United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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INTRODUCTION Qnited States Navy Chaplains, 1778 - 1945, originally planned to be Volume III of the history of the Navy Chaplain Corps, was published by the United States Government Printing Office in 1948. No possibility was then foreseen of having the two volumes of the narrative history published by the Government. The need for a 'correspondence course for Reserve Chaplains made possible the publication of these volumes. The Government Printing Office printed Volume I of The History Q the Chaplain Corpg, 1779 - 1939, in 1949. Volume II, continuing the history for the years 1939 - 1949, appeared in 1950. United States Navy Chaplains, 1778 - 1945, hereinafter referred to as Volume III, contains the biographical and service-r'ecord sketches of 3,353 chaplains, Qincluding two who served in the Continental Navyl, who had been or were on duty some time prior to 31 December 1945. Since the publication of Volume III, only one name has been discovered which should have been included and that was of Edward Brooks who served as a chaplain in the Continental Navy. A brief sketch of Chaplain Brooks appears in this volume. Volume III has proved to be of such great value to the members of the Corps, and especially to administrative chaplains in the various naval districts, that a demand was expressed for a revision and a supplement. The biographical part of the sketches needed to be corrected and amended. The service records of chaplains who had active duty for part or all of the seven-year period, 1946 to 1952 inclusive,needed tobe added, together with references to all who were sep- arated from the Corps by death, retirement, resignation, or transfer to another Corps. The sketches of the 273 new accessions to the Corps during this seven-year period needed to be in- cluded. Hence the necessity of this volume which will be designated as Volume IV of the history of the Chaplains Corps. The present volume also contains a short narrative account of some of the principal devel- opments within and the achievements of the Chaplain Corps since the spring of 1949, which was the closing date for Volume II of the History of the Chaplain Corg, United States Navy, 1939 - 1949. VII