Guide to the Merchant Marine/Navy World War Two Oral History and Craig Orr 1992 Archives Center, National Museum of American History P.O. Box 37012 Suite 1100, MRC 601 Washington, D.C. 20013-7012 archivescenter@si.edu http://americanhistory.si.edu/archives
Table of Contents Collection Overview... 1 Administrative Information... 1 Scope and Contents... 2 Biographical / Historical... 2 Names and Subjects... 2 Container Listing...
Collection Overview Repository: Title: Identifier: Archives Center, National Museum of American History Merchant Marine/Navy World War Two Oral History and Memorabilia Collection Date: 1943-1946 Extent: 0.01 cubic feet (1 folder) Creator: Porter, John C. Armed Forces History, Division of (NMAH, SI). Navarre, Jack B., 1925- (merchant seaman) Language: English Collection is in English. Summary: The collection documents Jack B. Navarre's service in the Merchant Marine's and Navy between 1943 and 1946. Container: Box 1 Administrative Information Acquisition Information Collection donated by Delia Porter, date unknown, and Jack B. Navarre, August 24, 1990. Provenance Transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Armed Forces History, 1991. Processing Information This collection was processed by Craig A. Orr, archivist. Preferred Citation Merchant Marine/Navy World War Two Oral History and, 405, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Restrictions Collection is open for research. Conditions Governing Use Some material in collection probably under copyright. Page 1 of 3
Biographical / Historical Jack B. Navarre was born in Detroit in 1925. In October 1943, at the age of 18, he was accepted into the U.S. Merchant Marine Cadet Corps as a Cadet Midshipman Engineer. He underwent basic training at the San Mateo Coast Guard Station in California from January to April 1944. He then reported aboard the S.S. Canada Victory in San Francisco for a period of training afloat. Navarre served on three separate ships in the South Pacific War Zone between 1944 to 1945. After his training period on the Canada Victory ended in February 1945, he served a tour doing engine maintenance aboard the S.S. Sea Flasher from March to June 1945. This was followed by a tour as an oiler aboard the S.S. Sea Partridge from June to September 1945. He subsequently served aboard the S.S. Coast Rica Victory in October 1945, sailing to Marseilles, France, and Naples, Italy, and then aboard the S.S. Malvern Hill, sailing to Puerto Rico in January 1946. John C. Porter was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1924, and grew up in Claremont, New Hampshire and later in Newport, Rhode Island. He developed an early interest in radio, building his own radios and working for a radio and TV business installing antennas. He took and passed the FCC's test to acquire amateur call letters, but Pearl Harbor intervened. Amateur radio use was prohibited, and no call letters were issued for the duration of World War II. He wanted to be a radioman in the Navy, and was accepted. At the age of eighteen, Porter joined the Navy in Providence, Rhode Island. He was assigned to a new ship being commissioned at Sparrow's Point, in Baltimore, the U.S.S. Severn, which saw service in the Pacific. After the War, Porter worked as a plumber and school custodian in Scituate, Rhode Island. He retired in 1987 and died in 1992. Scope and Contents This collection consists of official correspondence, identification papers, and ephemeral material relating to Navarre's service in the Merchant Marine between 1943 and 1946. The correspondence concerns his appointment and training in the Merchant Marine Cadet Corps and his discharge from the Merchant Marine. Identification papers include his seaman's passport, his cadet school ID card and service record, his Coast Guard pass, and an ID card for Puerto Rico. Other materials include ship's crew passes from the vessels he served on, a shore leave pass for Naples, a job assignment card, and overtime sheets from his tour aboard the Sea Partridge. Many of these materials are attached to pages from a scrapbook. Of interest also are several ship's menus from 1944 and a photocopy of a ship's newspaper, dated September 3, 1945, describing the surrender of Japan. Papers relating to John C. Porter include his diary, kept while serving on the U.S.S. Severn, and his photograph. Names and Subject Terms This collection is indexed in the online catalog of the Smithsonian Institution under the following terms: Subjects: Marine engineers Merchant Marine -- Manning of vessels -- United States Page 2 of 3
Merchant Marine -- United States Merchant seamen Seamen -- 1940-1950 Ships -- Manning World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Pacific Ocean World War, 1939-1945 -- Merchant Marine World War, 1939-1945 -- Naval operations Types of Materials: Correspondence -- 1940-1950 Diaries -- 20th century Identity cards -- 1940-1950 Menus -- Ships -- 1940-1950 Military passes -- Ships -- 1940-1950 Newspapers -- Ships -- 1940-1950 Oral history -- 1940-1950 Passports Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 1940-1950 Scrapbooks -- 1900-1950 Names: Armed Forces History, Division of (NMAH, SI). San Mateo Coast Guard Station United States. Merchant Marine Geographic Names: San Mateo (Calif.) Page 3 of 3