Description:

Franklin D. Roosevelt Signed Appointment to Commander Battle Force

1p, measuring 14.5" x 18" (sight), Washington, D.C., dated January 8, 1940. A Franklin D. Roosevelt signed appointment, rarely seen in this format. Signed "Franklin D. Roosevelt" and countersigned "Charles Edison" as Secretary of the Navy. Appointing "Charles P. Snyder…Commander Battle Force, United States Fleet with the rank of Admiral." The document has patriotic motifs at the top and bottom margins, along with a blue paper seal at the lower center. Matted and framed along with a portrait of FDR to the overall size of 22" x 36.75". With faint toning and foxing at the margins. Minor creasing along the lower center edge. Boldly signed. We have not been able to find another example of Roosevelt signing such a document. It appears that this format of military appointment, with marginal motifs, may have been phased out of use during the presidencies of either Calvin Coolidge or Herbert Hoover.

Charles Philip Snyder (1879-1964) was a four-star admiral who served as the U.S. Navy's first Naval Inspector General during the Second World War. He entered the Naval Academy in 1896 and graduated fourth in his class in 1900. During the First World War, he commanded the battleship "Oregon", the flagship of the Pacific Fleet, along with the cruiser "Minneapolis" and the transport "Mongolia". With his appointment to Commander of the Battle Force, Snyder became second in command of the U.S. Fleet under James O. Richardson. However, when the fleet was reorganized in January 1941 under H.E. Kimmel, Snyder asked to be relieved and was succeeded by Vice Admiral William S. Pye on January 31, 1941. Eleven months later, most of the Battle Force battleships were sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. When the U.S. entered WWII, Snyder served as the first Naval Inspector General from May 1942 until April 1946. In this capacity, he inspected various shoreline facilities and investigated any reported misconduct. In 1946, he investigated the sinking of the "Indianapolis", when 890 crewmen were stranded in the open ocean for four days, battling exposure, dehydration, and shark attacks. For his exceptional service during the war, Snyder was decorated with the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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