The Department of the Navy is a branch within the Department of Defense. Their documents cover a variety of topics covering ships, sailors, and oceanography. UVA retains Naval documents produced prior to 1948 (SUDOC call numbers starting with N) and those pertaining to the Marine Corp (D 214).
The Navy's online presence is targeted towards current naval operations and employees, which can make finding older documents challenging. The links on this page attempt to identify useful websites and information portals covering similar information as the documents that have been transferred from UVA to ODU.
+ Freedom of Information Act Reading Rooms
All Hands Archive - A magazine for naval personnel published since 1922.
Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Office of Medical History Collection - housed within the Internet Archive
CHIPS Magazine - The Department of the Navy's Information and Technology magazine
Future Force Magazine - the Navy's Science & Technology magazine
Integrated Learning Environment Repository - Naval Education and Training Command
Matthew Fontaine Maury Oceanographic Library - Located within the Naval Oceanographic Office. Their catalog can be searched online, although items are not available digitally.
Military Sealift Command - troop transport ships. Publications can be found under the Media tab
Naval History and Heritage Command - large collection of manuscripts, publications, photographs, etc.
Naval Ocean Research and Development Activity - small collection of books in Hathi Trust created by this department
Naval Oceanography Portal - astronomical, meteorological, and oceanographic information from the US Naval Observatory
Naval Personnel Command Reference Library - links to current forms, manuals, publications, and regulations.
Naval Research Laboratory - you can find a link to publications under the Public Affairs and Media drop down in the upper right hand corner
Naval Sea Systems Command - formerly the Naval Ordnance Systems and Naval Ship Systems Commands
Naval War College Research Centers - specialized departments within the Naval War College concentrating on specific topics or geographic areas. Some provide case studies and reading links
Navy JAG Library - Office of the Judge Advocate General. Documents pertaining to military legal practice.
Navy Medicine Directives - maintained by the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
Office of Naval Research - science, technology, and environmental research
SeaBee Online - magazine of the Naval Construction Battalions
Navy Documents in Selective Housing Agreement
This spreadsheet contains a list of the Virginia Federal Repository copies of Department of the Navy documents housed in Norfolk, VA under a selective housing agreement between the University of Virginia and Old Dominion University Libraries. It contains the Title, which can be searched using the ctrl+F function, the SUDOC Call Number, which can be used to locate the item, and the OCLC number, which can be used to find the item in Worldcat by choosing the Acquistion Number option under their advanced search feature.
These items are in the D 200 call number range.
Note: Documents pertaining to the Marine Corps (D 214) remain in the Regional Depository collection at UVA and can be found in Virgo, the library catalog.
History
While the U.S. has had a navy since the revolutionary war, the Department of the Navy was established in 1798. Prior to this the Navy was part of the Department of War. In 1947 the National Security Act reorganized the United States' military branches under the National Military Establishment, which was renamed the Department of Defense in 1949. Currently produced Navy documents can be found under the SuDoc Call Numbers D 201 - 221. Documents prior to 1947 can be found in the N Call Number range.
Other Resources