John J. Ballentine
A Register of His Papers in the Naval Historical Foundation
Collection of the Library of Congress
Prepared by Laura Kells
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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,
1997
Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.govloc.mss/eadmss.ms997013
Latest revision: 2005-02-22
Title: Papers of John J.
Ballentine
Span Dates: 1913-1973
Bulk Dates: (bulk 1942-1954)
ID No.: MSS78663 Creator:
Ballentine, John J. (John
Jennings), 1896-1970
Extent:
5,000
items;
21 containers plus 11
oversize;
10 linear
feet
Language: Collection material in English
Repository:
Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress,
Washington, D.C.
Abstract: U.S. Navy officer and
air pilot. Correspondence, memoranda, diaries, logbooks, military records,
biographical material, scrapbooks, clippings, photographs, and other papers
relating primarily to John J. Ballentine's naval career after 1920.
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.
Names: Ballentine, John J. (John Jennings), 1896-1970 Barth,
Theodore H. (Theodore Harold), 1891-1967--Correspondence United
States. Navy--Aviation United
States. Navy--Foreign service--Atlantic Ocean United
States. Navy--Foreign service--Mediterranean Sea United
States. Navy--Officers United
States. Navy. Atlantic Fleet. Air Force United
States. Navy. Carrier Division One United
States. Navy. Fleet, 6th Bunker
Hill (Aircraft carrier : CV-17) Carl L.
Norden, Inc Naval
Proving Ground (Dahlgren, Va.)
Subjects: Aeronautics,
Military Airplanes, Military--Flight
testing Flight training Hunting Korean War,
1950-1953 Norden bombsight Operation Torch Remote control World War,
1939-1945--Aerial operations, American World War,
1939-1945--Campaigns--Africa, North World War,
1939-1945--Campaigns--Pacific Ocean World War, 1939-1945--Naval
operations, American United States--Armed
forces
Occupations: Aviators Naval officers
Provenance:The papers of John J. Ballentine, naval officer and aviator, were
deposited in the Library of Congress by the Naval Historical Foundation in 1989
and converted to gift in 1998.
Transfers:Most photographs have been transferred to the Library's Prints and
Photographs Division where they are identified as part of these papers.
Copyright Status:The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of John J.
Ballentine is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17,
U.S.C.).
Preferred Citation:Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the
following information: Container number, John J. Ballentine Papers, Naval
Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress,
Washington, D.C.
Date |
Event |
1896, Oct. 4 |
Born,
Hillsboro, Ohio
|
1917 |
Graduated from
United States Naval Academy,
Annapolis, Md.
|
1917-1918 |
Served on
Nebraska
|
1918-1919 |
Duty at
Naval Auxiliary Reserve Officers' School,
Pelham Bay Park, N.Y.
|
1919-1920 |
Served on
Arizona
|
1920 |
Flight training at
Naval Air Station,
Pensacola, Fla.
Designated naval aviator
|
1920-1921 |
Trained in land planes with
United States Army Air Corps,
Carlstrom Field,
Arcadia, Fla.
|
1921 |
Trained in pursuit planes at
Kelly Field,
San Antonio, Tex.
|
1921-1922 |
Duty in first torpedo plane squadron,
Atlantic Fleet,
Torpedo Plane Division,
Yorktown, Va., renamed
Torpedo Plane Squadron One
|
1922 |
Married
Catherine H. Shield
|
1922-1926 |
Officer in charge,
Naval Air Detail,
Dahlgren, Va.
Conducted original tests on Norden bombsight models and
operated first pilotless radio-controlled airplane,
Naval Proving Ground,
Dahlgren, Va.
|
1926-1927 |
Commanding officer,
Torpedo Squadron Twenty, attached to
Jason,
Asiatic Fleet
|
1927-1928 |
Commanding officer,
Observation Squadron Eleven,
Light Cruiser Division Three, assigned to
Marblehead,
Asiatic Fleet
Made official inspection of Japanese naval aviation and
aircraft manufacturing facilities
|
1928-1931 |
Officer in charge,
Naval Air Detail,
Dahlgren, Va.
Tested advanced models of Norden bombsight
|
1931-1933 |
Commanding officer,
Torpedo Squadron Two, based on the
Saratoga
|
1933-1935 |
Head,
War Plans Section,
Bureau of Aeronautics,
Navy Department,
Washington, D.C.
|
1935-1936 |
Executive officer,
Plans Division,
Bureau of Aeronautics,
Navy Department,
Washington, D.C.
|
1936-1937 |
Navigator and later operations officer,
Wright,
flagship
of
Commander Aircraft Base Force
|
1938-1939 |
Gunnery officer and later operations officer on staff of
Commander Aircraft Battle Force,
Saratoga
|
1939-1941 |
Served in
Personnel Division and became head of
Flight Division,
Bureau of Aeronautics,
Navy Department,
Washington, D.C.
|
1941 |
Executive officer,
Ranger
|
1941-1942 |
Commanding officer,
Long
Island
|
1942 |
Chief of staff and aide to the commander, Carriers,
Atlantic Fleet,
Ranger
Chief of staff to the commander, Air Group,
Western Naval Task Force during action off
Casablanca in November
|
1943-1944 |
First commanding officer,
Bunker Hill
|
1944 |
Deputy, chief of staff, and aide to the commander, Aircraft,
Pacific Fleet,
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
|
1944-1945 |
Commander,
Fleet Air,
Seattle, Wash.
|
1945 |
Commander,
Carrier Division Seven,
Third Fleet,
Bon Homme
Richard
Fleet liaison officer for Commander in Chief Pacific at
Headquarters, Supreme Commander for Allied Powers, Pacific; landed at
Atsugi Airport, 30 Aug., in airborne
occupation of
Japan; and escorted
Gen. Douglas MacArthur to the surrender
ceremonies on the
Missouri,
2
Sept.
|
1946-1947 |
Chief of staff and aide to the representative of the chief of
naval operations,
United Nations Military Staff Committee of the Security
Council
|
1947-1949 |
Commander,
Carrier Division One in the
Mediterranean
|
1949 |
Member of the
General Board,
Navy Department,
Washington, D.C.
Appointed vice admiral
|
1949-1951 |
Commander,
Sixth Fleet in the
Mediterranean
|
1951-1954 |
Commander,
Air Force,
Atlantic Fleet,
Norfolk, Va.
|
1954, May 1 |
Retired from navy and promoted to admiral |
1956-1957 |
Recalled to active duty as navy member of blue-ribbon
interservice board studying the air defense of the North American
continent
|
1970, May 21 |
Died,
Bethesda, Md.
|
The papers of
John J. Ballentine (1896-1970), naval officer and
aviator, span the years 1913-1973, with the bulk of the collection dating from
1942 to 1954. The papers focus primarily on Ballentine's activities during his
career in the navy. His class graduated from the
United States Naval Academy in three years in 1917
in order to participate in World War I, but the main documentation of his
career begins in 1920, when Ballentine began flight training in the fifth class
trained at the
Naval Air Station in
Pensacola, Florida. His activities as a pioneer
aviator included testing the first models of the Norden bombsight in the 1920s
and 1930s and controlling from the ground the first airplane operated under
remote control. A major focus of the collection is Ballentine's activities
during World War II. He saw action off the coast of
Casablanca in November 1942. He also served as the
first commanding officer of the aircraft carrier
Bunker Hill
from its
commissioning in May 1943 to 5 February 1944. While under his command, the
Bunker Hill
saw
action at
Rabaul and
Kavieng (now part of
Papua New Guinea) and in the
Gilbert,
Nauro, and
Marshall islands. These episodes are documented in
each series of the collection. Other portions of the collection document
Ballentine's two tours of duty in the
Mediterranean, as commander of
Carrier Division One in 1947-1949 and as commander
of the
Sixth Fleet from 1949-1951, and his final duty in
Norfolk, Virginia, as commander of the
Air Force, Atlantic Fleet (COMAIRLANT), from 1951
to 1954.
The
Diaries series
(1941-1962) is incomplete. There are no diaries for March 1944 through 1946 or
for 1954. The first four diaries document Ballentine's daily activities during
much of World War II. The volume covering 20 October 1942 to 15 September 1943
provides detail about Operation Torch and the action off
Casablanca as well as about his assignment
overseeing the final fitting and commissioning of the
Bunker Hill.
The 16
September 1943 to 27 February 1944 volume features action the aircraft carrier
saw in the
Pacific during his command. The diaries covering
his tours in the
Mediterranean and as COMAIRLANT in
Norfolk contain personal insights and details
which supplement the official records found in the
General
Correspondence series and
Subject File.
The diaries for 1955-1962 document Ballentine's retirement, as well as his
activities when recalled to serve on an interservice board in
Washington, D.C., from November 1956 to July 1957.
They demonstrate that Ballentine took an active role in maintaining his farm
“Millbank” in
Dogue, Virginia, and that he continued to pursue
his lifelong interest in hunting. There are no entries concerning the last
eight years of his life.
The
General
Correspondence (1920-1970) contains letters, cables, and memoranda
relating to Ballentine's naval career, primarily from 1920 to 1954. In addition
to official correspondence, there are copies of letters sent and received from
friends and associates. Documents from the 1930s trace his various duties at
the
Naval Air Station in
Dahlgren, Virginia. Correspondence from the
mid-1930s through the 1940s from
Theodore H. Barth, president of
Carl L. Norden, Inc., includes information on the
testing and production of bombsights. Related material can be found in the
Subject File
under “Naval aviation.” The general correspondence from 1948
through March 1951 is minimal because most of it has been integrated in the
Subject File
under the heading “Mediterranean ports.” The most extensive portion
of the general correspondence consists of personal office files created when
Ballentine was COMAIRLANT between 1951 and 1954. Included are letters from
other fleet commanders reporting on the
Mediterranean. The Korean War is a recurring theme
although not a central feature of these files. Two
oversize
scrapbooks, containing photographs, clippings, cards, and letters relating to
Ballentine's activities as COMAIRLANT, and his call record (telephone log) in
the
Miscellany
series complement the correspondence files.
The
Subject File
(1913-1973, n.d.) primarily concerns Ballentine's naval career, naval aviation,
and the activities of the
Sixth Fleet in the
Mediterranean. Biographical information on
Ballentine is contained in official military records, such as commissions and
appointments, orders to duty, and awards and commendations, as well as official
biographies and news clippings. Within the group of naval aviation files are
records of Ballentine's own aviation activities in the 1920s and 1930s as well
as historic overviews written as early as the 1930s and in commemoration of the
fiftieth anniversary of naval aviation in 1961. The activities of the
Sixth Fleet in the
Mediterranean from 1948 through 1951 are well
documented in the segment relating to
Mediterranean ports. These files contain
memoranda, cables, correspondence, schedules, invitations, guest lists, and
calling cards documenting the military training and diplomatic role of the
Sixth Fleet. The subject files on Ballentine's
Sixth Fleet activities are supplemented by the
logbooks and photographs in the
Miscellany
series and in several oversize scrapbooks.
Most of the photographs from this collection have been transferred to
the
Prints and Photographs Division. These include
shots of airplanes, aircraft carriers, battleships, destroyers, and tankers;
scenes of World War II action in the
Pacific; activities aboard the
Bunker Hill
(including views of damage caused by two Japanese kamikazes in May 1945); and
activities in the
Mediterranean. Some personal photographs,
duplicates, and photographs from albums presented to Ballentine to commemorate
official naval functions have been retained in the
Miscellany
series.
The collection is arranged in five series:
Container |
Series |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BOX 1-7
|
|
|
Daily accounts of activities while on active duty in the navy and
in retirement.
|
|
Arranged chronologically. |
|
BOX 7-12
|
|
|
Personal and official correspondence relating almost exclusively
to Ballentine's activities as naval officer.
|
|
Arranged chronologically. |
|
BOX 12-19
|
|
|
Memoranda, correspondence, military records, biographical
information, invitations, calling cards, and miscellaneous printed matter
focusing on Mediterranean ports of call, naval aviation, naval vessels, and
Ballentine's naval career.
|
|
Arranged alphabetically by subject and chronologically
therein.
|
|
BOX 19-21
|
|
|
Logbooks, identification cards, photographs, scrapbooks, and
annotated Naval Academy handbooks.
|
|
Arranged alphabetically by type of material and chronologically
therein.
|
|
BOX OV 1-OV 11
|
|
|
Scrapbooks (includes photographs), maps, rosters, an autographed
sign, and automobile flag.
|
|
Arranged and described according to the series, folders, and boxes
from which the items were removed.
|
Container |
Contents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BOX 1-7
|
Diaries,
1941-1962
|
|
Daily accounts of activities while on active duty in the navy and
in retirement.
|
|
Arranged chronologically. |
|
BOX 1
|
1 July 1941-27 Feb. 1944 |
|
(4 folders)
|
|
|
1947 |
|
BOX 2
|
1948-1950 |
|
(3 vols.)
|
|
BOX 3
|
1951-1952 |
|
(3 vols.)
|
|
BOX 4
|
1953 |
|
(2 vols.)
|
|
|
1955 |
|
BOX 5
|
1956-1958 |
|
(3 vols.)
|
|
BOX 6
|
1959-1961 |
|
(3 vols.)
|
|
BOX 7
|
1962 |
|
BOX 7-12
|
General Correspondence,
1920-1970
|
|
Personal and official correspondence relating almost exclusively
to Ballentine's activities as naval officer.
|
|
Arranged chronologically. |
|
BOX 7
|
Nov. 1920-Dec. 1938 |
|
(7 folders)
|
|
BOX 8
|
Jan. 1939-Sept. 1947 |
|
(8 folders)
|
|
|
Nov. 1949-May 1951 |
|
(3 folders)
|
|
BOX 9
|
June 1951-May 1952 |
|
(13 folders)
|
|
BOX 10
|
June 1952-Apr. 1953 |
|
(12 folders)
|
|
BOX 11
|
May 1953-Mar. 1954 |
|
(15 folders)
|
|
BOX 12
|
Apr.-May 1954 |
|
(3 folders)
|
|
|
1957, 1970 |
|
BOX 12-19
|
Subject File,
1913-1973,
n.d.
|
|
Memoranda, correspondence, military records, biographical
information, invitations, calling cards, and miscellaneous printed matter
focusing on Mediterranean ports of call, naval aviation, naval vessels, and
Ballentine's naval career.
|
|
Arranged alphabetically by subject and chronologically
therein.
|
|
BOX 12
|
Aviation, 1953
For additional
material see same series, Naval aviation
|
|
|
Biographical information |
|
|
Appointments and commissions, 1913-1954 |
|
|
Awards and commendations, 1921-1952 |
|
(2 folders)
|
|
|
Biographical sketches, 1948-1957 |
|
|
Clippings, 1926-1970 |
|
|
Family information, 1922-1972, n.d. |
|
|
Fitness reports, 1947-1949 |
|
|
Orders to duty |
|
|
Permanent change of duty orders, 1917-1954
|
|
(2 folders)
|
|
|
Temporary additional duty (TAD) orders, 1920-1954
|
|
(4 folders)
|
|
BOX 13
|
Personal miscellany, 1919-1951, n.d. |
|
|
Retirement, change of command ceremonies,
1954
|
|
|
Commander Air Force, United States Atlantic Fleet
(COMAIRLANT)
|
|
|
Guest lists and schedules, 1951-1953 |
|
|
Roster of officers, 1951-1953
See also
Oversize, Subject File
|
|
|
Defense issues, clippings, 1951-1957 |
|
|
Joint Civilian Orientation Conference, 1951-1953
|
|
(2 folders)
|
|
|
Mediterranean ports
|
|
|
Algiers, Algeria, 1950, n.d. |
|
|
Athens, Greece, 1948-1951, n.d. |
|
(3 folders)
|
|
|
Augusta, Italy, 1950-1951, n.d. |
|
|
Barcelona, Spain, 1950-1951, n.d. |
|
(2 folders)
|
|
BOX 14
|
Beirut, Lebanon, 1950-1951, n.d. |
|
(2 folders)
|
|
|
Bone (Annaba), Algeria, 1949 |
|
|
Casablanca, French Morocco, 1949-1951 |
|
|
Genoa, Italy, 1947-1950, n.d. |
|
|
Gibraltar, 1947-1951 |
|
|
Golfe-Juan, France, 1948-1950, n.d. |
|
|
Hyères, France, 1948-1949, n.d. |
|
BOX 15
|
Istanbul, Turkey, 1950-1951, n.d.
|
|
(3 folders)
See also
Oversize, Subject File
|
|
|
La Spezia, Italy, 1950 |
|
|
Lisbon, Portugal, 1949-1951 |
|
(2 folders)
|
|
|
Malta, 1947-1951, n.d. |
|
(2 folders)
|
|
|
Messina, Italy, 1950 |
|
BOX 16
|
Naples, Italy, 1947-1951, n.d. |
|
(6 folders)
|
|
|
Oran, Algeria, 1950 |
|
|
Palermo, Italy, 1948-1950 |
|
|
Palma (Majorca), Spain, 1950-1951 |
|
|
Rhodes, Greece, and Suda Bay, Crete, 1950 |
|
BOX 17
|
Sardinia (Italy), 1950 |
|
|
Sfax, Tunisia, 1948 |
|
|
Taranto, Italy, 1948-1951, n.d. |
|
|
Toulon, France, 1948-1950 |
|
|
Trieste (Free Territory of Trieste), 1950 |
|
|
Tripoli, Libya, 1948-1950 |
|
|
Venice, Italy, 1950 |
|
|
Villefranche, France, 1948-1950, n.d. |
|
(3 folders)
|
|
BOX 18
|
Miscellany, 1920-1957, n.d.
See also
Oversize, Subject File (maps)
|
|
|
Naval aviation
|
|
|
Bombing practice, 1930-1933 |
|
|
Bombsight testing, 1930-1932 |
|
|
General, 1922-1961, n.d. |
|
(6 folders)
|
|
|
Radio-controlled flight experiment, 1924 |
|
|
Sixth Fleet, 1948-1951
For
additional material see same series, Mediterranean ports
|
|
BOX 19
|
Speeches and speech material, 1953-1957 |
|
|
United Nations, Military Staff Committee of the Security
Council, pheasant hunt, 1946
|
|
|
United States Fleet, Aircraft, Battle Force, 1932,
1939
|
|
|
United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., class of
1918, fiftieth reunion, 1967
|
|
|
Vessels |
|
|
Antietam,
1953
|
|
|
Bairoko, 1945
|
|
|
Bunker Hill,
1942-1973, n.d.
|
|
(4 folders)
See also
Oversize, Subject File;
Subject
File (maps)
|
|
|
Coral Sea,
[1953?]
|
|
|
Leyte fire,
1953
|
|
|
Long Island, 1941-1942,
1949
|
|
|
Marblehead,
1928
|
|
|
Ranger,
1941-1942
See also
Oversize, Subject File (maps)
|
|
|
Tarawa,
1952-1953
|
|
BOX 19-21
|
Miscellany,
1914-1961,
n.d.
|
|
Logbooks, identification cards, photographs, scrapbooks, and
annotated Naval Academy handbooks.
|
|
Arranged alphabetically by type of material and chronologically
therein.
|
|
BOX 19
|
Admiral's call record, Apr. 1951-1 Jan. 1953 |
|
BOX 20
|
Identification and membership cards, 1941-1961,
n.d.
|
|
|
Photographs |
|
|
Bunker Hill,
1943-1944
|
|
|
Commander Air Force, United States Atlantic Fleet
(COMAIRLANT), 1951-1954
|
|
|
COMAIRLANT staff, 1952 |
|
|
Mediterranean ports |
|
|
Algiers, Algeria, 1950 |
|
|
Athens, Greece, n.d. |
|
|
Beirut, Lebanon, 1950 |
|
|
Crete (Greece), 1950 |
|
|
French Riviera, 1950, n.d. |
|
|
Genoa, Italy, 1950 |
|
|
Istanbul, Turkey, 1950, n.d. |
|
(4 folders)
|
|
|
Naples, Italy, 1949-1951 |
|
|
Palermo, Italy, 1949-1951 |
|
|
Taranto, Italy, 1950, n.d. |
|
|
Trieste (Free Territory of Trieste),
1950
|
|
|
Miscellaneous, 1947, n.d. |
|
|
Portraits |
|
|
Ballentine, Catherine S., n.d. |
|
|
Ballentine, John Jennings, ca. 1915-1954, n.d.
|
|
(2 folders)
|
|
BOX 21
|
United Nations, Military Staff Committee |
|
|
General, 1946-1947 |
|
(2 folders)
|
|
|
Pheasant hunt, 1946 |
|
|
Scrapbooks
See Oversize,
Miscellany
|
|
|
Standing orders for staff watch officer |
|
|
28 Nov. 1949-15 Sep. 1950 |
|
|
19 Sep. 1950-16 Mar. 1951 |
|
|
United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., “Reef
Points” handbook
|
|
|
1914-1917 |
|
(3 folders)
|
|
|
1946-1947 |
|
BOX OV 1-OV 11
|
Oversize,
1942-1970,
n.d.
|
|
Scrapbooks (includes photographs), maps, rosters, an autographed
sign, and automobile flag.
|
|
Arranged and described according to the series, folders, and boxes
from which the items were removed.
|
|
BOX OV 1
|
Subject File |
|
|
Commander Air Force, United States Atlantic
Fleet Roster of officers, 1951-1953
(Container
13)
|
|
|
Mediterranean ports |
|
|
Istanbul, Turkey, 1950
(Container 15)
|
|
|
Vessels |
|
|
Bunker
Hill, 1970
(Container
19)
|
|
BOX OV 2
|
Subject File (maps) |
|
|
Miscellany, n.d.
(Container 18)
|
|
|
Vessels |
|
|
Bunker
Hill, ca. 1944
(Container
19)
|
|
|
Ranger,
1942
(Container
19)
|
|
BOX OV 3
|
Miscellany |
|
|
Scrapbooks (Container 21)
|
|
|
Commander Fleet Air (COMFAIR), Seattle, Wash., 27
Oct. 1944-18 June 1945
|
|
BOX OV 4-OV 8
|
Commander Sixth Fleet (COMSIXTHFLT), 14 Nov. 1949-19
Mar. 1951
|
|
(5 volumes)
|
|
BOX OV 9-OV 10
|
Commander Air Force, Atlantic (COMAIRLANT), 11 Apr.
1951-1 May 1954
|
|
(2 volumes)
|
|
BOX OV 11
|
Joint Civilian Orientation Conference (seventeenth),
1953
|
|