U.S. World War II naval history

Government Publications Review, Vol. 17, pp. 237-249, Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.

1990 Copyright

0277-9390190 $3.00 + .OO 0 1990 Pergamon Press plc

U.S. WORLD WAR II NAVAL HISTORY Some Lesser-Known Documents*

Daniel K. Blewett** Reference

Librarian,

The Milton S. Eisenhower Library, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, U.S.A.

Abstract - From its founding, the United States has been a seafaring nation. As a result, no documents are more important than those relating to the country’s naval affairs. Certainly this nation’s greatest naval activity occurred during World War II. This article describes four series of U.S. Navy official publications that are useful for historical research in this period, and which can be difficult to locate. A bibliography of individual items in the four series is provided.

INTRODUCTION Researchers in naval history frequently approach government publications with two basic questions: (1) What items from the U.S. Department of the Navy are available on a certain topic; and (2) what is available in a particular library’s collection? The second question should be relatively easy to answer if the documents are cataloged; the first question can prove more difficult. The fact that the Navy is always analyzing itself means that there will be studies of almost every aspect of the United States’ history of naval operations. Most libraries undoubtedly will have some monographs dealing with the Second World War, but probably few government publications suitable for in-depth research. One must remember that although written history is based on documents, the historical account cannot be written until the historian thoroughly understands the people and events that are being portrayed [ 11. This entails research into still more records. It is the process of finding these documents that can be so time-consuming and frustrating [2]. Any researcher interested in this field should of course visit the Naval Historical Center in the Washington Navy Yard, the National Archives, the Naval War College, and the Library of Congress, as these are the main repositories of research materials relating to U.S. naval history [3]. Libraries and archives are filled with valuable records that have not been utilized for research, and it can be very exciting to read through some long-forgotten documents. Such visits, however, can be expensive in terms of time and money, and an investigator should be well-prepared before undertaking such an activity. Usually one conducts as much research as possible from a home or base institution, and any local

*The author would like to gratefully acknowledge the kind assistance provided by Stanley Kalkus, John Vajda, and the rest of the staff at the U.S. Navy Department Library and Operational Archives; Doris B. Ottaviano of the U.S. Naval War College Library; Dr. Warren E. Breniman, Indiana University-South Bend; Dennis Lambert, James Gillispie, and the staffs of the Interlibrary Loan, Government Publications, and Reference Departments at the Milton S. Eisenhower Library. **Daniel Blewett attended Indiana University-Bloomington, where he completed his masters degrees in History and Library Science. Before moving to Baltimore he served as a Reference Librarian at the Troy H. Middleton Library, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. He is currently a Reference Librarian at the Milton S. Eisenhower Library, Johns Hopkins University, and a member of the Editorial Board of The Crab, the newsletter of the Maryland Library Association.

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D. K. BLEWETT

library is sure to be thoroughly searched for relevant publications. Unfortunately, the “wide range of materials used by the historian, particularly the high degree of use of unique items such as manuscripts and printed ephemera, means that libraries cannot hope to provide for historians the nearly comprehensive service they can do for scientists” [4]. Therefore researchers must sometimes visit several institutions to examine the materials necessary to their research. Despite the displeasure of researchers with interlibrary loan (ILL) [5], the widespread availability of ILL services makes it much more feasible than in the past to do more research at home, even if people do not wish to do so. According to Professor David S. Sparks of the University of Maryland, “[tlhere is a great deal of work that scholars could do at their own libraries, rather than going to the LC [Library of Congress]. It’s just that they feel it’s somehow more scholarly to read the same work in the LC than at another library” [6]. Because of the frequently incomplete references to government publications, accurate bibliographic citations are vital in order to quickly verify holdings and request copies of documents via ILL. Finding this information can be accomplished by checking the specialized subject bibliographies, library book catalogs, the bibliographies in books and articles, and the various online national catalogs. Computer searches can be especially fruitful and time-saving due to the large databases and the ability to search by keywords. One thing to remember is that many older documents, if they are housed in a separate documents collection, are not always represented in the card catalog of a library. They are probably not included in retrospective conversion projects, and so it is questionable whether they will appear in the Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN) or Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) databases. However, as more libraries join the national online catalog networks, more citations to obscure documents should become available [7]. Military offices function via the written word, and “the result is a truly staggering mass of paper calculated to dismay rather than hearten the historian” [8]. “The student of World War II, even if he confines his study to a limited period or a narrow aspect of the purely military side of the war, is confronted with an enormous body of records and imposing array of published works and official documents” [9]. This is especially true for the Navy, which had a decentralized publishing system [lo]. When one adds to this the problem of various security classification systems, one can see that the “opportunity for scholarly research in military history is unique, but it also challenges the resourcefulness and skill of the scholarly investigator” [ 111. While doing some reading in the Second World War the author happened upon several series of interesting Navy documents dealing with U.S. naval operations of that conflict [ 121. These should be considered secondary sources, but as with primary sources, it is important that librarians and historians understand how these documents were compiled, and what their various limitations and differences are [ 131. The information contained in these materials can be very useful for historical research, although they cannot totally substitute for an examination of official action reports and war diaries. Most of the publications mentioned here deal with the Pacific Theater of the war, since that is where most of the U.S. Navy’s resources were concentrated, and where it fought some of its most important battles. The fact that many of the titles can be borrowed via ILL increases their utility and value. The documents are described below to alert the researcher to their existence, and to aid the librarian in finding them. Full bibliographic citations to the series are provided in the appendices at the end of this article. AEROLOGY

SERIES

The Aerology Section, under the Office of Naval Operations [14], produced pamphlets that dealt with the weather aspects of naval warfare. Many of the pamphlets,

numerous originally

U.S. World War II naval documents

239

classified CONFIDENTIAL, describe a particular incident or battle during the war, the military situation at the time, the normal weather patterns for the area, and provide meteorological charts and maps showing atmospheric pressure areas, wind speed and direction, and temperatures. The documents also describe how naval operations were affected by the weather conditions. Conclusions are made regarding how U.S. forces adapted to and operated more effectively under these weather conditions. This Aerology series has been described as “grey literature,” a term that could also be applied to all the series mentioned herein, since none of them were intended for widespread public distribution, some remaining classified for several years after the war [ 151.

BATTLE

ANALYSIS

SERIES

Strategical and Tactical Analysis, the subtitles of these reports, accurately describe the contents of this series of in-depth battle studies prepared at the Naval War College after the war. Directed by Commodore Richard W. Bates, the lengthy and highly detailed accounts carefully dissect and criticize the operations and intentions of the opposing forces. Using war diaries, reports, and personal interviews, the battles are examined to show why commanders acted the way they did; excellent maps complement the explanation of often confusing events. Some may be wary that studies produced so soon after the war may lack the proper historical perspective. However, Kent Roberts Greenfield, who directed the Army’s massive World War II history project, wrote that the “mass of records that survives a modem war is so overwhelming as to make it increasingly doubtful that its history can be written successfully except by that generation which created the records and knows how to use them selectively” [ 161. Although the writing style may seem somewhat stilted, these studies have been called “thefinest military analysis ever accomplished by the U.S. Navy” [17]. BATTLE

EXPERIENCES

The Navy designed the Battle Experiences series to acquaint officers with actions that had taken place during the war so that by studying American and enemy operations, they would be better prepared when they went into combat. Several events, or chapters, are sometimes combined into one Battle Experience. The title page always had Secret Information Bulletin printed on it, so this series may also have been known by this title. The booklets were compiled within a few months after an operation so that the information and experiences were still fresh and useful. The text is comprised primarily of a narration of events, being drawn from battle reports and war diaries of the men and ships involved. Some of the details include ship movements, communication and radar problems, air spotting procedures, and damage reports. Maps showing detailed times and positions are also included, as well as occasional photographs of the ships involved. Because of the nature of the information within this series, they were classified SECRET. Many of the covers advise CAUTION, and that “This bulletin and the information contained herein must not fall into the hands of the enemy. ” The narrators make many personal comments, asking questions as to why such an order was given, pointing out enemy techniques, and listing the lessons learned [ 181. There was not time for a lengthy reflection or analysis, nor were all relevant records available for review. Many conclusions would be modified after the war when officers from both sides could be interviewed and enemy documents examined at leisure. At this point, the Navy was mainly concerned with getting important information back to the naval commanders who could use it in battle. Although the Battle Experiences documents may be rough around the edges, they are valuable for (a) the details that could only be found by combing through numerous reports and war diaries;

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(b) the relatively minor operations that are covered, such as mine laying missions, which are passed over in later accounts of the war; and (c) for the contemporary opinions regarding U.S. and enemy tactics. This is a good place to start research on a particular action before plunging into the Operational Archives of the Naval Historical Center. COMBAT

NARRATIVES

Issued by the Office of Naval Intelligence, the Combat Narrative series are more polished accounts of various naval activities that appear in the Battle Experiences series described above. According to the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Ernest J. King, titles in this series were intended to provide officers with “a clear view of what has occurred, and form a basis for a broader understanding that will result in ever more successful operations” [19]. Not as numerous as the aforementioned series, they concentrate on the major battles of the war. The narrative of events provides the framework around which is built a sound analysis and discussion of the operation. More background info~ation is given regarding Allied strategy, but fewer operational details and suggestions are included. Because of this, documents in this series were only classified as CONFIDENTIAL. The ships and commanding officers involved are listed. There are detailed maps and pictures used to good effect in these easy-to-read monographs. Several copies available at the Navy Department Library caution readers that “COMBAT NARRATIVES were written to fill a temporary requirement before the appearance of official and semiofficial complete histories. Due to hastily gathered and oftentimes incomplete info~ation there are certain inaccuracies.” They were declassified by Department of Defense Directive 5200.9 in the 1950s [20]. FINDING

AIDS

A search through some of the main bibliographic finding aids was conducted to ascertain whether they contained citations to the titles in the aforementioned series. Both printed and computerized sources were consulted. The sources chosen were those with which a researcher or librarian might be the most familiar and to which they might also have the best access. Of the computerized sources, the OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) system, with its huge database and large number of participating institutions, proved to have the greatest number and variety of useful records covering all four series. This is certainly because the Naval War College Library in Newport, Rhode Island, and the Naval Historical Center in Washington, DC, contribute records to OCLC. The smaller but more versatile RLIN (Research Libraries Information Network) system included citations to the Combat Narratives and the Information Bulletins. The National Technical Information Service (NTIS), a database of government and technical reports produced by the U.S. Department of Commerce, only had records for the Battle Analysis Series. Several printed government documents finding aids were also consulted. The Cumulative Title Index to united States Public documents, the cumulative Subject Index to the soothly Catalog of United States Government Publications, 1900-1971, and United States Government Serials Titles contained no citations to the documents under discussion. The Monthly Catalog was also lacking relevant citations [2 I]. The reason that the reference tools mentioned above do not contain citations to the naval publications is that the document series were produced for internal Navy use only. They were not intended for public distribution, so they were not made available through the Superintendent of Documents or listed in any of the ~ovemment Printing Office’s catalogs, which the above items cover. Specialized bibliographies published by the Army Military History Institute and the Naval Historical Center often contain entries for infrequently cited documents. Many libraries do not own these bibliographies, although they can usually be borrowed on interlibrary loan [22].

U.S. World War II naval documents

241

The National Union Catalog, Paolo Coletta’s naval bibliography, and A Guide to the Sources of American Military History contained some citations to the Battle Analysis Series [23], while the New York Public Library dictionary catalog and catalog to the Wofid War II collection included citations to items from every series except the Battle Experiences [24]. The Air War Bibliography, by Myron J. Smith, Jr., also contains relevant citations to items in these series [25]. Thus these documents, and others like them, can be found in various bibliographies and indexes, although sometimes it just takes a great deal of searching. CITED

REFERENCES

Assuming that authors will cite the sources used during the course of their research, several examples from the vast literature pertaining to the naval portion of the Second World War were consulted to see if their bibliographies contained citations to these publications. Most of the documents listed in the appendices of this article are not to be found in these books. There could be many reasons for this. It should be taken for granted that an author has read much more material than appears in a work’s citations or bibliography. Space and monetary limits could have restricted the length of the bibliography, forcing the author to choose among the better known and/or published titles. (This is probably more true for a general work than for an academic monograph.) Also, historians frequently work with the original war reports in manuscript form, so they would cite these rather than secondary works such as the document series discussed here. Many times an author will only indicate that he/she used materials located at certain institutions and not list the individual items if they are numerous. Finally, perhaps the author did not know of these publications or how to obtain them. The security classifications of the documents undoubtedly restricted their use soon after the war, but by the mid-1960s most of the items had been declassified. The lack of bibliographic control also would have reduced the number of people who knew that these materials even existed. Samuel Eliot Morison’s semi-official naval history of the Second World War is the first place to begin research into this conflict. Admiral Morison had the backing of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the full cooperation of the Navy in observing and writing about the war. Because he had access to naval officers and records, the multivolume narrative is filled with interesting details. Morison’s books yielded the greatest variety and number of citations, although he did not always include complete bibliographic information with the citations. Other official histories, such as Miller’s volume on Guadalcanal, the Marine Corps historical monograph on Bougainville, and the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey’s Campaigns of the Pacific War, do cite a few of these publications that relate to those particular actions [26]. Other works that cite some of the documents are Prange’s Midway, Willmott’s The Barrier and the Javelin, Belote’s Titans of the Seas, and Lundstrom’s book on carrier warfare during the first six months of the war. The Battle Analysis volumes are probably the most cited series of those discussed in this article; the Combat Narratives probably appear most frequently in official monographs [27]. Among the many books that did not cite any of these publications are Hammel’s two books on naval warfare in the Solomon Islands in 1942, Merrill’s biography of Admiral Halsey, Reynolds’ The Fast Carriers, and Spector’s volume in the Macmillan Wars of the United States series. Books such as Costello’s The Pacijic War, Hough’s The Longest Battle, and Toland’s But Not in Shame are more general treatments and one would not necessarily expect to find primary or more detailed operational documents cited in their bibliographies [28]. The lack of efficient and complete bibliographic control of government publications has long been recognized as a reason for the underutilization of government documents. If one cannot discover the existence of relevant records through various finding aids, then one cannot use those

242

D. K. BLEWE’M

documents that may pertain to the subject being researched, and they will not be cited in the literature. And the fact that these document series are not frequently cited in monographs does a great deal to explain their lack of use and limited references in footnotes. Many studies have shown that a common and easy research method is to inspect the references of a relevant book for use in one’s own research [29]. So if a government publication is not cited, or not fully cited in the major works in a field, the chances are greater as time goes on that it will never be used.

CONCLUSION The government documents described in this article can be useful to students of American naval operations during the Second World War. Two topics for further investigation would be the importance of weather and naval communications in World War II. Another possible topic is whether or not publications such as the Battle Experiences series, which analyze operations and procedures, influenced American naval officers to modify their tactics the next time they met the enemy in combat. For detailed operational analysis, using the documents represented here by no means excuses one from conducting research in the individual war diaries and action reports. By reading these publications at one’s home institution, however, one can extract the details regarding time, place, personnel, and ships upon which further investigations in primary source material at a distant location can be based. NOTES 1. Rear Admiral Edward Clifford Kalbfus, USN, Ret., “Foreward, ” in U. S Department of the Navy, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Aspecrs ofLogistics Planning (First Draft Narrative). [By Lieutenant Myron Pl. Gilmore, USNR, and Lieutenant J. Blum. USNR?] (Washington, DC: Department of the Navy, Office of Naval History, [194?]). This is part of the administrative history series of the U.S. Navy written after the war. The librarians at the Navy Department Library strongly recommend that these important historical sources be consulted by anyone doing research in the World War II era. For a description of these numerous volumes, see U.S. Department of the Navy, Naval History Division, Guide to United States Naval Administrative Histories of World War II (Washington, DC: Department of the Navy, Naval History Division, 1976). Needs and Gathering Patterns of Academic Social Scientists, with Special Emphasis 2. Peter Hemon, “Information Government Information Quarterly 1 (1984): Given to Historians and Their Use of U.S. Government Publications,” 405, 412. 3. For further information about these and other institutions, see: Dean C. Allard, “The Naval Historical Center and the over Navy Department Records,” in Versatile Resources of Naval History,” and Mabel E. Deutrich, “‘Cognizance’ Guardian: Research in Naval History (National Archives Conferences, Volume 14: Papers and Proceedings of the National Archives Conference on Naval History, sponsored by the National Archives and Records Service, May 29-31, 1974, the National Archives Building, Washington, DC), ed. Richard A. Von Doenhoff (Washington, DC: The Howard University Press, 1979). 23-32 and 11-22, respectively; William J. Armstrong, “United States Naval Aviation History-A Guide to Sources,” Aerospace Historian 27 (June 1980): 109-112; Robert W. Krauskopf, “Military Records in the National Archives on the Second World War, ” in World War II: An Account of Its Documents (National Archives Conferences, Volume 8: Papers and Proceedings of the Conference on Research on the Second World War, sponsored by the National Archives, June 14-15, 1971, the National Archives Building, Washington, DC), ed. James E. O’Neill and Robert W. Krauskopf (Washington, DC: The Howard University Press, 1976), 101-l 12; and U.S. Department of the Navy, Naval History Division, U.S. Naval History Sources in the United States (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Navy, Naval History Division, 1979). 4. Clyve Jones, Michael Chapman, and Pamela Carr Woods, “The Characteristics of the Literature Used by Historians,” Journal of Librarianship 4 (July 1972): 154. College and Research Libraries 42 (November 1981): 5. Margaret F. Stieg, “The Information Needs of Historians,” 553. 6. Professor David S. Sparks of the University of Maryland, interviewed by Walter Rundell, Jr.. February 14, 1966. Quoted in Walter Rundell, Jr., In Pursuit of American History: Research and Training in the United States (Norman, OK: The University of Oklahoma Press, 1970), 296. 7. OCLC and RLIN are national computerized catalogs of the holdings of hundreds of libraries in the U.S. and abroad. Virtually every research library has access to one or the other. For more information about these and other databases. see: Joyce Duncan Falk, “OCLC and RLIN: Research Libraries at the Scholar’s Fingertips,” AHA Perspectives 27

243

U.S. World War II naval documents

8.

9. 10. 11.

12.

13. 14. 15.

16. 17. 18.

(May/June 1989): 1, 11-13, 17; Cynthia E. Murphy, “A Comparison of Manual and Online Searching of Government Document Indexes,” Governmenr Informorion Quarterly 2 (1985): 169-81; Douglas J. Ernest, “Accessing Federal Government Publications With RLIN.” Governmenr Publications Review 15 (May/June 1988): 237-44. See also a collection of articles entitled “Computer Assisted Reference Service in History,” edited by Joyce Duncan Falk, RQ 21 (Summer 1982): 342-64. Louis Morton, “Sources for the History of World War II,” World Polirics 13 (April 1961): 435. See also: James Gregory Bradsher, “A Brief History of the Growth of Federal Government Records, Archives, and Information 1789-1985,” Government Publications Review 13 (July-August 1986): 493494. Morton, 435. American Polirical Science Paul P. Van Riper, “A Survey of Materials for the Study of Military Management,” Review 49 (September 1955): 841. Kent Roberts Greenfield, Opporrunitiesfor Research in fhe Records ofrhe Department ofrhe Army (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Army, Office of the Chief of Military History, 1948). 5. This mimeographed paper was passed out before the 1948 American Historical Association annual conference. This process of uncovering sources seemingly by accident is more prevalent than scholars would like to admit. Several studies have shown that scholars frequently do not follow a logical research methodology, or utilize all available reference tools. See Peter Hemon, Lose of Governmenr Publicarions by Social Scienrisrs (Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1979); Stieg, “Information Needs of Historians,” 556; and Stephen K. Stoan, “Research and Library Skills: An Analysis and Interpretation,” College and Research Libraries 45 (March 1984): 99-109. Steven D. Zink, “Clio’s Blindspot: Historians’ Underutilization of United States Government Publications in Historical Research,” Government Publications Review 13 (January-February 1986): 70-71. For a short description of this and other naval offices and commands, see: U.S. National Archives, Federal Records of World War II, Volume 2: Military Agencies (Washington, DC: GPO, 1951). Charles C. Bates and John F. Fuller, America’s Weather Warriors, 1814-1985 (College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1986). 337. For a discussion of “grey literature,” see: D. N. Wood, “The Collection, Bibliographic Control and Accessibility of Grey Literature,” in International Federation of Library Associations, General Conference, Acquisirion and Exchange Section, Collection and Services Division, Papers [presented at the 49th IFLA Annual Conference, Munich, West Germany, August 21-27, 19831 (The Hague: IFLA, 1983). 56-65. Kent Roberts Greenfield, “For the Future: A Memory of the Present,” The Johns Hopkins Magazine I1 (November 1959): 28. Rear Admiral Henly E. Eccles, “Rear Admiral Richard W. Bates, U.S. Navy, 1892-1973,” Naval War College Review 26 (May-June 1974): 7. Comments about the Battle of the Coral Sea include, “Why was there a delay of two or three hours before getting this and “Japanese submarines have the ability to closely important information to the Task Force Commander?” coordinate air and submarine reconnaissance and attacks.” See: “Carrier Task Force Attack on Tulagi and the Battle of Coral Sea, 4-8 May, 1942,” Chapter 7 of U.S. Department of the Navy, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations-, Battle Experiences: From Pearl Harbor to Midway, December 1941 to June 17-18 August (Washington, DC: U.S. Fleet, Headquarters of the Commander

1942 Including

19. Admiral Ernest J. King, from the “Foreward” in every volume of this series. 20. Information about this directive can be found in “World War II Declassification Management,” Documents:

Papers Presented

to a Session of the American

Makin Island Raid of

in Chief, 1943). 7-2, 7-7.

Historical Association,

December

Access ro Government 1972 (Manhattan, KS:

Military Affairs, 1974). 21. Daniel W. Lester, Sandra K. Faull and Lorraine E. Lester, Cumulative Tide Index to United States Public Documents, 178991976 (Arlington, VA: The United States Historical Documents Institute, Inc., 1978-1982); William W. Buchanan and Edna A. Kanely, Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of United Stares Government Publications, 1900-1971 (Washington, DC: Carrollton Press, Inc., 1975); Indexes to Checklist of United States Public Documenrs, 1789-1976, Volume 4: &tired Srates Government Serial Titles (Arlington, VA: The United States Historical Documents Institute, Inc., 1978); and U.S. Superintendent of Documents, Monthly Carulog of United States Government Publications (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1895-). 22. U.S. Department of the Army, Military History Institute, Special Bibliographic Series, No. 16, Vol. 2: The War in the Pacific: General Reference Works, Biography, by Duane Ryan (Carlisle Baracks, Pennsylvania: U.S. Department of the Army, Military History Institute, 1978); and U.S. Department of the Navy, Naval History Division, Operational Archives, Partial Checklist: World War II Histories and Historical Reports in the U.S. Naval History Division (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Navy, Naval History Division, 1977). 23. The Nafional Union Catalog of Pre-1956 Imprints: A Cumulative Author Lisr Representing Library of Congress Primed Cards and Tides Reported by Other American Libraries, compiled and edited with the cooperation of the Library of Congress and the National Union Catalog Subcommittee of the Resources Committee of the Resources and Technical Services Division, American Library Association (London: Mansell, 1968-1981); Paolo Enrico Coletta, A Bibliography ofAmerican Naval History (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1981); and Robin Higham, ed., A Guide to rhe Sources of United Sfates Milifary History (Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 1975), with supplements by the same publisher in 1981 and 1986. 24. New York (City), Public Library, Research Libraries, Dictionary Caralog of the Research Libraries of the New York Public Library, 1911-1971 (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1979-); and New York (City), Public Library, Research Libraries, Subject Catalog of rhe World War II Collection (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1977). The NYPL has a large volume of material suitable for research in naval history. See the works by Charles Emil Dombusch, Unit Histories of World War II:

244

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

D. K. BLEWETT United States Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy, Reproduced in Collaboration with the New York Public Library (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Army, Office of the Chief of Military History, [1950?]); its Supplement of 1951; and its continuation with Post-War Souvenir Books and Unit Histories of the Navy, Marine Corps, and Construction Battalions (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Navy, Office of Naval History, 1953). For a description of the two book catalogs, see Bonnie R. Nelson, A Guide to Published Library Catalogs (Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1982), 12-16, 73-74. Myron J. Smith, Jr., Air War Bibliography, 1919-1945: English Language Sources, Vol. 2 (Manhattan, KS: Aerospace Historian, 1977). See also his three-volume World War II at Sea: A Bibliography of Sources in English (Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, 1976). Samuel Eliot Morison, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1949-1962); U.S. Department of the Army, Historical Division, U.S. Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific: Guadalcanal: The First Offensive, by John Miller, Jr. (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1949); U.S. Department of the Navy, Marine Corps, Division of Public Information, Historical Division, Bougainville and the Norrhern Solomons (Marine Corps Monographs, No. 4), by John M. Rentz (Washington, DC: U.S. Marine Corps, Historical Division, 1948); and U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey (Pacific), The Campaigns of rhe Pacific War (USSBS Report No. 73) (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1946). Gordon William Prange, Donald M. Goldstein, and Katherine V. Dillon, Miracle ar Midway (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co. 1982); H. PI Willmott, The Barrier and the Javelin: Japanese and Allied Pac$ic Strategies February to June 1942 (Annanolis. MD: Naval Institute Press, 1983): James H. Belote and William M. Belote, Titans ofthe Seas: The Development and Operations of Japanese and American Carrier Task Forces During World War II (New York: Harper and Row, 1975); and John B. Lundstrom, The First Team: Pacific Naval Air Combatfrom Pearl Harbor to Midway (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1984). Eric M. Hammel, Guadalcanal: Decision at Sea: The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, November 13-15, 1942 (New York: Crown, 1988), and his Guadalcanal: The Carrier Battles: Carrier Operations in the Solomons, August-October 1942 (New York: Crown, 1987); James M. Merrill, A Sailor’s Admiral: A Biography of William F. Halsey (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1976); Clark G. Reynolds, The Fast Carriers: The Forging of an Air Navy (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1968); Ronald H. Spector, Eagle Againsr the Sun: The American War wirh Japan (New York: The Free Press, 1985); John Costelloo, The Pacific War (New York: Rawson, Wade, 1981); Richard Alexander Hough, The Longest Battle: The War af Sea 1939-1945 (New York: William Morrow and Co., 1986); and John Toland, But Not in Shame: The Six Months After Pearl Harbor (New York: Random House, 1961). Hemon, Use of Government Publications ., 10-l 1; Christopher W. Nolan, “Undergraduate Use of Government 1986): 428; and Stoan, 103. Documents in the Social Sciences,” Government Publications Review 13 (July-August

APPENDIX A Aerology Series Prepared by the Aerology Section of the Office of Naval Operations, these pamphlets are located in the “Command File, World War II,” in the Operational Archives Branch of the Naval Historical Center at the Washington Navy Yard. Many of the pamphlets had a subseries title, such as Aerology and Naval Warfare. The separate entries include, when available, the year of publication, number of pages, OCLC, and RLIN record numbers, the Navy report number, and the Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) call number. The Navy report number should aid one in locating reports in collections that are arranged by the Navy numbering system. The SuDocs number indicates that this publication should be available in some of the U.S. Government Printing Office depository libraries. Be sure to consult with a reference librarian for assistance. Aerology and Amphibious The Invasion SuDocs

ofSicily.

fl pt.1.

ofKiska.

NAVAER

1944.

14pp.

OCLC

5308323.

RLIN

COSG5308323-B.

NAVAER

25pp.

50-30T-2.

17pp.

OCLC

5308239.

RLIN

COSG5308239-B.

30 June

1943

K 64.

of the Seventh Amphibious 50-30T-3.

50-30T-1.

Sil.

Call No. N 27.2:

Operations NAVAER

1944.

Call No. N 27.2:

The Occupation SuDocs

Warfare

OCLC

Force,

6655962.

Part One: RLIN

COSG6655962-B.

to 2 January

SuDocs

1944.

Call No. N 27.2:

1944. Am 7

245

U.S. World War II naval documents 4. The Occupation of the Gilbert Islands. 1944. NAVAER COSG5276121-B.

50-30T-4.

5pp.

OCLC

5276121.

RLIN

50-30T-5.

12pp. OCLC

5304567.

RLIN

SuDocs Call No. N 27.2: G 37 i.

5. The Occupation of the Marshall Islands. 1944. NAVAER COSG5304567-B. 6. The Assault Landings on Leyte Island. 1944. NAVAER

1945. NAVAER

8. The Invasion of Southern France. 5274754-B.

50-30T-6.

50-30T-8.

7pp. OCLC

5274754.

50-30T-9.

9pp.

and Naval Operations

1. Weather and the Occupation of Japan. Prepared by the Third Amphibious 50-45T-1.

Aerology

RLIN COSG-

SuDocs Call No. N 27.2: F 84 s.

9. Amphibious Landings in Lingayen Gulf. 1945. NAVAER Aerology

13pp.

21pp. OCLC 5274440.

RLIN COSG5274440-B.

Force.

1946. NAVAER

SuDocs Call No. N 27.2: J 27 n.

and Naval Warfare

1. The Battle of Midway. 1944. NAVAER

50-40T-1.

2Opp. OCLC

5276015.

RLIN COSG5276015-B.

SuDocs Call No. N 27.2: M 58 B. 2. Fleet Air Wing Four Strikes. 1945. NAVAER

50-4OT-2.

2Opp.

3. Carrier Strikes on the China Coast, January 1945. 1945. NAVAER

4. The First Raid on Japan. 1947. NAVAER 12. The Battle of the Coral Sea. 1944. NAVAER

50-40T-4. 50-lT-12.

50-40T-3.

8pp.

llpp. 16pp. OCLC 5308388.

RLIN COSG5308388-B.

SuDocs Call No. N 27.2: C 81 s.

Aerology-Operational

Analysis

2. Aerological Aspects of Operation Turtle, 29 Sept.-l

Oct., 1946. 1947. NAVAER

5. Operation of the Navy Wartime Long Range Forecast Unit. [1946?] NAVAER 8. Operational Aspects of Typhoon Warning Service, 1945-1946.

Notes on Typhoons. 1946. NAVAER

50-lR-188.

1948. NAVAER

50-lR-183.

50-45T-5. 50-45T-8.

46pp.

50-lT-29.

12pp.

19pp.

2Opp

Operational Aspects of Hurricane Warning Service (Atlantic). 1945. NAVAER Radar and Weather. 1945. NAVAER

50-45T-2.

14pp.

23pp.

246

D. K. BLEWETI-

APPENDIX B Battle Analysis Series These postwar studies were prepared for the Bureau of Naval Personnel by the Department of Analysis at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, under the direction of Commodore Richard W. Bates. They are located in the “Training Commands” file in the Operational Archives Branch of the Naval Historical Center. Each citation includes, when available, the publication date, number of pages, OCLC record number, NTIS number, and Navy report number. Copies may be ordered from NTIS in either paper or microfiche format. The Battle for Leyte Gulf, October 1944. Strategical and Tactical Analysis. 4138373, 13107443, 9297106.

1953-1958.

2,643~~. OCLC

Volume 1, Part I, Preliminary Operations until 0719 October 17th. 1944, Including Battle off Formosa. 1953. 583~~. NAVPERS-91973. Volume I, Part 2, Diagrams of the Battle for Leyte Gulf, October 1944. Strategical and Tactical Analysis. 1953. 84pp. NAVPERS-91974. NTIS AD-A003 02710. Volume 2, Operations from 0719 October 17th until October 20 (D-Day). 1955. 553~~. NAVPERS-92194. NTIS AD-A003 028/8. Volume 3, Operations from 0000 October 20th (D-Day) NAVPERS-92510. NTIS AD-A003 02916.

until

IO42 October

23rd.

1957.

1094pp.

Volume 4 (never published).* Volume 5, Battle of Surigao Strait, October 24th-25th. 03014.

1958. 1043~~. NAVPERS-92628.

NTIS AD-A003

The Battle of Midway, Including the Aleutian Phase, June 3 to June 14, 1942. Strategical and Tactical Analysis. 1948. 335~~. NAVPERS-91067. NTIS AD-A003 05414. The Battle of Savo Island, August 9th, 1942. Strategical and Tactical Analysis. 91187. NTIS AD-A003 337. OCLC 4761358.

1950. 335~~. NAVPERS-

Diagrams for the Battle of Savo Island, August 9th, 1942. Strategical and Tactical Analysis. NTIS AD-A003 038.

1950. 88pp.

The Battle of the Coral Sea, May I to May 11 Inclusive, 1942. Strategical and Tactical Analysis. 178~~. NAVPERS-91050. NTIS AD-A003 05316. OCLC 4761423.

1947.

*Due to a lack of funds, not all the volumes planned for this study were completed. See John B. Hattendorf, B. Mitchell Simpson, III, and John R. Wadleigh, Sailors and Scholars: The Centennial History of the U.S. Naval War College (Newport, RI: Naval War College Press, 1984), 190.

247

U.S. World War II naval documents

APPENDIX C Battle Experiences The 26 booklets listed here were produced by the headquarters of the Commander in Chief of the U.S. Fleet, who was also the Chief of Naval Operations (Admiral Ernest J. King). Each entry includes the year of publication and OCLC record number. 1. From Pearl Harbor to Midway, December 1941 to June 1942 Including Makin Island Raid 17-18 1943. OCLC 12249784.

August.

2. Solomons Island Actions, August and September 1942 Including Bombardment

of Kiska, 7 August 1942.

1943. OCLC 12241048. 3. Solomon Islands Actions, October 1942. 1943. OCLC 12241056. 4. Solomon Islands Actions. November 1942. 1943. OCLC 12241078. 1943. 1943. OCLC 12241091.

5. Solomon Islands Actions, December 1942-January

6. Soloman Islands and Alaskan Actions, January-February

1943. 1943. OCLC 12253597.

7. Solomon Islands and Alaskan Areas, March 1943. 1943. OCLC

May and July 1943. 1943. OCLC 12241039.

8. Solomon Islands and Alaskan Areas Bombardments, 9. Assault and Occupation

12241027.

of Attu Island, May 1943. 1943. OCLC 1224977 1.

10. Naval Operations,

Solomon Islands Area, 30 June-I2

11. Naval Operations,

Solomon Islands Area, 12 July-10 August 1943. 1943. OCLC 12241091.

12. Solomon Islands and Alaskan Areas, July-October 13. Bombardment OCLC

July 1943. 1943. OCLC 12241114.

1943. 1944. OCLC 12241096.

of Wake Island, 5 and 6 October 1943; Dress Rehearsal for Future Operations.

1944.

12249796.

14. Naval Operations South and Southwest Pacific Ocean Areas, 6 October-2

November 1943. 1944. OCLC

12239759. 15. Supporting

Operations Before and After the Occupation of the Gilbert Islands, November 1943 (First Major Stepping Stone Westward). 1944. OCLC 12249801.

16. Battle Off Cape St. George, New Ireland,

24-25 November 1943; Surface and Air Attacks on Nauru Island, 8 December 1943. 1944. OCLC 12249810.

17. Supporting

Operations for the Occupation of the Marshall Islands Including the Westernmost Atoll, Eniwetok, February, 1944 (Second Major Stepping Stone Westward). 1944. OCLC 12249817.

18. Battleship,

Cruiser and Destroyer Sweep Around Truk, 16-17 February Satawan and Ponape, 30 April-l May, 1944. 1944. OCLC 12249821.

19. Supporting

1944; Bombardments

of

Operations for the Invasion of Northern France, June, 1944. 1944. OCLC 12249829.

20. Supporting Operations for the Capture of the Marianas Islands (Saipan, Guam and Tinian), June-August

I944 (Third Major Stepping Stone Westward).

1944. OCLC 12317837.

248

D. K. BLEWE’IT

21. Night Action and Subsequent Bombardment of Chichi Jima and Ani Jima, Bonin Islands, 4-5 August 1944; Destruction of Japanese Convoy Off Bislig Bay, 9 September 1944; Supporting Operations for the Occupation of Palau and Ulithi, September-October 1944. 1945. OCLC 12253612. 22. Battle for Leyte Gulf: (A) Battle of Surigao Strait; (B) Battle Off Samar; (C) Battle Off Cape Engano (East of Luzon), 23-27 October 1944. 1945. OCLC 12255450. 23. Bombardments of Iwo Jima, November 1944-January 1945; Third Fleet Operations in Support of Central Luzon Landings Including the South China Sea Sweep, 30 December 1944-23 January 1945. 1945. OCLC 12253602. 24. Radar Pickets and Methods of Combating Suicide Attacks Off Okinawa, March-May 12253585. 25. Encountering

Typhoons or Storms, June-August

1945. 1945. OCLC

1945. 1945. OCLC 12253625.

26. Final Operations of Units of the Pacific Fleet Off the Shores of Japan, July-August 12253564.

1945. 1946. OCLC

APPENDIX D Combat Narratives The most numerous of the publications described in this article, these monographs were written by the Combat Intelligence Branch of the Office of Naval Intelligence. Many of them were unpublished; they can be found in the “Command File, World War II,” in the Operational Archives Branch of the Naval Historical Center. The citations include the number of pages; publication date, and OCLC and RLIN record numbers when available. The Aleutians Campaign: June 1942-August

1943. 1945. 1 IOpp. OCLC 10947467.

Anti-Aircrafr Action, April 7, 1943, Guadalcanal-Tulagi.

1943. 1 IOpp. Unpublished.

The Assault on Kwajalein and Majuro (Part One). 1945. 92pp. OCLC 10947384. Battle of Midway: June 3-6, 1942. 1943. 6Opp. OCLC 12044411. RLIN MIUG87-B38058. The Battle of the Coral Sea: Consisting of the Actions at Tulagi, May 4th, off Misima, May 7th, and in the Coral Sea on May 8th, 1942. 1943. 6Opp. OCLC 10963579. RLIN MIUG87-B38051. Capture of the Gilberts and Preliminary Raids. [ 1944?] 75pp. Unpublished. Convoy to Gaeta. 1944. 1 lpp. Unpublished. Early Raids in the Pacific Ocean, I February-10 March 1942. (Marshall and Gilbert Islands, Rabaul, Wake and Marcus, Lae and Salamaua). 1943. 7lpp. Guadalcanal and Tulagi Bases. [ 1943?] 102~~. Unpublished. Japanese Attacks on Shipping in the Guadalcanal-Tulagi

Area, 1943. 1943. 85pp. Unpublished.

249

U.S. World War II naval documents

The Java Sea Campaign. The Landings

1943. 92pp. OCLC 10947491.

in North Africa:

The Mediterranean Miscellaneous

Convoys.

November

1942.

of Supplies

85pp.

OCLC 10963527. RLIN MIUG87-B26991.

[ 1943?] 33pp. Unpublished.

Actions in the South PaciJic:

The Movement

1944.

8 August-22

January

into the Guadalcanal-Tulagi

The Navy’s Share in rhe Tokyo Raid. [1942?]

Area.

in New Guinea Waters. [1944?] 147~~. Unpublished

Operations

in the Marianas,

The Salerno

September

The Sicilian Campaign,

Solomon

Islands

Volumes 2-3, 1943.

Volumes 4-5, 1943. 66pp.

[1944?]

of Saipan.

22pp.

Unpublished.

[1945?]

65pp.

Unpublished.

Charles Moran. [ 1942?] 37pp. Unpublished.

75pp.

August 1943.

in the Solomons:

The Battle of Savo Island: 71pp.

1945.

Unpublished. 123~~. OCLC 8659717.

7-8 August 1942. 1943. 81pp. OCLC 13776793. 9 August 1942;

The Battle of the Eastern Solomons,

23-25

August

OCLC 13776793.

Battle of Cape Esperance,

11 October

1942;

Battle of Santa Crux Islands,

1942.

(Including

26 October

1942.

OCLC 10963631, 13776793. 11-15

November

the Cruiser Night Action of 12-13

the Battleship Night Action of 14-15 Volumes 7-8,

[1943?]

Campaign

Volume 6, Battle of Guadalcanal: November;

1943.

10 July-17

Volume 1, The Landing

1942.

Phase 1; The Conquest

Prepared by Lieutenant Commander Landings,

1943. 7Opp. OCLC 13776934.

8pp. Unpublished

Operations

Pearl Harbor.

1943.

Battle of Tassafaronga,

Loss of the Chicago,

29 January-8

Volume 9, Bombardments Volume 10, Operations

November;

November.) 30 November February

1944. 1942;

1943.

of Munda and Vila-Stanmore, in the New Georgia

Area:

the Enemy Air Attacks of 11 and 12

the Air Operations of 13, 14, 1.5 November; 8Opp. OCLC 10963631, Japanese

1944. 57pp. January-May

21 June-5

Evacuation

and

13776793.

of Guadalcanal,

Including

OCLC 10963645, 13776793. 1943.

August 1943.

1944. 78pp. OCLC 13776793. 1944.

71pp.

OCLC 10963692,

1944.

71pp.

OCLC 10963692,

13776793. Volume

11, Kolombangara

and Vella Lavella:

6 August-7

October

1943.

13776793. Volume 12, The Bougainville 1945.

85pp.

Landing and the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay: 27 October-2

OCLC 10963714, 13776793.

Volume 13, Bougainville

Operations.

1943.

120~~. Unpublished

November

1943.