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Captain A. T. Mahan will be writing an authoritative article about the composition of the Great White Fleet and the reasons for sending it first to the Pacific Coast, and then around the world. The article will feature in an upcoming double-size special Navy edition of Scientific American, which will be available December 7, 1907.
Duane G. Jundt Theodore Roosevelt Collection
1907
Collection of newspaper clippings of articles, photographs, and maps showing some of the actors, naval vessels, and events making up parts of the Spanish-American war. Includes some handwritten notes and hand-colored photographs.
1898
Admiral Glass reports to Secretary of the Navy Moody about conditions in Panama, in particular regarding the movements of both Colombian and United States warships, and the activity of American sailors in the area.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-02-16
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Darling reports the location of Admiral Yates Stirling and a number of warships, south of Shanghai. Press statements about “Chauncey” are believed to be misleading and untrue.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-23
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Darling informs President Roosevelt that the armed cruiser Buffalo has been dispatched to patrol the Bering Sea at the request of the State Department and the Department of Commerce and Labor. Darling requests Roosevelt’s approval to authorize the ship searching and seizing sealers.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-23
Hermann Speck von Sternburg extends condolences upon hearing of the accident on board the USS Missouri.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-04-14
Theodore E. Burton discusses recent remarks concerning construction of naval war ships. Burton’s postscript mentions remarks made in articles about the Isthmian Canal.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-02-24
Sheet music for “King of the Sea,” which celebrates the American military heroes of the Spanish-American War. The cover features an illustration of a triumphal arch with oval portraits of Admiral Dewey, General Shafter, Admiral Schley, Admiral Shafter, Richmond Pearson Hobson, Captain Evans, and Governor Roosevelt.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1900
Souvenir booklet of sheet music commemorating the Great White Fleet’s circumnavigation of the world. The sheet music is primarily for the song “Our Star Spangled Banner” with arrangements for various instruments in a band or orchestra. The cover features a photograph of the battleship fleet leaving Suez, Egypt. There are photographs of President Roosevelt aboard a ship, the USS Kansas in the Sea of Japan, and of naval midshipmen marching in the 1904 inaugural parade.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1909
Sheet music for “Voice of the West,” which celebrates President Roosevelt sending the Great White Fleet on its circumnavigation of the globe. The cover features an illustration of a battleship and the likeliness of President Roosevelt and Secretary of War William H. Taft.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1908
Sheet music with a title referring to an 1899 speech by Theodore Roosevelt in which he said, “I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife …” The cover features a large photo of an America warship which was part of the Great White Fleet that circumnavigated the globe from 1907-1909. The music was published during the voyage.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1908
Fold-out postcard with photos of sixteen United States Navy warships and their respective captains. The front of the case features photographs of President Roosevelt and Admiral Sperry.
1908
Program for the commissioning ceremonies of the aircraft carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt. The program contains letters of congratulations from various dignitaries, a short essay on Theodore Roosevelt’s role in the Navy, and a listing of the carrier’s officers and crew.
Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site
1986-10-25
A fleet of steam-powered warships sails past the Rock of Gibraltar. The illustration is labeled, “The Prudential has the Strength of Gibraltar.” Caption: A copy of this inspiring picture in colors will be sent free if you will write, requesting it, to Dept. P, The Prudential Insurance Company of America. John F. Dryden, President. Home Office, Newark, N.J.
Despite being printed in Puck Magazine, this double-page painting is an advertisement, not a political cartoon.
Report on German naval power. Includes a listing of ships with details on their construction year, armor, displacement, and steaming range. The chart also compares Germany’s naval power to several other nations. On the envelope the item was delivered in, there is a note explaining that President Roosevelt requested this chart in a personal interview with Commander Beehler of the United States Navy.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901
In a recent speech, Assistant Secretary Roosevelt stated that it was necessary to strip many of the Navy’s ships in order to equip the fleet that sailed around the world. Theodore Roosevelt remembers the situation differently and contacted a naval officer of high standing about the matter. The officer denied that other ships needed to be stripped to prepare the fleet. However, when the fleet returned, many ships were depleted so that reserve ships could attend the review.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1916-05-26
John Bull, standing with one foot on England and the other on Ireland, holds strings attached to many warships which encircle the United Kingdom, while overhead fly menacing armed aircraft. Caption: “Britannia needs no bulwarks, no towers along the steep; / Her march is o’er the mountain wave, her home is on the deep.”
This cover design, commencing the period when Puck routinely incorporated its logo into cover artwork, proved remarkably prescient.
In a military policy speech given before a group of soldiers and veterans of the Spanish American War, President Roosevelt stresses the need for preparedness. He says the borders of the United States, once separated from Europe and Asia by the vast oceans, have been brought closer to potential threats by modern naval technology. He insists that the United States must become very engaged in international affairs, ready to back up words with action, and he affirms his belief in the Monroe Doctrine. For the Army, he believes in small but strong regular National Guard units which can train up and lead a larger volunteer force in the event of war. He believes this would be impossible for the navy, however, as it takes years to build warships and train sailors on the “highly specialized work” of operating them; Roosevelt feels that the naval craft and crews prepared in time of peace would be the factor on which success would rest. He concludes by saying the entire nation, inland included, should be proud of the United States Navy.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-09-23
Colonel Roosevelt has been aboard a ship in Port Tampa awaiting departure for Cuba for six days. With 1,000 men on board, he is concerned about the heat and potential for disease before they reach their destination. The delay wears on all the men. Roosevelt expresses his belief that the Navy has had all the fun so far, but hopefully the Army will get some action between Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.
1898-06-12
A battered ironclad labeled “High Cost of Living” is being bombarded by several ironclads labeled “Berger, Shanks [sic], Sulzer, George, Jr., [and] Taft.” Their gun blasts are labeled, respectively, “Socialism, Municipal Market, Parcel Post, Single Tax, [and] Tariff Board,” and one unidentified “Monitor” with gun blast labeled “Free Trade.” Caption: The Civil War Merrimac was hard enough to whip, but this one may be harder.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1912-02-28