Bernard L. Austin
A Register of His Papers in the Naval Historical Foundation
Collection in the Library of Congress
Prepared by Joseph K. Brooks with the assistance of Richard
Ratamalaya
![http://lcweb2.loc.gov/xmlcommon/lcseal.jpg](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090114212425im_/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/xmlcommon/lcseal.jpg)
Manuscript Division,
Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
2008
Contact information:
http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html
Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division,
2008
Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms008049
Title: Bernard L. Austin Papers
Span Dates: 1916-1979
Bulk Dates: (bulk 1937-1968) ID No.: MSS61725 Creator:
Austin, Bernard L.
(Bernard Lige), 1902-1979 Extent: 7,500
items;
24 containers plus 3 classified;
9.6 linear feet
Language: Collection material in
English
Repository:
Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress,
Washington, D.C. Abstract: Naval officer and
educator. Correspondence, speeches and writings, and subject files documenting
Austin's naval career.
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.
Personal Names Anderson,
George Whelan, 1906---Correspondence. Austin,
Bernard L. (Bernard Lige), 1902-1979. Baldwin,
Hanson Weightman, 1903-1991--Correspondence. Bates,
Richard W., 1892-1973--Correspondence. Beakley,
Wallace M.--Correspondence. Burke,
Arleigh A., 1901---Correspondence. Colbert,
Richard G., d. 1973--Correspondence. Conolly,
Richard L. (Richard Lansing), 1892-1962--Correspondence. Dennison,
Robert L. (Robert Lee), 1901-1980--Correspondence. Dietrich,
Neil K.--Correspondence. Eccles,
Henry Effingham, 1898---Correspondence. Edison,
Charles A., 1890-1969--Correspondence. Eller,
Ernest McNeill, 1903---Correspondence. Gallery,
Philip D. (Philip Daly), 1907-1973--Correspondence. Ghormley,
Robert Lee, 1883-1958. Harrigan,
Anthony--Correspondence. Hayward,
John Tucker, 1910---Correspondence. Hoyt,
Edwin Palmer--Correspondence. Knoll,
Denys W.--Correspondence. Lovette,
Leland Pearson, 1897---Correspondence. McManes,
K. M.--Correspondence. Melson,
Charles L.--Correspondence. Moorer,
Thomas H., 1912---Correspondence. Nimitz,
Chester W. (Chester William), 1885-1966--Correspondence. Orem,
Howard E.--Correspondence. Peniston,
Robert C.--Correspondence. Ramsey,
Paul H. (Paul Hubert), 1905-1982--Correspondence. Smedburg,
W. R.--Correspondence. Stark,
Harold R. (Harold Raynsford), 1880-1972--Correspondence. Vosseller,
A. B.--Correspondence. Watson,
Frank T.--Correspondence.
Organizations Inter-American Defense Board. Naval
War College (U.S.) United
States. Navy Dept. United
States. Navy--Foreign service--Great
Britain. United
States. Navy--History--20th
century. United
States. Navy.
Fleet, 2nd. United
States. Office of the Chief of Naval
Operations. United
States. Office of the Chief of Naval
Operations. International Affairs
Division.
Subjects Destroyers
(Warships)--United States. Journalism,
Military--United States. Korean War,
1950-1953--Naval operations. Military
readiness. Submarines (Ships)--United
States. World War, 1939-1945--Naval
operations, American. World War, 1939-1945--Naval
operations, British.
Occupations Naval
officers.
Provenance:The papers of Bernard L. Austin, naval officer and educator, were
deposited in the Library of Congress by the Naval Historical Foundation in
1984, and converted to a gift in 1998.
Processing History:The papers of Bernard L. Austin were arranged and described in 1992.
The finding aid was revised in 2008.
Copyright Status:The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Bernard L.
Austin is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17,
U.S.C.).
Security Classified DocumentsGovernment regulations control the use of security classified material
in this collection. Manuscript Division staff can furnish information
concerning access to and use of classified materials.
Preferred Citation:Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the
following information: Container number, Bernard L. Austin Papers, Naval
Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress,
Washington, D.C.
Date |
Event |
1902, Dec. 15 |
Born, Wagener, S.C. |
1918-1920 |
Attended The Citadel, Charleston, S.C. |
1924 |
Graduated, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. |
1924-1926 |
Served aboard New York
(battleship)
|
1925 |
Married Isabella Murray Leith |
1927-1931 |
Served aboard submarines R-10 and
R-6 |
1931-1934 |
Taught physics and chemistry, United States Naval Academy,
Annapolis, Md.
|
1934-1937 |
Commanded R-11
(submarine)
|
1937-1941 |
Press relations officer, Navy Department; special naval
observer, Ghormley mission to Great Britain
|
1942 |
Commanded Woolsey (destroyer) in
Atlantic and Mediterranean waters; assisted in the sinking of German submarine
off Casablanca, Morocco
|
1943 |
Commanded Foote (destroyer),
Destroyer Division 46, and Destroyer Squadron Fourteen in South Pacific;
participated in battles off Bougainville, British Solomon Islands
|
1944-1945 |
Assistant chief of staff for administration to Chester Nimitz,
commander in chief Pacific (CINCPAC)
|
1946-1947 |
Attended United States National War College, Washington,
D.C.
|
1949 |
Attended Imperial Defense College, London, England |
1950 |
Commanded Service Squadron Three in Korean waters |
1951-1954 |
Assistant director and director, International Affairs
Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations
|
1954-1955 |
Commanded Cruiser Division Two |
1956-1958 |
Director, joint staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff |
1958-1959 |
Commanded Second Fleet |
1959-1960 |
Deputy chief of naval operations for plans and policy |
1960-1964 |
President, Naval War College, Newport, R.I. |
1963 |
President, court of inquiry investigating the loss of the
Thresher (submarine)
|
1964-1967 |
Chairman, Inter-American Defense Board |
1968 |
President, court of inquiry investigating loss of the
Scorpion (submarine)
|
1979, Aug. 21 |
Died, Bethesda, Md. |
The papers of Bernard Lige Austin (1902-1979), a naval officer who
achieved distinction as a commander of submarines and destroyers and as an
administrator, educator, military diplomat, and press officer, span the years
1916-1979, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1937-1968.
The collection is organized into series of
Correspondence,
Speeches and
Writings,
Subject
File,
Classified,
Top Secret,
and
North American
Treaty Organization. Austin attended The Citadel at Charleston in his
native South Carolina before matriculating at the United States Naval Academy,
from which he was graduated in 1924. His first independent command was as
captain of the submarine R-11 during 1934-1937. In
the late 1930s, while serving as a press officer for the Navy Department,
Austin wrote articles on submarine warfare for the
Encyclopedia Britannica and the
World Book Encyclopedia. His submarine expertise was again
called on late in his career when he presided over courts of inquiry
investigating the loss of the nuclear powered submarines Thresher (1963) and Scorpion (1968).
Despite his many years in submarines, Austin's principal achievements
came during his command of destroyers. His submarine experience proved useful
in his first destroyer command, the Woolsey, in
1942 when he participated in the sinking of a German U-boat off Casablanca
during Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa. In 1943, Austin
commissioned the destroyer Foote and sailed it to
the South Pacific, where he assumed the command of Destroyer Division
Forty-Six, which with Destroyer Division Forty-Five comprised Destroyer
Squadron Twenty-Three, Arleigh Burke's famed "Little Beavers", the only World
War II destroyer squadron to be awarded a presidential citation.
In November 1943, Austin participated in two battles off the coast of
Bougainville, British Solomon Islands, which resulted in the sinking of at
least nine Japanese warships. He was awarded the Navy Cross and promoted to
commodore, making him the youngest flag officer in the Navy at that time. His
postwar commands included the supply ships of Service Squadron Three in Korean
waters during 1950 and Cruiser Division Two (1954-1955) and the Second Fleet
(1958-1959) in the Atlantic. Most of Austin's sea duty is well documented in
the
correspondence series. Included in the
Subject
File is a substantial amount of material on his World War II destroyer
commands, "R" class submarines, submarine warfare in the early part of World
War II, and the Thresher and Scorpion inquiries.
During 1944-1945, Austin served as assistant chief of staff for
administration to Chester Nimitz, commander in chief of Allied naval forces in
the Pacific (CINCPAC). Other administrative postings included stints on the
State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee (1945-1946) and the staff of the National
Security Council (1947-1948). During 1956-1958 he was director of the joint
staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and during 1959-1960 he served as deputy
chief of naval operations for plans and policy. All of these administrative and
policy billets are well represented in the
correspondence, and there are
subject
files on the National Security Council, State-War-Navy Coordinating
Committee, and the reorganization of the armed services after World War II.
From 1960 to his retirement as vice admiral in 1964, Austin served as
president of the Naval War College in Newport, R.I., where he emphasized the
coordination of curricula among armed forces graduate institutions.
Approximately one-fourth of the
correspondence results from Austin's years as president of
the Naval War College, and several folders on the college, such as minutes of
the academic board, are included in the Subject File.
Austin's first foray into military diplomacy was as a member of the
Ghormley mission to Great Britain 1940-1941. The task of Admiral Robert Lee
Ghormley, "special naval observer," was to negotiate the policy and technical
details of naval cooperation between the United States and Great Britain in the
event of United States entry into World War II. Austin, as Ghormley's deputy,
was the only mission member other than the admiral to participate in all of the
meetings with the British political and naval leadership, which included
Winston Churchill and Admiral Sidney Bailey. Other postings involving foreign
relations were as assistant director and eventually director of the Navy's
International Affairs Division (1951-1954) and as chairman of the
Inter-American Defense Board (1964-1967).
Correspondence from the 1940-1941 period includes letters
from Robert Ghormley. Austin corresponded with many South American naval
officers during his service on the Inter-American Defense Board and maintained
substantial contact through the 1970s with the Brazilian admiral Levy A. Reis.
Subject
files also includes material on the Ghormley mission and United
States-British naval relations during the World War II period.
Austin felt that his role as Navy Department press relations officer
during the period 1937-1940 was a major factor in his achieving flag rank. As a
press officer, he developed his interest in oral communication into a
professional skill. Some of the speeches in the
Speeches and
Writings File were ghostwritten by him for key naval civilian officials
and admirals, such as secretary of the navy Charles Edison and chief of naval
operations Harold R. Stark. Austin's correspondents during the period 1937-1940
included Hanson Baldwin, military correspondent of the
New York Times.
The Subject
File contains detailed material on Austin, including biographical
sketches, orders, and personnel records.
Prominent correspondents not previously cited include George Whelan
Anderson, Richard W. Bates, Wallace M. Beakley, Arleigh A. Burke, Richard G.
Colbert, Richard L. Conolly, Robert L. Dennison, Neil K. Dietrich, Henry
Effingham Eccles, Ernest McNeill Eller, Philip D. Gallery, Anthony Harrigan,
John Tucker Hayward, Edwin Palmer Hoyt, Dennys W. Knoll, Leland Pearson
Lovette, K. M. McManes, Charles L. Melson, Thomas H. Moorer, Chester W. Nimitz,
Howard E. Orem, Robert C. Peniston, Paul H. Ramsey, W. R. Smedburg III, A. B.
Vosseller, and Frank T. Watson.
This collection is arranged in six series:
Container |
Series |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BOX 1-11
|
|
|
Letters sent and received with attached related matter. |
|
Organized into family and general correspondence and
chronologically therein.
|
|
BOX 12-16
|
|
|
Speeches, statements, articles, article outlines, and poems by
Austin and others.
|
|
Arranged by type of material and chronologically therein. |
|
BOX 17-24
|
|
|
Correspondence, awards, citations, newspaper clippings, drawings,
cartoons, ship logs, maps, nautical charts, battle reports, press releases,
notes, research material, orders, biographical sketches, resumes, personnel
records, chronologies, administrative histories, minutes of meetings, records
related to courts of inquiry, lectures, and transcripts of telephone
conversations.
|
|
Organized alphabetically by topic or type of material and
chronologically therein.
|
|
BOX CL 1
|
|
|
Documents containing national security information removed from
the collection.
|
|
Arranged and described according to the series and folders from
which the items were removed.
|
|
BOX TS 1
|
|
|
Documents containing national security information removed from
the collection.
|
|
Arranged and described according to the series and folders from
which the items were removed.
|
|
BOX NATO 1
|
|
|
Documents containing national security information removed from
the collection.
|
|
Arranged and described according to the series and folders from
which the items were removed.
|
Container |
Contents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BOX 1-11
|
Correspondence,
1924-1979
|
|
Letters sent and received with attached related matter. |
|
Organized into family and general correspondence and
chronologically therein.
|
|
BOX 1
|
Family,
1936-1979, n.d.
|
|
BOX 1
|
General |
|
BOX 1
|
1924, Sept.-1943, Dec.
|
|
(5
folders)
|
|
BOX 2
|
1944, Jan.-1951, Aug.
|
|
(6
folders)
|
|
BOX 3
|
1951, Sept.-1954, Dec.
|
|
(7
folders)
|
|
BOX 4
|
1955, Jan.-1958, Mar.
See also Classified,
Top Secret, and
North Atlantic Treaty
Organization |
|
(6
folders)
|
|
BOX 5
|
1958, Apr.-1959, Aug.
See also Classified and
North Atlantic Treaty
Organization |
|
(6
folders)
|
|
BOX 6
|
1959, Sept.-1961, July
|
|
(6
folders)
|
|
BOX 7
|
1961, Aug.-1962, Aug.
|
|
(7
folders)
|
|
BOX 8
|
1962, Sept.-1963, Dec.
|
|
(6
folders)
|
|
BOX 9
|
1964, Jan.-Oct.
|
|
(5
folders)
|
|
BOX 10
|
1964, Nov.-1967, May
See also
Classified |
|
(7
folders)
|
|
BOX 11
|
1967, June-1979, Aug., n.d.
See also
Classified |
|
(7
folders)
|
|
BOX 12-16
|
Speeches and Writings,
1924-1967
|
|
Speeches, statements, articles, article outlines, and poems by
Austin and others.
|
|
Arranged by type of material and chronologically therein. |
|
BOX 12
|
Speeches |
|
BOX 12
|
By Austin |
|
BOX 12
|
1924-1961
|
|
(6
folders)
|
|
BOX 13
|
1962-1963
|
|
(7
folders)
|
|
BOX 14
|
1963-1967, n.d.
See also
Classified |
|
(6
folders)
|
|
BOX 15
|
Undated
|
|
(2
folders)
|
|
BOX 15
|
By others |
|
BOX 15
|
1930-1950
|
|
(4
folders)
|
|
BOX 16
|
1952-1964, n.d.
|
|
(3
folders)
|
|
BOX 16
|
Ghostwritten by Austin,
1939-1948, n.d.
|
|
BOX 16
|
Writings |
|
BOX 16
|
By Austin,
1924-1953, n.d.
|
|
BOX 16
|
By others |
|
BOX 16
|
Poems,
1955, n.d.
|
|
BOX 16
|
Prose,
1931-1940, n.d.
|
|
BOX 17-24
|
Subject File,
1916-1974
|
|
Correspondence, awards, citations, newspaper clippings, drawings,
cartoons, ship logs, maps, nautical charts, battle reports, press releases,
notes, research material, orders, biographical sketches, resumes, personnel
records, chronologies, administrative histories, minutes of meetings, records
related to courts of inquiry, lectures, and transcripts of telephone
conversations.
|
|
Organized alphabetically by topic or type of material and
chronologically therein.
|
|
BOX 17
|
Aircraft carriers |
|
BOX 17
|
Constellation fire,
1961
|
|
BOX 17
|
Forrestal christening,
1954
|
|
BOX 17
|
Awards, certificates, and
citations,
1942-1964, n.d.
|
|
BOX 17
|
Biographical material,
1946-1960, n.d.
|
|
BOX 17
|
Burke, Arleigh,
1955, 1961, n.d.
|
|
BOX 17
|
Cartoons and drawings,
n.d.
|
|
BOX 17
|
Charts and maps,
1916-1946, n.d.
|
|
BOX 17
|
Cruiser Division Two,
1951-1955, n.d.
|
|
BOX 17
|
Destroyers |
|
BOX 17
|
Battles and operations,
1943-1963, n.d.
|
|
BOX 17
|
Converse,
1945
|
|
BOX 17
|
Destroyer Division Forty-Six,
1943
|
|
BOX 18
|
Destroyer Squadron Fourteen,
1944
|
|
BOX 18
|
Foote,
1943-1945, n.d.
|
|
BOX 18
|
Woolsey,
1942, n.d.
|
|
BOX 18
|
Imperial Defense College, London,
England,
1948-1949
|
|
BOX 18
|
Inter-American Defense Board,
1964-1967, n.d.
|
|
BOX 18
|
International Affairs Division,
United States Navy (OP-35),
1952-1953, n.d.
|
|
BOX 18
|
Miscellaneous,
1941-1959, n.d.
|
|
(2
folders)
|
|
BOX 18
|
National Security Council,
1951-1953, n.d.
|
|
BOX 18
|
National War College, Washington,
D.C.,
1949, n.d.
|
|
BOX 18
|
Naval War College, Newport, R.I.
|
|
BOX 18
|
Academic Board Meetings,
1960-1964
|
|
BOX 19
|
Global strategy discussions,
1959
|
|
BOX 19
|
Miscellaneous,
1961-1963, n.d.
|
|
BOX 19
|
Lectures,
1952-1963
|
|
BOX 19
|
Second Conference of the War
Colleges of the Americas,
1963
|
|
BOX 19
|
Reference cards,
1960-1963, n.d.
|
|
(2
folders)
|
BOX 20
|
(1
folder)
|
|
BOX 20
|
Navy News, Guam edition, Orders and personnel
records, 1924-54 (5 folders)
1945
|
|
BOX 20
|
Orders and personnel records,
|
|
BOX 20
|
1924-1954
|
|
(5
folders)
|
|
BOX 21
|
1955-1968, n.d.
|
|
(3
folders)
|
|
BOX 21
|
Press Relations Department, Navy
Department,
1939, 1974, n.d.
|
|
BOX 21
|
Press releases, |
|
BOX 21
|
1939-1946
|
|
(2 folders)
|
|
BOX 22
|
1957-1960
|
|
(2
folders)
|
|
BOX 22
|
Reorganization of armed services,
1944-1960, n.d.
|
|
BOX 22
|
Service Squadron Three,
1951-1953, n.d.
|
|
BOX 22
|
State-War-Navy Coordinating
Committee,
1945, n.d.
|
|
BOX 22
|
Submarines |
|
BOX 22
|
Encyclopedia articles by
Austin,
1938-1940, n.d.
|
|
BOX 22
|
Miscellaneous,
1927-1940, n.d.
|
|
BOX 22
|
"R" class submarines,
1930-1937, n.d.
|
|
BOX 22
|
Scorpion |
|
BOX 22
|
Correspondence,
1968-1969, n.d.
|
|
BOX 23
|
Miscellaneous,
1968, n.d.
|
|
BOX 23
|
Squalus,
1939, n.d.
|
|
BOX 23
|
Thresher |
|
BOX 23
|
Correspondence |
|
BOX 23
|
Miscellaneous,
1963
|
|
(4
folders)
|
|
BOX 23
|
Official,
1963
|
|
BOX 23
|
Summary of events,
1963
See also
Classified |
|
BOX 23
|
Telephone conversations,
1963
|
|
BOX 23
|
Supreme Headquarters Allied
Powers Europe (SHAPE),.
1955-1956, n.d.
|
|
BOX 23
|
United States-British naval
relations
|
|
BOX 23
|
Administrative History of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe,
1940-46,
1947
|
|
(1
folder)
|
BOX 24
|
(2
folders)
|
|
BOX 24
|
ComNavEu monograph,
United States-British Naval Relations 1939-1942,
1947, n.d.
|
|
(2
folders)
|
|
BOX 24
|
Ghormley mission |
|
BOX 24
|
Interview with Austin,
1966
|
|
BOX 24
|
Memoranda and notes,
1940-1941
|
|
BOX 24
|
Miscellaneous,
1940-1941, n.d.
|
|
BOX 24
|
U.S.-British Naval Cooperation 1940-45,
n.d.
|
|
(3
folders)
|
|
BOX CL 1
|
Classified,
1955-1967
|
|
Documents containing national security information removed from
the collection.
|
|
Arranged and described according to the series and folders from
which the items were removed.
|
|
BOX CL 1
|
Correspondence |
|
BOX CL 1
|
General |
|
BOX CL 1
|
1955, Jan.-June (Container 4)
|
|
BOX CL 1
|
1955, July-Aug. (Container 4)
|
|
BOX CL 1
|
1955, Sept.-Dec. (Container 4)
|
|
BOX CL 1
|
1958, Apr.-May (Container 5)
|
|
BOX Cl 1
|
1958, June-July (Container 5)
|
|
BOX CL 1
|
1958, Oct.-Dec. (Container 5)
|
|
BOX CL 1
|
1959, Jan.-May (Container 5)
|
|
BOX CL 1
|
1965, Mar.-Aug. (Container 10)
|
|
BOX CL 1
|
1965, Sept.-Dec. (Container 10)
|
|
BOX CL 1
|
1966, Jan.-Apr. (Container 10)
|
|
BOX CL 1
|
1966, Aug.-Dec. (Container 10)
|
|
BOX CL 1
|
1967, Jan.-May (Container 10)
|
|
BOX CL 1
|
1967, June-Dec. (Container 11)
|
|
BOX CL 1
|
Speeches and Writings |
|
BOX CL 1
|
Speeches |
|
BOX CL 1
|
By Austin,
1966 (Container 14)
|
|
BOX CL 1
|
Subject File |
|
BOX CL 1
|
Submarines |
|
BOX CL 1
|
Thresher, summary of events,
1963 (Container 23)
|
|
BOX TS 1
|
Top Secret,
1955
|
|
Documents containing national security information removed from
the collection.
|
|
Arranged and described according to the series and folders from
which the items were removed.
|
|
BOX TS 1
|
Correspondence |
|
BOX TS 1
|
General,
1955, Jan.-June, n.d. (Container 4)
|
|
BOX NATO 1
|
North American Treaty
Organization,
1955-1959
|
|
Documents containing national security information removed from
the collection.
|
|
Arranged and described according to the series and folders from
which the items were removed.
|
|
BOX NATO 1
|
Correspondence |
|
BOX NATO 1
|
General |
|
BOX NATO 1
|
1955, Sept.-Dec. (Container 4)
|
|
BOX NATO 1
|
1958, Apr.-May (Container 5)
|
|
BOX NATO 1
|
1958, Oct.-Dec. (Container 5)
|
|
BOX NATO 1
|
1959, Jan.-May (Container 5)
|
|