Description:

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT RESPONDS TO A 'FRIENDLY FIRE' TRAGEDY
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT (1882 - 1945) Thirty-second President of the United States who instituted the 'New Deal' programs and who led the United States through most of World War II. A fine grouping of correspondence concerning the tragic sinking of U.S. Navy Submarine-Chaser 209 off Fire Island, NY on Aug. 27, 1918. S.C. 209 was part of a scouting line of 11 submarine chasers patrolling in search of German submarines. The Army-chartered armed cargo ship SS Felix Taussig was passing through the area and sighted S.C. 209 on her port beam, headed in the same direction. S.C. 209 then crossed her bow, without running lights, and in the darkness Felix Taussig's crew mistook her for a German submarine. Taussig's 3-inch forward gun fired four rounds, and her 4-inch after gun fired one, sinking the SC-209 in minutes with the loss of 16 men - the deadliest friendly fire incident involving the U.S. Navy during World War I. As Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Roosevelt writes a 2pp. 4to. letter on Navy Dept. letterhead to the mother of Ens. George F. Randolph who perished in the disaster. In his Nov. 11, 1918 letter he describes the incident and reports the finding of a board of investigation: '...The opening of fire by the armed guard appears to have been authorized by the instructions that have been issued on the subject by the Navy Department...the armed guard force of the Steamship FELIX TAUSSIG was under the impression that the U.S.S.C. No. 209 was an enemy submarine and that this impression was probably more strongly confirmed on account of the fact that a heavy fog was existing at the time they fired...This unfortunate circumstance is one of the deplorable incidents of War, which to an extent is not within the power of the personnel of vessels to successfully combat. The Department hopes that you will find some consolation in the realization of the fact that the death of your son, Ensign George F. Randolph, occurred in the line of duty, through no fault of his own, in the service of his country in time of War...' First page soiled with pencil annotations, folds, file holes, still good. WITH: a second Roosevelt T.L.S., also on Navy Dept. letterhead, 1p. 4to., Apr. 19, 1919, apparently to another mother of a victim re: raising the wreckage of SC-209: '...Every effort and means of locating the wreck of the Submarine Chaser No. 209 were exhausted immediately following the sinking and all without success...that the vessel was blown into small bits by the explosion of shells and depth charges...currents in that locality have washed away the remaining portions of the wooden hull...I am very sorry that there is nothing further that can be done to locate this wreck [adding in his hand:] but I feel certain that you will understand the situation...' WITH: two letters from Secretary of the Navy JOSEPHUS DANIELS (1862-1948) concerning the possibility of raising the vessel and stating that at the time (December), a further search for bodies is impracticable) WITH: eight additional letters all concerning the sinking, one incorporating a survivor's statement, another a letter of condolence from future admiral and anti-submarine commander WILLIAM T. TARRANT. Condition varies, some of the letters a bit battered and just good to very good.

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December 5, 2024 10:00 AM EST
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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