Overview

The main ingredients in this oral history are Admiral Smith's recollections of service in two battleships, the USS Arizona (BB-39) in 1928-29 and the USS Missouri (BB-63) in 1949-50. As a captain he commanded the Missouri until shortly before her grounding in January 1950 and then again shortly afterward to restore the confidence of the officers and crew. The admiral frequently went off on tangents during the battleship-specific interviews in his oral history and discussed other tours of duty as well. He strayed to discuss his service in the fleet auxiliary ship USS Procyon (AG-11) in the mid-1920s, destroyer duty in the brand-new USS Farragut (DD-348) in the mid-1930s, command of the four-piper USS Stewart (DD-224) in action against the Japanese early in World War II, and command of Destroyer Squadron Four near the end of the war. In duty following the war, he served as chief of staff to Commander Destroyer Force Atlantic Fleet and various Pentagon billets. He recalled being Chief of Naval Personnel when Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz made a touching visit to Smith's office following the 1959 funeral of Fleet Admiral William F. ""Bull"" Halsey Jr.

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9781682692332

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Paul Stillwell is an independent historian and retired naval officer. He worked for thirty years at the U.S. Naval Institute as an oral historian and editor of Naval History magazine. He is the author or editor of fourteen books, including four on battleships and an award-winning volume on the Navy’s first African American officers, The Golden Thirteen. His 2021 book Battleship Commander: The Life of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee Jr. also received acclaim. He lives in Arnold, Maryland.

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