A History Of The Chaplain Corps United States Navy 1778

From the Introduction and Chapter 1- This is the first comprehensive and official history of the United States Navy chaplaincy ever prepared. Upon orders from the Secretary of the Navy, historians were selected to write the history of all phasesof the Navy's activities during the recent war. A history of the Chaplain Corps was included in this overall program. From ancient times the sea has engendered in the hearts of those who have ventured forth upon the vastness of its waters feelings of fear, awe, and reverence. The mariner of yesterday who dared sail his frail craft out upon the uncharted wilderness of the sea had good reason to be afraid. Beyond the horizon was the mystery of the great unknown. Contrary winds, violent storms, the great loneliness of the sea, and the mythical leviathans of the deep, all contributed to his fear. Recognizing the risks he ran, the sailor turned in awe and sometimes in superstition to his deity for protection and guidance. In these modern times the sailor has risen above many of his fears of the past. Most of the waters have been charted. With high-powered engines, he can run contrary to the wind and even defy the storm. Through the magic of radio and radar he can keep in touch with land. Weather reports forecast the wind, sea, and sky. Although science has largely replaced superstition, it has created new fears to take the place of the old. New and more terrible leviathans lurk in the deep. Death falls from the sky. War has always been an awful thing, and strong men still know what it is to be afraid.

From the Preface to Volume 2 - This is the second volume of the narrative History of the Chaplain Corps, United States Navy. Volume I, published in 1949, presents an account of the development of the Corps and of the progress of religion in the Navy from the days of the Revolutionary War to the declaration of a state of national emergency on 8 September 1939. Consideration is therein given to the development and influence of naval regulations, customs, and traditions as they affect the work of Navy chaplains. Light is thrown on such subjects as the social and moral conditions under which chaplains worked and their relations with officers and enlisted men. The volume outlines the problems and difficulties chaplains faced and some of their achievements, and also deals with such subjects as the chaplain's pay, rank, and uniform. Kindred topics of interest to chaplains, as their collateral duties, the church pennant, and the rise of the Reserve organizations, are also covered. A knowledge of this history will be helpful in understanding and appreciating the status of the Corps on the eve of World War II and of its contribution during that great conflict. Included in volume I is an appendix containing the names of 471 chaplains who saw duty in the Navy at some time prior to 8 September 1939. An appendix to the present volume includes the additional names of 2,882 accessions to the Corps from 8 September 1939 to 31 December 1945. This makes a grand total of 3,353 chaplains, whose biographical and service-record sketches appeared as a Government publication in 1948 under the title United States Navy Chaplains, 1778-1945. The present volume continues the narrative history of the Chaplain Corps from 8 September 1939 to the spring of 1949. It includes, therefore, the period of preparation leading up to Pearl Harbor and the story of demobilization following the cessation of hostilities in August 1945. A questionnaire requesting information from the chaplains regarding their work and experiences was included in the Navy Department Semi-Monthly Bulletin of 14 November 1944. About 1,300 replies, out of approximately 2,300 chaplains then on duty, were received. These answers furnished valuable source material in the preparation of this volume.