Photographic History of the United States Navy
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NavSource Naval History Photographic History of the United States Navy |
DESTROYER ARCHIVE |
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Size | Image Description | Contributed By |
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55k | Gideon Welles was appointed chief of the Navy's Bureau of Provisions and Clothing in 1846. During his three years in that office, he acquired valuable administrative experience and made enduring friendships. After an unsuccessful bid in 1850 for a Senate seat, Welles devoted his energies and considerable talents as a journalist to the fight against slavery. He broke with the Democratic party over this burning issue and helped organize the Republican party in Connecticut. In 1856, Welles was defeated in a bid for the governorship; but he became a Republican national committeeman that year. Staunchly supporting President Abraham Lincoln's policies, Welles became Lincoln's Secretary of the Navy on 7 March 1861. At the onset of the Civil War in the spring of 1861, the Union Navy was in poor shape, with its ships scattered on various stations throughout the world. Some of its officers, feeling strong ties to their states, resigned their commissions. Welles, however, soon turned the situation around. A man of unusual energy, he rapidly doubled the size of the Navy and took an active part in the direction of the naval war against the South. Early in the conflict, he established a blockade of the Confederate coast with the limited number of ships available, and he constantly strengthened it until the South was almost completely sealed off from the rest of the world. Welles early recognized the need for ironclad warships and vigorously pushed their development, improvement, and construction. His ideas influenced the designs of ordnance, machinery, and armor. He urged improvement in navy yards—both existing and planned. He not only contributed to governmental policies but administered them as well. Shrewd, methodical, and knowledgeable, the Union's remarkable Secretary of the Navy remained poised and calm throughout the tempestuous times engendered by the Civil War. Following Lincoln's death by assassination in April 1865, Welles remained in the cabinet as Secretary of the Navy under Andrew Johnson. After the new President ran into difficulties, Welles loyally and enthusiastically supported him throughout the impeachment proceedings. At the end of Johnson's administration, Welles returned to private life; and, although he never again occupied public office, he remained politically active and wrote prolifically until his death on 11 February 1878. C. A. Dana, in Recollections of the Civil War, wrote of Welles that he was "a very wise, strong man ... he understood his duty and did it efficiently, continually, and unvaryingly." Digital ID: cwpb 04842, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. | Bill Gonyo | |
| 82k | Artist's conception of the Welles as she appeared in World War II by the renowned graphic illustrator John Barrett with the text written by naval author and historian Robert F. Sumrall. Their company Navy Yard Associates offers prints of most destroyers, destroyer escorts, submarines and aircraft carriers in various configurations during the ship's lifetime. The prints can be customized with ship's patches, your photograph, your bio, etc. If you decide to purchase artwork from them please indicate that you heard about their work from NavSource. | Navy Yard Associates | |
| 16k | Undated, location unknown. | Don Scott | |
| 56k | USS Dobbin (AD-3) with (L to R) USS Lovering (DE-39), USS Welles (DD-628), USS Mustin (DD-413) and the USS Fletcher (DD-445) moored in Seeadler Harbor, Admiralty Islands, date unknown. Photo from United States Destroyer Operations of World War II, by Theodore Roscoe. | Robert Hurst | |
| 76k | Probably at New York in October 1945. | David Buell | |
| 69k | Puget Sound Navy Yard August 31 1943. | Tracy White | |
| 87k | USS Welles (DD-628), USS Gillespie (DD-609), USS Hobby (DD-610) and USS Kalk (DD-611) in Norfolk for New Year's 1944. | John Chiquoine | |
LCDR Doyle Murray Coffee Aug 16 1943 - Aug 24 1944 CDR John Sim Slaughter Aug 24 1944 - Jan 2 1946
The contact listed, Was the contact at the time for this ship when located. If another person now is the contact, E-mail me and I will update this entry. These contacts are compiled from various sources over a long period of time and may or may not be correct. Every effort has been made to list the newest contact if more than one contact was found.
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