Use these finding aids to explore our maritime archival collections. Each PDF is a detailed document providing a description and inventory of each collection’s contents. To view these collections in person please contact us to make an appointment.
Emil Aarup
Emil Aarup (1878-1940) was a Danish boat builder and naval architect who lived in Los Angeles. After working for many years with Fellows & Stewart, he opened his own boat building business in Los Angeles building yachts for Southern California yachtsmen. This collection contains photographs, a photo album, personal documents, and small craft lines. Photographs portray Emil’s family life and of his professional life as a boatbuilder and businessman, his store and the marine engines sold there, and the vessels VELERO, LUCKY STRIKE, VIRGINIA D, and COLUMBINE. Also includes 15 sheets of lines for small craft (25′-50′), mostly drafted by Aarup.
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Gunnar Anderson
Collection contains Swedish photojournalist Gunnar Anderson’s (1915-1997) photographic prints, negatives, color slides and manuscripts for publication in cruising and yachting publications between 1963 and 1984. Anderson was an energetic field reporter for Windward magazine. His articles are unique in their description of a yacht not only with photographic images but also with technical drawings Anderson produced to illustrate his articles. Subjects include noted cruising craft and yacht races held in Southern California.
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ANGELS GATE (tug)
This collection documents the vessel’s history from construction in 1944 as a U. S. Army Transport Service “small tug” (ST-695) to its purchase by the Port of Los Angeles in 1946 and subsequent donation to the Los Angeles Maritime Museum in 1992. The documents include the tug’s log books from 1945 to 1977, operating instructions, specifications and equipment, engineer’s calculations, and product supply catalogs.
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William A. Bergstrom / CalShip
The William A. Bergstrom Engineering Collection of the California Shipbuilding Corporation is a collection of archival materials about engineering the design of ships built at California Shipbuilding Corporation during World War II. William A. Bergstrom and his father-in-law, Cyril Hubert, both worked as engineers for the company during the war and oversaw training of other engineering employees. This collection includes engineering and training manuals, publications, and photographs of the engineering and construction of ships.
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Elmer E. Bright
Elmer Bright (1911-2000) served in the U.S. Navy 1928 to 1932, working as a diver in the Pacific Fleet. He then worked at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for 9 years, followed by Long Beach Naval Shipyard from 1943 until his retirement in 1966. Temporary assignments were to the U.S. Naval Drydock at Terminal Island and to naval facilities at San Diego. He worked as a diving technician, instructor or consultant. The collection contains personal correspondence and memorabilia; formats include books, manuals, working notes and instructions, awards, newspaper clippings, photographs and souvenirs. Includes correspondence with Torrance Parker.
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Elizabeth A. Cloes
This collection contains personal and official documents, correspondence and manuscripts from the naval career of Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth A. Cloes (1908-1992) pertaining to active duty and retirement status in the United States Naval Reserve (WAVES). The collection also includes published materials collected by Cloes during her career and post-war publications of the Naval Reserve. Cloes was born in Los Angeles in 1908 and graduated from University of Southern California.
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Perry G. Davis
Perry G. Davis, born in 1886 in Missouri, became a sailor on ships of the Great White Fleet during its tour of Asia from 1908 to 1909, including the Denver-class protected cruiser USS CHATTANOOGA (CL-18). The collection contains a leather-bound portfolio used by Perry in his journeys, his service certificates, and photographs and postcards of early 20th century in Japan, China and New Zealand, especially Yokohama, Kobe and Nanjing.
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Fellows & Stewart
The collection of business papers and documents represents the history of the firm, Fellows and Stewart, Inc. until 1967, and to some extent the firm as it was known much earlier (circa 1907-1917) as Joe Fellows Yacht and Launch Company. Financial ledgers, office correspondence, design notes, naval architectural plans and photographic prints remain as evidence of the firm’s history on Terminal Island, California, and their place among local shipbuilders in Los Angeles Harbor as designers and builders of pleasure craft, fishing and work boats, and vessels for government agencies. The collection’s architectural plans are indicative of this range of vessels, while the photographic prints provide a glimpse of the construction yards, completed vessels, launchings, and craft underway in the Harbor, as well as personal and family portraits and snapshots.
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GEORGE E. BILLINGS (schooner)
Ship log books and supporting documentation covering the period of operation of the 5-masted schooner GEORGE E. BILLINGS as a merchantman in Pacific waters between 1905 and 1923. It was the penultimate ship made by Hall Brothers, and was the last wooden-hulled ship built at the yard which closed in 1903.
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C. J. Hendry Company
This collection consists of account ledgers for the San Pedro ship chandlery C. J. Hendry Co. from 1917 to 1930. The accounts show the steady growth of both the business and of San Pedro’s maritime activity for the period between World War I and the Great Depression.
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Myron S. Kilgore
Myron Stevens Kilgore (1920-1980) worked as a professional photographer while a U.S. Navy Reservist. After World War II, Kilgore worked for the Beverly Hills Police Department and was later employed by Howard Hughes. The collection consists of ships’ documents, personal papers, paper ephemera, 35mm color slides, black and white photographic prints, shoulder boards, insignia patches and an empty seaman’s identification case all owned and used by Kilgore during his service in the U. S. Merchant Service, circa 1939-1946.
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Terence M. Lee / CalShip
The Papers of the California Shipbuilding Corporation were created by and are about the California Shipbuilding Corporation, which built Liberty and Victory ships during World War II. The shipyard was located at Terminal Island, near Long Beach and San Pedro, California. The manuscript materials, photographs, and audio/visual materials were generated for public relations, to announce ship launchings in local newspapers and to keep employees informed about company events and news in their publication, CalShip Log, between 1941 and 1945.
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Dwight S. Long
Dwight Stanley Long’s (1915-1993) adventures as a circumnavigator, photographer and film director between 1930 and 1959 are revealed in photograph albums, programs, correspondence, books, articles, and press releases. His 32’ ketch was the IDLE HOUR, subject of a book and movie entitled “Sailing All Seas”, as well as his numerous articles. During World War II he joined the U.S. Navy and became a documentary film producer. After the War, he continued making films, such as “Tanga Tika”, released in 1954.
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McMullen & Stofen
Account details and summaries created by Charles Bernard McMullen’s marine survey service, active from 1926 to 1958 in Los Angeles Harbor. He operated his business part of that time with his partner, W. J. Stofen. McMullen was born in Chepstow, Wales and worked as a sea captain prior to becoming a marine surveyor and moving to San Pedro, Calif.
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Milodar G. Mikulicic
This collection consists of plans, research materials, books, and journals generated and/or collected by Milodar Gunther Mikulicic, of San Pedro, Calif. The plans and research materials are dated c1965 through the 1980s. The majority of plans are blueline prints depicting main and finger float construction for the Ports O’ Call project. There are numerous plans for powered fishing vessels designed for Rados, Al Larson (Terminal Island), and for the San Diego Marine Construction Company. Research materials include copies of scholarly papers written by colleagues, excerpts from engineering textbooks, and handwritten notes and calculations for various projects. Two spiral booklets list specifications for a reproduction of the HMS Bounty. One folder contains Mikulicic’s personal files generated during his years at Rados.
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William A. Muller
William Muller (1865-1936) was a prominent German shipbuilder in the Wilmington and San Pedro area. He worked closely with Captain William Banning, his enterprises and his associates, producing ships for the Catalina Island Line and Wilmington Transportation Company as well as carrying out commissions for other parties. The collection contains correspondence, financial statements, estimates, notes and photographs of the ships produced by Muller.
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OCEAN WAIF (yawl)
This collection summarizes the early history of the yawl OCEAN WAIF and covers the operation and maintenance of the vessel after it was donated to the Los Angeles Maritime Museum in 1988. OCEAN WAIF was designed by Hugh Angelman as a 42 ft staysail schooner, built and launched at the Wilmington Boat Works in 1927. The schooner was raced successfully on the West Coast by its designer and later by its new owner George Johnson. Records show it competed in many major races including the Newport to Ensenada Yacht Race in 1951 and 1957. Some time later the schooner was re-rigged as a ketch.
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William L. Olesen
This collection contains personal, San Pedro, and maritime-related correspondence, photographs, journals, sketches, photocopied articles, documents, letters, ephemera and material collected by William “Bill” Olesen (1904-2003). It includes family correspondence, personal journals (diaries), documents from Olesen’s time as a commercial swordfisherman and boat builder in Los Angeles Harbor, and boxes of letters from Olesen’s correspondence with other well known amateur and professional maritime historians on the West Coast. Also includes documents and information from Olesen’s civic involvement in San Pedro, vessel logbooks from boats built by Olesen, maritime-related photographs, newspaper clippings and research material on steam schooners.
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Sven Olsen / LIBERTY MANUFACTURER
This collection contains newspaper articles, snapshot images taken by Sven Olsen, and his diary account of the cargo ship LIBERTY MANUFACTURER run aground in Los Angeles Harbor in 1972. The LIBERTY MANUFACTURER was an 8000-ton cargo ship carrying wood pulp and paper board en-route from Louisiana to Japan.
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Torrance R. Parker
The Torrance R. Parker Collection on Commercial and Deep Sea Diving contains business and personal correspondence; records of ship salvage and underwater construction work; diving logs, reports and manuals; survey and other diagrams; clippings and articles; rare diving equipment catalogs; maps; decompression tables and calculators; samples of permits, invoices, receipts, bids and contracts; interviews and profiles; brochures and fliers; periodicals; photographic prints; and a book collection that document the history and practice of deep diving and related topics. Parker (1928-2017) collected these resources over the course of his 68 years as a deep diver, including a 56 year career working as a commercial diver and nearly 40 years as owner of the Parker Diving Service, Inc. of San Pedro, Calif.; as a diver, researcher and compiler of resources concerning the history and practice of commercial, fishery, and military diving; and as author of two books on these subjects.
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Harry C. Pidgeon
The collection documents the voyages of Harry Pidgeon (1869-1954) around the world beginning in 1921. Pidgeon made two of these, one between 1921 and 1925 and the second between 1932 and 1937. One of his achievements prior to making the voyages was to build his own vessel which he named ISLANDER. The Museum’s collection of his 80 objects and tools reflects his woodworking skills, the skills he gained by building the yawl himself with hand tools.
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PRINCESS (glass bottom boat)
PRINCESS was built in 1924 by William A. Muller Shipbuilders and carried tourists cruising the waters off Avalon (Catalina Island). Her original owner was the Wilmington Transportation Company, followed by the Catalina Island Company in 1939, and Southland Harbor Cruises in 1962. In 1973 PRINCESS was acquired by H. & J. Sport Vessels which operated cruises in Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors. It was purchased by Ports O’ Call Restaurant Corp. in 1989 for dinner cruises. This collection contains engine and radio logs and guest registers from 1968 to 1985, Coast Guard Documents of Inspection, surveyor’s reports, and dry docking and hull repairs performed at Al Larson Yard, and engine testing at Harbor Testing Laboratory from 1976 to 1980.
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Ragnar C. Qvale
Photos and official documents regarding ownership license and sale of yacht SERENADE owned by Ragnar C. Qvale (1915-2001) between 1971 and 1974. The 62’ sloop was designed by Nicolas Potter and built at Wilmington Boat Works in 1938, and was later owned by Philippe Cousteau, son of Jacques Cousteau. A prominent Los Angeles-based architect, Norwegian-born Qvale designed hotels, car dealerships and shopping centers across the southwestern United States.
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John D. Swanfeldt
John D. Swanfeldt (1921-1996) was an analyst for the U.S. Navy Department, later becoming a Japanese Language interpreter for the U.S. Navy, serving in Fukuoka, Japan as a translator and consort. He retired from the Navy Department in 1972. The collection documents his education and training as well as personal correspondence, mainly during World War II. Original certificates, awards, and documents such as communication by the U.S. Navy Department to Swanfeldt are collected here. Hand-written letters to his family, with cancelled, stamped envelopes provide a journal of his life during the war.
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Todd Shipyards Corporation
Todd Shipyards Corporation, Los Angeles Division Collection consists of photographs, engineering drawings, photographic slides and negatives, and papers related to the company and its involvement in shipbuilding. The bulk of photographs are of specific ships and Navy vessels that Todd repaired or built in the port of Los Angeles. The collection also has 80 engineering drawings and plans dating back to 1917 when the Los Angeles Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. was still operating.
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Union Oil Company of California
This collection contains original legal documents from the files of the Union Oil Company that relate to the company’s shipping operations prior to World War II. Subject areas include the requisitioning of the tanker USS LOS ANGELES (ID-1470) by the U.S. government during World War I, insurance claims from vessel collisions, sales agreements, vessel construction contracts, and lease agreements with the Federal Telegraph Equipment Co. and Submarine Signaling Co. for wireless equipment.
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USS JACK MILLER (DE-410)
This collection contains the papers of the John C. Butler-class destroyer escort USS JACK MILLER (DE-410), commissioned by the U.S. Navy in April, 1944 and decommissioned in June, 1946. Ships papers illustrate the various facets of ships life during the latter part of World War II and the routine duties that followed up to decommissioning. The ship was scrapped at National Metal and Steel on Terminal Island.
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USS LOS ANGELES (CA-135) Gunnery Records
This collection of gunnery records for gun mounts 51 and 55 on the Baltimore-class heavy cruiser USS LOS ANGELES (CA-135) date from the last deployments of the ship in service with the 7th Fleet, 1961-1963. There was activity in the gun mounts on a daily basis which included routine maintenance and measurements, practice drills and firing.
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USS PRESIDENT ADAMS (APA-19)
The collection contains the papers of the President Jackson-class attack transport USS PRESIDENT ADAMS (APA-19), an American President Lines vessel built by Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock in 1940, which was acquired by the U.S. Navy prior to completion, and decommissioned in 1950. Ships papers illustrate the various facets of ships life during the latter part of World War II and the routine duties that followed up to decommissioning. The ship was scrapped at National Metal and Steel on Terminal Island.
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USS THOMASON (DE-203)
This collection contains papers of the Buckley-class destroyer escort USS THOMASON (DE-203), named after Medal of Honor recipient Marine Sgt. Clyde A. Thomason. Built at Charleston Navy Yard. Commissioned by the U.S. Navy on December 10, 1943 and decommissioned in May 22, 1946. Ships papers illustrate the various facets of ships life during the latter part of World War II and the routine duties that followed up to decommissioning. These include deck log books, in-coming and out-going mail logs, and sonar charts. This ship later joined the Reserve Fleet until June 1968 and was scrapped one year later at National Metal and Steel on Terminal Island.
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Matthew J. Walsh
Depicts the life and career of Matthew Joseph Walsh, 1866-1960. Walsh was a yachtsman skilled at racing who also built yachts, fulfilled Navy and Coast Guard contracts and performed ships’ repairs at his shipways, Garbutt & Walsh Boat Yard, on Terminal Island between 1910 and 1950. News clippings, photographic prints and negatives, an original manuscript, journal and newspaper articles, and business correspondence detailing the life of Matt Walsh are contained in the collection. Business correspondence in this collection intermittently covers the dates between 1928 and 1954 for the firm Garbutt & Walsh Boat Yard.
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Cedric W. Windas
The Cedric Wilford Windas (1888-1966) collection contains books, periodicals and personal notebooks. Most of the books have been embellished by adding colored sketches, endorsements and personal notes to the preface of each book. Windas was an Australian artist known between the World Wars and after for his portrayal of Navy life and customs. He spent his youth at sea and about forty years in the Los Angeles area as an illustrator.
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