Research Guides: HH104 American Naval History: Primary Sources

Primary Sources Tip Sheets

Primary sources can be defined as "those closest, in time or connection, to any subject of investigation." [Richard Maruis, A Short Guide to Writing about History, 8th ed., 2012, p.14]

These include

Letters, diaries, memoirs, speeches, and other first person accounts
Certain government publications, such as Congressional hearings
Official accounts by people in authority, such as reports from the Secretary of the Navy or captain of a ship
Oral histories or interviews
Manuscript collections
Most newspaper or periodical articles from the time of the event
Other material from the time such as photographs or pamphlets

Primary Source Tip Sheets:

Primary Source Databases for History

World War II Office of Naval Intelligence Combat Narratives (Chronological Order)

World War II Ship War Damage Reports

Full-text Primary Source Document Collections

Declassified Documents Online This link opens in a new window
Provides access to over 75,000 declassified documents from numerous government agencies plus supplemental information. Ranging from the late 1940's through the 1970's, it covers nearly every major foreign and domestic event of the time period.

What are Primary Sources

Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new window
41 collections of documents on topics like Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, Iran-Contra, terrorism, CIA covert operations, nuclear history, Vietnam, and weapons of mass destruction
Full-text access to 50 years of declassified documents related to U. S. foreign policy.

Electronic Text Collections (from Hanover College)
The First World War: Personal Experiences
Foreign Relations of the United States, 1861-1960
Foreign Relations of the United States, since 1960
Founders Online
Papers of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison
Fuehrer Conferences on Matters Dealing with the German Navy, 1939-1945
Hanover Historical Texts Project
History Vault: Vietnam War and American Foreign Policy, 1960-1975
History Vault: World War II: U.S. Documents on Planning, Operations, Intelligence, Axis War Crimes
Intelligence Reports from the National Security Council's Vietnam Information Group, 1967-1975
Japan at War and Peace, 1930-1949: U.S. State Department Records on the Internal Affairs of Japan
JFK's Foreign Affairs and International Crises, 1961-1963
Manhattan District History (The Secret History of the Atom Bomb, 36 vols.)
Map Room Files of President Roosevelt, 1939-1945: Naval Operations Files
Nicaragua: Political Instability and U.S. Intervention, 1910-1933
Oral Histories of World War II (NHHC)
Papers of the War Department, 1784-1800
Records of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1942-1945: The Pacific Theater
Records of the Persian Gulf War
Records of the U.S. Marine Corps in the Vietnam War, Part 1: Fleet Marine Force, Pacific Command Histories, 1964-1973
Records of the U.S. Marine Corps in the Vietnam War, Part 2: III Marine Amphibious Force Command Histories, 1964-1971
Records of the U.S. Marine Corps in the Vietnam War, Part 3: Divisional Command Histories, 1965-1971
Terrorism: Essential Primary Sources
Also in print under Ref HV6431.T465 2006
United States Congressional Serial Set, 1789-1969
U.S. Marine Corps Historical Documents, Orders, and Speeches
U.S. Navy Action and Operational Reports from World War II, Pacific Theater. Part 1, CINCPAC: Commander-in-Chief Pacific Area Command
Especially useful for Cape Esperance, Coral Sea, Doolittle Raid, Guadalcanal, Midway, Savo Island, Solomon Island, Tarawa and more
U.S. Navy Action and Operational Reports from World War II, Pacific Theater. Part 2, Third Fleet and Third Fleet Carrier Task Forces
Especially useful for Bouganville, Leyte Gulf, Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, Okinawa, Peleliu, typhoons and more
U.S. Navy Action and Operational Reports from World War II, Pacific Theater. Part 3, Fifth Fleet and Fifth Fleet Carrier Task Forces
Especially useful for Iwo Jima, kamikaze attacks, Marianas, Okinawa, Philippine Sea, Saipan, Wake Island and more
U.S.S. Pueblo Crisis
War of 1812: Diplomacy on the High Seas
War Plans CINCPAC: Runnng Estimate and Summary, 1941-1945 ("Nimitz Gray Book")
Westward by Sea: A Maritime Perspective on American Expansion, 1820-1890

18th and 19th Century Periodicals

Titles in blue link to some online access. Titles with no location are print bound volumes shelved alphabetically on the 2nd floor. Titles on microfilm are in the Microform Room on the 1st floor. Titles in Special Collections are in that area on the 3rd floor.

Analetic Magazine, 1812-1820, Special Collections
Appleton's Journal, 1869-1881
Army and Navy Chronicle, 1835-1844, Special Collections
Army and Navy Journal, 1863-1950, microfilm or Special Collections
Army and Navy Magazine, 1880-1888, Special Collections
Army and Navy Register (title varies), 1879-1964, bound volumes or microfilm
Blackwood's Magazine, 1843-1863 online; 1817-1865 in Special Collections; 1866-1908 in bound volumes
Century Magazine, 1881-1899 online; 1881-1930 in bound volumes
Contemporary Review, 1871-1983
De Bows Review, 1846-1869 online; 1850-1880 on microfilm
Dial, 1880-1929
Douglass Monthly, 1859-1863
Eclectic Magazine, 1856-1875, Special Collections
Edinburgh Review, 1802-1929, bound volumes or microfilm
Fortnightly Review, 1871-1954
Gentleman's Magazine, 1731-1750 online; 1731-1866, Special Collections
Graphic, 1869-1932
Harper's Magazine (or Harper's Monthly), 1850-1899 online; 1850 to present in bound volumes
Harper's Weekly, 1857-1916, on microfilm
Illustrated London News, 1856-2003
Independent (N.Y.), 1892-1928, on microfilm
Journal of the United States Artillery, 1892-1918
Knickerbocker Magazine, 1833-1865, on microfilm
Liberator, 1831-1865, on microfilm
Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, 1868-1900, bound volumes or microfilm
Living Age, 1844-1900 online; 1844-1941 in bound volumes
London & Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine, 1832-1840, Special Collections
Munsey's Magazine, 1891-1929, on microfilm
Naval Chronicle, 1799-1818, bound volumes or Special Collections
New Englander, 1843-1892
Niles Register, 1811-1849, microfiche or Special Collections
North American Review, 1815-1900 online; 1815 to present in bound volumes
Overland Monthly, 1868-1900 online; 1868-1935 in bound volumes
Princeton Review, 1830-1882
Quarterly Review, 1809-1967
Review of Reviews, 1890-1937
Royal United Service Institution (RUSI) Journal, 1857 to present
Sailor's Magazine, 1828-1892, Special Collections
Scribner's Magazine, 1887-1896 online; 1887-1939 in bound volumes
Scribner's Monthly, 1870-1881
Spectator, 1871 to present, bound volumes or microfilm
United Service Magazine, 1829-1920
United States Magazine and Democratic Review,1837-1859
United States Naval Institute Proceedings, 1874 to present, bound volumes or microfilm (online only since 1997)
Westminster Review, 1866-1913

Online Primary Source Documents

Early American Naval Document (Primary Source) Collections: 1774-1865

Naval Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-1778, 11 vols.
Also in print in the general collection under E271.U583
Naval Documents Related to the Quasi-War Between the United States and France, 1797-1801, 7 vols.
Also in print in the general collection under E323.U75
Naval Documents Related to the United States Wars with the Barbary Powers, 1785-1807, 6 vols.
Also in print in the general collection under E335.A35
The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History, 1812-1815, 3 vols.
Also in print in the general collection under E360.N294
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, 30 vols.
Also in print in the general collection under E591.U58

Primary Sources Available in Books

Primary source collections may be in the Reference stacks on the 1st floor or in the general collection in the call number section for that subject.

American Decades: Primary Sources, 10 vols. (Ref E169.1.A471977 2004)
American War Plans, 1919-1941, 5 vols. (D769.2.A84)
Annual Reports of the Secretary of the Navy, 1823-1948 (VA52.A1/2)
Battle of Jutland, 30th May to 1st June, 1916: Official Dispatches with Appendixes (D582.J8A3)
Blacks in the United States Armed Forces: Basic Documents, 13 vols. (E185.63.B55)
Covert Warfare, 1939-1945, 18 vols. (Oversize D810.S7C66)
Documentary History of the Campaign on the Niagara Frontier (War of 1812), 4 vols. (E355.1.N5L9)
Encyclopedia of American Historical Documents, 3 vols. (Ref E173,E54 2004)
Greenwood Library of American War Reporting, 8 vols. (Ref D5.G84 2005)
Iraq, 1990-2006: A Diplomatic History Through Documents, 3 vols. (Ref DS79.75.I728 2009)
The Iraq War: A Documentary and Reference Guide (DS79.76.M625 2012)
Log of the Bonhomme Richard (E271.B69)
The Naval Chronicle: The Contemporary Record of the Royal Navy at War, 1793-1815, 5 vols. (VA454.N383)
New American State Papers: Exploration and Surveys, 15 vols. (F592.U54)
The New American State Papers: Military Affairs, 19 vols. (E181.N48)
The New American State Papers: Naval Affairs, 10 vols. (Ref E182.N47)
New American State Papers: Science and Technology, 14 vols. (Q127.U6U485)
On the Account: Piracy and the Americas, 1766-1835 (E18.75.G53 2012)
Origins of the First World War: Diplomatic and Military Documents (D511.O6752013)
Pearl Harbor Attack: Hearings Before the Joint Committee, 39 vols. (D767.92.A5)
United States Army in the World War, 1917-1919, 17 vols. (D570.A4A45)
United States Strategic Bombing Survey: Reports, European War, 208 reports (D785.U6)
United States Strategic Bombing Survey: Reports, Pacific War, 107 reports (D785.U63)

Nimitz Library Special Collections and Archives

Special Collections and Archives
Nimitz Library Digital Collections
A selection of items from Nimitz Library's Special Collections & Archives Division, or the USNA Museum, on topics such as:

The Civil War,

John Paul Jones,

Naval Academy History
(Lucky Bag, USNA Register)

Oliver Hazard Perry,

Polar Exploration,

The Somers Affair,

War of 1812,

WWII Combat Photographs

World War II Propaganda

+ many others