Scope and Content Note
The papers of Charles Andrews Lockwood (1890-1967) span the years 1904-1967, but are concentrated chiefly in the period 1940-1960. They consist of diaries, correspondence, subject files, speeches, writings, notes, clippings, and printed matter. The collection is organized in five series: Diaries; Correspondence; Subject File; Speech, Article, and Book File; and Miscellany.
The papers document Lockwood's involvement with submarines from the beginning of his instruction in 1914 until his appointment as commander of the United States Submarine Force in the Pacific in 1943. His diaries for the 1930s tell of preliminary acceptance trials and visibility and sounds tests of submarines. Throughout his official correspondence are reports of the development of the submarine as an effective military weapon. During World War II, Lockwood received reports and memoranda concerning such technical matters as electric-impact switches, hydraulic doors, night periscopes, and radar and sonar devices. Records of trial runs of the submarines, which were equipped with the new devices, are also in the collection. Correspondents in this period include Ralph W. Christie, Merrill Comstock, Louis E. Denfield, Robert S. Edwards, Robert H. English, James Fife, Edward Everett Hazlett, Alan Goodrich Kirk, Francis S. Low, Stuart Shadrick. Murray, and Chester W. Nimitz.
Lockwood's diaries for March 20, 1941 to June 5, 1967, reveal his official and social activities as a naval attaché in London; his duties in Australia and the Pacific during World War II; and his participation in family, community, and state affairs after his retirement. In addition, his letters in the war years to his wife, Phylis Irwin Lockwood, supplement this information. Her replies reflect her social and community activities and tell of their children.
After his retirement, Lockwood published articles and books on submarines and also served as technical advisor for Warner Brothers and Stanley Kramer Pictures. There are notes, research material, and printed matter in the collection relating to his articles and books. Correspondents who were instrumental in publishing efforts include Hans Christian Adamson, George T. Bye, Ernest McNeill Eller, Ben Hibbs, Bodo Herzog, and Günter Schoemaekers.