102906 Navy Crew Lists - USS Rankin (AKA-103)

27 Pages·2006·6.01 MB·English

How to Get Copies of U.S. Navy Crew Lists
And How to Findthe People Whose Names Are onthe Lists
©2006,LouisF.Sander
This paper tells, inspecific, accuratedetail, howtoget lists of the officersand crewmembers
who served aboard U.S. Navy ships. It alsodescribes practicalmethodsfor finding the people
whose names appear onthelists.
While crewlists aren’t particularlydifficult toget and use, published information on thesubject
tendsto be incomplete, inaccurate, and not necessarilybased on practical experience. This
paper provides the“straight skinny”—TheUSS Rankin Association used it tofind over 1,500of
the 3,859 people who sailed on their ship from 1945-1971, including everyone of the 437
officers who served aboardthe ship. So if want to findsome shipmates, read on!
Navy Personnel Records
Therecords of personnelassignedto commissioned ships andother Navyunits areretained
forever inthe National Archives, where manyof them are accessible tothegeneral public. This
paper appliesto allthose records, butfocuses onthe ones createdfrom 1941-1970, which is
the period of easiest accessibilityand greatest public interest. It describes therecords in detail
andgives step-by-step instructionsforgetting copies of thosefrom 1941-1970. It includes
sample pagesfrom actual recordsinthe National Archives. Appendix 2 contains information
about recordsfrom other eras.
Crew List Basics
“Crewlist” is ageneric term used here for clarityand consistency; it is notan officialterm used
bythe Navyor theNational Archives. As we define it, a crewlist is any official document
showing all personnel assignedto aship as of aspecificdate, usuallythe last dayof amonth or
calendar quarter. The official title of thedocument andthe exact information it contains depend
on thepractices ineffectwhen it was prepared. At theminimum, a crewlist containsa date and
each person’s name, service number, andrank or rate andrating. There is often other informa-
tion as well, andthereare almost always separate lists for officersand enlisted personnel.
Crewlistsfrom 1941-1970 arekept inthe NationalArchives at College Park, Maryland, and are
open toaccessin personor bymail. Earlier listsarekept elsewhere, and later ones are subject
to privacyrestrictions because theycontain social securitynumbers.
This paper focusesonthe 1941-1970 crewlists intheNational Archives atCollege Park, which
is but oneof several National Archives locations. Whenthe paper says“Archives,” it isreferring
tothe location at CollegePark. For information oncrewlistskept elsewhere, seetheAppendix
on page 11.
Sample pages of crewlists inthe Archives areshown on pages 14-20. Notethat notwo lists
have the same official title—all of them are crewlists, butthey have nameslike Roster of
Officers, Muster Roll of the Crew, DistributionControl Report, Distributionand Verification
Report, andthelike. Thisreflectschanging practices over the many years involved.
TheArchiveskeepscrewlists on paper or microfilm, depending ontheyears andpersonnel
groups theypertain to. From 1941-1956, officer lists are in loose-leaf paper Deck Logs, while
enlisted lists are on microfilmed Muster Rolls. From 1957-1970, both officer andenlisted lists
are on themicrofilmed Muster Rolls. Theofficer lists inthe paper Deck Logs comprise onlya
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fourth of the crewlists accessible at College Park, but accessing them iseasier and much less
costlythan accessing the lists onmicrofilm.
About Deck Logs
A ship’s Deck Log is adailychronologyfor administrative and legal purposes.It is prepared
aboardthe ship, then submittedtothe Navychain of command; thirtyyears later it is placedin
the National Archives. Deck Logs arenot detailed records of theship’s mission andrelated
activities, and for themost part theyare not veryinteresting toread.1They contain recordsof
the ship’s position, course and speed, plusinformation about weather conditions, arrivals and
departures of personnel,disciplinaryprocedures,administrative activities, and unusual
happenings onboard. Sometypical log sheetsare reproduced onpages 21-24. Physically, the
logs aretyped or handwritten on10"x15" sheets, bound into loose-leaf volumes bymonth. A
typical monthlyvolume has 35-50pages, all legible and easyto photocopy. Visitorstothe
Archives cannot browse these volumes, but mustrequest thestaff to pullthem individuallyfrom
the shelves. For moreinformation about Deck Logs, see the Appendixonpage 11.
For the period 1941-1956, detailed rostersof all the officerson board arefiled in the front of
each ship’smonthlyDeck Logs.Thesearetheonlycrewlists that arekept in paperform atthe
Archives. Somesamplesarereproduced onpages 14-15.
About Muster Rolls
TheArchives’ microfilmed Muster Rolls2 contain all the crewlists notkept in theDeck Logs:
enlisted lists from 1941-1970 and officer listsfrom 1956-1970. Thisrepresents about three-
fourths of allthe crewlists accessible at this location. In additionto monthlyor quarterly crew
lists, the Muster Rolls include daily records of personnel changes anda wide varietyof other
related documents, suchas listsof embarkedtroops and other passengers.
Physically, theMuster Rolls are onreels of 16millimeter microfilm. Eachreel holds one or two
year’s worth of personnel recordsfor one or several ships, sofinding agiven crewlist can
require sifting through a lot of other information. This can bea challenge atfirst, but it’seasy
once you get thehang of it. (Asampleof the“other information” appearson page 25.)
Documents on aMuster Roll can be searchedfor, readandreproducedona microfilm reader-
printer. These aremachines with large optical viewing screens coupled toprinting mechanisms
similar to those oncopymachines.They are available in the Archives, at most collegeand
universitylibraries, and at many large public libraries. There isoften achargefor printing each
page, andcoin-operatedmachines are common. Themachinesare easyto use, andthereis
always someone aroundwho can showyou howto usethem.
At theArchives, theMuster Rolls arekept in anarea that isclosedtothe public; thestaff will
retrieve specificreelsupon request. Most of theMuster Roll film is legible andmakes usable
printouts, butquite abitof it isfaded, blurred, scratched, or even unreadable, dueto its ageor
the conditionof the original documents. SomeprintoutsfrommicrofilmedMuster Rolls are
reproducedon pages 16-20.
1 Afrequentexceptiontothisruleisthefirstlogentryoftheyear:Navytraditionallowsittobewritteninverse,butit
mustcontainalltheinformationrequiredbyNavyRegulations.Asamplingoftheseentries,fromprosaictotruly
poetic,isavailableathttp://www.ussrankin.org/HTMLobj-2538/USSRankinNewYearsLogs.PDF
2 ThoughtheArchivescallstheserecords“MusterRolls,”onlythecrewlistsfromWWIIandbeforeactuallybearthat
title.
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Getting Copies of Crew Lists
You canget copiesof crewlists from 1941-1970by mail or byvisiting theArchives.
Information you must provide. Toget informationfrom theArchives, you must provide the name
of the shipor unit andthe datesof therecordsyou areinterestedin. It’salso helpfulto provide
the ship’s hull number if you knowit. For microfilmedrecords, you should provide theship’s
activity number, which is available from Archivespersonnel.
Getting crewlists bymail. If you write a letter requesting officer rosters forspecific monthsfrom
1941-1956, the Archives staff will locate them in the Deck Logs, photocopythem, andsend
them toyou byFirst Class mail.Turnaroundtimeis usuallyseveral weeks. Thefeefor this
service is 50 cents per page, but the charge is usuallywaived if you request fewer than20
pages. (Onepagetypicallylists 10-20 officers, depending ontheeraandthe style of the list. So
if your ship carriesa complement of 25officers, an officer list will probablybe two or three
pageslong.)
All other crewlists areon reels of microfilmed Muster Rolls. TheArchives staff doesnot search
or print microfilmedrecords, but you canorder one or morereels bymail, then use amicrofilm
reader-printer to searchthem andprint the crewlists locally. Thefilm costs$65 per reel,
including shipping.
Thefirst stepin ordering copies or microfilm reels is toget a pricequotation from theArchives.
Do this bysending aletter requesting anestimate to:
Modern MilitaryRecordsUnit (NWCTM)
TheNational Archives at College Park
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001
Your request should beas specificas possible, and should include
 Thefull name, address,and telephone number of thepersonmaking therequest
 Thenameof theship or unit, andthehull number, if youknowit
 Thedatesof therecordsyou are interestedin (specific monthsfor recordsfrom Deck
Logs, specific yearsformicrofilmed Muster Rolls)
 Anything elsethat will makeyour request easier to understand andrespond to.
Until you arefamiliar with doing business withthe Archives, we suggest that you limit your
requeststounder 20pages of Deck Log records, and/or one or two reels of microfilm. Inall
cases, theArchives asksthat requests belimitedtofive items per letter. One “item” consists of
one type of filefor onetime periodfor oneship or unit. For example, arequest for Deck Log
officer rostersfor theUSS Neversail for July, October andDecember 1950, plustheUSS
Neversail Muster Roll reelfor 1950 andtheUSS Rustbucket Muster Roll reelfor 1951 would
consist of five items.
Whenthe Archives receives your letter, astaff member will locate and evaluate therecords you
arerequesting, andwill send you a Quotation for Reproduction Services.An actualrequest
letter andtheresulting quotation are shown on pages 26-27.When youreturnthequotation with
your payment, theArchives will copythe recordsand returnthem to you. (Be sure tosend your
payment tothe addressspecified onthe quotation, which is differentfromthe addresstowhich
you sent your original letter.) Youshould allow10-12 weeksfor theentire process, from sending
your initial request to receiving thereproducedrecords.
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Getting CrewLists by Visiting theArchives. If you or a shipmate live in theWashingtonmetro
area, it maybenefit you to visit the Archives in person. Aproductive visit will take the better part
of aday. The National Archives at College Park islocated at 8601 AdelphiRoad, CollegePark,
Maryland. Before your visit, you shouldspend sometimeontheir web site, which contains a
wealth of informationabout hours, location, transportation, parking, research procedures, etc.3
Your work at theArchives will be tofind the appropriate Deck Logs or Muster Rolls, tosearch
themfor the informationyou need, then tocopy it so you cantakeit home. Though it takes a
while to learntheropes, the work is not difficultfor someone who is familiar with searchingfor
information.Whoever visits should havethe basicskills of finding information in a largelibrary,
and should beable tooperatecopymachinesand similar devices. Theyshould have photoID
and be preparedto comply with the Archives’ rigorous securityprocedures.
TheArchives staff is very helpful, but it cantakean hour or more for them toretrieve the
material you need. Tomakeyour life easier, we suggest that you call theArchives a dayor two
beforeyour visit. Theycan brief you on what toexpect, andtheymaybeable to save you time
by pulling your materials in advance. Thetelephone number of the Modern MilitaryRecords Unit
is [phone].
If neither you nor a shipmate can visit the Archives, youmight consider using acommercial
researcher.Therearemany of these people, often veryfamiliar with theArchives and its
procedures, who charge$35/hour and upwardfor their services.The Archives can provide a list
upon request.
Finding the People on the Crew Lists
Once you have the crewlists you want, thenext step isto get in touch with thepeople whose
names appear onthe lists. Theins andoutsof doing that arebeyond thescope of thispaper,
but you canstart byusing Internet “peoplefinder” sites, then expand your efforts toinclude
other means. Allthistakes work, but it canbe extremelyrewarding.
For example,The USSRankin Association found over 1,500former shipmatesduring its first
two years of operation, including everysingle one of the437 officers who ever served aboard
the Rankin. Almost every person was extremelyhappyto hearfrom us, and we had over 300
former shipmates andguests at ourfirst reunion.Financially, our former shipmates contribute
over $10,000 per year toour cause.
There’s muchmoretothis successthanfinding crewlists and looking up people on theInternet,
but those arethe essential activities.
We’ve triedmost of the free peoplefinder sites ontheInternet. Each of them is useful in its own
way, but we’ve had thegreatest success with thefive that are listed below. To usethem, you
generally enter afirst name andlast name, withmiddle name or initial, city, state andother
information optional on some sites. Here’s howtheyworked at thetime of this writing:
http://www.intelius.com – Free searches onthis site return full name, city, state,
approximate age, andnames of others living in the samehousehold. Search criteria includethe
middle initial, which is veryhelpfulinfinding the person you arelookingfor. Intelius is very
usefulfor zeroing inon possible locations of thetarget individuals, who can bemoreprecisely
located at nocharge byusing whitepages.com or similar peoplefinders.
If you are abletopayfor your information andarelookingfor dozens or hundreds of people,
Intelius’ 24-hour unlimited searchpackagefor $19.95 is agreat value. Inaddition totheabove
3 http://www.archives.gov/dc-metro/college-park/index.html
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information, it returnstheperson’saddress, telephone number anddateof birth, if known. We
used thispackagetohelp usfindabout 900former shipmates.
An Inteliussearch canreturnfrom zero tomorethan a hundred hits. As inall searches, their
completenessandaccuracydepend on what is intheunderlying databases, andoften oneor
morefields are blank. Agood hit from theunlimited searchpackage lookslikethis:
Approx Last
Name BirthDate Address/Phone Neighborhood
Age Reported
MAYERS,JOHNNYS 42 09/24/1962 567839THSTW Avg.Income
MAYERS,EDS 64 04/09/1941 CLEVELAND,OH44366 $36,165
03/12/2002
MAYERS,PHYLLISJ 61 01/02/1944 Avg.HousePrice
MAYERS,EDWARDSCOTT 64 04/09/1941 Phone:[phone] $96,100
http://whitepages.com – Freesearchesreturn names, addressesandphone numbers, but
no informationon age orother householdmembers. Search criteria can include cityand ZIP
code if youknowthem. Freereverse searches areavailable for telephonenumbersand
addresses. If your target’s nameisreasonablyuncommon, and/or if you arefairlysurewhere he
lives, thisis a verygoodsitefor finding him.Wehave used it extensivelyfor finding shipmates,
oftenafter zeroing in onthem through Intelius orU.S. Search.
A whitepages hit lookssomething likethis.The linkstomoreinformationtypically lead you to
sitesthat requirepayment for their searches, often $10 or moreper name:
http://www.ussearch.com – Searchcriteria include themiddle initial. Here are partial results of
afree search for Louis F. Sander.We’ve usedtheage (in thethird column) toidentifylikely
candidatesfrom the search results, thenusedwww.whitepages.com tofind them. Once again,the
linkstypicallylead to sites that require payment.
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http://www.zabasearch.com – Search isbyname andoptionallybystate. Resultsof free
searchesinclude name, address, andsometimesphone number and approximate age.This is a
fairlynewpeople finder, and it isveryeasyto use. It’s oftenthefirst peoplefinder we trywhen
lookingfor a single shipmate. Theresults look like thesamplebelow:
Note that somesearch sites alsoreturnnamesthat are closetotheone you have entered. This
is sometimes helpful, but it canbeconfusing untilyou becomefamiliar with it. Bythe way, Louis
F. Sander was bornin 1939, not 1942. Even thoughtheyear is wrong, it’s close enoughtolet
you knowif hecould have been aboard your shipin the year you are interested in.
http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com – Thissite accesses the Social SecurityDeathIndex,
a list of most Americans who have died since the 1960s. It is usefulforfinding possibly
deceased shipmates, thoughit doesn’t positively identifythem. An Advanced Searchoption
allows you to enter datesand placesof birthanddeath, if youknowthem. Here is atypical hit
from this site:
http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/j2ee/servlet/NGL_v1 – ThisNationalGravesite Locator lets
you searchfor burial locations of veteransandtheir familymembers in VANational Cemeteries,
stateveteranscemeteries, various other militaryand Department of Interior cemeteries, andfor
veterans buriedin private cemeterieswhen thegrave is marked with agovernment grave
marker.
Contact Information
Wehopethis paper hasbeen interesting and useful toyou. If you areserious aboutfinding your
former shipmates,The USS Rankin Association will be pleased toshare more of our knowledge
and experience with you.Weinvite you tovisit our web site at http://www.ussrankin.org.
You can contact usthere, or byemailing [email protected], or bywritingThe USS Rankin
Association, c/oLouis “Skip” Sander, 153Mayer Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15237.
You can download the current version of this paper at http://www.ussrankin.org/crewlists.htm
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Appendix 1 – Using “Blue Books” in Finding Former Officers
Locating officersandformer officerscan bemade easier byresearching the “blue books”found
in manylarge libraries. In most cases,the blue bookscanprovide theofficer’sfirst, middle, and
last names, all correctlyspelled, along with his or her dateof birth.Whenthese specificsare
known, it becomesmucheasier tofindthe person in Internet peoplefinders, inthe Social
SecurityDeathIndex, and in other similar references. Proof of thisisfound in theexperience of
TheUSS Rankin Association, which has locatedeveryone of the 437officers who served
aboardthe Rankinfrom1945-1971.Wecouldn’t have done it without theblue books.
This Appendix describestheblue books, tells wheretofindthem, andgives usefultipsfor using
them effectively.
What They Are
“Blue book” isthecommon namefor the Navy’s annual publication of detailed information
about itsofficers. Over the years, thesebooks were commonlypublished as paperbacks with
light bluecovers, hencethe nameblue book.
A more official namefor the blue booksisthe“NavyRegister,” but the exact titles of the books
aremuch longer andhave changedmanytimes over the years. Officers of theNavy, the Naval
Reserve, and Marine Corps oftenappear inthe same book, but sometimes theyarein separate
bookswith separate names.Wehave seenthetitles in thetable below, but we believe there are
othersas well:
Year Title
1906 List and Stationof theCommissioned andWarrant Officersof theNavyof theUnited
Statesand of the Marine Corps, onThe Active List, andOfficers ontheRetired List
Employed on Active Duty
1941 Register of Commissioned andWarrant Officersof the UnitedStates Navyand
Marine Corps
1947 Register of Commissioned andWarrant Officersof the UnitedStates Navyand
Marine Corps
1949 Register of Commissioned Officers andWarrant Officersof theUnited States Naval
Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve
1953 Register of Commissioned andWarrant Officersof the UnitedStates Naval
Reserve, NAVPERS 15,009
1958 Register of Commissioned andWarrant Officersof the UnitedStates Navyand
Marine Corps and Reserve Officers onActive Duty, NAVPERS 15,018
1959 Register of Commissioned andWarrant Officersof the UnitedStates Naval
Reserve, NAVPERS 15,009
1963 Register of Commissioned andWarrant Officersof the UnitedStates Navyand
Marine Corps and Reserve Officers onActive Duty, NAVPERS 15,018.
1969 Register of Naval Reserve Officers
1970 Register of Commissioned andWarrant Officersof the UnitedStates Navyand
Marine Corps and Reserve Officers onActive Duty, NAVPERS 15,018. Part I –
Navyand Naval Reserve. Part II –Marine Corpsand Marine Corps Reserve
1972 Register of NavyOfficerson Active Duty
1976 Register of Naval Reserve Officers onActive Duty
1977 Register of Naval Reserve Officers
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Where To Find Them
Federal publications andother information products aremade availableforfree public usein
speciallydesignated Federal DepositoryLibrariesthroughout the UnitedStates. Inadditionto
the publications,trained librarians areavailable to assist in their use. Youcan locatethese
libraries in your areabyusing thefinding aids at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/libraries.html
Usuallyonlythe largestFederal depositorylibraries maintain NavyRegister collections.We
found averycompletecollection at the Universityof Pittsburgh’s Hillman Library, and others no
doubt exist acrossthecountry. Toseeif agiven libraryhasthe bluebooks, callthem and ask to
speak with thegovernment publications librarian. Theselibrarianstendtobe veryfamiliar with
government publicationsin general, butfewof them will have first-handknowledge of the Navy
Register, and probablynone will knowtheterm “blue books.” Youcan helpyour librarian by
using thetable belowtogive him or her the Superintendent of Documents(SuDoc) number of
the booksyou arelookingfor. He or shewill thenbe able totell you if thebooksareinthe
library. If theyare not, the librarian will probablybe able tosuggest another librarytocontact.
YearsCovered SuDocNumber
1814-1947 N1.10
1947-1949 M206.10
1949-present D208.12
Some librariesmight not use theSuDoc number to catalog their holdings. In thosecases, give
the librarianasmuchof the officialtitle asyouknow. As you can seefrom thetable onthe
previous page, thetitlesusuallybegin with “Register of...”
Large librarieshave powerfultoolsforfinding obscure books andtheir locations, andif you can
get oneof their librarianstohelp you in your quest, you will surelybe successful at finding what
you want. If you areonlylookingfor afewofficers, orfor officersfrom oneor afewyears, you
can probablyget some blue books oninterlibraryloan. It’salso possiblethat adistant librarian
might helpyou bylooking up anofficer or two and telephoning or emailing theresults.
You can accessthecurrent editionsof theblue booksonline at
http://buperscd.technology.navy.mil/bup_updt/upd_CD/BUPERS/Register/RegOpenMenu.html
How To Use Them
As with manydirectories, there is useful information in the descriptive material in thefront of the
book: abbreviationsfor ranks, meanings of codesusedthroughout thebooks, chain of
commandfrom the Commander in Chief down throughthe bureaus and officesof theChief of
Naval Operations, andmore. If you encounter something mysteriouswhen using thebook,
there’s agoodchancethat thekeytothemysterywill befound inthefrontof the book.
Themain section of thebook is alineal list of officers byseniority, from the highest Admirals
down to thelowliest Ensign andthe newestWarrant Officer. Thisis where you’ll find your man’s
full nameand date of birth. Youmayalsofindinformation on hisspecialty, his date of rank, how
hegot his commission, and soforth. Sincetherearethousandsof officersin thislist, and since
theyare listedin order of seniority, you will need an indextofindtheperson you’re looking for.
That indexis in the backof the book, intheform of analphabetical list of officersbyname.The
indexis hundreds of pages long, andthetype is verysmall, but it leads you tothedetails about
the person you aretrying tofind.The indexnot onlyguides you tothepagefor the person’s
main listing, but it typicallyincludes information tohelp you findthat listing on its page, which
maycontain hundredsof similar listings. Thesystem for doing thishaschangedover theyears,
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but this onefrom 1963 istypical. If you look for Louis F. Sander intheindex, you’ll find that he’s
a Lieutenant, juniorgrade, andthat hisLineal Number is 88242. His SubNumber is40, and his
main entryis on page 294.
Turning topage 294, youwill find Lineal Number88242 and SubNumber 40:
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Theentrythereshows Mr. Sander’sfull name, properlyspelled, along with his dateof birth.
Having that informationmakesit verymucheasier tofindhim. InInteliusand other Internet
peoplefindersthat include dateof birth, it canmakeit almost automatic.
Mr. Sander’s entryincludes other informationthatmight possiblyhelp you find him: theSource
Code, decodedin atablein thefront of the book, shows that hewas commissioned via the
NavyROTC. His Designator, also decoded inthefront of thebook, shows that heis an
Unrestricted LineOfficer.The Dateof Rank and PayEntryBase Datecolumnsshowwhen he
was promotedtoLTJG,and when he wasfirst enteredin theNavypaysystem, respectively.
Other columnsmaygive other useful information.
If you’re using blue books tofindanymore thanafewofficers, it’s usefulto create apaperform
tokeeptrack of theinformation youfind—there isa lot of it, andit involves manybookswith
similar appearanceandsometimes confusing titles.Weusedlegal paperin landscape
orientation, andfilled in thefollowing columnsbefore we went tothe library:
 Officer’s name, rank,filenumber and designator as we knowthem (be careful—the
man youknowasTom Smithmayactuallybe JohnThomasSmith)
 Year or yearsthe officer was aboard orknown tous (this helpstofindtheright blue
book)
Wefilled inthesecolumns at thelibrary:
 Year and identification of blue book or bookssearched (people are not always where
you think theywill be, and you mayhave to look in several books.It’s very usefulto
keeptrack of thebooksyou’ve looked in)
 Year and identification of blue book where wefound theofficer
 Number of theindexpage where we foundhim
 Page number andLineal Number/Sub Number of his main entry
 Full name andDOB asfound in mainentry
 Other informationfound
When working in one book that possiblycontains several officerswe were lookingfor, we found
it usefulfirst tolook them all up inthe indexandrecordthe information leading tothemain
entry, thentogotothemain section andfind them all there. Thiskept usfrom constantlyhaving
tomove back andforthin a large, sometimesfragile blue book.
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