Dublin Core
Title
Photograph of Admiral Ben Moreell with Message and Original Signature, 1942 March 17
Description
This is a photograph of Admiral Ben Moreell with original note and signature sent to Admiral Stark sometime likely after World War II.
Transcription:
To Admiral H. R. Stark, USN—
“The Best Boss a Feller ever Had”---
In pleasant remembrance of
happy days —
Ben Morreell
17 March 1942
Ben Moreell (1892-1978) was the chief of the United States Navy’s Bureau of Yards and Docks and of the Civil Engineer Corps. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah on September 14, 1892, Moreell would graduate with a Civil Engineering degree from McKelvey School of Engineering in 1913, and enlist with the navy during World War I. He would become closely acquainted with Franklin D. Roosevelt, the assistant secretary of the Navy, and served in the navy yards at Massachusetts, Haiti, Virginia, and Washington following the close of the war. In December of 1937, Roosevelt would select Moreell to be Chief of Bureau of Yards and Docks and of the Civil Engineer Corps, and he would eventually rise to the rank of Rear Admiral, though he had never received the title of captain prior. In World War II, Morreell suggested that an advance built by a militarized Naval Construction Force could strengthen Pacific bases by supplying weapons and tools. These forces would become the Seabees, recruited after March 5, 1942, when they approved the formal request by Moreell to the authority of the Bureau of Navigation on December 28, 1941.
Transcription:
To Admiral H. R. Stark, USN—
“The Best Boss a Feller ever Had”---
In pleasant remembrance of
happy days —
Ben Morreell
17 March 1942
Ben Moreell (1892-1978) was the chief of the United States Navy’s Bureau of Yards and Docks and of the Civil Engineer Corps. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah on September 14, 1892, Moreell would graduate with a Civil Engineering degree from McKelvey School of Engineering in 1913, and enlist with the navy during World War I. He would become closely acquainted with Franklin D. Roosevelt, the assistant secretary of the Navy, and served in the navy yards at Massachusetts, Haiti, Virginia, and Washington following the close of the war. In December of 1937, Roosevelt would select Moreell to be Chief of Bureau of Yards and Docks and of the Civil Engineer Corps, and he would eventually rise to the rank of Rear Admiral, though he had never received the title of captain prior. In World War II, Morreell suggested that an advance built by a militarized Naval Construction Force could strengthen Pacific bases by supplying weapons and tools. These forces would become the Seabees, recruited after March 5, 1942, when they approved the formal request by Moreell to the authority of the Bureau of Navigation on December 28, 1941.