Return to Naval Historical Center home page. Return to Frequently Asked Questions page.

Naval Armed Guard: A Select Bibliography of Published and Archival Sources

Berry, Robert B. Gunners Get Glory: Lt. Bob Berry's Story of the Navy's Armed Guard. New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1943.

Briggs, Frank R., Jr. "Detached Command - Multiple Duties of Armed Guard Officers." United States Naval Institute Proceedings 69, no.11 (Nov. 1943): 1469-1470.

Britton, Beverley L. "Navy Stepchildren: The Armed Guard." United States Naval Institute Proceedings 73, no.12 (Dec. 1947): 1495-1501.

Browning, Robert M., Jr. US. Merchant Vessel War Casualties of World War II. Annapolis MD: Naval Institute Press, 1996. [contains information on the actions and fate of each ship's Armed Guard detachment].

Bunker, John G. Liberty Ships: The Ugly Ducklings of World War II. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1972.

Di Phillip, John. Gunner's Diary. Boston: Meador Publishing Co., 1946.

Dupra, Lyle E. We Delivered! The U.S. Navy Armed Guard in World War II. Manhattan, KS: Sunflower University Press, 1997.

Galati, Robert. A Winning Team: The Armed Guard and Merchant Marine in World War II. Irving TX: Innovatia Press, 1995.

Gleichauf, Justin F. Unsung Sailors: The Naval Armed Guard in WWII. Annapolis MD: Naval Institute Press, 1990.

Griffith, John H. "Discussions, Comments and Notes: Navy Stepchildren: The Armed Guard." United States Naval Institute Proceedings 77, no.10 (Oct. 1951): 1103. [a response to the above article by Beverley Britton].

Hickam, Homer H. Torpedo Junction: U-Boat War off America's East Coast, 1942. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1989.

Hoehling, A.A. The Fighting Liberty Ships: A Memoir. Kent OH: Kent State University Press, 1990.

McGee, William L. Bluejacket Odyssey: Guadalcanal to Bikini Naval Armed Guard in the Pacific. Palo Alto CA: Glencannon Press, 1997.

Monnot, William. U.S. Naval Armed Guard: World War II. S.1: s.n, 1988.

Morison, Samuel E. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. 15 vols. Boston: Little, Brown, 1947-62.

Moore, Arthur R. A Careless Word -- A Needless Sinking: A History of the Staggering Losses Suffered by the U.S. Merchant Marine, Both in Ships and Personnel During World War II. Kings Point NY: American Merchant Marine Museum, 1988. [Although this work contains useful information on each vessel lost, Robert Browning's book (see above) contains significantly more information on the actions and fate of each ship's Armed Guard detachment.]

Ships of the ESSO Fleet in World War II. New Jersey: Standard Oil Company, 1946. [In cases of the loss of a ship, this work includes separate lists of merchant seamen and Armed Guard detachment casualties and survivors, as well as other information on Armed Guard crews]

United States Navy Armed Guard Veterans of World War II: A History of the Armed Guard Veterans of World War II. Dallas: Taylor Publishing Co., 1987.

Archival Sources Relating to Naval Armed Guard

At the Modern Military Records, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001.

•  Armed Guard Reports - commander of Naval Armed Guard unit wrote a report of each voyage
•  Bureau of Naval Personnel Casualty Files - contain folder on Armed Guard casualties for each merchant ship that was sunk or damaged during World War II
•  The Tenth Fleet Records contain:

1. The movement report cards for the merchant ships on which the Armed Guard served. The movement report cards list the ports of call, the dates of the visit, and the convoy designation, if the ship sailed in a convoy. The cards will tell the port where each voyage ended. The logs of the merchant ships are held at the nearest records center to the U. S. port where each voyage ended.
   
2. Loss and damage reports for the merchant ships.
3. Folders for the each convoy usually containing list of merchant ships in the convoy and the escort ships, report of convoy commodore, map of the route, and message traffic

08 August 2006