, Michael. Operation Drumbeat: The Dramatic True Story of Germany's First U-Boat Attacks Along the American Coast in World War II. New York: Harper & Row, 1990. ST—940.5451

Lowder, Hughston E, and Jack Scott. Batfish, the Champion "Submarine-Killer" Submarine of World War II. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall, 1980. ST—940.5451

O'Kane, Richard H. Wahoo: The Patrols of America's Most Famous World War II Submarine. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1987. ST,MA—940.5451

Ruhe, William J. War in the Boats: My World War II Submarine Battles. Washington [D.C.: Brassey's, 1994. ST—940.5426

Werner, Herbert A. Iron Coffins: A Personal Account of the German U-Boat Battles of World War II. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969. ST—940.5421

Wheeler, Keith. War Under the Pacific. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1980. DA—940.5451

JFK AND THE MOSQUITO FLEET

PT (Patrol Torpedo) boats were small fast vessels used by the U.S. Navy during World War II to attack larger Japanese naval vessels and cargo barges. Navy men called them the Mosquito Fleet; the Japanese called them Devil Boats. PT boats were armed with several torpedoes and two .50 caliber machine-guns, plus (in some cases) a 20 mm cannon. The crews of 12-17 men relied on the element of surprise, their vessel’s speed, and its small silhouette to avoid being targeted by the enemy.

Duty on a PT boat could be hazardous indeed; 99 of 531 (19%) were sunk by the Japanese, including PT 109 (famously commanded by Lt. [jg] John F. Kennedy). Kennedy’s boat was rammed by a Japanese destroyer and cut in half during the night of August 2, 1943. Of his crew of 13, two men died during the collision, while one was badly burned (but survived).

Abbreviations include:

Library branches:

BU: Buder Branch
CB: Cabanne Branch
MA: Machacek Branch

Central Library locations:

BG: Business, Government, & Law Room
EL: Entertainment, Literature, & Biography Room
HG: History, Geography, & Travel Room
ST: Stacks

Ballard, Robert D, and Michael H. Morgan. Collision with History: The Search for John F. Kennedy's PT-109. Washington, D.C: National Geographic Society, 2002. ST--940.545973

Breuer, William B. Devil Boats: The PT War Against Japan. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1987. HG--940.5426

Bulkley, Robert J. At Close Quarters: PT Boats in the United States Navy. Washington, D.C: Naval History Division, 1962. ST--940.92

Donovan, Robert J. PT 109: John F. Kennedy in World War II. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001. ST--940.92

Dunnigan, James F, and Albert A. Nofi. Victory at Sea: World War II in the Pacific. New York: William Morrow and Co, 1995. MA,ST--940.5426

Marston, Daniel, and Daniel Marston. The Pacific War Companion: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima. Oxford: Osprey, 2005. HG-940.5426

O'Brien, Michael. John F. Kennedy: A Biography. New York: Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press, 2005. BU,EL--B KENNEDY JOHN

Polmar, Norman, and Samuel L. Morison. PT Boats at War: World War II to Vietnam. Osceola, WI: MBI Pub, 1999. BG—359.3258

Strahan, Jerry E. Andrew Jackson Higgins and the Boats That Won World War II. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1994. ST—B HIGGINS

Tregaskis, Richard. John F. Kennedy and PT-109. New York: Random House, 1962. CB—940.92

THE WAR OF 1812: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND SELECTED, ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY, PART I

Factors Contributing to the Outbreak of the War of 1812

1. Involuntary impressment of American sailors and merchant seamen into the British Navy- more than 6,000 had been shanghaied by British press gangs by 1812.

2. American designs on foreign possessions in North America- a group of U.S. congressmen known as "War Hawks" spurred this effort to expand U.S. territory and influence.

A. Spanish Florida
B. British Canada

3. Indian troubles- many persons felt that British agents were purposely stirring up Indian troubles in the U.S.'s midwestern territorial possessions.

4. Napoleon's invasion of Russia (1812)- the "War Hawks" and others eager for war with Britain felt that Britain would be stretched too thin if forced to contend with simultaneous military campaigns in Europe and North America.

5. "Continental System"- The U. S. became ensnared in the tangle of decrees and orders in council concerning European trade restrictions and boycotts (1806-1812) which had been issued by England and France as a result of the continuing quest of each of those nations to achieve world dominance. The "Continental System" and French efforts to enforce its decrees is one of the factors which led to Napoleon's invasion of Russia (1812).

LOGISTICS AND TRANSPORTATION IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, PART IV

Copyright © 2006 by St. Louis Public Library. All rights reserved.

VI. Civil War Era Water Transportation

Canal mileage in the US:

3,700 miles, mostly in the northeastern states
North: 3,182 (86%)
South: 518 (14%)

Exports:
North: $222,199,477
South: $27,145,466 (returns from AR, TN, and MS incomplete)

Imports:
North: $320,996,024
South: $14,654,129 (of that, $11,960,869 passed through New Orleans, revenue lost to the South during most of the war)

American vessels leaving US ports:
North: 10,260
South: 819

Foreign vessels leaving US ports:
North: 10,336
South: 220

Total tonnage, imports & exports:
North: 13,654,925
South: 737,901

Canals and steamboats were important modes of transport of persons and goods prior to 1850, but the explosive growth of railroads in the 1850s (from 9,000 miles of track to 30,000 miles in ten years) greatly lessened the importance of both those modes of transport. Rail transport was somewhat more expensive than those modes of transport, but was also both faster and more reliable than canal or river transport.

During 1865, the Quartermaster General of the Union Army owned or chartered 719 transport vessels for use on oceans or the Great Lakes. The Inland Transportation Division owned or chartered 352 barges, 91 steamers, and 139 boats for use on inland rivers. Enforcing the blockade of Southern ports required 600 naval vessels and 70,000 naval personnel.

Blockade Running During the Civil War

Was blockade running profitable? Yes! How successful were blockade runners? Five out of six successfully evaded the blockade. Does this mean that the blockade was not effective? No-- bales of cotton exported from Southern states were reduced from 10,000,000 total in the three years preceding the Civil War to 500,000 total from April 1861 to April 1865.

Blockade runners usually carried cotton on the outward voyage, exchanging it in Nassau, Bermuda, or Havana for weapons, goods, medicines, and foodstuffs, which were then sold on return to a Confederate port. Blockade running ships were usually painted dark gray or black, to help them blend into their surroundings at night and on overcast days.

The steamer Bermuda in late 1861 made a run from Savannah, Georgia, to Liverpool, England. It carried back 22 cannon of various bores with ammunition, 6,500 Enfield rifles, 200,000 Enfield cartridges, 6,000 pairs of army boots, 20,000 army blankets, 180 barrels of gunpowder, and large quantities of morphine, quinine, and other medicines. The cargo was purchased by the Confederate government for $1,000,000.

A blockade runner taking a steamer to England with 800 bales of cotton in 1864 could exchange the cotton for militarily useful items, sell those items back in the Confederacy, and earn $400,000 or more for his trouble. It was said that a runner who made two successful trips could pay for his steamer, material costs, and crew expenses, and still have enough left over to live a comfortable life for many years thereafter.

A blockade runner in 1864 bought $6,000 worth of foodstuffs in Nassau and then sold them to the Confederate Commissariat in Richmond for $27,000- a 450% return on investment.

A bag of salt selling for $1.25 in the North by mid-1864 could be sold for $60 in the South, a 5,000% return on investment.

[Sources of statistics and bibliography included in last installment of this article.]

Thomas A. Pearson, Reference Librarian
Special Collections Department
St. Louis Public Library