The Naval Institute Archive was recently the recipient of a lucky find by Bill Foley of Boston who came upon some USS Hermitage (AP-54) papers left behind in an attic of a house that a friend of his purchased. Among those papers was a stack of “Scuttlebutt” newspapers, which kept the crew up to date on news around the world and included lighter pieces that were presented in an entertaining way.
USS Hermitage: Scuttlebutt’s Thanksgiving edition – 1943
“Scutttlebutt” was published daily, and I’m sure it was appreciated much as our modern day sailors enjoy digital content to connect them to the world beyond their ship at sea.
For your reading enjoyment, here is the front page of the Thanksgiving edition of “Scuttlebutt” from 75 years ago!
Thanksgiving 1943 front page of Scuttlebutt
On the back page of this edition, the war fronts were summarized in maps of the European and Pacific war fronts.
Here is the Pacific summary map,
Pacific front Nov 1943
and here is the European theater summary map.
European Theater summary map Nov 1943
Finally, I also noticed that since this edition was going to transport ships which carried Army troops an editor was noted as Ensign S. R. Groban, but there was also an Army editor named who was noted as Lieutenant Herbert W.Wind.
Some of the lighter items in this edition included cartoons:
Cartoon from Scuttlebutt Nov 25, 1943
So that’s the scuttlebutt for now. I hope you enjoyed this peek into the Naval Institute’s
Archive, and have a Happy Thanksgiving.
