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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Navy
  • Unit of Service: USS Nevada (BB 36); USS San Francisco (CA 38)
  • Location of Service: Pacific Theater; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
  • Highest Rank: Electronics Technician First Class

View full service history

"I thought it was the end of the world…"(Video interview, 9:46)

For a sailor, your ship is your home. On shore at the time of the attack, seeing the bombs hit the USS Nevada, Robert Coates’ first thought was to return to his home. Following the attack, he was transferred to the USS San Francisco, and went on to be involved in some of the biggest naval battles of the Pacific theater. As he describes it, the shock of attack on December 7th was unrivaled, and was an introduction to the even more intense action that he witnessed later in the war.

More Resources

Robert Abbott Coates Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript: XML

Robert Abbott Coates Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript: XML

Robert Abbott Coates Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript: XML
View 2 images in sequence.
[ Photo Album ]

About this Item

Title

  • Robert Abbott Coates Collection

Names

  • Idaho State Historical Society
  • Dorothy Stiles
  • Coates, Robert Abbott
  • Carin Eckhoff
  • National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)
  • Reeves, Troy

State of Birth

  • ID

Home State

  • ID

Headings

  • -  Coates, Robert Abbott
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Navy.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Navy
    • Unit of Service: USS Nevada (BB 36); USS San Francisco (CA 38)
    • Location of Service: Pacific Theater; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
    • Highest Rank: Electronics Technician First Class
    • Dates of Service: 1941-1946
    • Military Status: Veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran is a Pearl Harbor survivor.

Materials

  • Photograph: Digital Print [2 items] -- Photograph (collected 1943 - 2001)
  • Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected [2005])
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [2 items] -- Oral history interview (collected 10/12/2001)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 1/1/2003)
  • Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 10/12/2001)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 2005)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 10/12/2001)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 2003)
  • Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of photograph (collected 1943 - 2001)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/489

Cite as

  • Robert Abbott Coates Collection (AFC/2001/001/489), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • online text
  • image
  • audio
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

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/xxxx), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

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

Recording:

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

Photograph:

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

Computer file:

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

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), 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:

Idaho State Historical Society, Dorothy Stiles, Robert Abbott Coates, Carin Eckhoff, National Court Reporters Association, and Troy Reeves. Robert Abbott Coates Collection. 1941. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.00489/.

APA citation style:

Idaho State Historical Society, Dorothy Stiles, Coates, R. A., Carin Eckhoff, National Court Reporters Association & Reeves, T. (1941) Robert Abbott Coates Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.00489/.

MLA citation style:

Idaho State Historical Society, et al. Robert Abbott Coates Collection. 1941. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.00489/>.