The papers of Rear Admiral Nathan Crook Twining, mainly from 1885 until his death in 1924, cover much of his career in the United States Navy. The papers are incomplete as some of his papers were lost or destroyed prior to their donation to the Historical Society. Some documents are original materials created by Twining, such as copies of outgoing correspondence and speeches, while other materials were gathered in scrapbooks of his travels and in subject files in connection to the United States Naval War College. His experiences in the Spanish-American War, travel with the “Great White Fleet,” and in World War I are represented in correspondence, scrapbooks, journals and log books, and navy reports. Also included is a small set of materials pertaining to his family.
The Correspondence series is mostly letters from the beginning and the end of Twining’s career. The letters to his brother Clarence Twining written between 1886 and 1917 refer mainly to family and budgetary matters. A few discuss public affairs in which the admiral was involved: preparations for the Spanish-American War and naval battles at San Juan and Santiago, Cuba; Twining’s viewpoint on American expansion (1899); life in the Philippine Islands (1902); his part in plans to prevent ≴flare backs≵ in the firing of naval guns (1907); world politics in the Pacific (1908); conditions in the Bureau of Ordnance which he headed, 1911-1913; President Wilson’s administration; and World War I.
There are also four letters written to “Fritz” between November 1886 and May 1887 which comment on life at the Naval Academy and contain comparisons with student life at the University of Wisconsin and in Monroe, Wisconsin.
Later correspondence dating from 1922 to 1924 includes incoming letters and copies of outgoing letters between Twining and Herman F. Cruntz, Captain Thomas Goddard Frothingham, Commander H.G.S. Wallace, and others. The correspondence with Cruntz includes information on masts, airports and air-travel, and percussion fuses (with diagrams). The correspondence with Frothingham mainly covers Twining’s notes and thoughts on Frothingham’s book on the Navy and World War I, also including typescript drafts of chapters of the book. The correspondence with Wallace concerns Twining’s reviews of published works on the Navy, as well as original works by Twining. Other correspondence concerns the teaching of Naval History, including notes for giving lectures and essays; as well as information on legislation put forth by Theodore Roosevelt, Acting Secretary of the Navy, concerning Twining’s retirement from the Navy because of disability.
The Journals and Logbooks series include private accounts aboard the USS Chicago, the USS Kearsarge, the USS Newark, USS Iowa, USS Philadelphia, and the Rainbow. The log and journal from September 1889 to May 1891, aboard the Chicago, which was used for final examination for promotion, also includes drawings of ports and rough drawings of ships. The journal from 1898 also includes Twining’s account records from June 1895 to October 1897. Also included in this series is an Ordnance Expenditure book with an index to expenditures covering the years 1889 to 1923.
The Scrapbooks, Albums and Ephemera may have been kept by Twining or possibly by his wife Caroline as they contain material after his death in 1924 including items on Charles Lindbergh and Rudolph Valentino. The scrapbooks and albums include: photographs of Twining, his family, friends and colleagues; clippings related to different campaigns, specifically WWI, and Twining’s time in London following the war; photographs of the Pacific Fleet and ports it docked into; and calling cards and invitations.
The World War I Documents include bulletins, orders and memoranda, reports, and statements from a United States Senate Committee. The bulletins, orders and memoranda include circular letters, general bulletins, information bulletins, and other official documents that would go out to naval officers. A report on the Battle of Jutland from 1916 also includes a revised and enlarged report from 1923 that includes blueprint maps on the battle. There is also a report on the fall of the Russian Government with a plan on how to deal with the issue, a report on Convoy H.G. 109 with floor plans of Grosvenor Gardens, and a pamphlet on the USS Melville. The Senate Committee statements concern an investigation into the administration of the Navy during World War I, in specific Admiral Sims’ public criticism on Washington’s conduct, most specifically the Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels. Some of the documents in this series include annotations and corrections, possibly by Twining.
United States Naval War College series include general notes, lectures and speeches given at the college, clippings, maps and charts, and other materials that Twining may have used in his connection to the college. Admiral Sims, whom Twining served as Chief of Staff during WWI, was president of the college before and after the war.
The Subject Files series may also have been compiled in Twining’s connection with the United States Naval War College. This series also includes speeches, pamphlets, articles, maps and charts, on the subjects of aviation and submarines, politics and law, and the Merchant Marines. These materials originally came to the Historical Society sorted in envelopes with subjects. These files may contain information concerning the other series of this collection.
The Family Papers series consists of a diary and a published volume on the Twining family. The diary from 1864 was kept by Twining’s father, Nathan Crook Twining, and his father’s first wife, Phoebe Ann Twining (died January 16, 1866) and mainly details family life and personal events. [It was originally thought that Phoebe Ann Twining was the mother of Admiral Twining, but new evidence has shown that she had passed away three years before his birth.] The published volume, The Twining Family (revised edition): Descendants of William Twining, Sr. of Eastham, Massachusetts, Where he died 1659 (Fort Wayne, Indiana: compiled and published by Thomas Jefferson Twining, 1905), is annotated by the Admiral.
