Collection Guide:
S-144-A
Seven loose photographs related to Withington at the Naval Academy, 1919-1923. Views include various buildings (Bancroft Hall and Mahan Hall), groups of friends, aboard a Midshipman cruise and a view of USS Connecticut, South Carolina and Michigan at sea, circa 1919.
S-144-B
10 loose photographs taken during the 1920s and 1930s, including family photos; the 1931 Navy Ordnance PG Class, Chemical Warfare School (including Withington); 1932 photo of F Division, USS Nevada (including LT. Withington); 1937 photo of the Flag Division of USS Chicago (including LT Withington); and a signed photo of RADM J.K. Taussig with a view of his staff, 1936 (including LT Withington).
S-144-C
20 loose photographs taken aboard USS Indiana in 1942-1944, including views of commissioning; group photos of officers; change of command ceremonies, etc. Specific officers include: CAPT A.S. Merrill, CAPT Peyton, CAPT Fechteler, and CDR Caines Weeks.
S-144-D
11 loose photographs relating to the Saipan-Tinian campaign, June – August 1944, including views of RADM Harry Hill and his staff (including CAPT Withington); aerials of landing craft approaching Saipan beaches; views of flag raising on Tinian, August 1944, featuring ADM Spruance, RADM Hill, VADM R.K. Turker, and others. Also included is document (copy) of Japanese General Saito’s last message to his men on Saipan, July 6, 1944.
S-144-E
10 miscellaneous photographs including RADM H.W. Hill with captains Withington, Phelps, McPherson, Ricketts, and Heath in 1946; SecNav James Forrestal laying cornerstone of Naval Ordnance Lab, White Oak, MD, August 15, 1946; Department of the Navy ceremony January, 9, 1957; RADM F.S. Withington (Chief, Bureau of Ordnance) visiting RADM E.W. Grenfell (ComSubPac) at Pearl Harbor, February 1957; USS Winslow (DD-359) taken before WWII; two photos of USS Manchester (CL-83) taken in 1948; 2 photos of Japanese battleship Mikasa monument, one taken before restoration and one after, circa 1950s.
S-144-F
Photo album containing 50 photographs and newspaper clippings related to Withington’s tour as Commanding Officer aboard USS Mississippi (AG-128) in 1947-1948. Specific subject matter includes USS Mississippi while still a battleship in the Panama Canal, 1945; as an experimental gunnery ship in 1947-1948, including general views and close-up; ship’s officers; crew activities such as dances, parties, inspections, boxing; a memorial to the Mississippi crewmen lost in the 1924 explosion; SecNav Curtis Wilbur inspecting the ship after the 1924 explosion; ceremonies dedicating a plaque in honor of the crewmen killed in WWII; and the rescue of a ditched civilian pilot, William C. Gilley, by the ship off the coast of Maryland Eastern Shore, 10 December, 1947.
S-144-G
Photo album including 159 images related to RADM Withington’s tour with Command Amphibious Group Three (ComPhibGru 3), 1952-1953. Subject matter includes Wihington relieving RADM Francis X. McInery as ComPhibGru 3 aboard Mt. McKinley (AGC-7) with ceremonies at Sasebo, November 1952; facilities inspections at Pusan, Kamakura, Pohang, Nagasaki, and Kyoto; Withington visiting BGen William Westmoreland’s unit in Korean area; amphibious exercises at Tok Chok To (includes good LVT photos); various parties and celebrations; amphibious exercises off California with views of HRS-2 helicopter landing ops, LVTs & and LCMs landing troops, LCU-709 beaches; Alaska cruise of Task Force Nine from July-August, 1953 to deliver supplies to Arctic (views of icebreaking, Eskimos, personnel, USS Estes (AGC-12), USS Belle Grove (LSD-2), LST-914, LCU-1282, USS Electra (AKA-4) and USCGC Northwind; and Withington reviewing sailors at NTC San Diego.
S-144-H
Cruise book with approximately 200 photos related to the Far East cruise of USS Mt. McKinley (AGC-7) and ComPhibGru Three in 1952-1953. See S-144-G for additional photographs of this cruise. Also included are several loose photographs, mainly dealing with Withington’s departure from Yokosuka in 1953.
S-144-I
Large scrapbook with 157 photographs of RADM Withington’s tour as Commander of Naval Forces, Japan, March 1958-March 1961. Specific subject matter consists of Withington’s arrival; Withington presiding over various events involving the Fleet Reserve Association (Boy Scouts, Red Cross, little league baseball, etc.); Perry “Black Ships” ceremonies at Kurihama, 1958-1959; tours, birthdays; press conference; transfer of LST-737 to JMSDR, 1959; launch of JMSDF destroyer Teruzuki at Kobe, June 24, 1959; change of command ceremonies, etc. A full listing of individuals seen in the images (American and Japanese) is available.
S-144-J
Album with 21 photographs of the launching of Japanese destroyer Teruzuki at Kobe, June 1959, plus associated festivities (dinner, show, entertainment, etc.). The ship’s sponsor was Mrs. Craig Veasey. Also included in the photos are RADM and Mrs. Withington, RADM and Mrs. J.M. Higgins and the Japanese Assistant Secretary of Defense.
S-144-K
Album with 34 photographs of the commissioning of the Teruzuki in February 1960, and associated festivities (dinner and entertainment. Identified individuals include RADM and Mrs. Withington, CAPT and Mrs. A.C. Veasey; Japanese Vice Admiral Ihara, Japanese Admiral Hoshina, and Japanese RADM Y. Terai.
S-144-L
Album of 50 photographs related to ceremonies at the Perry Landing Monument at Kurihama, Japan, circa 1958-1959. Individuals identified in the photographs include: RAMD and Mrs. Withington, CAPT Wilbur, US Ambassador to Japan MacArthur, and Japanese VADM Fukuchi.
