Archive, Including Photographs, Relating to the U.S. Navy Service Career of Phillip Wallace Stinchfield Between 1917-1947

Item Details

spans the years between 1917 and 1947

VG+

[MILITARY ARCHIVE]  [PHOTOGRAPHS]  [U.S. NAVY]  [WORLD WAR I]  [WORLD WAR II]  Stinchfield, Phillip Wallace.  Extensive archive relating to the U. S. Navy service of Phillip Wallace Stinchfield, a Hospital Apprentice, Pharmacist’s Mate, and Petty Officer, whose career spanned two world wars, between his initial date of enlistment in 1917 and his final discharge in 1947. 

The major portion of the collection consists of over 1,400 photographs, most of which are in seven (7) photo albums, including over 450 real photo post cards, and provide extensive documentation of U. S. Navy ships between WWI and WWII and follows Stinchfield’s career.  Together, with other snap shots, post cards, and commercial photographs, the collection visually depicts where he was stationed or visited, both in the United States and abroad; fellow sailors at work and play; life on board ship; rest and recreation activities; shipyards and military bases; and some family and friends.  There is a grouping of original military documents and service records and copies of correspondence that relate to Stinchfield’s military career and his eligibility for a pension based on length of service; and ephemera from places he visited during Naval voyages.  The collection is in VG+ condition and fits within a records storage box. [19-1370] 

Phillip Wallace Stinchfield (1899-1971) was born in Norfolk, VA and enlisted in the U. S. Navy in April, 1917.  He served in the Hospital Corps as an X-Ray Technician aboard ship and Naval hospitals and dispensaries.  During his first term (1917-1920) he was on board the USS Oklahoma and USS Nebraska and also was stationed at two Naval Training Stations (Newport, RI and Hampton Roads, VA) and the Naval Hospital at Hampton Roads.  He re-enlisted in 1920 at the rank of Pharmacist’s Mate 2^nd Class and was assigned to the Navy Recruiting Station in Denver, then San Francisco.  In December of 1920, he was assigned to duty on the USS Mercy, a hospital ship.  In December, 1922 he was again assigned to recruiting duty: Little Rock, Arkansas, and Norfolk and Hampton Roads, VA.  He re-enlisted again in 1924 and was stationed at the 5^th Naval District Headquarters in Norfolk, VA until he was assigned to duty on several destroyers, the USS Toucey, USS Dale, USS Barry, and USS McFarland.  He re-enlisted for a third time in 1928 and served on the USS Bernadou and, after that tour, was stationed again at the 5^th Naval District Headquarters.  He was honorably discharged in 1932. 

For the next several years he worked as a foreman supervising a crew of longshoremen loading and unloading ships and storing goods in warehouses for the Transport Trading & Terminal Corporation Norfolk, VA.  Married in 1927, Stinchfield had several children.  In July, 1941, he re-enlisted as a reserve, then was transferred to active duty.  Stinchfield’s rank during WWII, until his discharge in 1947, was as a Petty Officer.  During WWII he was stationed in Norfolk, San Diego, Pensacola, Boston, Seattle, and Astoria, WA.  He also served on the USS Hunter Marshall and in U.S. Navy Mobile Hospitals in Guadalcanal, New Caledonia, and New Zealand.  Overall, Stinchfield served in the Navy for twenty years.  Unfortunately, Stinchfield’s wife, Ina, along with the three children, left him and remarried in 1946 on the same day the divorce was final.  Phillip Wallace Stinchfield died in 1971 in Santa Barbara, California.

Two of Stinchfield’s photo albums bear the cover title, USS Oklahoma, and, together, contain 270 real photo post cards.  Views include many of the USS Oklahoma and USS California; crossing the line and Neptunus Rex rites; the hospital ship USS Mercy; dry dock scenes; the Pacific Fleet at sea; sea maneuvers; ship deck activities; the USS Oklahoma’s 14” guns and ammunition; launching torpedoes; church services on board; interior views; sailors at work and play; recreation on board; ship mascot; rough seas; and views of several other battleships.

Two other photo albums bear the cover title, Fotolog U.S.S. Mercy.  The two albums, together, contain over 250 postcards, of which 155 are real photos.  One album is devoted almost entirely to US Naval ships; the other contains views of places Stinchfield visited or was stationed: California, Panama (Panama City), Chile (Santiago), Peru, Philippines, and Shanghai, China.

Three other photo albums, together, contain over 800 photographs in various sizes of sailors; California and Washington scenes from when he was based in locations there; shore leave; R & R scenes; family and friends; and “Views of My Cruise”.  The majority of these images are Navy related, showing military personnel in uniform and out.  Some of the images in these three albums have been removed, or fell out, over the years.

The collection also includes 29 litho post cards (1920-1940s) addressed to Stinchfield or other family members, including his son, Phillip, Jr.; nineteen post cards of WWI scenes; a long circuit view of the USS Nebraska; five (5) large views of the USS Mercy; a framed photo of the USS North Carolina; and other loose photographs.

Some of Stinchfield’s original documents in the collection include his Department of the Navy, Bureau of Navigation, Continuous Service Certificate that tracks his assignments of his career; Certificate of Discharge (1932, 1947); Seaman’s Certificate of Identification (with photo) issued May 31, 1941; thank you from Truman and the White House;  Honorable Discharge (June 23, 1920), with two folds taped, and another dated March 1, 1947; and Stinchfield’s U.S. Navy Enlisted Personnel Qualifications Card filled out in ink.  Ephemera in the collection includes two menus from the USS Mercy (Thanksgiving Day, 1920 and Fourth of July, 1921), both while he was in California; viewbooks from Panama Canal and New Zealand; Stinchfield’s King Neptunus certificate (January 21, 1921); a group of nineteen 7” x 9.5” pictures of the Panama Canal region; a souvenir booklet in honor of the American Fleet on its visit to Valparaiso and Santiago (1921); and a Pacific Fleet mailer with fold-out images postmarked November 3, 1920.

This large, photo-rich archive (over 1,400 images), plus the included service records and papers, represents one man’s Navy career over a 34-year period and provides a good look at shipboard activity, sailors at work and play, and an amazing overview of the U.S. Navy’s sea-going vessels of all kinds, including battleships, destroyers, and hospital ships.  The collection’s strength is the documentation of Navy activity towards the end of WW I and the following decade.