1929-31; and proceedings, lists, correspondence, registers, orders, indexes, and other records concerning Office activities, 1860-1931. FISCAL RECORDS. 1869-1943. 481 lin. ft. These consist of correspondence and other records concerning legal matters affecting naval vessels, 1887-1906, and specifications, 1888-1922; records relating to commandeering and release of private vessels, 1917-19; and registers, indexes, reports, memorandums, transcripts, abstracts, correspondence, and other records relating to claims, contracts, bids, leases, disposition of real estate and other property, and monetary affairs. PATENT RECORDS. 1893-1942. 452 lin. ft. These comprise patent case files, 1918-42; correspondence and other records concerning inventions, 1915-34; records relating to German claims resulting from patent infringements, 1918-31, and to interferences, chiefly for 1925-42, with some dated as early as 1893; and indexes and transcripts. RECORDS OF OPINIONS AND ney General, the Comptroller of the Treasury, and the Solicitor of the Navy, with indexes and registers, 1846-1911. RECORDS OF BOARDS AND OTHER SPECIAL UNITS. 1896-1938. 120 lin. ft. Included are records of a few examining boards, courts of inquiry, and other units dated as early as 1896; the naval disciplinary barracks at Port Royal, S.C., 1911-15, and Puget Sound, Wash., 191215; Board on Valuation of Commandeered Property, 1918-22; Legal Section, Force Commander's Office, U.S. Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, established to handle matters related to admiralty or other civil law, including claims for damages resulting from the presence or operation of U.S. naval forces in European countries and waters, 1917-22; the Paris Naval Board on Claims, 1918-22; the Cancellation. Board, appointed in 1923 to examine claims resulting from the cancellation of naval contracts, 1923-24; and the Naval War Claims Board, established in 1925 to consider contractors' claims for losses on World War I naval contracts, 192538. Microfilm Publication: Records of General Courts-Martial and Courts of Inquiry of the Navy Department, 1799-1867, M273, 198 rolls. RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF AERONAUTICS The Bureau of Aeronautics was established in the Navy Department by an act of July 12, 1921, to perform aeronautical duties as directed by the Secretary of the Navy. General supervision of naval aeronautics, placed in the Bureau of Navigation in 1911, was established in the Division of Operations in 1914 as the Office of Naval Aeronautics and transferred in 1915 to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. In 1917 the name was changed to the Office of Naval Aviation, and in 1918 to the Aviation Division. Following orders issued in 1916 to distribute functions concerning construction and equipment of naval aircraft among the Bureaus of Construction and Repair, Steam Engineering, Ordnance, Yards and Docks, and Navigation, several new units were created to handle these functions, including the Aircraft Division of the Bureau of Construction and Repair and the Aeronautics Division of the Bureau of Steam Engineering. When the Bureau of Aeronautics was established, functions of these units were transferred to it, including responsibility for testing materials, making contracts, and outfitting bases and other shore establishments. During World War II Bureau functions. were expanded, and emphasis was placed on developing naval aircraft designs; purchasing, constructing, and maintaining aircraft and airships; maintaining naval air stations and fleet air bases; and supervising the service, repair, overhaul, and salvage of naval aircraft. The Bureau was abolished by an act of August 18, 1959, and its functions transferred to the Bureau of Naval Weapons. They were reassigned in 1966 to the Air, Weapons, and Electronics Systems Commands. See Bureau of Aeronautics, Manual (1945); and There are 4,053 cubic feet of records dated between 1911 and 1946 in this record group. RECORDS OF PREDECESSORS. 1911-25. 559 lin. ft. The records include the general correspondence of the Aeronautics Division, with a register and a filing classificatio" guide, relating to airplane engines, fuel, propellers, lights, detectors, kites, balloons, gas, and other aviation matters, 1911-22; Aviation Division correspondence, with indexes, registers, and a filing plan, 1914-21; and Aircraft Division correspondence, with a register and filing classification guide, 1917-25. GENERAL RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF AERONAUTICS. 191745. 3,500 lin. ft. These records primarily consist of central correspondence files, 1917-45, with a register and a microprint record of communications received, 1944-45. Included are correspondence and reports concerning contracts, patents, designs, and specifications for aircraft and aircraft instruments, electronic devices, and other equipment; and organization charts, issuances, memorandums, and planning directives for shore activities. TECHNICAL AND RESEARCH These comprise records relating to the U.S. Helium Production Plant, Fort Worth, Tex., and the Army and Navy Helium Board, 1919-30; reports and research memorandums of the LighterThan-Air Design Branch, 1916-45; test reports and photographs of that Branch, relating to stability tests, flight-test strains and stresses, specifications, and blueprints, 1921-36; test reports and specifications, 1923-40; structural calculation test reports on airplane wing and fuselage parts, 1935-43; test reports on aircraft and aircraft equipment, and contractor descriptive specifications, 192542; aircraft manufacturer proposals for rejected aircraft, 1931-41; erection and maintenance instructions, 1928-43; contractor weight and balance reports, 1919-40; reports on naval aircraft engines, 1930-38; and flight logs for experimental engines and aircraft, 1917 42. OTHER HEADQUARTERS These consist chiefly of Army Air Corps contracts of joint interest to the Navy Department and related correspondence, 1937-42, a survey of Bureau of Aeronautics civilian personnel, 1944, and monthly reports of the quantity, type, and location of naval aircraft, 192640. RECORDS OF THE U.S. NAVAL AIR STATION, LAKEHURST, NJ. 1918-41. 45 lin. ft. The records consist primarily of reports, plans, tracings, and photographs of the airships Shenandoah, Los Angeles, Akron, and Macon. AUDIOVISUAL RECORDS. 1916-46. 96,950 items. There are training slides of Navy aviators and photographers, naval air stations, aerial charts and maps, the PN9 flight to Hawaii, and foreign and domestic ships, aircraft, and equipment, 1916-26. Also photographs of Navy aerial photography trainees, 1917-18; activities at the Dayton and Akron, Ohio, Naval Air Stations, 1917-38; constructing and testing dirigibles, balloons, amphibious planes, parachutes, and other materials at the Philadelphia Naval Aircraft Factory and private plants, 1917-41; and Navy airplanes and their structural details, 1928-46. See William F. Shonkwiler, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Bureau of Aeronautics, PI 26 (1951). Commands and Installations RECORDS OF NAVAL DISTRICTS AND The Department of the Navy, soon For the records of shore establishments under the jurisdiction of a particular bureau see the record group for that bureau. There are 7,142 cubic feet of records (in WNRC except for nontextual records) dated between 1783 and 1948 in this record group. RECORDS. 1783-1948. 10,875 lin. ft. and 3 rolls of microfilm. The records consist chiefly of correspondence, indexes, registers, reports, memorandums, telegrams, cablegrams, orders, circulars, logs, journals, blueprints, and personnel and fiscal and accounting records from the offices of the commandants of naval districts at Boston (1st), 1903-4 and 1917-43, New York (3d), 1917-42, Norfolk, Va. (5th), 1926-43, Charleston, S.C. (6th), 1903-25, New Orleans (8th), 1917-33, Great Lakes, Ill. (9th), 1919-39, San Diego (11th), 1920-43, San Francisco (12th), 1925-39, Seattle (13th), 1918-43, and Pearl Harbor (14th), 1903-44; navy yards at Boston, 1811-1943, Charleston, 1902-33, Mare Island, Calif., 1854-1940, Memphis, 1845-55, New York, 1826 and 1835-1942, Norfolk, 1863-1943, Pearl Harbor, 1899-1942, Philadelphia, 17941939, Portsmouth, N.H., 1815-1911, Puget Sound, 1925-43, and Washington D.C., 1783-92 and 1811-1927; the Great Lakes Naval Training Station, Ill., 1914– 23; Mound City Naval Station, Ill., 1873; New Orleans Naval Station, 1865-75; Newport Naval Training Station, R.I., 1883-1948 (including 1 roll of microfilm); Pollok Naval Station, Philippine Islands, 1903-4; Culebra Naval Station, P.R., 1902-11; San Juan Naval Station, P.R., 1898-1912; St. Thomas Naval Station, V.I., 1917-31; Lakehurst Naval Air Station, NJ., 1919-45; Miami Naval Air Station, 1918; Norfolk Naval Air Station, 1922-36; Squantum Naval Reserve Aviation Base, Mass., 1930-43; Grand Cayman Island Naval Air Facility, British West Indies, and La Fe Naval Air Facility, Cuba, 1942-44; Naval Coal Depot, San Diego, 1904-11; Naval Reserve Divisions, Rock Island, Ill., 1924-43; and naval operating bases at Aukland, New Zealand, 1943-44, and Londonderry, Northern Ireland, 1942-44. There are also microfilm copies (2 rolls) of activity location cards of the Fleet Post Office, San Francisco, 1940-45; and records of advanced amphibious bases in Algeria, 1942-44, Salerno, Italy, 1944, and Port Lyautey, Morocco, 1943-44. AUDIOVISUAL RECORDS. 18911945. 20,985 items. Included are photographs of Navy personnel, ships, aircraft, and facilities at the Washington Navy Yard, 18911919; building construction, ship repair and alteration, and other activities of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, 1907-26; construction progress, the installation of equipment, and damaged machinery and ships at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, 1914-42; and officers, enlisted men, quarters, and operational activities at the U.S. naval base, Falmouth, England, 1944-45. See Richard G. Wood, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of Naval Establishments Created Overseas During World War II, PI 13 (1948). RECORDS OF THE UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY (RECORD GROUP 405) The U.S. Naval Academy, formally opened as the Naval School on October 10, 1845, on the site of Fort Severn at Annapolis, Md., was given its present name in 1850 and transferred from the supervision of the Secretary of the Navy to the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography. The Academy has remained at Annapolis except for the period 1861 to 1865, when it was temporarily located at Newport, R.I. In 1862 the Bureau of Navigation acquired responsibility for the Academy, but in 1867, while the Bureau of Navigation continued to conduct the routine administration and financial management of the school, the Department of the Navy assumed direct supervision. The remaining official connection with the Bureau of Navigation was discontinued in 1869, but was restored by a Navy Department general order in 1889. The Academy is now under the supervision of the Bureau of Naval Personnel. There are 404 cubic feet of records dated between 1836 and 1951 in this record group. GENERAL RECORDS OF THE Included are letters sent to the Secretary of the Navy, 1865-88; the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 1903-5; Navy Department bureaus, 1865-1908; Naval Academy officers, instructors, and cadets, 1881-88 and 1894-1908; the Congress, 1888-1901; and other individuals, 1845-1911. Also letters and telegrams sent by the Superintendent, 1857-1901, and the Assistant Superintendent, 189598; letters received from the Secretary of the Navy, naval officers, and private individuals, 1845-86, the Bureau of Navigation, 1862-83, commandants of navy yards, 1877-81, naval officers, 1875-81, midshipmen's parents, 1910, and others, 1875-1906; general correspondence, 1907-27, with indexes and record cards; confidential correspondence of the Superintendent serving concurrently as Commandant of the Severn River Naval Command, 1944-51; and the Superintendent's orders, 1890-1912, and other orders and notices, 1850-88 and 18941928. RECORDS OF BOARDS. 1836-1942. 10 lin. ft. These consist of proceedings, minutes, and other records of the Board for the Examination of Midshipmen, 1836-80, the Board of Visitors, 1863-1914, the Academic Board, 1854-1942, and the Supervisory Naval Examining Board, 1918. RECORDS OF DEPARTMENTS. 1845-1920. 8 lin. ft. These consist of letters sent and contracts relating to buildings and grounds, 1858-1911; and correspondence, orders, sample examinations, grade books, schedules, and sample assignments of departments of instruction, 1845-1920. PERSONNEL RECORDS. 1846-1945. 82 lin. ft. Included are correspondence relating to midshipmen, 1846-88, and examining candidates, 1846-76; entrance papers, 1848-53; rolls of midshipmen, 1849-71; registers of misconduct by cadets, 18651904; monthly class reports, 1855-83; registers relating to class standings of cadets, 1844-1924, and of candidates admitted to the Academy, 1860-1930; applications and medical records of the U.S. Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School, 1941-45; lists, reports, and registers relating to such subjects as physical fitness, annual examinations, midshipmen's congressional districts, applicants for appointments as naval cadets at large, cadets' academic records, daybooks of weekly grades, examinations held for classes of midshipmen, punishments, class reports, midshipmen's term grades, cadets' clothing, midshipmen on leave, and conduct, 1850-1915; and correspondence, orders, and journals of summer cruise ships, 1860-1916. Also orders and notices that concern midshipmen, including orders of practice cruise ships, 1892-1902, regimental orders, 1909-20, and orders relating to midshipmen's dismissals or suspensions, 1856-62. RECORDS OF RESERVE OFFICER CLASSES. 1917-19 and 1941-45. 26 lin. ft. These consist of reports, correspondence, orders, and enrollment cards of Reserve officer classes held during World Wars I and II. OTHER RECORDS. 1847-1950. 2 lin. ft. These include correspondence, memorandums, and orders of the commandant of midshipmen, 1875-1912; correspondence and proceedings of boards appointed to investigate charges against midshipmen and court-martial proceedings, 1866-1915; financial accounts, including lists of bills paid, requisitions, cadets' messbooks, an expense book of cadets, and a billbook of midshipmen, 1847-1924; registers of visitors to the tomb of John Paul Jones, 1919; minutes of an association of naval officers to erect a monument to Lt. S. W. Preston, 1865-67; publications relating to the Academy, 194150; correspondence, memorandums, circulars, and other records of the Chief Clerk's Office, 1915-17; correspondence of the Superintendent's aide, 1917; minutes of the Naval Academy officers club, 1897-1934; and a list of officers on duty at the Academy, 1896-1907. |