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Edward M. Doran Collection

 Collection
Identifier: 000033

Scope and Contents

The Edward M. Doran Collection, 1938 - 1996, consists of documents, records, correspondence, official Navy documents, certifications, organization memberships, magazines, newspaper clippings, and biographies on Edward M. Doran. Photographs featured within this collection include black-and-white and color photographs of US military vessels, personal pictures, and staged group images. The material focuses especially on his experience surviving Pearl Harbor and his involvement in salvaging a two-man Japanese midget submarine. The collection is housed within one archival banker's box, an oversized Hollinger box, and a flat file storage drawer.

Dates

  • Creation: 1938 - 1996

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish material from this collection in any form must be obtained from the National Musuem of the Pacific War, Center For Pacfic War Studies.

Biographical / Historical

Edward M. Doran, born September 12, 1910, in Syracuse, New York, moved to Dixon, Illinois, where he was an elementary school classmate of former President Reagan. After completing his Navy recruit training in 1928 in Newport, Rhode Island, he was assigned his first sea duty aboard the USS Antares and the USS Vestal, with later service on the USS Whitney and the USS Relief.

On December 7, 1941, Warrant Officer Doran was attached to the USS West Virginia. That morning, he observed Japan’s surprise attack from the officer’s landing at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. Immediately after the attack, he established the shore patrol at the Navy housing units. He later assisted with the salvage and raising work on the USS West Virginia, USS Arizona, and the USS Tennessee. Soon after this, he assisted in rigging the USS Trout (SS-202) to carry ammunition to General Wainwright at Corregidor in the Philippines.

Warrant Officer Doran was schooled in underwater salvage and damage control, resulting in his assignment to notable assignments. One of these assignments was to assist in salvaging the Japanese two-person submarine “HA-19” that ran aground near Bellows Field, Honolulu. The enlisted crewman drowned, but the submarine captain, Ensign Kazuo Sakamaki, was captured, becoming the first Japanese prisoner of World War II.

In 1945, Lieutenant Commander Doran carried occupation forces into Nagasaki as Executive Officer on the McIntyre. After World War II ended, Commander Doran found several exciting assignments, including an expedition to Little America, Antarctica, with Admirals Cruzen and Byrd from 1947 to 1948. Commander Doran completed his Navy career with the Board of Inspection and Survey in San Diego in 1958.

Extent

0.8 Linear Feet : 1 Banker box, 46 Full 1/2" Tab Legal-Size File Folders, 1 Oversized Hollinger box, 4 oversized folders, 2 bound books, and 1 picture frame.

Language of Materials

English

Japanese

Additional Description

Abstract

The Edward M. Doran Collection, 1938 - 1996, consists of documents, records, correspondence, official Navy documents, certifications, organization memberships, magazines, newspaper clippings, and biographies on Edward M. Doran. This collection contains material related to retired lieutenant commander Edward Doran’s personal life and military service. Within the collection, there is a special focus on Edward Doran’s experience surviving Pearl Harbor.

Arrangement

The Edward M. Doran Collection is housed within one archival safe banker box, one oversized box, and a flat file storage folder totaling 0.8 linear feet rounded to the nearest tenth digit. The collection has been intellectually separated into five series, and one sub-series has been organized into the following arrangements: I. Personal and Biographical Papers, II. Naval and Military Service, III. Organizations, IV. Charts, Maps, and Photographs, and V. Publications.

I. Personal and Biographical Papers. Contains 4 Full 1/2” Tab Legal Size Folders totaling 0.1 linear feet. Materials include biographical sketches on Edward M. Doran, correspondence with Kazuo Sakamaki, and foreign currencies. One sub-series has been added to this collection, Correspondence:

1. Correspondence. Contains 5 Full 1/2" Tab Legal Size Folders and one oversized object totaling 0.1 linear feet. Materials include personal correspondence Edward M. Doran participated in after the end of World War II.

II. Naval and Military Service. Contains 13 Full 1/2” Tab Legal Size Folders and 5 oversized objects totaling 0.3 linear feet. Materials include official communication documents, naval memorandums, Navy documents, schedules of events, invitations to official US Navy events, and US Navy reports.

III. Organizations. Contains 3 Full 1/2” Tab Legal Size Folders and 3 oversized objects totaling 0.1 linear feet. Includes materials related to Edward Martin Doran’s membership in civilian and military organizations. Materials include certificates and identification cards.

IV. Charts, Maps, and Photographs. This series contains 8 Full 1/2” Tab Legal-Size Folders, 8 oversized objects, and 1 flat file folder totaling 0.1 linear feet. It includes hand-drawn maps, official navy maps, navigation charts, black-and-white, color, and framed photographs.

V. Publications. Contains 10 Full 1/2” Tab Legal Size Folders and 2 oversized objects totaling 0.1 linear feet. It contains officially published materials, including magazines, newspaper clippings, and official materials distributed by the United States Military.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Beverly Dostal donated these materials on behalf of Edward M. Doran’s trust to the Center for Pacific War Studies and the National Museum of the Pacific War on November 30, 2005.

Separated Materials

3D artifacts with accession numbers 2005.672.001 to 2005.672.026 and 2005.672.125, have been separated from this collection. Brief descriptions of these separated materials have been listed below. Contact the archivist for further information.

3D artifacts include the following materials: a dress sword sunk at Pearl Harbor, a target map of the Okinawa invasion, a USN dress sword for USS Sphinx, a brass fragment from USS Squalus, a silver boatswain pipe, a commissioning pennant, a signal flag, compass trainer, an identification, two (2) dog tags for Edward Martin Doran, a tubular cigarette lighter, a USN tie pin, six (6) military pins, a trench art ashtray, officer pants and jacket, two (2) plaques honoring Edward M. Doran, a shellacked box with Korean art, a Japanese Rising Sun flag, and a Mitsubishi Heavy Indutries identification badge.

Processing Information

The initial processing, creation of the finding aid, and rehousing of the collection were completed by Jacob Pritsker in September 2024.

The folowing accession numbers have been sent to the University of North Texas for digitization: 2005.672.001 - 2005.672.171.

Related Names

Subjects

Record Groups

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Edward M. Doran Collection
Status
In Progress
Author
Jacob R. Pritsker
Date
2024-09-17
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Edition statement
The first edition of this finding aid was created by Jacob R. Prtisker.

Revision Statements

  • 2024-09: First edition of this finding aid was created by Jacob Pritsker.

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Center for Pacific War Studies / National Museum of the Pacific War Repository

https://www.pacificwarmuseum.org/
Contact:
328 E. Austin St.
Fredericksburg Texas 78624 United States of America

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