Norfolk Navy Yard Workers in World War II

This picture of the Norfolk Navy Yard was taken in October of 1941 by Alfred T. Palmer. A protégé of Ansel Adams, Palmer was a prolific photographer by the end of the 1930s. Working for the National Defense Advisory Commission of the Office of Emergency Management (O.E.M.), Palmer participated in a massive public information push by the government.

After Hitler invaded Poland in September 1939, President Roosevelt pushed for a buildup of American military forces, including making the Navy a true two-ocean force. The photography section of the O.E.M. was tasked with showing the American public how their tax dollars were going to work in the military buildup. Palmer traveled across the country photographing not only the technical side of industry, but also the human side seen in the workers. This is evident in the photograph above, which shows workers relaxing and heading to lunch, in among the implements of heavy industry. A destroyer is seen in the foreground to the left, and a battleship is seen in the background.

Both Norfolk Navy Yard and Newport News Shipbuilding became hubs of frenzied maritime activity during World War II. In total, the shipyards built over 100 ships during the war years, including battleships and aircraft carriers. Norfolk Navy Yard also conducted repairs on numerous battle-damaged ships.

(This post was written by HRNM educator Elijah Palmer.)

Local Sailors Engaged at the Battle of Vera Cruz, 1914

As the diplomatic crisis with Mexican military government continued to deteriorate, President Woodrow Wilson decided to act. Each of the battleships off of Vera Cruz was to assemble a landing team of armed Sailors and Marine detachments. Reinforced by land-based Marines, the force landed with orders to seize the city's custom house and secure the city. The landing itself went on without much issue. But shortly after the landing, local Mexican forces opened fire on the Americans. Here are some of the images we have of sailors from locally-based ships preparing for action or already in the middle of it.

You can see other images in our collection of the Vera Cruz intervention here,  here, and here. For an excellent political and military overview of the expedition, we encourage you to read naval historian Jack Sweetman's Naval History magazine article or his book The Landing at Veracruz: 1914.

Sailors from USS Michigan's (BB-27) Fifth Division make final preparations to go ashore at Vera Cruz.  While most sailors went into combat wearing either their summer whites or winter blues, Michigan's sailors felt their uniform needed to be more suitable for possible urban combat.  They decided on a khaki-colored uniform.  As this was not standard issue, the sailors soaked their uniforms in the battleship's large coffee vats and boiled them in hot coffee.  During anti-sniper sweeps, one Michigan sailor was credited with taking out an enemy sniper from 100 yards away at night with one shot from his Colt revolver.   

Signalmen from the USS Florida (BB-30) detachment prepare to go ashore.  During the fighting, these men exposed themselves to enemy fire to keep American flag officers informed on the progress of the battle. 

USS Louisiana's (BB-19) company of Sailors and Marines prepare to land at a moment's notice (note that the ship is underway).  While Michigan's and Louisiana's companies arrived too late for the April 21-22 street fight, American flag officers welcomed their arrival and used them to help secure the city and the outlying areas.

USS Utah (BB-31) sailors in action during the heavy fighting with Mexican forces on April 21.  The Mexican forces consisted of Mexican Federal soldiers, local militiamen, and Mexican Naval cadets.

Sailors and Marines, possibly from Florida's company, take up anti-sniper positions.  Once the heavy fighting stopped on April 22, Mexican soldiers constantly harassed American forces with snipers. 

The Newport News-built and locally based USS Montana (ACR-13) gets underway for New York City, carrying twenty-two American Sailors and Marines killed in the fighting.  The fallen were given a public funeral in New York City. 

Battleship Squadron Leaves For Mexico, 1914

A newspaper photograph of Atlantic Fleet battleships deploying from Hampton Roads to Mexico,
April 15, 1914.  It should be noted that the newspaper's caption have the wrong ship names.

One hundred years ago yesterday, acting on instructions from President Woodrow Wilson, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels ordered the Hampton Roads-based ships of the Atlantic Fleet to mobilize and head to the east coast of Mexico. The first squadron to deploy included the new battleships USS Arkansas (BB-33), USS Utah (BB-31), and Florida (BB-30); the older battleships USS New Jersey (BB-16) and USS New Hampshire (BB-25); and the dispatch boat/armed yacht USS Yankton. Daniels had specifically ordered the squadron to Tampico and Vera Cruz. Daniels deployed the squadron of heavy ships to reinforce a smaller squadron already on the scene.

The deployment of American battleships came from a culmination of a series of international incidents. A few days before, Mexican authorities had arrested several American sailors in Tampico, and later a Marine who got lost while trying to deliver official mail. These arrests occurred during the latest civil war in Mexico. There was also an American belief that European powers were attempting to intervene in the war. Thus, tensions between Mexico and the United States were high.

Mexican authorities agreed to release the American servicemen, but some senior U.S. Naval officers, and later President Wilson himself, beleived American honor had been insulted. They demanded official apology and a 21-gun salute to the American flag by the Mexican government. When the Mexican reply to the American demands was not forthcoming quickly enough, Wilson put the Navy's ships on alert.

While Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Roosevelt commented to the press that the Navy was prepared for anything, there is evidence that the mobilization order caught the Atlantic Fleet somewhat off guard. Several of the ships were not prepared for an extended deployment. New Hampshire's sailors, for example, worked through the night and early morning of April 15 loading 1,600 tons of coal on board. The Navy quickly called up all sailors stationed at St. Helena Naval Training Station and on board the local receiving ships Franklin and Richmond, regardless of rate, sea experience, or enlistment status, to fill in personnel gaps. Many other ships in the Atlantic Fleet were not ready, including the battleships Texas (BB-35) and Delaware (BB-28) and several repair vessels and coal colliers.

Even though the initial operation was only a partial mobilization of the Atlantic Fleet, the five battleships' deployment raised American jingoism to a fever pitch. Most Americans fully supported the deployment and even offered to help in their own special way. The Governor of Texas, for example, offered to invade Mexico on behalf of the United States. The President politely declined.

USS Wisconsin Veteran's Photos, 1953-1955, Part 2

Here is batch number two of the photos we recently received from a battleship Wisconsin veteran. The veteran served on the ship between 1953 and 1955. Once again, we are looking for assistance identifying certain pictures.


"Crossing the Line" ceremony just underway, June 1953

Crossing the Line ceremony, June 1953, with polywogs ( on the left) about to go through the line.
USS Samuel B. Roberts is in the background making her way through rough seas.

King Neptune and Court for the Crossing the Line ceremony, June 1953.

We think this is Wisconsin in New York City, 1955, for Armed Forces Day; however, we are not sure.

We know this is the aircraft carrier USS Midway (CV-41) and the picture was
taken from Wisconsin. But where was the picture taken? One guess is Naval Station
Norfolk as the Navy homeported both ships there in the 1950s. 

This one has us stumped. It looks a Marine landing exercise, maybe off Puerto Rico?

Another stumper- Guantanamo? Naval Station Roosevelt Roads? You tell us!

USS Wisconsin Veteran's Photos, 1953-55, Part 1

We recently received copies of photographs taken by a veteran of the battleship USS Wisconsin (BB-64). He served on the ship from 1953 to 1955 and took these remarkable color photographs with a camera his father gave him right before he shipped out. In 1953, Wisconsin went to Japan before returning to Norfolk, then she headed out to sea again for training exercises and midshipmen cruises in 1954 and '55.

Unfortunately, we have not been able to identify many of the pictures and we would appreciate any help you can provide. Please comment if you can provide any further insight into these images!

Sixteen-inch shells being loaded on board Wisconsin, Sasebo, Japan, 1953

Setting up for divine services on Wisconsin's fantail, Sasebo, Japan, 1953

After being relieved by Wisconsin as flagship of the 7th Fleet,
USS New Jersey (BB-62) begins her long trek home to Norfolk. 

Here is one of our mystery photos- We think this is Wisconsin
at Pier 4, Naval Station Norfolk, 1954. What do you think?

Here is a rare shot of a submarine coming alongside a battleship!  Specifically,
this is USS Grenadier (SS-525). The story behind this encounter was that the
submarine needed cash to make payroll. So, she surfaced and came alongside
Wisconsin to ask for money. 

USS Furst (DD-882) coming alongside Wisconsin.  We think
this was taken in 1953.

Here is another mystery photo- All we know is that the sailor took<
the picture from Wisconsin in the 1950s.We got an answer! This ship is the
destroyer escort USS Tweedy (DE-532) in June 1953.

Class Picture Day- Submarine Flotilla Division 4, 1916

Shown here are the early submarines USS K-5 (SS-36) and K-6 (SS-37) alongside their tender, the monitor USS Tallahassee (BM-9) (ex-Florida), in Hampton Roads, December 1916. The Navy homeported Submarine Flotilla Division 4 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Due to several surprise breaches of American neutrality by both Germans and their French and British opponents, the Navy moved the submarines and their tender to Hampton Roads. This move was designed to reinforce local maritime forces, if the Navy's heavy ships (battleships and cruisers) were off conducting exercises in the Caribbean. The five vessels also participated in drills with surface ships in the Chesapeake Bay.

Nominally, the flotilla had four "K" class boats assigned to it: K-1, K-2, K-5, and K-6. But it would seem that the Navy swapped out K-1 and K-2 with USS L-1 (SS-40) and L-3 (SS-42). The "L"-class were newer boats and the "K"-class had major defects with their engineering plant.

The Navy's use of monitors was a creative idea to give purpose to ships that never really should have been built in the first place. There were still a few holdouts who believed that steel-hulled monitors with battleship-type guns had a major battle role in the U.S. Navy. It soon became clear that the vessels were too slow and too unseaworthy to be of use out in the open ocean. However, their extremely low free board (a characteristic of all monitors) made them useful supply and ordnance tenders to submarines. As the Navy had yet to build dedicated submarine tenders, the monitors filled the role wherever submarines were to be found.

USS K-5 (SS-36) at anchor in Hampton Roads

USS L-3 (SS-42) at anchor in Hampton Roads.

USS K-6 (SS-37) at anchor in Hampton Roads

USS L-1 (SS-40) at anchor in Hampton Roads

Old Man Graham Tells Richmond Kids to Get Off His Lawn...err...Ships, 1891

USS Manhattan on the James River, 1880s

In the years following the American Civil War, the Navy placed its monitor-type ironclad warships in a reserve status. In its search for a suitable place to lay up these ships, the Navy decided that City Point, Virginia, on the James River would be a good place for six of the monitors.

The squadron consisted of Ajax, Canonicus, Catskill, Lehigh, Mahopac, and Manhattan. The squadron was not a "ghost fleet" per se because the Navy assigned a small contingent of officers and sailors to watch over the ships. In charge of this squadron was Commander Felix McCurley of Baltimore, Maryland. At 74 years old, McCurley entered the Navy as one of the hundreds of "volunteer" naval officers at the beginning of the Civil War and experienced his fair share of combat and diplomatic standoffs (in the Kingdom of Hawaii, for example). McCurley possessed an easygoing personality.

While at City Point, McCurley's sailors became restless and openly expressed their displeasure at being assigned to such a backwater location where there was nothing for them to do while off-duty. To accommodate them, McCurley received permission to move the squadron closer to Richmond.

The change of base piqued the curiosity of the locals. The public wanted to walk the decks of the historic warships, even if they were Yankee warships against which their fathers had fought. All of the ships in the squadron had been in battle during the late war. McCurley welcomed excursion boats that frequently passed by the ships and he was happy to have visitors on board. One newspaper report commented that the visitors had made the monitors "a resort," implying that they did more than just walk the decks of the ship.

Lehigh's turret with battle scars caused by Confederate

guns guarding Charleston, South Carolina.

In 1891, McCurley received orders to take command of League Island (Philadelphia) Navy Yard. His relief was Commander James Duncan Graham and the fun came to a sudden end. A member of the U.S. Naval Academy's class of 1857 and a veteran of many battles on the Mississippi River during the late war, Graham had a much more serious view of his duties. He proclaimed to the press that he was issuing a strict policy regarding ship visitation. The result was a revolt among the local boaters. As Graham described the situation to a local reporter, "The good people of Richmond have no idea of the indignities, insults and other annoyances the officers and men on board the monitors are subjected to, particularly on Sundays and holidays. People come down the river in boats and insist upon coming directly abreast the monitors, and using the most vile language, shouting at the tops of their voices, and jeering at the men aboard ship." Fearing for his own family's safety, he moved his wife and children north.

After a quick fix at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, the
Navy moved the James River monitors to League
Island (Philadelphia) Navy Yard.

Navy leadership saved everyone additional trouble by ordering all six monitors to be taken to Norfolk Naval Shipyard for minor repairs and then to League Island for their new permanent station. It is not clear whether public threats made by Richmond boaters had anything to do with the transfer. The Navy would later mobilize the squadron for the Spanish-American War.

But in the opinion of Graham, one thing was for sure: these were ships of war. A newspaper commented, "The foundation of adverse feeling in [Graham] is simply owing to the fact that he had never considered it commensurate with his duty to permit the monitors to be used as a public museum or a Pleasure Resort."