74TH CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session FRANCIS LEO SHEA MAY 14, 1935.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed Mr. VINSON of Georgia, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 5620] The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 5620) for the relief of Francis Leo Shea, having considered the same, report it to the House with the recommendation that it do pass. The purpose of this bill is to authorize the President to appoint Francis Leo Shea a lieutenant commander in the Navy and to place him on the retired list of the Navy with the retired pay of that grade. A similar bill for the relief of Francis Leo Shea passed the House in the Seventieth Congress and was reported to the House in the Seventy-first Congress. Francis Leo Shea was appointed to the Naval Academy from New York in May 1905, and was commissioned an ensign on June 5, 1911. He was promoted to lieutenant, junior grade, on June 5, 1914, was promoted to lieutenant, temporary, July 1, 1917, and was promoted to temporary lieutenant commander on July 1, 1918. He was commissioned a regular lieutenant in the Navy from March 7, 1918. He served continuously in the Regular Navy until January 22, 1920, on which date his resignation was accepted to take effect when he arrived at home, which was on April 15, 1920. In 1916 he was on the Memphis when she was lost in a hurricane off the coast of Haiti. About 1917 he was ordered before a medical board of the Navy for examination with a view to determining his availability for the Air Service. He passed that examination and was about to be ordered to Pensacola to the flying school when he got a quick dispatch to go to the scene of a revolution in either Haiti or Santo Domingo. The ship was lost there on August 26, 1916 Quite a number of lives of members of the crew were lost. At that time Shea was a junior lieutenant. He was in the engine room twice and was doing rescue work in general. He went down into the engine room to rescue anybody who might be left. After he had done all he could to help down in the engine room and elsewhere he reported to the captain of the bridge. While there, cries were heard again. The captain ordered him back to see what he could do. He went back and then got lost. He went back a third time. He left that ship the third last living person. The commanding officer met him after the accident and said, "Shea, I want to thank you for what you have done today. You have done a most commendable work." He received the following letter from the Secretary of the Navy for his conduct in connection with the loss of the Memphis: NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, January 13, 1917. To: Lt. (Jr. Gr.) Francis L. Shea, United States Navy; works E. W. Bliss Co., Brooklyn, N. Y. (commandant, Navy Yard, New York). Subject: Re conduct of Lt. (Jr. Gr.) Francis L. Shea, United States Navy. 1. The attached commendatory letter from the late commanding officer of the Memphis, dated September 8, 1916, and endorsement thereon of the commander, Cruiser Force, Atlantic Fleet, dated September 9, 1916, are referred for your information and return. 2. The Department desires to extend to you its warm commendation for the creditable and efficient manner in which you performed your duties under most trying conditions at a time when the vessel on which you were serving was suffering total destruction from a hurricane. 3. Please return all papers herewith for file with your official efficiency record. JOSEPHUS DANIELS. During November and December 1917, and January and February 1918, he was on duty at the works of the E. W. Bliss & Co. plant in South Brooklyn. At that time he was engaged in observing and reporting upon the work that was being done by the Bliss Co. in the manufacture of torpedoes for the Navy. At that time he was exceedingly active and energetic in protecting the interests of the Government, which was his duty, and he did all within his power to correct, curb, and prevent irregularities and improper workmanship by those who were engaged there on the Government work. He spent his days and nights in his work, and through his efforts numbers of aliens who had found employment at the Bliss plant were uncovered and removed and defective work was discovered and its use in the manufacture of torpedoes prevented. He worked in harmony and conjunction with the then United States attorney for the eastern district of New York, Mr. France. The following is a letter from the then United States attorney concerning his work at the Bliss Co. during the war: To whom it may concern: WOOD, MOLLOY & FRANCE, 25 Broad Street, New York, August 26, 1922. The writer was United States attorney for the eastern district of New York during the time in which the United States was engaged in the World War. During that time, particularly during the months of November and December 1917, and January and February 1918, he came into intimate contact with Lt. Comdr. Francis Shea, who at that time was stationed at the E. W. Bliss & Co.'s plant in South Brooklyn, State of New York. There he was engaged in observing and reporting on the work which was done by the Bliss Co. in the manufacture of torpedoes for the United States Navy. The writer knows that during that time Mr. Shea was exceedingly active and energetic in protecting the interests of the Government and that he sought with all his power to correct, curb, and prevent irregularities and improper workmanship among those who were engaged there on the Government work. While many of the details of what Mr. Shea discovered and corrected and prevented have gone from the writer's mind in the lapse of time, he does know that Mr. Shea left nothing unturned or undone to prevent anything except the best of work going out from this plant, work which was connected with the manufacture of one of the most important implements of destruction that were used by our forces during the war. The writer knows that during the time referred to above, Mr. Shea spent his days and nights devotedly to his work, and that his services were undoubtedly of the greatest value to the country during that time. Through Mr. Shea's efforts numbers of German aliens who had found employment at the Bliss plant were discovered and removed and defective work was discovered and its use in the manufacture of torpedoes prevented. During that time Mr. Shea reported with great frequency to the writer as well as to his superiors in the Navy Department, and the writer's conclusions, therefore, are based upon first-hand impressions and direct contact with what Mr. Shea was doing at the time. The writer believes that the Government is deeply indebted to Mr. Shea for his services during that time and that its obligations to him for such faithful service should be met in every possible way, particularly in view of Mr Shea's present and probably permanent physical condition. MELVILLE J. FRANCE. At that time Mr. Shea became very nervous and his brother said he would howl at nights. He was on the fourth floor of the building in which he lived and he was on the second floor, yet he said he was was very frequently disturbed by the noise at night. He had always been in good health before that. That was a very hard duty there at the works of the Bliss Co. He had to walk around among those workmen and try to detect any irregularities or dangers that might exist. He found in the work many who could not speak English. That struck him as being unusual. He took the list of employees and went through it to separate those who were alien enemies from the service. He even went so far as to go down into the saloons at night to gather, through gossip, what was going on or about to go on. When Mr. Shea submitted the first resignation it was qualified, in that he asked to be transferred to the Fleet Naval Reserve. That was while he was on the Zeppelin. His reason for that was on account of his then condition. He had in mind that he would go into the Fleet Naval Reserve and get a certain pension there. He thought that he would never be of any further use to the regular Navy. Mr. Shea has affidavits from each employer in the Government service showing his handicap and how he was offered positions that he could not accept. He did not leave the Navy for the purpose of securing better or more pleasing employment. When he left the Navy, he had no understanding with anybody with respect to employment. He rested 2 or 3 months and then went to service with the United States Shipping Board. However, he had never negotiated with that concern prior to the time he left the Navy. His getting out was due to the condition of his health. He had no contract for any employment. The following is a copy of the medical record of Mr. Shea as made by the Veterans' Bureau: Admiral WASHINGTON, Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D. C. MAY 25, 1922. DEAR SIR: We, the undersigned members of the Lamar Y. McLeod Post of the American Legion, respectfully request that you give earnest consideration to the effort which is being made by Lt. Comdr. Francis L. Shea for reinstatement in the Navy. In view of Mr. Shea's splendid service, and also in view of the fact that Dr. E. D. Bondurant, a nerve specialist, who is known nationally and internationally, states that, in his opinion, Mr. Shea should be permitted reinstatement, we respectfully submit that this should be done, in order that he may retire with the pay which is accorded those officers of the Navy who are retired for reason of physical or other disability. We are informed by Dr. Bondurant that, in his opinion, this man was in no condition to properly decide what course he should adopt for himself when he tendered his resignation on January 22, 1920. We are told he believes Lieutenant Commander Shea was at that time suffering with neurasthenia to such an extent as to be unable to plan properly for himself. We have no interest in this matter other than that of seeing justice done, and we would not make this request of you if we did not believe Lieutenant Commander Shea deserves the reinstatement and retirement which he seeks. Yours respectfully, V. L. Walker; St. John Wilson; F. A. Webb, jr.; Jere Austill; Merrill From: Board of Medical Survey. Form M To: Commandant Fourteenth Naval District, for transmission to the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. Subject: Report of Medical Survey. Place: U. S. S. Chicago. Date: January 27, 1920. Name: Shea, Francis Leo. Grade or rate: Lieutenant commander, United States Navy. Attached to: U. S. S. Chicago; How long at this place? Six months. Born: Place, Washington, D. C. Date: January 6, 1888. Previous service: Fifteen years. PRESENT HISTORY OF CASE Diagnosis: Neurasthenia (336). Origin in the line of duty. Disability not the result of his own misconduct. Facts are as follows: This officer arrived aboard the Chicago from the U. S. S. Zeppelin in a state of nervous exhaustion after a protracted period of war-zone work aboard destroyers in the North Sea. His work aboard ship has not allowed recuperation. The ever-changing crew with new details; the rough trip from New York to San Francisco; our active work in the revolution at Honduras and in the yellow-fever epidemic aboard ship at Amapala, Honduras; the indefinite |