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Edward Mortimer [detail from video]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Cold War
  • Branch of Service: Navy
  • Unit of Service: USS Gudgeon (SS 567); USS Abraham Lincoln (SSBN 602); USS Nathan Hale (SSBN 623); USS John Adams (SSBN 620)
  • Location of Service: Annapolis, Maryland; Pacific; Pearl Harbor, and Ford Island, Hawaii; New London, Connecticut; Charleston, South Carolina; United Kingdom; North Sea; Atlantic; Pacific; Guam (Mariana Islands)
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/7797

View full service history

"You were practicing all the time to be perfect at something you hoped would never happen." (Video Interview, 1:10:36)

Annapolis graduate Edward Mortimer's career spanned the central years of the Cold War, 1954-1977, during which he served on five submarines with increasingly sophisticated technology. He worked his way up from communications officer to captain of the USS John Adams, a third-generation Polaris submarine. Patrolling both major oceans and several of the seven seas, Mortimer was exquisitely aware of what firing one of his sub's missiles would mean. He also talks of a good friend who was aboard the ill-fated Thresher, the first nuclear submarine to be lost at sea.

Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Edward H. Mortimer Collection

Names

  • Mortimer, Edward H.
  • Brown, William F.
  • Roseman, Malcolm
  • AARP, Georgia

Home State

  • Georgia

Headings

  • -  Mortimer, Edward H.
  • -  Cold War -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Navy.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Cold War

    • Branch of Service: Navy
    • Unit of Service: USS Gudgeon (SS 567); USS Abraham Lincoln (SSBN 602); USS Nathan Hale (SSBN 623); USS John Adams (SSBN 620)
    • Location of Service: Annapolis, Maryland; Pacific; Pearl Harbor, and Ford Island, Hawaii; New London, Connecticut; Charleston, South Carolina; United Kingdom; North Sea; Atlantic; Pacific; Guam (Mariana Islands)
    • Highest Rank: Captain
    • Dates of Service: 1954-1977
    • Entrance into Service: Commissioned
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran served on Polaris submarines.

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2003-02-27; 2003-02-27)
  • Video: VHS [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2003-02-27)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/7797

Cite as

  • Edward H. Mortimer Collection (AFC/2001/001/7797), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Mortimer, Edward H, William F Brown, Malcolm Roseman, and Georgia Aarp. Edward H. Mortimer Collection. 1954. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.07797/.

APA citation style:

Mortimer, E. H., Brown, W. F., Roseman, M. & Aarp, G. (1954) Edward H. Mortimer Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.07797/.

MLA citation style:

Mortimer, Edward H, et al. Edward H. Mortimer Collection. 1954. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.07797/>.