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Doughty, Lieutenant Commander Levi G. Papers 

Dates: 1927-1995

Collection Number: AR/360 (Formerly COLL/452)

Finding aid (Word)

Biographical Note

Lieutenant Commander Levi Garland Doughty was born on 17 October 1906 in Manifest, Louisiana, to Richard Levi Doughty and Lucy Guinn Doughty. He attended Manifest public schools until he dropped out of high school at age fifteen. On 2 September 1924, Doughty enlisted as a Seaman Recruit in the U.S. Navy.

After completing his basic recruit training at Naval Training Center, San Diego, Doughty was assigned to USS New Mexico (BB-40), where he steadily advanced to Boatswain's Mate Second Class. He reenlisted in 1928 for four more years. For five months, from June to September in 1931, Doughty was a member of the Navy Rifle Team at Annapolis, Maryland. After this, he was assigned to USS California (BB-44). Aboard California, Doughty continued to advance, making Chief Boatswain's Mate in 1934. In September 1937, he passed the examination to become a Warrant Boatswain.

He transferred to USS Lapwing (AVP-1) where he served as the Assistant Communications Officer, the Signals Officer, the Gunnery Officer, the First Lieutenant and the Executive Officer. He detached from Lapwing in December 1942, after having been promoted to Ensign on 15 June 1942. He was then assigned to Fleet Air Wing Five (FAW-5), based out of Norfolk, Virginia, as the Fire Marshall, Transportation Officer, and the First Lieutenant. At this assignment, he was appointed to be a Lieutenant, junior grade, in May 1943.

In January 1944, Doughty was reassigned to escort carrier USS Sitkoh Bay (CVE-86), which he helped commission and then take out to the Pacific Fleet as Assistant Navigator. In July 1944, Doughty was promoted to Lieutenant.

In March 1945, Doughty joined USS Buckingham (APA-141), in which he served as executive officer and then commanding officer for one week before she was decommissioned in March 1946. He was then assigned to USS Navarro (APA-215) in which he served as executive officer and then commanding officer. In November 1946, Doughty was assigned to USS Neshoba (APA-216), in which he served on the Fleet Staff. After four months, he was assigned to USS Wharton (AP-7) as Navigator. During this period, Doughty married his second wife, Jewel Davis, in Las Vegas on 1 March 1947.

Doughty served in Wharton for another four months, when he was reassigned to USS Kerstin (AF-34). While in Kerstin, Doughty was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in 1949. He served as Executive Officer and Navigator on board Kerstin for twenty months, after which he transferred to the U.S. Naval Disciplinary Barracks in San Pedro, California, as the Assistant Education and Training Officer.

From June 1950 to November 1950, Doughty served as the security officer at U.S. Naval Station in Long Beach, California. In December 1950, he was assigned to USS Chemung (AO-30) as executive officer. When his tour in Chemung ended, he was assigned to the Naval Training Center, San Diego, as a Department Head and the Commander, Evaluation Department. He served at the Naval Training Center until December 1953. In 1953, until his retirement on 1 January 1955, Lieutenant Commander Doughty served as the Director of Discipline and District Shore Patrol Officer for the 11th Naval District based in San Diego. After his retirement, Lieutenant Commander Doughty lived with his wife, Jewell. He retired to Nevada, where he died in August 1995.


Scope and Content Note

The Papers of Lieutenant Commander Levi Garland Doughty consist of orders, travel claims, correspondence, photographs, training and schooling notes, and certificates collected by Lieutenant Commander Doughty during his thirty years of service in the U.S. Navy.

The collection is organized in a single series. Folders are divided by subject and arranged alphabetically. Among items of note are certificates earned by Lieutenant Commander Doughty for his reenlistments during the Depression era; training bills that describe shiphandling and expected officer skills during the post-World War II era; a history of the U.S. Naval Disciplinary Barracks in San Pedro, California; and the findings of fact into a manslaughter that occurred at the Naval Training Center in San Diego, California.


Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as Papers of Lieutenant Commander Levi G. Doughty, Archives Branch, Naval History and Heritage Command, Washington, D.C.


Subject Headings (LCSH)

United States. Navy--History--Sources.
United States. Navy--Officers.
Naval discipline--United States.
Naval education--United States.
Naval Disciplinary Barracks, San Pedro (Calif.)
United States. Naval Training Center (San Diego, Calif.)
Homicide.
Ruebling, George William.



 

Published: Tue Aug 10 10:18:48 EDT 2021