Officer's Naval Uniform Grouping

[Fritz]

Well, it all started Sunday at a local flea market, guy pulls up and starts unloading, I come by and see a WW1 Navy Officers hat sitting on his table, so I grab it and look over and there's a WW1 Officers uniform hanging on his mirror, so I buy the pair and walk to my car, I come back and my buddy has a tote with a ton of WW2 US Navy stuff, don't think anything of it, well later that day, he calls me and asks what's the name in my Navy uniform, because buried at the bottom of the big tote was a WW1 jumper, two pairs of pants, a ship named hat and an Officers overcoat with some sort of black garmet bag and some other hood looking thing, well low and behold the names are the same, so we cut a deal and I got the Officers Group back together, looks like he was enlisted pre WW1 and was commissioned in 1919 based on the date in the Officers uniform, everything has his name in it except the EM jumper but it all came from the same estate, looks like it was a father son group where the son was in WW2 but right at the end because the date on that uniform was 1945, the name in the WW1 stuff is H.C.Smith who was on the USS Marietta, any thoughts on where I can look for a ship roster for the Marietta? The sons name was Willard W. Smith.

 

Fritz

[Fritz]

More

[Fritz]

Few more

[Fritz]

Last couple, anyone know what the hood looking thing is?

[Salvage Sailor]

Nice pickup Fritz,

 

From the Naval Historical Center

 

USS Marietta (Gunboat # 15, PG-15), 1897-1920

USS Marietta, a 1000-ton gunboat of the Wheeling class, was built at San Francisco, California. Commissioned in September 1897, she briefly served with the Pacific Squadron, and then accompanied USS Oregon on a fast voyage around South America to join the Spanish-American War fleet off Cuba.

Following the war, Marietta served in Asiatic, Caribbean, European and western Atlantic waters. During the First World War, she performed convoy duties in the Atlantic and off Europe. Decommissioned in July 1919, Marietta was sold in March 1920.

 

Link with more info and photos here http://navalwarfare.blogspot.com/2007/12/uss-marietta-pg-15.html

[Fritz]

Thanks Salvage Sailor! Wonder if there's a place to find ship rosters for the Marietta

 

Fritz

[Salvage Sailor]

Yes indeed, in the dusty archives of BuPers

[Fritz]

Thanks, hmm.

 

Fritz

[Dave]

Wow...that's one of the nicest WW1 Navy officer's hats I've ever seen!

[Fritz]

Wow...that's one of the nicest WW1 Navy officer's hats I've ever seen!

 

Thanks Dave, she is a beauty, I'll post a few more pics of it later tonight.

 

Fritz

 

[Fritz]

Here's some more pics of the hat

[Fritz]

Couple more , stunning hat

[Fritz]

Gents, I am racking my head against the wall trying to ID/research this further and am running into a brick wall, I've found an HC Smith on ancestry but nothing earlier than 1917 and he's a Bosn in the 1st naval district, might not be the right guy, thoughts on the initials in the Officers Uniform?

[pathfinder11]

Navy Registers are your friends http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AMH/USN/Naval_Registers/

 

Under the 1919 Register I do not find a hard lead, but I do in the 1920: Ensign Harold C. Smith, who resigned from the USNR on 4 September 1919.

[Fritz]

Thanks Pathfinder!! I've tried that site but my iPad and that program don't work well together LOL

 

Fritz

[Fritz]

I think I found his full name but not too much more before 1917/18, looks like his full name is Harold Clinton Smith, went thru a bunch of naval registers on ancestry, hmm now where to go from here ?

 

Fritz