Oral Histories

With a career spanning from World War II to Korea to service as Chief of Naval Operations during the Eisenhower and Kennedy years, Admiral Arleigh Burke was instrumental in molding the Navy into the fleet that would eventually prevail in the Cold War and remain dominant to this day. From ...

After graduation from the Naval Academy in 1940, Burke served in the battleships West Virginia (BB-48) and North Carolina (BB-55); he was in the first crew of “The Showboat.” After Submarine School he served combat duty in the Flying Fish (SS-229) and after the war commanded the Guardfish (SS-217). Subsequent ...

Following commissioning from Coast Guard Academy in 1928, served in the USCGD Conyngham (CG-2), USCGC Seneca (CG-17), and Calypso (WPC-104). In 1941 assigned to staff of Transports Commander, Atlantic Fleet and served aboard the transportsUSS Barnett (APA-5), McCawley (APA-4) Henry Lee (APA-10), Mount Vernon (AP-22), and Leonard Wood (APA-12). After ...

Early service was aboard the battleship USS Maryland (BB-46), destroyers Overton (DD-239) and Monaghan (DD-354), and tanker Neches (AO-5). Joined the Helena (CL-50) as air defense officer in 1939. Was senior survivor when the Helena was sunk in the Kula Gulf in 1943, escaping to Vella Lavella island in the ...

Commissioned in 1954 after training as an NROTC midshipman at the University of South Carolina and Penn State University, Colbus initially served in the destroyer escort USS Albert T. Harris (DE-447) and on the staff of Commander Escort Squadron 12. He had temporary duty in late 1958 on the staff ...

Admiral Collins served for an eventful 38 years, from the time he entered the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in the summer of 1964 until his retirement as the 22nd Commandant of the Coast Guard in May 2006. From the Cold War to the War on Drugs to protecting the U.S ...

Winifred Quick Collins was one of the first group of women to commissioned into the Regular Navy on 15 October 1948.

After 1931 graduation from the Naval Academy, Colwell served in the battleship USS Maryland (BB-46), on the Battle Force staff in the USS California (BB-44), and in the four-stack destroyers USS Rathburne (DD-113) and USS Aaron Ward (DD-132). He did postgraduate work in ordnance engineering and a 1939-42 tour in ...

George Cooper received his bachelor's degree from Hampton Institute in 1939 and his master's degree from Columbia University in 1948. He had owned his own business and been an instructor at Wilberforce University and Hampton Institute before enlisting in the Navy in 1943. He received a direct appointment as a ...

Served in the Maryland (BB-46), McCawley (DD-276), Perry (DD-340), Sicard (DD-346) and Milwaukee (CL-5) from 1927 to 1934. Was assistant professor of naval science for Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps at Harvard until assuming command of the Palmer (DMS-5), which participated in the Fedala-Casablanca sector in 1942. CO of the ...

This volume is useful for those with an interest in U.S. Navy patrol aviation from the 1950s through the 1970s; it is especially strong concerning the fleet introduction and use of the P-3 Orion land-based antisubmarine warfare aircraft. John Coughlin enlisted in the Navy shortly before the end of World ...

After graduation from the Naval Academy in 1933, Admiral Coye served in the cruiser USS Northampton (CA-26) and destroyer Monaghan (DD-354). Submarine school in 1937 was followed by service in the submarine Shark (SS-174) as engineer until 1941. He then helped put the mothballed submarine R-18 (SS-95) into commission and ...