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	Record Group Number:	000155
	Series/Collection Number:	.S 2438
	Creator:	Florida. Dept. of State. --Division of Historical Resources.
	Title, Dates:	Charles H. Brems oral history and letter, 1991-1993.
	Amount:	2 items
	Medium Included:	audio cassette letter
	Organization/Arrangement:	By record type.
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	Biographical/Historical:	Charles H. Brems was born in Chicago, Illinois, on March 30, 1895. A lifelong amateur photographer, Brems served in the Illinois Naval Battalion from 1914 to 1917 and served aboard the USS Massachusetts as Chief Petty Officer. Later a supervisor in the Western Electric Company's Tool and Die Shop, Brems retired from that company after more than 40 years of service. Brems had three children: son Charles H. Brems, retired as an engineer from AT&T; daughter Camilla Brems Ross, PhD, was Senior Research Scientist at Union Carbide and served as a Captain in the U.S. Merchant Marines; and son Richard A. Brems, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy 1962, served as a U.S. Naval Aviator, and worked for Delta Airlines. The USS Massachusetts was a 10-ton Indiana-class battleship that served along the eastern seaboard of the United States and across the Atlantic for more than 20 years. The ship was the second modern, heavy-armor and heavy-caliber steel battleship built by the United States. Constructed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and commissioned in 1896, the ship took part in the blockade around Cuba during the Spanish-American War. After years as part of the North Atlantic Squadron and in service as a training vessel, including as a gunnery training vessel during World War I, the ship was decommissioned in March 1919. The Massachusetts was scuttled in Pensacola Bay January 1921, after being given by the Navy to the War Department as a target for coastal defense artillery practice. As the nation's oldest existing battleship, the Massachusetts remains in Pensacola Bay to this day where it provides a home to numerous species of aquatic life and is a popular destination for divers and fisherman. One hundred years to the day after being launched, the Massachusetts became Florida's fourth Underwater Archaeological Preserve, located under 26 feet of water a mile and a half from Pensacola Pass at 30� 17.68'N and 87� 18.70'W.
	Summary:	This series is comprised of an oral history with a transcript that details his time as a crewmember of the USS Massachusetts. A 1993 letter detailing the events of the USS Massachusetts dedication as an Underwater Archaeological Preserve is also included.
	Finding Aids:	Container listing available.
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	Associated Materials:	Other records relating to Charles H. Brems can be found in Record Group 155: Division of Historical Resources Series S2226: Charles H. Brems' USS Massachusetts photographic collection, 1917-1919.
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	Subject Access Fields:	Brems, Charles H., 1895- Massachusetts (Battleship : BB-2) Battleships. Ships. Archaeology Florida. Underwater archaeology Florida. Letters. aat Audio cassettes. aat Pensacola (Fla.)
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