Thomas T. Craven
A Register of His Papers in the Naval Historical Foundation
Collection in the Library of Congress
Prepared by Joseph K. Brooks
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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,
2007
Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms007037
Title: Papers of Thomas T.
Craven
Span Dates: 1842-1969
Bulk Dates: 1917-1945 ID No.: MSS61733 Creator:
Craven, Thomas
T. (Thomas Tingey), 1873-1950 Extent: 500
items;
2 containers plus 1 oversize;
.6 linear feet
Language: Collection material in
English
Repository:
Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress,
Washington, D.C. Abstract: Naval officer.
Correspondence, family papers, and subject files relating primarily to his
convoy duty and command of United States Naval Aviation Forces in Europe during
World War I, and his command of a gunboat flotilla on the Yangtze River in
China during 1929-1931.
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: Craven, Thomas
T. (Thomas Tingey), 1873-1950 Byrd,
Richard Evelyn, 1888-1957--Correspondence Cone,
Hutchinson Ingham, 1871-1941--Correspondence Cooke,
Morris Llewellyn, 1872-1960--Correspondence Daniels,
Josephus, 1862-1948--Correspondence Earle,
Ralph, 1874-1939--Correspondence Hooper,
Stanford Caldwell, 1884-1955--Correspondence Hoover,
Herbert, 1874-1964--Correspondence Kimmel,
Husband Edward, 1882-1968 Knox,
Dudley Wright, 1877-1960--Correspondence Knox,
Frank, 1874-1944--Correspondence Sarnoff,
David, 1891-1971--Correspondence Sims,
William Sowden, 1858-1936--Correspondence Watson,
Edward H. (Edward Howe), 1873-1942 New York State Maritime Academy United
States. Bureau of the Budget. Federal Coordinating Service United
States. Navy--Foreign service--China--Yangtze River United
States. Navy. Destroyer Squadron 11 United
States. Navy. Naval Aviation Forces United
States. Navy. Pacific Fleet. United
States Naval Academy--Curricula
Subjects: Aircraft
carriers Budget--United
States Courts-martial and courts
of inquiry Fisheries--Alaska Gunboats Merchant marine--United
States Naval convoys--Atlantic
Ocean Naval
convoys--Mediterranean Sea Navy-yards and naval
stations, American--Corrupt practices Pearl Harbor (Hawaii),
Attack on, 1941 Radio--Law and
legislation--United States Shipwrecks--California--Honda, Point World War, 1914-1918--Naval
operations, American World War,
1939-1945--Naval operations, American
Occupations: Naval
officers
Provenance: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.
Copyright Status: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.).
Preferred Citation: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.
Date |
Event |
1873, July 8 |
Born, Vallejo, Calif. |
1896 |
Graduated, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. |
1901 |
Married Antoinette Merritt |
1908 |
Served as gunnery officer, South
Carolina (battleship)
|
1915 |
Attended Naval War College, Newport, R.I. |
1916-1918 |
Commanded Sacramento
(gunboat)
|
1918 |
Commanded United States Naval Aviation Forces in
Europe
|
1919-1921 |
Director of naval aviation; ordered conversion of the
Jupiter (collier) into the Langley (aircraft carrier)
|
1922 |
Commanded Destroyer Squadron Fifteen in early charting of
Atlantic Ocean floor using sound equipment
|
1923 |
Defended Edward H. Watson in court-martial resulting from mass
shipwreck at Point Honda, Calif.
|
1927-1928 |
Director of naval communications |
1928 |
Promoted to rear admiral; commanded Great Lakes Naval Training
Station, Great Lakes, Ill.
|
1929-1931 |
Commander, Yangtze Patrol, China |
1931-1933 |
Chief coordinator, Federal Coordinating Service, Bureau of the
Budget
|
1935 |
Commander, Battleship Division One |
1937 |
Commandant, Thirteenth Naval District, Bremerton,
Wash.
|
1937 |
Retired from active naval service |
1942-1946 |
Recalled to active duty; superintendent, New York State
Maritime Academy, Fort Schuyler, N.Y.
|
1950, Apr. 5 |
Died, St. Albans, N.Y. |
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.
This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material.
Container |
Contents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BOX 1
|
Family papers |
|
BOX 1
|
Biographical material,
1921-1943, n.d.
|
|
BOX 1
|
Craven, Antoinette (wife),
1924-1950, n.d.
|
|
BOX 1
|
Family history material,
1920-1969, n.d.
|
|
BOX 1
|
Letters |
|
BOX 1
|
1842, 1872, with cover letter,
1944
|
|
BOX 1
|
1908-1931, n.d.
|
|
BOX 1
|
General correspondence |
|
BOX 1
|
"B-G" miscellaneous,
1914-1945
|
|
BOX 1
|
Hooper, Stanford C.,
1922-1937
|
|
BOX 1
|
Hoover, Herbert,
1927-1943
|
|
BOX 1
|
"H-J" miscellaneous,
1908-1945, n.d.
|
|
BOX 1
|
Kimmel, Husband E.,
1936
|
|
BOX 1
|
Knox, Dudley W.,
1931-1945
|
|
BOX 1
|
"K-P" miscelllaneous,
1907-1945, n.d.
|
|
BOX 1
|
"R-Y" miscellaneous,
1920-1945, n.d.
|
|
BOX 1
|
Subject file |
|
BOX 1
|
Aircraft carriers,
1943
|
|
BOX 1
|
Awards, medals, and honors,
1919-1921
|
|
BOX 1
|
Convoy duty, sailing orders, and
related material,
1917
|
|
|
|
BOX 1
|
Nahma (armed yacht) incident,
1917
|
|
BOX 1
|
Naval cruises, souvenir books,
and rosters,
1908-1925
|
|
BOX 1
|
Olympia (cruiser) grounding,
1917
|
|
BOX 1
|
Passport,
1918
|
|
BOX 1
|
Pearl Harbor attack
investigation,
1942-1944
|
|
BOX 1
|
Point Honda (Calif.) naval
disaster,
1923
|
|
|
|
BOX 1
|
Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton,
Wash.,
1936-1937
|
|
BOX 1
|
Retirements,
1937, 1944-1945
|
|
BOX 1
|
United States Naval Aviation
Forces in Europe
|
|
BOX 1
|
Correspondence,
1918-1919
|
|
BOX 2
|
Notebook,
n.d.
|
|
BOX 2
|
Whiting, Kenneth,
1943
|
|
BOX 2
|
Yangtze Patrol,
1929-1931
See also Oversize |
|
BOX 2
|
Writings,
1919-1953, n.d.
|
|
BOX OV 1
|
Subject file |
|
BOX OV 1
|
Yangtze Patrol,
1929 (Container 2)
|
|