Estimated Price:

$15,000 - $20,000

Realized Price:

$0

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Lot of 24 pieces of silver plate, including a candlestick with a raised USN seal, a pedestal bowl, sauce boat and lid, plus an additional lid, a salver, seven saucers (marked Gorham), six bowls, a teapot marked Reed and Barton, cruet stand, and several pieces of silver burners. All of the pieces are heavily encrusted with lime and other debris, obscuring the manufacturers of all but the two items noted above.

This remarkable grouping was collected by U.S. Navy diver Carl Webster Keenum (1903-1964) during salvage operations in the wake of the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941. Keenum was serving as a Construction Battalion Master of Arms (CBM) aboard the U.S.S. Oklahoma during the attack, and in the hours following the sinking of his ship was instrumental in saving the lives of 37 of his fellow shipmates. In the months that followed the attack, Keenum, along with a large group of other divers, were given the responsibility to help ammunition, and retrieve the weaponry and personal items from the stricken fleet. According to the information Keenum passed down to his family, these pieces were collected from the officer's mess of the U.S.S. Arizona.

With the prospect of a Japanese invasion no longer imminent, Navy authorities almost immediately launched salvage operation on the twenty-one vessels sunk in the December 7th surprise attack. Bodies and the removal of surface debris were the first priority. Once the Navy concluded that no more survivors could be found, efforts turned to the recovery of anti-aircraft guns, directors, and weaponry that could be put back into service with the shattered Pacific Fleet or aid in the island's defense.

The prospect of scouring the twisted, ammunition laden wrecks amidst daily navigation was a daunting and dangerous task. In January, 1942, the Navy assigned the job to Captain Homer N. Wallin (1893-1984) who headed the Salvage Division. Wallin assembled a team comprising Navy divers and civilian contractors from the Pacific Bridge Company with specialized equipment. Keenum's role in the aftermath of the attack is noted several times in Wallin's official report on the salvage operations(Wallin 1968: 133-34; 136; 261). These notes refer to Keenum's efforts to save crewmen aboard the Oklahoma in the hours following the attack, and then later, his work in the salvage efforts. An official Navy photograph of divers emerging from the Arizona reproduced here, and compared with a younger Keenun taken aboard the Oklahoma provide proof positive that he participated in the salvage operations.

Diving operations on the Arizona commenced in earnest during May 1942 with priority given to removing the aft turrets and 14 in. guns along with tons of live ordnance still secured in the submerged hull. The armored superstructure, masts, and other components above water that posed a hazard in the congested harbor were likewise removed with gantry and crane, the mangled armored superstructure for many years being stored onshore at Pearl.

The final phase of salvage operations lasted through May 1943 and included the recovery of (unspecified) "valuable government property" along with an initial mapping of the structural damage on behalf of Navy investigators and the Bureau of Ships. Wallin did most of the heavy lifting while commanding the Salvage Division before being posted to a new assignment in August 1943.

By late 1944, the unprecedented operation at Pearl Harbor was winding down. Ultimately 18 of the 21 warships sunk on December 7th were returned to navy service - an incredible success story.

Not so with the Arizona. In the 1980s, the National Park service undertook an extensive survey of the wreck primarily to gain information relating to environmental concerns - the perpetual "oil slick" that still hemorrhages from the stricken warship - and to ascertain the overall degradation of the war grave.

Intended to be as unobtrusive as possible, the process was repeated in 2001 using state-of-the art technology not available earlier. The survey quantified the fuel bunker leaks and identified other high value artifacts not previously cataloged. The survey also speculated on the long-term prognosis of the wreck - and by extension the monument above it - that is slowly dissolving back into elemental form.

USS Arizona is the final resting place for between 902 and 945 officers and men still entombed in her rusting hull, an enduring symbol of American resolve. Visibly encrusted through halos of oil on the calm surface of old battleship row, she remains America's most somber attraction and the Park Service is in the process of building a new Museum and Visitors Center for the next generation that will be dedicated on December 7, 2010, defrayed, in part, by public donations.

The lot is accompanied by a copy of Keenum's service record, two photographs of Keenum and family members aboard the Oklahoma, a copy of his obituary, copies of shipboard covers and newspapers from the Oklahoma. There is, in addition, a copy of a 1997 letter from the United States Department of the Interior, USS Arizona Memorial expressing interest in a potential gift to the memorial.