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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 77355-KN:  Secretary of the Navy Francis P. Matthews.  Portrait by C.J. Fox

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- PEOPLE -- UNITED STATES --

Francis P. Matthews (1887-1952) --
49th Secretary of the Navy, 25 May 1949 - 31 July 1951

Francis Patrick Matthews was born in Albion, Nebraska, on 15 March 1887. A graduate of Creighton University in Omaha, he practiced law in that city beginning in 1913 and was active in business pursuits, civic and religious affairs and Democratic Party politics. During the Second World War, Mr. Matthews served as a Director and Vice President of the United Service Organizations (USO) and was also involved in war relief work.

Francis P. Matthews became Secretary of the Navy in May 1949, at a time of internal turmoil in the Department of Defense resulting from significant funding reductions and controversial defense priorities decisions. He served through the first year of the Korean War, when the fiscal situation was massively reversed in the face of international crisis, and all the armed forces were badly stressed to simultaneously meet the demands of a hot war in Asia and an intensive defense build up in Europe. He resigned the Navy post in July 1951 to become Ambassador to Ireland, the home of his ancestors. Mr. Matthews died on 18 October 1952, during a visit to Omaha, Nebraska.

This page features our only views of Francis P. Matthews.


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 77355-KN (Color)

Francis P. Matthews,
Secretary of the Navy, 25 May 1949 - 31 July 1951

Portrait by C.J. Fox.

Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, D.C.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 67KB; 565 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 54776

Vice Admiral Edwin D. Foster, USN (SC)
,
Chief of Chief of Naval Material (left)

Is congratulated by Secretary of the Navy Francis P. Matthews (right), 4 October 1949.
Rear Admiral Charles W. Fox, USN (SC), the incoming Chief of the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, is in the center, holding his commission as Navy Paymaster General and Chief of the Bureau, dated 4 October 1949.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 79KB; 740 x 615 pixels

 
Photo #: SC 338221

Exercise "Portrex"
, March 1950

Senior Department of Defense officials and officers witness the "Portrex" D-Day maneuvers, 8 March 1950.
Present in the front row are (left to right):
Major General William C. Chase, U.S. Army,
Secretary of the Navy Francis P. Matthews,
Lieutenant General W.H.H. Morris, U.S. Army,
Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson, and
Admiral Forrest P. Sherman, USN, Chief of Naval Operations.

Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

Online Image: 159KB; 740 x 620 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: 80-G-423481

Secretary of the Navy Francis P. Matthews
(center)

Disembarks from a Douglas AD-4N "Skyraider" aircraft, after being flown aboard USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) off Korea, 22 November 1950. He is being welcomed by the carrier's Commanding Officer, Captain Willard K. Goodney.
Secretary Matthews was visiting Navy units involved in Korean War operations.
Note his leather flight helmet and inflatable life vest.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 93KB; 600 x 765 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: 80-G-424550

Secretary of the Navy Francis P. Matthews
(right)

Talks with Vice Admiral Arthur D. Struble, Commander Seventh Fleet, (left) and Vice Admiral C. Turner Joy, Commander Naval Forces Far East, (center), upon his arrival at Wonsan airfield, North Korea, for Korean war conferences.
The original photograph is dated 23 November 1950, but may have been taken on 20 November. See James A. Field, Jr., "History of United States Naval Operations Korea" (1962), page 250.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 93KB; 600 x 765 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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Page made 23 January 2000
Caption corrected 23 October 2002