Beschreibung:

M1852 Navy Sword with 29.5" blade sword knot, scabbard and carrying case. Sword named to Captain Leo A. Ketterer. Includes photograph of Ketterer. From Shakopee, Minnesota, Leo Adelbert Ketterer (1883-1964) was a Navy officer whose career spanned over 47 years, including being recalled for service during the Second World War. At age sixteen Leo Ketterer joined the Navy in February 1900 as an Apprentice Seamen Third Class and retired in 1937 as Lieutenant Commander after a balmy tour on the Asiatic Station based at Cavite Navy Yard in the Philippines. In November 1939 Ketterer was recalled and assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station near Chicago in command of that station’s supply corps. In 1942 he was promoted to Commander and retired for a second time in July 1947 as Captain—one of only four recorded Navy officers who had joined as apprentice seamen and attained the rank without attending the Naval Academy. During his early career Ketterer had served aboard the training ships Constellation and Monongahela making the rigorous trans-Atlantic crossing in the yardarms under sail. He then reported to the receiving ship Vermont followed by duty aboard the armored cruiser New York in 1901. By 1913, Ketterer was Chief Yeoman on the battleship USS Michigan and saw active service at Vera Cruz in 1917. Remaining ashore during the First World War, Ketterer was assigned to duty as the Recruiting Officer at Minneapolis. Afterwards he was posted to New York City at the 3rd District Disbursing Office and nearby Camp Pelham. Ketterer was promoted to Lieutenant and in 1922 was serving as paymaster aboard the USS Henderson which accompanied the Secretary of the Navy on a cruise to the Orient. The next year Lieutenant Ketterer accompanied President Harding on his cruise to Alaska. Ketterer received campaign medals “for service in the Philippine, Mexican, and Nicaraguan campaigns as well as Word War 1.” The whereabouts of his medals is unknown. Included with the sword are a group of five typed letters that Ketterer wrote to his sister Ida while serving in the Philippines from 1932-1934. The correspondence underscores the itinerant life of a bachelor navy officer. He is jocular, writing candidly about his prospects for promotion, the constant rain in the Philippines, and the prospect of meeting a “Jap Vice Admiral at the Army & Navy Club.” In a letter dated 3 April 1934 he wrote extensively about the ill-fated USS Fulton, a ship that until recently he had served on, that “burned up about 100 miles North of Hong Kong along the pirate infested rocky and rough shores of China.” It appears that one of Ketterer’s jobs was managing the Manila Army and Navy Club. He wrote, “Am having a good time out here—my last cruise. Just now am putting on a show at the Club for next Saturday night. Had an interview with three Russian girls last night and fixed up the program. My work is very interesting and keeps me busy in the evenings—also plenty of bright lights. This is really a beautiful located club, and when the fleet comes in shortly, it will be crowded nightly. We take in about P500,000 a year and we have over 100 employees. Membership is about 1,100 so you see your big brother (not as big as you are though) has a big job.” After finally retiring Captain Ketterer returned home to Shakopee, Minnesota where he died at age 80 on April 9, 1964, still a bachelor. He was buried at the Ft. Snelling National Cemetery. Also included are his photocopied obituary and that of his father and mother, both first generation German immigrants to Minnesota. Condition: Excellent.