Costa Posted November 1, 2015 Share #1 Posted November 1, 2015 IS THERE ANY ONE WHO SPECIALIZES IN NAVAL HISTORY THAT CAN GO BACK AND FIND NAMES ASSOCIATED TO THE USS ARIZONA STARTING FROM 1920 WITH HER FIRST COMPLIMENT OF CREW TO 1933? THE REASON IS DUE TO THIS CREWMANS DRESS BLUE CAP NAMED TO T.J GIBBONS. WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHEN HE WAS ON THE ARIZONA AND IF AT ALL POSSIBLE A PICTURE OF HIM. I HAVE A COUPLE OF LEADS FROM MEMBERS HERE BUT VAGUE. NEED SOME CONCRETE INFO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 1, 2015 Share #2 Posted November 1, 2015 If I wasn't on my phone, NARA has a database of WW1-era Navy enlistees. I'd check there and then pull his service record to determine dates for the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintageproductions Posted November 1, 2015 Share #3 Posted November 1, 2015 Dave that sounds like great advice for someone to use to do their research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 1, 2015 Share #4 Posted November 1, 2015 I pulled out my laptop and did the search for you (you're welcome.) Anyway, here are your possibilities: Gibbons Thomas Joseph -- [service Number] 001607042, [Date of Enlistment] 08/03/1918 Gibbons Thomas James -- [service Number] 001607040, [Date of Enlistment] 10/18/1917 Gibbons Thomas Joseph -- [service Number] 001607046, [Date of Enlistment] 07/13/1917 Of course, this database is not complete - I would guess it's around 80% there. However, one of these may fit. I would try searching on ancestry to see if you could find a profile for one of them that would include the Arizona - that would be easy. Or, maybe on fold3. The ship did do monthly and quarterly muster reports, so you could also fish through the 1000+ names on each of those - if you could find where they are located. Keep in mind the person may or may not have served on the Arizona...the hat could have belonged to another Sailor and then used by another on the ship. Good luck! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Costa Posted November 1, 2015 Author Share #5 Posted November 1, 2015 THANK YOU DAVE--- A RARE ITEM AS THIS DESERVES TO BE ID'ED. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 1, 2015 Share #6 Posted November 1, 2015 THANK YOU DAVE--- A RARE ITEM AS THIS DESERVES TO BE ID'ED. You're welcome. However, just be forewarned...unless you can access the ship's muster rolls from that time period (I think they are at the National Archives) you're definitely trying to find a needle in a haystack. It won't be impossible, but will require some legwork to get done. With what you already have into the hat, you'll have to ask yourself the question of how much more money you want to invest into it as far as researching it. Mid-war USS Arizona items are interesting, but don't have nearly the desirability or value as material that is from the late-1941 Pearl Harbor time period. I love researching things (that's what I "do") but I don't think finding out who the person was will really dramatically add any value to the hat...but that, of course, is simply my personal opinion. Good luck! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted November 2, 2015 Share #7 Posted November 2, 2015 Costa, Once you narrow down your search and hopefully find he was part of a ships' company, here is the link for accessing and researching USN deck logs (by date). Naval History and Heritage Command http://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/services-and-policies/deck-log-access.html For ships' company roster and personnel files, you're delving into the BUPERS records. Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/024.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 2, 2015 Share #8 Posted November 2, 2015 This is the record group you need...you can find a researcher for hire there at the National Archives and they could pull the records for you. Here's how you can find one: https://www.archives.gov/research/hire-help/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aerialbridge Posted November 3, 2015 Share #9 Posted November 3, 2015 Roster of WW1 Navy enlistees on the NARA website? The folks at NARA have not made it very user friendly to find that marvelous database. Does not seem to be on this lnk that might be a logical place for it. http://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/military/ww1.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 3, 2015 Share #10 Posted November 3, 2015 Roster of WW1 Navy enlistees on the NARA website? The folks at NARA have not made it very user friendly to find that marvelous database. Does not seem to be on this lnk that might be a logical place for it. http://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/military/ww1.html You can pretty much only get the results from the advanced search for NARA online. I had to do a couple searches before I got the hang of it and started getting results (I hadn't made WW1 searches for a while!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 3, 2015 Share #11 Posted November 3, 2015 I was asked over PM to provide the link for searching NARA for WW1-era Navy enlistees. Here's the link: https://catalog.archives.gov/advancedsearch It takes a bit of finesse to use. I'll admit that after they changed up their format, I am not as adept at using it as I was before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 3, 2015 Share #12 Posted November 3, 2015 As I would prefer to not be accused of "holding back" information from any fellow collector (because, as those of you who know me, know that's how I operate...) here's how to do a search for WW1-era Navy enlistment information. It used to be easier and I at one time had a direct link to do the searches, but they revised the search First, open the link and type in your search criteria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 3, 2015 Share #13 Posted November 3, 2015 Then, once you get the results, select "Textual Records" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 3, 2015 Share #14 Posted November 3, 2015 Then, select the location. NOTE - even though you'd THINK that the Navy records would be at the military personnel branch (an actual option)...no, you have to select National Archives at St Louis... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 3, 2015 Share #15 Posted November 3, 2015 and from there, you get your results. Hope this has been informative! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorsairAce Posted November 11, 2015 Share #16 Posted November 11, 2015 Thanks for the link and walking newbie researchers like me through it. Very informative Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Keith Posted January 7, 2016 Share #17 Posted January 7, 2016 Dave, Thanks for the amount of time you freely give to help people on this forum. BKW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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