Guide to the William M. Carpenter papers, 1934-2005
(bulk 1934-1964)

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/

Published in 2018

Collection Overview

Title:	William M. Carpenter papers
Date range:	1934-2005, (bulk 1934-1964)
Creator:	Carpenter, William Milner
Extent:	2.29 linear feet (1 archival box, 1 half archival box, 1 oversize box)
Abstract:	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.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	Naval War College (U.S.). Naval Historical Collection
Collection number:	MSC-346

Scope & content

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.

Access Points

Subject Names

Carpenter, William Milner

Subject Names

Milner, Verna, fl. 1935

Subject Organizations

United States Naval Academy. Class of Forty.

Subject Topics

Document Types

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in alphabetical order by genre.

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

Date		Event
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

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	Access is open to all researchers, unless otherwise specified.
Use of the materials:	Material in this collection is in the public domain, unless otherwise noted.
Preferred citation:	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.
Contact information:	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/

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	Gift of Suzanne (Carpenter) McKeen on 22 November 2014. Ms.Ac.2014.46
Custodial history:	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.
Processing information:	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.


ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Elysia Hamelin, October 2017.
Encoding:	Finding aid encoded by Elizabeth Delmage, March 2018.
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS).

Additional Information

Separated material:

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.

Inventory

Box 3, Folder 1

Book: The Class of Forty…After Fifty Years

1990

Box 3, Folder 2

Certificate: Department of Defense Joint Service Commendation Medal

1996

Box 1, Folder 1

Correspondence: Verna Milner received

1935

Box 1, Folder 2

Correspondence: William Carpenter received

1934-1936

Box 1, Folder 3

Correspondence: William Carpenter sent

1936-1938

Box 1, Folder 4

Handbooks: The Annual Handbook of the United States Naval Academy

1939

Box 1, Folder 5

Handbooks: Regulations Governing the Admission of Candidates into the United States Naval Academy as Midshipmen

1934

Box 1, Folder 6

Membership cards

1942-1951

Box 1, Folder 7

Photographs: civilian career

1981-1984

Box 1, Folder 8

Photographs: naval service

1953-1964

Box 3, Folder 3

Photographs: International Conference on Laos

1961

Box 1, Folder 9

Photographs: U.S. Naval Academy

1936-1940

Box 1, Folder 10

Photographs: U.S. Naval Academy drilling

1938

Box 1, Folder 11

Photographs: U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen cruise, Germany

1937

Box 1, Folder 12

Photographs: U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen cruise, USS New York

1938

Box 1, Folder 13

Photographs: USS San Juan crew

1944-1945

Box 1, Folder 14

Photographs: World War II, USS Blue, USS San Juan, South Pacific

1941-1944

Box 1, Folder 15

Writings: Asian Security Handbook

2005

Box 2, Folder 1

Writings: The Battle of Santa Cruz Islands

1942

Box 2, Folder 2

Writings: Dedication of Morgan County War Memorial

2003

Box 2, Folder 3

Writings: Maritime Piracy

1996

Box 2, Folder 4

Writings: The Panther Strikes…Again

1982

Box 2, Folder 5

Writings: Piracy Revised

1994

Box 2, Folder 6

Writings: Secure Passage at Sea