Oral Histories

The majority of this memoir is devoted to Edwards's often detailed recollections of service as a naval engineer. Following graduation from the Naval Academy in 1923 he was a junior officer in battleships and the four-stack destroyer USS Henshaw (DD-278). He did postgraduate study in naval engineering, then was in ...

In the first of three volumes by a former Director of Naval History, Admiral Eller discusses his boyhood, midshipman years leading to graduation from the Naval Academy in 1925, duty in the battleships USS Utah (BB-31) and USS Texas (BB-35), and the submarine USS S-33 (SS-138). In the 1930s, he ...

After growing up in California in the 1920s and 1930s, Engen entered the Navy through the V-5 aviation cadet program and was designated a naval aviator in June 1942. In 1943–44 he flew an SB2C Helldiver in Bombing 19 (VB-19) and took part in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. In ...

This memoir emphasizes three principal legs of the tripod that dominated much of Admiral Erly's career: destroyer operations, amphibious warfare, and relations with other nations in the Americas. Erly graduated from the Naval Academy in 1937 and spent the next year in the battleship USS New Mexico (BB-40). He served ...

In a career marked by a great deal of administrative work rather than parish duty, Faulk is probably best known for his spirited--and eventually successful--campaign against compulsory church attendance in the Navy. Among his varied duties were service in the battleship Idaho (BB-42) in the late 1930s, at the Cavite ...

The first volume covers career up to assignment as CinCPac in 1958. Served five years in battleships and destroyers. In 1929 was designated naval aviator and served with Scouting Squadron Three in the Lexington. Was nearby when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Transferred to the Saratoga and as air group ...

Admiral Foley, a navy junior, is an engaging storyteller, and his oral memoir benefits from this strength. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1932. After brief surface duty in the light cruiser USS Detroit (CL-8), he entered flight training, earning his wings in 1936. Prior to World War II ...

Bernard "Beetle" Forbes was a skilled naval aviator and gifted storyteller. Following his graduation from the Naval Academy, he served in the destroyer USS Barton (DD-722), 1944-47, including combat duty in the Pacific. He was briefly commanding officer of the patrol craft USS PC-572 before going through flight training, 1947-49 ...

In the early part of his career Frankel served in the USS Trenton (CL-11) Augusta (CA-31), Chester (CA-27), and Chaumont (AP-5). Following this sea duty, he was Russian language student in Riga, Latvia, 1936-1938. He then served in the USS Ellet (DD-398) as gunnery officer and XO. He was Assistant ...

Rear Admiral Daniel Gallery (1901–1977) was the eldest of four brothers who all had careers in the navy and rose to the rank of Rear Admiral. He was a career aviator and saw extensive action in World War II. In 1943 he commissioned and took command escort carrier USS Guadalcanal ...

Gayler grew up in a Navy family and thus was exposed to a variety of locales as a youth. He attended a West Point prep school in Hawaii before entering the Naval Academy, from which he graduated in 1935. As a junior officer, he served in surface ships: the battleship ...

After growing up in New England, Gracey attended the Coast Guard Academy, from which he graduated in the class of 1949 after serving as cadet battalion commander. He served as a junior officer in the cutter Barataria (WAVP-381) in 1949-51. His next assignment, during the Korean War, involved training at ...