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Death Of A Sailor

Patrick Power

I've been researching the one hundred or so sailors that came and went during the commission of the USS YMS-75, a minesweeper that eventually was handed over to the Soviet Union as part of the Project HULA lend-lease agreement. One of the sailors was James Lee Dotson, service number 624 79 23, who served less than two months aboard the ship, from 22 February 1943 to 1 April 1943 as a Steward's Mate, Second Class.

He was transferred to the Receiving Station in New Orleans (where he received disciplinary action on 21 April for failing to obey the Master at Arms), then on 4 May 1943, he was transferred to the SC-1064 for its commissioning. He was aboard the SC-1064 until 25 May 1943 when he was transferred to the Sub Chaser Training Center in Miami, Florida (by way of the Receiving Station in New Orleans). On 7 June 1943, he was transferred to the PC-595 (received 8 June)| PC-488. On 6 August 1943, he was transferred to the "U.S. Naval Operating Facility, Dispensary, Navy / New York" (his personnel file doesn't state why, although he had been AOL for four hours that morning and reported as a straggler).

On 8 November 1943, he was transferred to the Naval Operating Base Dispensary in Rio de Janeiro for medical treatment (again, for reasons not specified in his personnel file). He was transferred to the PC-488 on 4 December 1943 and on 14 December 1943 Report of Changes, he was noted as having died on the 10th. The ship's deck log from 10 December 1943 notes that he died from drowning and that his body was not recovered. The circumstances were not noted.

His personnel file provides little information other than that it was an "accidental drowning."

I've attached the 14 December 1943 Report of Changes, the 10 December 1943 Deck Log from the PC-488, and the P-5352 memo (or whatever the document is) dated 4 April 1944 which states his death was accidental and not due to misconduct.

Would there not have been an investigation into the drowning? Or would the Navy have just shrugged its proverbial shoulders and moved on? Might there be additional documentation elsewhere, possibly within the PC-488's files?

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    Thank you for posting your question on History Hub!

    There was likely a Board of Inquiry that conducted an investigation into the drowning. A Board of Inquiry is an administrative, fact finding body consisting of one or more commissioned officers. It is convened by a general court-martial convening authority. Boards of Inquiry are intended to be an intermediary step between an investigation without a hearing and a Court of Inquiry. Boards of Inquiry are used for a variety of types of inquiries, to include involuntary separation of commissioned officers. This board may also be called a “show-cause board.” For full details regarding Courts of Inquiry and Boards of Inquiry and their procedures and regulations please review Navy JAG Instruction 5830.1A or the most current version of this Instruction. Board of Inquest is a term that has largely fallen out of use. Boards of Inquest were often the Board used to investigate non combat military deaths in the Navy and Marine Corps. 

    You may be able to locate Boards of Inquiry for incidents such as you describe in Record Group 313: Records of U.S. Navy Operating Forces. We recommend becoming familiar with the U.S. Navy 1941 Filing Manual. The Filing Codes under A17 relate to investigations with some codes being potentially more relevant than others. When attempting to locate potentially relevant record series within Record Group 313 it will be helpful if you know the command structure of the units involved in the incident. Typically, investigations are filed at some level within the command structure of the involved unit, depending on who was assigned to perform the investigation. Unfortunately, there is generally no way to determine at what level the investigation was filed, unless you have a source that clearly identifies with whom the report was filed. Locating a relevant file may require extensive and time consuming research. 

    We will be happy to make the records and their finding aids available to you or your representative in the Textual Research Room (Room 2000) here at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland. Please visit our website for information about visiting the National Archives in College Park, MD, including how to schedule a research visit.

    We hope this assists you with your research! 

    Sincerely,

    Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR)

    RR2RR 25-00388-JAH