HISTORY
National
Archives Reveals Historical First Chiefs
CWO
Guy Cashman, USCG
Who
was actually promoted to Chief on May 18th, 1920?
General Order No. 43 was the original message that advanced
a select few individuals to the rank of Chief Petty
Officer. However, these shipmates have remained
nameless to most of us. The historical published
records (U. S. Coast Guard Record of Movements 1790-1933)
of a ship's crew include only the Officers and Chief
Warrant Officers. Pay records have been recorded
on everything from three by five index cards to ledgers
and are stored in several locations throughout the country.
The Coast Guard Historian's Office has no records
of enlisted members who were promoted while assigned
to the numerous vessels, lighthouses, and life-saving
stations in service during the 1920's.
Aside from the various shore stations, the U.S. Coast
Guard had 129 vessels and 1 air station on May 18th,
1920. Which ships or units rated a Chief is still
being researched. Regardless, only 5 vessels (Cutters
Algonquin, Ossippee, Morrill, Earp and Tybee) had log
transcripts, muster rolls or payroll records still intact
at the National Archives in Washington, D. C.
On four of those cutters, eight petty officers were
identified as being promoted to Chief. They were:
USCGC
Algonquin Ship's muster role, identifies
rate & rank.
CGM (Chief Gunners Mate) A. Wold
CEM (Chief Electricians Mate) R. F. Dibb
CMM (Chief Machinist Mate) G. H. Davis
USCGC Earp Ship's log transcript, General Order #43, transfers,
underway entries.
CBM (Chief Boatswain's Mate) S. Christiansen
CMM F. A. Kleindt
CGM John Ask
USCGC Tybee Ship's log transcript, promotions from General Order
#43.
CBM John Starr
USCGC Ossipee Ship's muster role, annotates promotion endorsement.
CMM W. W. DeWever
Upon recommendation all qualified petty officers were
promoted to Chief for their experience and meritorious
service effective May 18th, 1920. This disputes
the belief by some history buffs that Boatswain's Mates
(L) serving at lighthouses and life-saving stations
were the first to be promoted. Obviously due to
the dated entries of the logs and payroll records some
cutters were underway on May 18th, 1920. On the
cutter Earp, an ambitious storekeeper had already filled
out the payroll records with names and amounts in advance
of payday. He was not anticipating General Order
No.43, thus the records show a red line through two
large pages of the payroll records nullifying his preparation.
The subsequent pages of the ledger reflect the revised
payscale for the newly promoted Chiefs.
The National Archives has indicated that each of the
12 Regional Archives has records for the local/regional
Coast Guard units, (Light-House Service, Life-Saving
Stations) depots, and Headquarters for that period in
time. Unfortunately many logs and muster rolls
were not stored in the regional or national archives.
Some are in museums, city halls and attics around the
country. The discovery process has been time consuming,
albeit the search continues.
This serves as a data call to shipmates and historians.
These names are a small example of the historical evidence
awaiting to be revealed. Please visit the regional archives
in your area and search for Record Group 26 for that
period in history. These records should prove
to be significant and may help to identify our Chiefs
of the past. A records inventory of Coast Guard
related material was compiled by the National Archives
on July 1, 1963. Designated as Record Group 26,
this amounted to 10,194 cubic feet, including 154 reels
of motion-picture film, 10 sound-recording disks, 45
cubic feet of photographic prints, 308 rolls of microfilm,
and 2 cubic feet of cartographic records. The
records are described hierarchically by creating unit:
the Light-House Service, the Revenue-Cutter Service,
the Life-Saving Service, and the United States Coast
Guard.
Closely related records include some personnel records
and related correspondence in Record Group 56, Records
of the Secretary of the Treasury, and some records concerning
predecessor units of the United States Coast Guard in
Record Group 36, Records of the Bureau of Customs.
Records pertaining to inspection of vessels and welfare
of seaman before 1942 are in RG41, Records of the Bureau
of Marine Inspection and Navigation. Records
of Coast Guard general courts-martial for the World
War I period are in RG125, Records of the Office of
the Judge Advocate General (Navy). In RG40, General
Records of the Department of Commerce, among the Secretary's
general files, is correspondence about lighthouses,
including a series of case files on the construction
and repair of lighthouses, lightvessels, buoy tenders,
and other Light-House Services units.
Author's note: Sincere appreciation to Archivists
Angie Vandereet and Richard Peuser, National Archives
and Records Administration, Washington, DC for their
assistance.
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