Seeking records of USS Oriskany & crew

Dear Mr. Mutz,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

If you have not done so already, we suggest that you request a copy of his Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). OMPFs and medical records of enlisted men of the U.S. Navy who were separated from the service after 1885 and prior to 1958 are located at NARA's National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), (Military Personnel Records), 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO  63138-1002. To request these records, please mail a completed GSA Standard Form 180 to NPRC.  You can also fax the form to 314-801-9195.  Next of kin of the veteran may request the records online. For more information, see Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Archival Records Requests.  If there is an urgent deadline, see the information under the heading “Emergency Requests and Deadlines.”  The OMPF should be able to tell you what dates he was assigned to the USS Oriskany as well as any of his other assignments, any medals or service ribbons he was awarded, and other details about his military service.

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941 - 1983 in the Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel (Record Group 24) that include the deck log of the USS Oriskany (CV/CVA-34 ) from its commissioning on 25 September 1950 through its final decommissioning in 1976, to include its service in the Korean War.  We also located Muster Rolls and Personnel Diaries of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities, 1/1/1949 - 12/31/1971 in Record Group 24 that should include muster rolls for the USS Oriskany.  For access to and/or copies of these records, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) via email at archives2reference@nara.gov. 

In addition, we searched the website of the Naval History and Heritage Command and located an Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships article about the USS Oriskany; Korean Combat Action Reports for USS Oriskany (CVA 34); references to the USS Oriskany in Korean War: Chronology of U.S. Pacific Fleet Operations, January - April 1953.

You also may be interested in the cruise book for the USS Oriskany covering 1953 through 1954. Cruise books are unofficial publications published by a ship's crew to document a cruise, deployment, or war. They often include photographs of the crew and aspects of ship life not found in official records. Copies can be found in the Navy Department Library's Collection as well as on Ancestry and Fold3. There may be a fee for this service. Instead, you may view these records online at one of NARA's facilities for free via a NARA PC. For the nearest NARA location, please consult our web page at http://www.archives.gov/locations/. Additionally, you may check with your local public or university library as these institutions often provide access to Ancestry and/or Fold3. A digital copy of the cruise book also can be purchase for $5 from http://ussoriskany.us/ships_store/product/195354-cruise-book/

The cruise book lists Schlumpberger, B.J., RDSN [Radarman Seaman] of Parkston, S.D. as a member of the O-I division, which ran the ship’s Combat Information Center. See below for a sample page that includes him in the upper group photograph.

We hope this is helpful.