Thomas H. Robbins
A Register of His Papers in the Naval Historical Foundation
Collection in the Library of Congress
Prepared by Melinda K. Friend
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.ms008088
Title: Thomas H. Robbins Papers
Span Dates: 1918-1971
Bulk Dates: (bulk 1920-1962)
ID No.: MSS84346
Creator:
Robbins, Thomas H.
(Thomas Hinckley), 1900-1972
Extent: 2,250
items;
11 containers plus 1 classified;
4.4 linear feet
Language: Collection material in
English
Repository:
Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress,
Washington, D.C.
Abstract: U.S. naval officer.
Correspondence, duty orders, logbooks, biographical material, speeches, and
other papers relating to Robbins's naval career and emphasizing his specialty
in naval aviation.
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
Robbins,
Thomas H. (Thomas Hinckley), 1900-1972.
Organizations
Sandpiper (Minesweeper)
United
States. Navy--Aviation.
Subjects
Aeronautics.
Airplanes.
Military
intelligence.
Military weapons.
Naval aviation.
Ships.
Locations
Aleutian
Islands (Alaska)--Surveys.
Occupations
Naval
officers.
Provenance:The papers of Thomas H. Robbins, U.S. naval officer, were given to the
Library of Congress by the Naval Historical Foundation in 1998.
Processing History:The papers of Thomas H. Robbins were arranged and described in 1999
and the finding aid revised in 2008.
Copyright Status:The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Thomas H.
Robbins 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, Thomas H. Robbins Papers, Naval
Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress,
Washington, D.C.
| Date |
Event |
| 1900, May 11 |
Born, Paris, France |
| 1919 |
Graduated, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. |
| 1919-1922 |
Served consecutively aboard the Kroonland (liner), Utah
(battleship), and Sturtevant (destroyer)
|
| 1922-1924 |
Served aboard the Scorpion
(patrol vessel converted yacht) in Turkish waters
|
| 1923-1924 |
Served aboard Submarine Chaser No. 96 in the Black Sea |
| 1924-1925 |
Served consecutively aboard the destroyers
MacLeish and MacFarland |
| 1925-1927 |
Instructor, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis,
Md.
|
| 1928 |
Served aboard the Utah
(battleship)
Ordered for flight training and designated naval aviator,
Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Fla.
|
| 1928-1929 |
Scouting Squadron Five-S (aviation unit),
Concord (light cruiser)
|
| 1929-1931 |
Executive officer, Scouting Squadron Six-S (aviation unit)
aboard the Cincinnati (light cruiser)
|
| 1930 |
Married Barbara Little |
| 1931-1932 |
Assistant operations officer, Naval Air Station, Anacostia,
D.C.
|
| 1932-1933 |
Aide to the chief of Bureau of Aeronautics, Navy Department,
Washington, D.C.
|
| 1933-1935 |
Commander, Sandpiper
(minesweeper)
|
| 1935-1936 |
Scouting Squadron Four-B, Langley
(aircraft carrier)
|
| 1936-1937 |
Attended Naval War College, Newport, R.I. |
| 1937-1939 |
Aviation officer, Naval War College and Naval Torpedo Station,
Newport, R.I.
|
| 1939-1940 |
Navigator, Lexington (aircraft
carrier)
|
| 1940-1941 |
Aviation officer, staff of Commander Scouting Force and
Commander Task Force Three
|
| 1941 |
Liaison officer between the Office of the Chief of Naval
Operations and the commanding general, Army Air Force Command, Washington,
D.C.
|
| 1942 |
Liaison officer between Headquarters, Commander in Chief,
United States Fleet, and Army Air Force Combat Command, Washington,
D.C.
|
| 1942-1943 |
Aviation plans officer, Headquarters, Commander in Chief,
United States Fleet
|
| 1943-1944 |
Naval aviation officer, Army and Navy College, Washington,
D.C.
|
| 1944 |
Received letter of commendation with authorization to wear
the commendation ribbon
Temporary duty, Air Force Pacific Fleet aboard the
Essex (aircraft carrier)
|
| 1945 |
Commanding officer, Lexington
(aircraft carrier)
Received Legion of Merit with Combat Distinguishing Device
"V"
|
| 1945-1948 |
Assigned consecutively to Office of the Deputy Chief of Naval
Operations for Air, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, and Office of the
Secretary of the Navy
|
| 1948-1949 |
Commander, Carrier Division Seventeen |
| 1949-1952 |
Navy member, Joint Strategic Survey Committee, Joint Chiefs of
Staff, Washington, D.C.
|
| 1952-1953 |
Commander, Carrier Division Two |
| 1953-1956 |
Chief of staff and later president, United States Naval War
College, Newport, R.I.
|
| 1957-1960 |
President, Navy Discharge Review Board, Bureau of Naval
Personnel, Navy Department, Washington, D.C.
|
| 1960-1962 |
Commandant, Potomac River Naval Command, Naval Weapons Plant,
Washington, D.C.
|
| 1962 |
Awarded a gold star in lieu of a second Legion of
Merit
Retired from the navy
|
| 1972, Dec. 12 |
Died, New London, Conn. [?] |
The papers of Thomas Hinckley Robbins (1900-1972) span the years
1918-1971, with the bulk of the items concentrated in the period 1920-1962. The
collection reflects a career devoted to naval aviation from the 1920s to the
1960s. Featured in the papers are official and personal correspondence, orders
for duty, naval aviation log books, biographical information, speeches, and
material relating to Robbins's service aboard the minesweeper
Sandpiper.
Robbins's official correspondence contains routine information on
examinations, appointments, naval personnel, and naval aviation. Of note in the
correspondence are memoranda to naval intelligence on the inspections of
airplanes by foreign dignitaries, foreign aviation activities, espionage,
foreign ships and armaments, and meetings with individuals such as Rachid
Montan Pacha, a Syrian leader visiting New York in 1925 to sell jewels. A
majority of the personal correspondence is written to and from naval personnel
relating to naval aviation, aircraft, aircraft companies, and European
politics.
Material relating to the Sandpiper covers
the period 1933-1935 when the ship sailed in Alaskan waters and participated in
the Aleutian Islands survey expedition of 1935. Robbins's personal operations
diary and narratives for this time are supplemented by newspaper articles
written about the Sandpiper.
This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material or
subject and therein chronologically.
| Container |
Contents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| BOX 1
|
Awards and certificates,
1949-1954, 1962, 1969-1971
|
|
| BOX 1
|
Biographical information,
1930, 1943, 1953-1959, n.d.
|
|
| BOX 1
|
Cartoons by John Thomason,
1938, n.d.
|
|
| BOX 1
|
Correspondence |
|
| BOX 1
|
Official |
|
| BOX 1
|
1918-1954
|
|
(6
folders)
|
|
| BOX 2
|
1955-1965
|
|
(2
folders)
|
|
| BOX 2
|
Personal |
|
| BOX 2
|
1927-1939
|
|
(5
folders)
|
|
| BOX 3
|
1940-1946
|
|
(6
folders)
|
|
| BOX 4
|
1947-1952
See also Classified |
|
(6
folders)
|
|
| BOX 5
|
1953-1955
|
|
(6
folders)
|
|
| BOX 6
|
1956-1957
|
|
(5
folders)
|
|
| BOX 6
|
1958
|
|
(1
folder)
|
| BOX 7
|
(2
folders)
|
|
| BOX 7
|
1959
|
|
(2
folders)
|
|
| BOX 7
|
1960
|
|
(2
folders)
|
| BOX 8
|
(1
folder)
|
|
| BOX 8
|
1961-1964
|
|
(5
folders)
|
|
| BOX 8
|
Lexington (aircraft carrier),
1939-1940, n.d.
|
|
| BOX 9
|
Log books for aviation,
1928-1959
|
|
| BOX 9
|
Miscellany,
1946, n.d.
|
|
| BOX 9
|
Naval newspapers,
1921-1923
|
|
| BOX 9
|
Orders for duty |
|
| BOX 9
|
1919-1953
|
|
(3
folders)
|
|
| BOX 10
|
1954-1964
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Sandpiper (minesweeper)
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Correspondence re Aleutian
Islands survey expedition,
1935
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Narrative of activities,
1933-1935
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Newspaper clippings,
1934-1935
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Personal operations diary,
1934-1935
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Speeches |
|
| BOX 10
|
1946-1955
|
|
(2
folders)
|
|
| BOX 11
|
1956-1962
|
|
| BOX 11
|
Writings,
1939, 1956
|
|
|
| BOX CL 1
|
Classified material |
|
| BOX CL 1
|
Correspondence |
|
| BOX CL 1
|
Personal |
|
| BOX CL 1
|
1952 |
|
| BOX CL 1
|
20 Oct. (Container 4)
|
|
| BOX CL 1
|
4 Dec. (Container 4)
|
|
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