Sailor's Diary-Ask For Permission First, 1937

If the Navy wanted you to have modern devices, they would have issued them. Here is SK2 Lukei, out of Norfolk on USS Arkansas (BB 33) May 1937, seeking permission to have an electric razor. Arkansas at the time was cruising to Annapolis to pick up Midshipmen for the practice cruise of 1937. Their destination: Kiel, Germany. The same ship would later bombard German soliders on D-day. That June day, SK2 Lukei was crossing the International Date Line en route to another battle at Saipan. Click on the image to enlarge the text of Lukei's permission slip for his personal electric razor.

Battleship USS Arkansas (BB-33), early 1930s.