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to Frequently Asked Questions page. Naval Historical Center, 805 Kidder Breese SE, Washington Navy Yard, DC 20374-5060
1. Ships History Branch - telephone (202) 433-3643; fax 433-6677
Maintains historical source files including periodic histories submitted by individual ships and other historical data. Command history submissions for Navy ships date from 1960s. Overall histories of every U.S. Navy ship from the American Revolution to date of publication of the respective volume are published in the Naval Historical Center's Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (8 volumes, 1958-1981) which is also available on this website. A new Volume I Part A, containing ships with "A" names, was published in 1991). This series is held by many libraries, particularly US Government Depository libraries.
2. Deck Log Section, Ships History Branch - telephone (202) 433-0824
Holds the post 1 January 1974 deck logs for most naval ships. The logs through 1978, as well as most logs after 1989, are stored at the Washington National Records Center. Arrangements to view them must be made in advance by contacting the Deck Log Section. Microfiche copies of some post-1978 logs are held at the Deck Logs Section. Please call ahead to check on the availability of the deck logs.
3. Operational Archives Branch - telephone (202) 433-3224; fax 433-2833
Has custody of the Korean war diary and action report coverage for individual ships, as well as some ship reporting for the Vietnam Conflict. World War II submarine war patrol reports and the action report/war diary coverage of some World War II ships are held on microfilm. Holds some World War II interviews relating to shipboard experiences, especially for 1941-1944 periods, as well as personal paper collections.
4. Photographic Section, Curator Branch - telephone (202) 433-2765
Maintains a well indexed reference collection of naval photography, including views of individual ships.
5. Navy Department Library - telephone (202) 433-4132
The Library maintains an extensive collection of cruise books for individual ships. Duplicate post-World War II cruise books can be used at the Library or borrowed through interlibrary loan channels for in-library use only. Due to possible copyright violations, often fragile book conditions and a small staff, the Navy Department Library does not provide photocopies of entire cruise books. See New York Public Library entry as an alternate source for cruise books.
6. Naval Aviation History Branch, Building 200, First Floor, Washington Navy Yard, Washington DC 20374-0571
Maintains source files on aircraft carriers, aircraft tenders, and other aviation-type vessels including periodic histories submitted by these ships and other historical data relating to naval aviation. They also have microfilm copies of aircraft accident reports from 1920-1953. They also have the unpublished histories of aviation type ships and aviation squadrons serving on ships for the 1942-1952 period, as well as the command histories from 1957 to the present.
Related Resource: Navy Record Groups at the National Archives
Old Military and Civil Branch, National Archives, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20408 telephone (202) 501-5385
Holds deck logs of individual ships through 1940. Officer personnel are often listed on the first page of each month's log for the 1880-1941 time period. A collection of monthly muster rolls listing enlisted personnel aboard individual ships from the 1880-1938 is bound in books. The Bureau of Ships records through 1940 and the Navy's Judge Advocate General investigative records, for the pre-World War II period, are also maintained in the Branch.
Archives II, National Archives and
Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001.
1. Modern Military Records (NWDT2)- telephone (301) 837-3510
Holds deck logs of individual ships from 1941 through 1973 . Officer personnel are often listed on the first page of each month's log. A collection of monthly muster rolls listing enlisted personnel aboard individual ships from 1939 through 1975 is available on microfilm. Starting with 1958, the officer rosters are included with the muster rolls on the microfilms. The Bureau of Naval Personnel Casualty files contain the official listing of casualties for World War II, as well as casualty reports for U.S. Navy ships and the Naval Armed Guard serving on merchant ships. The Bureau of Naval Personnel files also include the armed guard reports for each voyage. This office recently accessioned the Navy's collection of World War II action reports, war diaries, and operation plans, as well as the Tenth Fleet files which contain merchant ship movement report cards, the loss and damage reports for merchant ships, folders on individual convoys, and the Allied Antisubmarine Warfare Assessment Committee evaluations. Also held are the courts-martial prior to 1946 and the Bureau of Ships records from 1941 through 1945.
2. Still Pictures Branch, NNSP, telephone (301) 837-0561.
Maintains the largest collection of official Department of the Navy still photography covering the 1775-1981 period.
3. Special Media Archives Services Division, NWCS, telephone (301) 837-3200.
Holds a collection of aerial photography taken during some of the Defense Intelligence Agency's mapping and topographical surveys covering the pre-World War II-1960 period. Aerial photographs of U.S. Navy ships are included. However, the ship photography is not indexed. In addition, it includes the Bureau of Ships collection of general plans and drawings for most ships stricken from the Naval Vessel Register. The old name for this Division was the Cartographic Branch.
Office of the Judge Advocate General:
U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Appellate Review Activity, Attn: Congressional and Special Interest Section (Code 40), Office of the Judge Advocate General, 716 Sicard Street SE, Suite 1000, Washington Navy Yard, DC 20374-5047. telephone (202) 433-5895/5896.
Records and proceedings of court martials 1946 to the present. The court martial records for World War II are at the Modern Military Branch, National Archives II at College Park
Claims, Investigations, & Tort Litigations (Code 354.1), Office of the Judge Advocate General, 1322 Patterson Avenue SE, Suite 3000, Washington Navy Yard, DC 20374-5066.
Records of boards of investigation, courts of inquiry, and other investigative records are held from the 1930's to the present. Similar investigative records for the pre-World War II period are at the Civil and Old Military Branch, National Archives, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20408.
New York Public Library, 5th Avenue & 42nd Street, New York NY 10018
Maintains a large collection of cruise books for US Navy ships.