US-RNN-msc0346 Guide to the William M. Carpenter papers1934-2005 (bulk 1934-1964) Finding aid prepared by Elysia Hamelin, October 2017. Naval Historical Collection, U.S. Naval War College 2017
686 Cushing Road Newport, RI 02841-1207 Tel: 401-841-2435 email: nhc@usnwc.edu Website: https://usnwcarchives.org/
Finding aid encoded by Elizabeth Delmage, March 2018. English Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS). English Naval War College (U.S.). Naval Historical Collection
686 Cushing Road Newport, RI 02841-1207 Tel: 401-841-2435 email: nhc@usnwc.edu Website: https://usnwcarchives.org/
Carpenter, William Milner William M. Carpenter papers 1934-2005 (bulk 1934-1964) MSC-346 Carpenter (William M.) papers 2.29 linear feet (1 archival box, 1 half archival box, 1 oversize box) Captain William Milner Carpenter (1916-2006) was a World War II Pacific theater veteran with 26 years of active service in the United States Navy. After his retirement he spent 30 years working and consulting for SRI International. This collection include books, correspondence, photographs, and writings relating to both his naval and civilian careers. Biographical note

Captain William Milner Carpenter (1916-2006), USN was born 13 November 1916 in Mooresville, Indiana to Denzel B. Carpenter and Mary E. (Milner) Carpenter. He married Mary Alice Comer and they had four children: Richard, Katherine, Suzanne, and John.

Carpenter attended the former Indiana Central College until he was accepted into the United States Naval Academy in 1936. Upon his graduation in 1940, he was assigned to the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was subsequently assigned to the USS San Juan (CL-54) and served the rest of World War II in the Pacific theater. The San Juan entered Tokyo harbor after the Japanese surrender, and Carpenter served in Japan during the occupation.

In 1946, he received a master's degree in meteorology from the Naval Postgraduate School. He later took command of the USS Wadleigh (DD-689). Carpenter then became Associate Professor of Naval Science at the University of Rochester. In 1958, he was assigned to an anti-submarine task force aboard USS Wasp (CVS-18). He served next at the Pentagon in the CNO Politico-Military Affairs Office and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. One of his assignments during this period was to attend the Geneva Conference on Laos as a military adviser to Ambassador Averell Harriman.

In 1964, Carpenter took command of the Japan-based USS Castor (AKS-1). After that tour, he returned to the Pentagon. He retired from the Navy in 1966 after 26 years of active service.

For the next 30 years, Carpenter worked for SRI International as Assistant Director of the Strategic Studies Center and later as a consultant. He was also president of the American-Pacific Sealanes Security Institute. He published and taught seminars on Southeast Asian politics and international relations at the Quantico officer training school as well as other colleges and universities. He died 1 July 2006 in Stafford, Virginia.

Chronology of Naval Service note 1916 Born in Mooresville, Indiana 1936-1940 Attended and graduated from U.S. Naval Academy 1940 Commissioned as an Ensign 1940-1941 USS Oklahoma (BB-37) 1942-1946 USS San Juan (CL-54) 1944 Promoted to Lieutenant Commander 1946 Postgraduate School, U.S. Naval Academy circa 1946-1951 Naval Weather Service 1951 Promoted to Commander 1953-1955 CO, USS Wadleigh (DD-689) circa 1955-1958 Associate Professor of Naval Science, University of Rochester 1958 USS Wasp, Staff, Carrier Division 14 (Antisubmarine task force) 1959 Promoted to Captain circa 1959-1964 Pentagon, CNO Politico-Military Affairs Office (Asian Affairs) Office of the Assistant Sec. of Defense for International Security Affairs 1964-1965 CO, USS Castor (AKS-1) circa 1965-1966 Pentagon 1966 Retired from U.S. Navy 2006 Died in Stafford, Virginia Collection information

Access is open to all researchers, unless otherwise specified.

Material in this collection is in the public domain, unless otherwise noted.

Author, “Title,” Page or Date. William M. Carpenter papers, MSC 346, Box number, Folder number. Naval Historical Collection, U.S. Naval War College, Newport, R.I.

This collection contains books, correspondence, membership cards, photographs, and writings relating to Captain William Milner Carpenter’s naval and civilian careers. The bulk of the collection documents Captain Carpenter’s naval service. Also represented are examples of his published writings in the fields of national security and piracy. His writings include articles he wrote for publication and books he helped edit. The collection also includes correspondence received by Verna Milner regarding Carpenter’s admittance into the United States Naval Academy.

This collection is arranged in alphabetical order by genre.

 Administrative information

Gift of Suzanne (Carpenter) McKeen on 22 November 2014. Ms.Ac.2014.46

Papers were in the custody of several family members following the death of Captain Carpenter in 2006. His daughter, Suzanna McKeen, gathered the papers and donated them in 2014.

This collection was initially processed by Scott Riley in 2015 and arranged into 7 boxes. In 2016 Robert Marchetta attempted to draft a finding aid and reprocess the collection to current archival standards. Elysia Hamelin completed the reprocessing and a DACS compliant finding aid in 2017.

 Names Carpenter, William Milner Subjects Milner, Verna, fl. 1935 United States Naval Academy. Class of Forty. National security Piracy Security and policy studies World War, 1939-1945 -- Naval Operations, American World War, 1939-1945 -– Pacific Area Types of materials Books Certificates Letters (correspondence) Handbooks Membership cards Photographs Writings (documents Additional information USS Castor AKS-1. Ichi-Ban Maru 1965 Cruise book. Tokyo, Japan: Daito Art Printing Co. Cruise book collection, Naval Historical Collection, US Naval War College. USS Wadleigh DD 689. World Cruise 1954 Cruise book. Cruise book collection, Naval Historical Collection, US Naval War College. 3 1 Book: The Class of Forty…After Fifty Years 1990 3 2 Certificate: Department of Defense Joint Service Commendation Medal 1996 1 1 Correspondence: Verna Milner received 1935 1 2 Correspondence: William Carpenter received 1934-1936 1 3 Correspondence: William Carpenter sent 1936-1938 1 4 Handbooks: The Annual Handbook of the United States Naval Academy 1939 1 5 Handbooks: Regulations Governing the Admission of Candidates into the United States Naval Academy as Midshipmen 1934 1 6 Membership cards 1942-1951 1 7 Photographs: civilian career 1981-1984 1 8 Photographs: naval service 1953-1964 3 3 Photographs: International Conference on Laos 1961 1 9 Photographs: U.S. Naval Academy 1936-1940 1 10 Photographs: U.S. Naval Academy drilling 1938 1 11 Photographs: U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen cruise, Germany 1937 1 12 Photographs: U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen cruise, USS New York 1938 1 13 Photographs: USS San Juan crew 1944-1945 1 14 Photographs: World War II, USS Blue, USS San Juan, South Pacific 1941-1944 1 15 Writings: Asian Security Handbook 2005 2 1 Writings: The Battle of Santa Cruz Islands 1942 2 2 Writings: Dedication of Morgan County War Memorial 2003 2 3 Writings: Maritime Piracy 1996 2 4 Writings: The Panther Strikes…Again 1982 2 5 Writings: Piracy Revised 1994 2 6 Writings: Secure Passage at Sea 1990 2 7 Writings: Terrorism and Piracy 2004