guide to the merchant marine/navy world war two … · his coast guard pass, and an id card for...

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Archives Center, National Museum of American History P.O. Box 37012 Suite 1100, MRC 601 Washington, D.C. 20013-7012 [email protected] http://americanhistory.si.edu/archives Guide to the Merchant Marine/Navy World War Two Oral History and Memorabilia Collection NMAH.AC.0405 Craig Orr 1992

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Archives Center, National Museum of American HistoryP.O. Box 37012Suite 1100, MRC 601Washington, D.C. [email protected]://americanhistory.si.edu/archives

Guide to the Merchant Marine/Navy World WarTwo Oral History and Memorabilia Collection

NMAH.AC.0405Craig Orr

1992

Table of Contents

Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1Scope and Contents........................................................................................................ 2Biographical / Historical.................................................................................................... 2Names and Subjects ...................................................................................................... 2Container Listing ......................................................................................................

Merchant Marine/Navy World War Two Oral History andMemorabilia Collection

NMAH.AC.0405

Page 1 of 3

Collection Overview

Repository: Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Title: Merchant Marine/Navy World War Two Oral History and MemorabiliaCollection

Identifier: NMAH.AC.0405

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 MerchantMarine's and Navy between 1943 and 1946.

Container: Box 1

Administrative Information

Acquisition InformationCollection donated by Delia Porter, date unknown, and Jack B. Navarre, August 24, 1990.

ProvenanceTransferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Armed Forces History, 1991.

Processing InformationThis collection was processed by Craig A. Orr, archivist.

Preferred CitationMerchant Marine/Navy World War Two Oral History and Memorabilia Collection, 405, ArchivesCenter, National Museum of American History.

RestrictionsCollection is open for research.

Conditions Governing UseSome material in collection probably under copyright.

Merchant Marine/Navy World War Two Oral History andMemorabilia Collection

NMAH.AC.0405

Page 2 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 theU.S. Merchant Marine Cadet Corps as a Cadet Midshipman Engineer. He underwent basic training at theSan 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. Afterhis training period on the Canada Victory ended in February 1945, he served a tour doing enginemaintenance aboard the S.S. Sea Flasher from March to June 1945. This was followed by a tour as anoiler 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 Hampshireand later in Newport, Rhode Island. He developed an early interest in radio, building his own radios andworking for a radio and TV business installing antennas. He took and passed the FCC's test to acquireamateur call letters, but Pearl Harbor intervened. Amateur radio use was prohibited, and no call letterswere 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 newship being commissioned at Sparrow's Point, in Baltimore, the U.S.S. Severn, which saw service in thePacific. After the War, Porter worked as a plumber and school custodian in Scituate, Rhode Island. Heretired in 1987 and died in 1992.

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of official correspondence, identification papers, and ephemeral material relatingto Navarre's service in the Merchant Marine between 1943 and 1946. The correspondence concernshis appointment and training in the Merchant Marine Cadet Corps and his discharge from the MerchantMarine. 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 fromthe vessels he served on, a shore leave pass for Naples, a job assignment card, and overtime sheetsfrom 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, datedSeptember 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 hisphotograph.

Names and Subject Terms

This collection is indexed in the online catalog of the Smithsonian Institution under the following terms:

Subjects:

Marine engineersMerchant Marine -- Manning of vessels -- United States

Merchant Marine/Navy World War Two Oral History andMemorabilia Collection

NMAH.AC.0405

Page 3 of 3

Merchant Marine -- United StatesMerchant seamenSeamen -- 1940-1950Ships -- ManningWorld War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Pacific OceanWorld War, 1939-1945 -- Merchant MarineWorld War, 1939-1945 -- Naval operations

Types of Materials:

Correspondence -- 1940-1950Diaries -- 20th centuryIdentity cards -- 1940-1950Menus -- Ships -- 1940-1950Military passes -- Ships -- 1940-1950Newspapers -- Ships -- 1940-1950Oral history -- 1940-1950PassportsPhotographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 1940-1950Scrapbooks -- 1900-1950

Names:

Armed Forces History, Division of (NMAH, SI).San Mateo Coast Guard StationUnited States. Merchant Marine

Geographic Names:

San Mateo (Calif.)