Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center
U.S.S. President Hayes Association
SP-22
Introduction
Agency History
Scope and Content
Inventory
Introduction
The U.S.S. President Hayes Association Collection was
donated to the Hayes Presidential Center in 1985. Additional material was
donated in 1999 and 2006.
Agency History
The President Hayes AP-39
was laid down by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. on December 26,
1939 and launched October 4, 1940, Mrs. Cordell Hull sponsoring. The ship was
turned over to the American President Lines in February, acquired by the U.S.
Navy July 7, 1941, and commissioned December 15, 1941 with Comdr. F. W. Benson
in command.
January 6, 1942 President
Hayes sailed for San Diego via the Panama Canal. During February and March she evacuated
civilians and dependents from Pearl Harbor. On
July 1 she embarked for the Tonga
Islands loaded with
Marines. On the evening of August 7 President Hayes landed units of the
2nd Marine Regiment on Guadalcanal and spent the next several months
shuttling supplies and reinforcements from Tonga,
Noumea, and New Zealand. The ship was
re-designated APA-20 effective February 1, 1943. President Hayes also
participated in the Rendova landings at the end of June, shooting down 7 enemy
planes. President Hayes, President Adams, President Jackson, and Crescent
City were nicknamed
the AUnholy
Four.@
The rest of the war President
Hayes continued to move troops and supplies from island to island in the
Pacific. At Manus, November 1944, she witnessed the explosion of the ammunition
ship Mount Hood and dispatched fire and
rescue parties to the stricken ships. At the end of the war President Hayes served
with the AMagic
Carpet,@
returning 1400 discharged soldiers to Los
Angeles on each
of two round trips. She earned 7 battles stars for World War II service.
President Hayes continued
to serve with the Pacific Fleet until decommissioned June 30, 1949. She was
assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet in 1950 and her name was struck from the
Navy List and transferred to the Maritime Commission October 1, 1958.
Scope and Content
This collection contains material
regarding the U.S.S. President Hayes, her service during World War II,
and the veterans=
organization of the men who sailed on the ship. The bulk of the material
consists of newsletters regarding veterans=
reunions from 1989 to 2000 and correspondence of these veterans with
reminiscences of their service. Other items found in this collection include
the ship=s plans,
a copy of the ship=s log from
1941 to 1952, memoranda and plans of the day, military guides to identification
of ships and planes, and maps of the South Pacific, where President Hayes
served. There is also a large quantity of photographs of the ship and the
sailors.
Artifacts transferred to the
museum collection include a ship=s
bell, pieces of a >Homeward
Bound= pennant,
a piece of a Japanese Zero shot down at Pearl Harbor,
a large collection of currency and coins, and other items of daily life aboard
ship.
Inventory
Ac. 4752, 5532, 5698
1.5 linear ft.
BOX 1
1. Photos - Ships & Harbors
2. Photos - Sailors & Mascots
3. Photos – Sailors
4. Copies of Photos
5. Crossing the Equator, Crossing
the 180th Meridian Certificates,
etc.
6. Ship History
7. Ship=s
Plan
8. U.S.S. Mount
Hood Newspaper Clippings
9. Plan of the Day, Memoranda,
etc.
10. Radio Press News
11. Copy of Ship=s Log July 15, 1941
12. Copy of Ship’s Log 15
December-31 December, 1941
13. Copy of Ship’s Log 01
January-31 January, 1942 (Incomplete)
14. Maps
15. Military Guides to the
Western Pacific and Philippines
16. U.S. Naval Auxiliaries -
Identification of Ships and Planes
17. Japanese publication on Burma Shin
Seiki Sept. 1943
18. Carrier War by Lt.
Oliver Jensen
19. Top Secret by James
Martin Davis
20. Theodore Rzempoluch - Service
Record, Notebook./Diary
21. Materials re Lantz=s service on U.S.S. President Hayes
22. Noumea Diary by Bill Biddy
23. Reminiscences of W. R.
Glasson
24. Correspondence of Veterans
Including Reminiscences of Service
25. Letters from Frank J. Cuspilich
26. Letters from John Benedicks
27. Letters from John Spann
28. New Zealand
29. 1989 Reunion/Newsletters
30. 1990 Reunion/Newsletters
31. 1991 Reunion/Newsletters
32. 1992 Reunion/Newsletters
33. 1993 Reunion/Newsletters
34. 1994 Reunion/Newsletters
35. 1995 Reunion/Newsletters
36. 1996 Reunion/Newsletters
37. 1997 Reunion/Newsletters
38. 1998 Reunion/Newsletters
39. 1999 Reunion/Newsletters
40. 2000 Reunion/Newsletters
41. Roster 1991 - 1999
42. AUnholy
Four@
Association
43. U.S.S. President Adams APA-19
History
44. U.S.
Navy Salvage Divers Reunion
45. Miscellaneous
46. Video Tape, Audio Tapes of Reunion Business Meetings
Oversize
Maps
and photographic prints of the crew and the vessel
Booklet
of general plans, 1942
Booklet
of general plans, 1942
Booklet
of general plans, 1942
Booklet
of general plans, sheet 12
Banner,
“U.S.S. President Hayes APA 20”
Artifacts transferred to
Museum
Ship=s Bell
app. 12" x 10" x 10"
Homeward Bound
pennant fragment, donated by Frank M. Cox
Homeward Bound
pennant fragment donated by Stanley Rzempoluch
Piece of
Japanese Zero shot down at Pearl Harbor,
donated by Stanley Rzempoluch
Leather key
chain marked AMaster
Key B@
Leather hand
strap with metal insert
Knotted picture
frame w/unidentified couple
Metal whistle
Torpedo-shaped
pen
Pair of puttees
marked ALantz, W.
S.@
Commission
pennant fragment
Piece of
shrapnel
Dog-tag, Wilfred
S. Lantz 723-27-38 T/3-44
Naval insignia -
black diamond patch with gold circle and gold eagle
Japanese stamp,
value 2?
2 cent postcard AVictory@
with 8 stamps of U.S.A.
AVictory@
the Philippine Islands for 2,4,6,8,12,16, and 20 centavos
Currency:
(3) five yen
notes
(3) ten yen
notes
five franc note of Indo-China
one franc note of New Caledonia
Australia
ten shilling note
one
pound note
five
pound note
U.S. Treasury
Certificate, one peso note, The Philippines
Dutch New Guinea
One cent note
ten Gulden note
Japanese
Government - the Philippines:
one centavo note, PU in red ink
(6) one centavo notes, PK in red ink
five centavo note, PG in red ink
(4) five centavo notes, PP in red ink
(2) fifty centavo notes, PI in red ink
ten pesos note, PD in red ink
one peso note
one hundred pesos note
Coins:
Canadian, one
cent, 1903
Honolulu, Rapid Transit Token, 1924
Philippines (U.S.A.)
one centavo, 1944
five centavo, 1944
New Zealand,
one penny, 1941
Australia
one penny, 1939
one penny, 1944
one penny, 1936
florin, 1943
2
penny, 1927
one shilling, 1943
one
shilling, 1911
sixpence, 1938
three pence, 1943
Great Britain
three pence, 1937
one penny, 1936
Japan, seven
coins