Between the Covers

An original leather suitcase containing a scrapbook, photographs, and documents belonging to Lewis M. Andrews, Jr., a U.S. Navy Lt. Commander during the Second World War, and the author of *Tempest, Fire & Foe: Destroyer Escorts in World War II and the Men Who Manned Them*, published in 1999. Most of the photographs and related material in the archive were used by Andrews, during the eight year period it took for him to research and write the book. It includes over 60 wartime photographs and several later snapshots of Andrews at reunions with fellow crew members, along with over 25 halftone negatives and a few strips of 35mm negatives.

The scrapbook contains 15 letters from U.S. Navy admirals and sailors who served on destroyer escorts, including one ALS from Rear Admiral Sheldon H. Kinney (credited with sinking three German U-boats and disabling a fourth): “Dear Lew: Tempest, Fire & Foe is a magnificent piece of work. And what work it must have been! Bravo Zulu, Sheldon.” Among the documents are Andrews Navy Service Record (consisting of original signed documents and facsimile copies), original papers belonging to his German-born wife (Helga) dating from 1939-1942, and several clippings of his wartime articles published in *The New York Times* and other magazines.

After graduating from Wesleyan University in 1939, Andrews traveled around the world in several freighters “as the Polish crises was building,” and joined the Navy in the spring of 1940, convinced that the U.S. would soon be drawn into the war: “I had best create my own billet rather than having it created for me.” This he did, becoming an ensign on a minesweeper, taking command of a subchaser in 1942, and then serving as executive officer of the Canadian-built corvette, the USS *Might* (with seven officers and 100 men). He was sent to protect convoys from Key West to Trinidad and Guantanamo, and New York to Guantanamo, encountering much German U-boat activity: “our division never lost a ship.” The high point of his career came when he took command of the destroyer-escort USS *Sims* in 1943: “a beautiful fighting ship” (with 11 officers and 200 men), and was sent to protect convoys from New York to Northern Ireland: “one DE in our division, the USS *Donnell*, was hit by an acoustic torpedo while going in on the attack … another time, we participated in search and attack on a U-boat after it torpedoed the tanker Seakay in the convoy.” In late 1944 he was transferred to Norfolk to serve as executive officer of the largest antisubmarine operation on the East Coast of the U.S., dubbed the “merry-go-round.”

After the war Andrews took over the family business (New York-based American Map Company), and later founded a smaller company in Florida (Busimaps of Pinellas Park). He wrote the book after his retirement from business: “many years before, I had started to do a book on destroyer-escorts but I found that I couldn’t run a company and write a book at the same time … I returned to the book in 1991 … [it] took eight years to complete … thus was born *Tempest, Fire & Foe*. I believe that I have created the first comprehensive story of destroyer-escorts and their derivatives, such as the fast transports.”

A small but compelling archive of Andrews’ research photographs and related memorabilia. A detailed list is available.

Item #400443