Thomas T. Craven

A Register of His Papers in the Naval Historical Foundation Collection in the Library of Congress

Prepared by Joseph K. Brooks

Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Washington, D.C.

1992

Contact information: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html

Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division, 2007

Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms007037

Table of Contents

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

Names:

Subjects:

Occupations:

Administrative Information

Provenance:

Copyright Status:

Preferred Citation:

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement of the Papers

Container List

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.

Administrative Information

The papers of Thomas T. Craven were deposited in the Library of Congress by the Naval Historical Foundation in 1984 and converted to a gift in 1998.

The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Thomas T. Craven is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Thomas T. Craven Papers, Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

The papers of Thomas Tingey Craven (1873-1950), naval officer, span the years 1842-1969, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1917-1945. Craven is noted as the director of naval aviation who ordered the conversion of the coal-carrying ship Jupiter into the Langley, the United States Navy's first aircraft carrier. The collection is organized into family papers, general correspondence, subject files, and writings. The family papers include biographical and genealogical material, clippings, and correspondence. Of special interest are a letter of 1842 written by Craven's grandfather and namesake Thomas T. Craven, and a letter from Craven to his wife Antoinette relating his experiences and impressions during the 1908 visit of the battleship South Carolina to Japan.

Well represented in the Subject File are documents related to Craven's World War I convoy duty in Atlantic and Mediterranean waters while captain of the gunboat Sacramento from 1917 to 1918, his command of the United States Naval Aviation Forces in Europe in 1918, and his command of a gunboat flotilla on the Yangtze River in China from 1929 to 1931. Documents relating to Craven's World War I service include convoy sailing orders, reports about naval accidents and incidents, and correspondence and memoranda relating to United States Naval Aviation Forces in Europe. Correspondents from the latter period include Hutchinson I. Cone and Ralph Earle. As commander of the Yangtze Patrol (1929-31), Craven corresponded with diplomats, missionaries, military colleagues, and Chinese officials. Correspondents from this period include Morris Llewellyn Cooke, H. G. C. Hallock, Lieu Ven Tae (or Liu Wen-tau), M. Yonai, Marshal Liu Hsiang, and Allen N. Cameron. Other topics include Craven's service as defense counsel in the court-martial of Edward H. Watson, commander of a destroyer squadron that shipwrecked at Point Pedernales (or Point Honda) on the California coast in 1923, resulting in the loss of twenty-three men and seven ships; and Craven's efforts in behalf of a protégé, Husband E. Kimmel, who was under investigation after the 1942 Japanese attack on his Pacific Fleet command at Pearl Harbor.

The General Correspondence includes letters discussing Craven's service as chief coordinator of the Federal Coordinating Service during the Herbert Hoover administration, curriculum reform at the United States Naval Academy, the New York State Maritime Academy, the Merchant Marine, Alaska fisheries, aircraft carriers, radio communications policy, corrupt practices in naval shipyards, and other topics. Correspondents not already cited include Richard E. Byrd, Josephus Daniels, Stanford C. Hooper, Herbert Hoover, Dudley W. Knox, Frank Knox, David Sarnoff, and William S. Sims.

Arrangement of the Papers

This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material.

Container List