Naval History - Summer 1989 - Rhineland Occupation
Cover: Between 1890 and 1900 the Revenue Cutter Service, forerunner of the Coast Guard, transported more than 1,000 reindeer to the Alaska Territory in the cutter Bear. The deer were purchased in Siberia by the U. S. Government to institute a program of animal husbandry in hopes of rejuvenating the food supply for native Americans. This is one of 23 paintings commissioned to commemorate the Coast Guard Bicentennial (see pages 41-43). (Painting by Shannon Stirnweis.)
Issue: Naval History, U.S. Naval Institute, Vol. 3, No. 3, Summer 1989
The Summer 1989 issue of Naval History featured articles include: Marines in the Rhineland Occupation, Ambassador Castle’s Role in the Negotiations of the London Naval Conference, Life As ‘Employed Enemy Personnel’, and more.
Features
11 Marines in the Rhineland Occupation, 1918-1919
By Colonel Rolfe L. Hillman, Jr., USA (Ret.)
The challenge was keeping the troops occupied while they occupied Germany.
16 Ambassador Castle’s Role in the Negotiations of the London Naval Conference
By Alfred L. Castle
The U. S. ambassador to Japan in 1930 did a pretty good job. considering that his hands had been tied by the Secretary of State.
22 ‘Thar She Spaouts and Blows!’
By R. J. C. Butow
You need a special lexicon to translate some 19th century whaling ship logs, but you'll be rewarded for your efforts.
28 Life As ‘Employed Enemy Personnel’
By Helmut Raumann
A former German naval officer’s memories of staying with his ship—the Prinz Eugen—after she was turned over to the victors.
41 The Coast Guard Celebrates its 200th Birthday
By Robert L. Scheina
Paintings, pamphlets, and parades—the Coast Guard’s planning them all for a yearlong bicentennial observance.
Departments
- In Contact 2, 74
- Pictorial: Salvaging the S-51 35
- Technical Report: Seamines and the U. S. Navy 44
- The Hellcat-Zero Myth By Allan M. Lazarus 49
- Oral History: The Alsos Mission 51
- The Old Navy: What Became of the Pioneer? 54
- In Profile: Clark G. Reynolds 56
- Book Reviews 61
- In Progress 67
- In Focus 75
- Museum Report: New Life for an Old Kidd 76
- Notebook 79
Publisher’s Page
In 1975 the Navy and Marine Corps celebrated the bicentennial year of their founding. Now it is the turn of the third sea service, the U. S. Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard dates from the merging of the Revenue Cutter Service and the Life-Saving Service in 1915; the Lighthouse Service joined in 1939, and the Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection was added in 1942.
The Lighthouse Service had originated in 1789 and the Revenue Cutter service in 1790, so it is certainly appropriate to have a year-long celebration of the Coast Guard bicentennial. Naval History will commemorate the anniversaries of the versatile service with a four-part series that begins in the autumn issue; each part will explore a major mission area.
We kick off the tribute in this issue by publishing some of the paintings commissioned by the service to honor various events from its history. They well reflect the variety of the Coast Guard's roles. The unusual is commonplace for a service that, among other things, transported the reindeer seen on this issue’s front cover.
Speaking of unusual, this issue's oral history excerpt recounts the duty of then-Captain Al Mumma, a naval officer who accompanied the advancing Allied armies in France and Germany during the latter part of World War II in quest of technological secrets.
The technology of the German cruiser Prinz Eugen was examined after the ship reached this country with a crew made up of both Germans and Americans.
One of the German officers describes the experience. Going back a war earlier, we have an account of the 1918-19 service of U. S. Marines in occupying defeated Germany as a means of demonstrating that the war really was over, and the Allies had won.
The Assistant Secretary of the Navy during World War I and Commander in Chief during World War II was Franklin D. Roosevelt, a man with a life-long interest in the Navy and seafaring.
We present an article that tells of long-hidden logs of whaling ships. FDR delighted in reading them as a boy and recalled them with pleasure when he was President.
For those who would delve even further into material on naval history, we inaugurate in this issue a new feature. Lieutenant Colonel Skip Bartlett’s bibliographic column on dissertations and articles published in the field.
Also we commend to our readers the upcoming biennial Naval Academy history symposium. Every two years the top professionals in the field get together, and it is always a pleasure to learn from the exchange of ideas during the numerous sessions on a wide variety of subjects.
As part of the overall event, the Naval Institute will be sponsoring a reception on 18 October in the Naval Academy Museum. We hope to see many of you there, and we point with pleasure to the fact that there are even more of you than before. With this issue the circulation of Naval History tops 27.000 for the first time.
Publication Information
The U. S. Naval Institute is a private, self-supporting, nonprofit professional society, which publishes Proceedings magazine as a forum for the sea services, and professional books.
The Institute is not a part of the U. S. Government. Naval History is published quarterly by the U. S, Naval Institute, 2062 Generals Highway, Annapolis, MD 21401.
The opinions and assertions herein are the personal ones of the authors. Second class postage paid at Annapolis, MD, and at additional mailing offices.
Annual subscription rates: USNI member, $12.00; USNI non-member, S24.00. International subscribers add $4.00. Copyright © 1989 U. S. Naval Institute. Copyright is not claimed for editorial material in the public domain.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Naval History. USNI. Circulation Department. 2062 Generals Highway. Annapolis, MD 21401. (ISSN: 1042-1920)