Documents on History of Russian Naval Emigration in Regional Archives of Southern France: Problems of Search and Study

The article deals with the problem of identifying, describing and introducing into scientific circulation documents and materials on the history of the Russian naval officers who lived in the region of southern France in the 1920s—1930s. The relevance and novelty of the research is due to the introduction into scientific circulation of documentary complexes of regional, local and departmental archives containing information about the Russian naval emigration in France. The author draws attention to the specifics of identifying archival documents within the framework of the research topic. Attention is paid to the peculiarities of the collection of funds in the French archives. It is shown how knowledge of this specificity makes it possible to find and identify the required materials in the absence of thematic collections and indexes. The results of a study of archival collections and funds discovered by the author in regional, local and departmental archives containing information about the history of the Russian naval emigration in southern France are presented in the article. Contrary to the ideas of the marginality of this topic that have developed in French historiography, the potential of its development on the basis of the materials identified by the author is demonstrated. A review of the discovered archival funds is carried out from the point of view of the prospects for the reconstruction of collective and individual biographies of Russian naval officers-emigrants. The author’s classification of the identified documentary complexes is proposed.

Great Britain, Blockades, and Neutral Rights: Royal Navy Operations during the Mexican- American War, 1846-1848

Although neutral during the Mexican American War (1846-8), Great Britain’s Royal Navy had to navigate the war’s naval component, particularly commerce raiding and blockades, as it sought to protect and promote trade and neutral rights. While able to use international pressure to limit privateering, handling the blockade proved more problematic. Although US policies largely mirrored British expectations in the Gulf of Mexico, along Mexico’s Pacific coast, inconsistent US Navy actions created tension. The professionalism of both American and British naval officers and a willingness of both governments to compromise effectively diffused any potential crises. Bien qu’elle soit restée neutre pendant la guerre américano-mexicaine (1846-1848), la Marine royale de la Grande-Bretagne a dû s’occuper de l’aspect naval de la guerre, en particulier les corsaires marchands et les blocus commerciaux, alors qu’elle cherchait à protéger et à promouvoir le commerce et la neutralité des droits. Pour limiter la course, la Marine pouvait recourir à des pressions exercées au niveau international, mais la gestion des blocus s’est révélée plus difficile. Bien que les politiques américaines aient reflété en grande partie les attentes britanniques dans le golfe du Mexique, les mesures incohérentes prises par la Marine américaine ont créé des tensions le long de la côte pacifique du Mexique. Le professionnalisme des officiers de marine américains et britanniques et la volonté des deux gouvernements de faire des compromis ont efficacement dissipé toute crise potentielle.

Perceived hazardous physical work environments and job-related affective well-being of navy officers aboard the Republic of Korea Navy ships and submarines in South Korea

IntroductionNavy ships and submarines are important military measures that protect the Republic of Korea. They also comprise naval officers’ workplace. However, few studies have examined naval officers’ working environment and their job-related well-being. This study aimed to explore exposure to hazardous work environments among navy officers aboard ships and submarines and their association with job-related affective well-being.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional descriptive study. The sample comprised 146 officers from 4 navy ships and 98 officers from 5 submarines. Items of exposure to the eight types of hazardous work environments and the Job-related Affective Well-being Scale (JAWS) were included in the self-report survey questionnaires.ResultsThe most common hazards reported by officers aboard navy ships were vibration (63.7%) and air pollution (56.2%). For submarine officers, these hazards were lack of personal space (72.4%) and air pollution (67.3%). The average JAWS score for ship officers and submarine officers was 69.81 (SD=10.89) and 70.50 (SD=10.83), respectively. For ship officers, exposure to air pollution, noise, vibration, thermal discomfort during summer or winter and lack of personal space were significantly correlated with lower JAWS scores. For submarine officers, exposure to fire, burning or electrical shock, air pollution, noise, thermal discomfort during summer or winter and lack of personal space were significantly correlated with lower JAWS scores.ConclusionsThis study revealed that some naval officers aboard ships or submarines are exposed to hazardous work environments. Moreover, certain types of hazardous work environments were associated with naval officers’ job-related affective well-being.

American Dream Deferred

This article examines a unique migratory movement of Filipinos to America: Filipino nationals recruited by the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard between 1952 and 1970. Such recruits were seen as a solution to a mounting labor problem stemming from the Navy’s traditional use of minorities to fulfill duties as servants for naval officers. With African Americans' demands for equal opportunity reaching a crescendo during the Civil Rights era, the U.S. Navy looked to its former colony to replenish its supply of dark-skinned servants. Despite expectations of docility, however, such Filipino sailors were able to forge a culture of resistance manifested through non-confrontational acts of defiance, protest through official channels, and labor stoppage. Such actions ultimately resulted in the reversal of naval policy that relegated Filipinos to servile labor.

Living for the Hour

This chapter investigates how blockade running from Nassau ran wild for most of the year, even with Seth Hawley and Charles Wilkes gone. It argues that the supplies continued to flow through Nassau in great quantities almost to the end of the war. With such an unprecedented opportunity to make money, the chapter looks at people of all sorts who began to take up residence in Nassau. Many of them lived at the Royal Victoria, a hotel that had been a speculative venture by the Bahamian government but was now bursting at the seams and staying full all year. It then presents the two interesting lodgers at the hotel: British naval officers Augustus Charles Hobart-Hampden and Charles Murray-Aynsley. These two, along with fellow officers William Nathan Wrighte Hewett (who would captain the blockade runner Condor) and Hugh Talbot Burgoyne, were granted furloughs to try their hand at running the blockade. The chapter also details the first vessel built expressly for blockade running and would be the first all-steel ship to cross the Atlantic — the Banshee. The chapter also displays some notable British citizens who passed through Nassau and found themselves doing business in the city.

Breaking the Blockade

On April 16, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln issued a blockade of the Confederate coastline. The largely agrarian South did not have the industrial base to succeed in a protracted conflict. What it did have — and what England and other foreign countries wanted — was cotton and tobacco. Industrious men soon began to connect the dots between Confederate and British needs. As the blockade grew, the blockade runners became quite ingenious in finding ways around the barriers. Boats worked their way back and forth from the Confederacy to Nassau and England, and everyone from scoundrels to naval officers wanted a piece of the action. Poor men became rich in a single transaction, and dances and drinking — from the posh Royal Victoria hotel to the boarding houses lining the harbor — were the order of the day. British, United States, and Confederate sailors intermingled in the streets, eyeing each other warily as boats snuck in and out of Nassau. But it was all to come crashing down as the blockade finally tightened and the final Confederate ports were captured. The story of this great carnival has been mentioned in a variety of sources but never examined in detail. This book focuses on the political dynamics and tensions that existed between the United States Consular Service, the governor of the Bahamas, and the representatives of the southern and English firms making a large profit off the blockade. Filled with intrigue, drama, and colorful characters, this is an important Civil War story that has not yet been told.