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FANTASTIC PHOTO ARCHIVE OF A SAILOR WHO SERVED IN THE US NAVY FROM 1927-1948

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Kay “Casey” Pool was born on February 5, 1910 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He attended school there and on February 5, 1927 he enlisted in the US Navy and was given serial number 346-38-03.

During Mr. Pool’s first enlistment he rose from Able Seaman to Fireman First Class and served at Hampton Roads, Virginia and aboard the USS CHARLES AUSBURN (DD 294), USS WHITNEY (AD 4), USS DOBBIN (AD 3), USS BARRY (DD 248) and finished at the Naval Receiving Station at Hampton Roads. He was discharged on February 6, 1931.

Mr. Pool’s second term of service began on April 15, 1931. During this enlistment he rose from Fireman 1^st Class to Motor Machinist 2^nd Class and finally to Water Tender 2^nd Class. He was stationed at the Navy Barracks at Puget Sound, Washington for 15 days and on April 30, 1931 he was assigned aboard the USS OKLAHOMA (BB 37). It was during this time that many of the items listed below were obtained. Pool was discharged on March 4, 1938.

Pool enlisted for a third time on May 3, 1938 and remained onboard the USS OKLAHOMA till May of 1939. He then boarded the USS HENDERSON (AP 1) and was sent to join the crew of the USS WHIPPLE (DD 217) in China. He arrived in early July and on the 6^th became part of the crew on the WHIPPLE. While onboard this ship many of the photographs in the black leather album described below were taken. In March of 1940 Pool was sent to the USS BLACK HAWK (AD 9) for medical treatment. What exactly the problem was is not recorded. After his recovery Pool was made a member of the crew of the USS BLACK HAWK as a Chief Water Tender. He was onboard her when Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941. At that time the USS BLACK HAWK was in Borneo tending Destroyer Squadron 5. Afterward the ship served in the Aleutian Campaign

Pool remained on the USS BLACK HAWK until October 25, 1944 when he was assigned to the USS ZELLARS (DD 777). While onboard this ship Pool saw action during the invasion of Okinawa. On April 12, 1945 ZELLARS was attacked by 3 Japanese “JILL” type torpedo planes. They shot down the first two but the third, despite numerous 40 mm hits, struck the port side of the ZELLARS. The planes torpedo past through to the starboard side of the ship and exploded in the scullery killing or wounding 66 of the crew. The ZELLARS returned to California for repairs and was still being worked on when the war ended. On September 1, 1945 Pool was sent to the Naval Hospital at Long Beach, California for an unknown cause.

After sometime on shore duty Pool once again went to sea on March 4, 1946 when he was assigned to the USS HEERMAN (DD 532). From there he went to the USS BULLARD (DD 660) on 15 April 1946 and then to the USS CARTER HALL (LSD 3) on December 5, 1946.

Pool’s last duty station was at the Bainbridge Naval Station where he was discharged in 1948. The exact date is unknown.

After the war he married and moved to Grants Pass, Oregon where he died on March 30, 1996. He is buried there in Hawthorne Memorial Cemetery.

Mr. Pool’s items which are offered here consist of a 1930’s record book made into a scrap book. Volume is covered in green cloth with the word “RECORD” printed in black ink across the front. Cover has some light scattered foxing but otherwise it is holding strong. Volume is well bound and meas. approx. 8.50 inches wide x 14.00 inches tall x 1.00 inch thick. Inside are 112 pages chock full of interesting items relating to Pool’s service on the USS OKLAHOMA between 1935 and 1939. Just some of the things you will find pasted inside here are newspaper clippings relating to the USS OKLAHOMA protecting American ships removing US citizens from Spain during that country’s Civil War, page after page of cartoons drawn as a cover to the daily information sheet issued onboard the USS OKLAHOMA, official documents relating to fueling the USS OKLAHOMA in 1936 & 1939,  tobacco wrappers and matchbooks, , a few drawings of women and children, a pullout pin-up page of Marlene Dietrich circa 1936 or 37, news articles about the building of the Bay Bridge, various greeting cards, racing program for Santa Anita racetrack, restaurant menus from England and France, various foreign advertisements, tickets for movies and plays, map to the London Underground, London City Bus route map, foreign postage stamps, college football schedule for 1936, Shell Oil Finger Tip Football Schedule for 1938  just all kinds of wonderful ephemera from the period 1935 -1939.

Next is a photo album that meas. approx. 11.00 x 8.00 inches which contains 335 photographs spread over 76 pages. Cover is green felt and decorated with a painted eagle and the title “LOG ALBUM” with a hill scene painted along the bottom edge. At center is a silk picture of a battleship with a riband above it that says “USS OKLAHOMA.” The top corner of the front cover is curled otherwise the album is in excellent condition. The photographs inside span from the 1920’s to the late 1930’s and are mostly of women, both American and foreign. Looking through this album gives meaning to the old saying that “A sailor has a woman in every port.” Many of the women are pictured showing “a lot of leg” either in bathing suits or dresses. The album begins with a blank NEPTUNUS REX document given to sailors and Marines the first time they cross the equator. Then comes several pages of friends autographs followed by diary type entries of the USS OKLAHOMA”s trip from the Panama Canal to Norfolk, Virginia in April and May of 1936. After these entries the photographs start. The first pages show the girls “back home” as well as some photos of Mr. Pool working on his farm. As you go through the pages notations are made under some of the woman’s photos such as “BOSTON,” “NEWPORT NEWS” or “JUST ANOTHER ONE.” There are women pictured from New York, Massachusetts, Texas and Arkansas. They are posed along creeks, with cars, on boats, on rocks, in the woods, some with Mr. Pool but most are alone. No doubt some are family, but not many. One is just marked “RED HEAD.” Several shots look to be of Hawaiian women wearing lei’s and grass skirts. The photos in the album are all snap shots and not commercially produced. Several photos show Mr. Pool with his shipmates and at the very back there are several photographs of foreign sites such as Buckingham Palace, Gibraltar and Spain. The last photos in the album look to be American citizens in lifeboats leaving Spain and boarding American vessels. Midway through the album is a shot of President Herbert Hoover.

The third album in the group is the nicest. It comes contained in a very nice sailcloth bag that snaps shut and is stenciled with the name “KAY POOL” across the flap. The album has leather covers with a tooled decoration of the Great Wall of China, a Chinese junk and several pagodas. The decoration is contained within a border of dragons. In gold across the top is “ASIATIC STATION” and at bottom is “KAY POOL” also in gold. The covers have rawhide edging and the front center edge has a flap and snap to hold the album closed. Album meas. approx. 14.50 x 11.00 inches. The first interior page of the album has a color print of the decoration found worked into the leather of the front cover. This page is followed by a pre-printed dedication titled “MY ORIENTAL ALBUM.” The first pictures in the album show the waterfront of Shanghai with a postcard photo of Mr. Pool sitting in a rikshaw. The album then continues with 30 pages of photographs totaling 290 images. There are photos of Shanghai, Peking, Hong Kong, Chefoo, and the Philippine Islands. There are also pictures of Mr. Pool’s ship the USS WHIPPLE in Chefoo Harbor and also in dry dock with several other ships. There are also several pages of photos showing the bombing of Shanghai by the Japanese in 1937 and several images of Mr. Pool and his shipmates.  At the back of the album is a full color pre-printed document made out in Mr. Pool’s name and dated June 11, 1939 admitting him to the Domain of The Golden Dragon for crossing the 180^th Meridian. Album is in excellent condition with colored tissue paper between the pages. Only the first tissue page has separated all the rest remain in place.

The last item in the group is a folder containing loose photographs. Several are 8 x 10’s showing Japanese civilians and prisoners of war. Several show a military cemetery being laid out somewhere in the Pacific. There are also several shipboard formal portraits of several officers. The smaller photos are of Mr. Pool and his shipmates. In all, the file contains 18 8 x 10’s, and 25 smaller snapshots.  There are also two original discharge documents for Mr. Pool, one from 1931 and the other from 1939 as well as two other documents showing Naval classes that Mr. Pool completed.

This is a great photo archive of a veteran who served in the US Navy for 21 years. [ad] [ph:L]

Note: Any very bright areas, or streaks of light, in the photographs are reflections from the photographic flash and are not present on the images themselves.

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