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A guide to the Moyes family papers, 1940-1945, 2000
HDC1647 (SAFR 23386)
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Table of contents
Title: Moyes family papers
Date: 1940-1945, 2000
Identifier/Call Number: HDC1647 (SAFR 23386)
Creator ||Moyes, Anthony James:
Moyes, Roy A., Captain
Moyes, Anthony James
Moyes, John
Physical Description:
24 items.
Repository:
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, Historic Documents Department
Building E, Fort Mason
San Francisco, CA 94123
Abstract: The Moyes family papers, 1940-1945, 2000 (SAFR 23386, HDC 1647) is comprised of records and photographs relating to Captains
Roy and Anthony J. Moyes' work as lifelong mariners.
Physical Location: San Francisco Maritime NHP, Historic Documents Department
Language(s):
In English.
This collection is open for use unless otherwise noted.
Some material may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the researcher's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other
case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.
Note on Description: The descriptions in this collection guide were compiled using the best available sources of information.
Such sources include the creator's annotations or descriptions, collection accession files, primary and secondary source material
and subject matter experts. While every effort was made to provide accurate information, in the event that you find any errors
in this guide please contact the reference staff in order for us to evaulate and make corrections to this guide.
Please cite the title and collection number in any correspondence with our staff.
[Item description], [Location within collection organization identified by Collection Number/Series Number/File Unit Number/Item
Number], HDC1647 (SAFR 23386), Moyes family papers, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
SAFR-01962
Donated by the grandson of Roy Moyes and the son of Anthony J. Moyes.
Historical or Biographical Note
Captains Roy and Anthony J. Moyes spent the majority of their lives at sea. Born in Australia they relocated to San Francisco
and served on both private and military vessels.
Captain Roy A. Moyes was born in Grafton, Australia (5 August 1885 - 8 April 1949). Historically, his family was not connected
to the sea. His father, an architect, died when Moyes was five. At the age of fourteen Roy Moyes went to Newcastle as an apprentice
aboard a Liverpool ship, but after a week he cancelled the apprenticeship and found his own berth aboard the STRATHISLA (built
1890; barque) in 1901 as an ordinary seaman. A year later he was discharged from the STRATHISLA and was able to find work
as an able seaman for the next eight years when he was promoted to second mate.
Before WWI, Moyes served on the American full-rigged ship DUNSYRE (built 1891; ship, 3m), but in 1917, Moyes left her in Philadelphia
for active duty in the Mediterranean theater on destroyers and armed transports for the British Royal Navy.
In 1935, Moyes was made Master of the PACIFIC QUEEN (built 1886; ship, 3m) and served until WWII broke out in 1941. During
war, Moyes served as Chief Officer and Master of various Liberty ships in both the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Later
in the war, Moyes was made Commodore of convoys to the South Pacific.
Moyes possessed American Master's papers for sail and steam, as well as British Extra Master papers for all classes of vessels.
Moyes died on 8 April 1949 in San Francisco.
Anthony James Moyes (25 May 1920 - 3 February 2010) was born to Captain Roy Moyes in Sydney, Australia. As a child, "Jim"
came to San Francisco with his family and worked as a cabin boy for his father aboard the PACIFIC QUEEN. He attended Commerce
High School and participated in the 1939 World's Fair on Treasure Island. Moyes went on to graduate from City College and
afterwards joined the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Port, New York. When WWII broke out he joined as a Merchant
Marine and sailed on Liberty ships in Atlantic and Pacific stages. On 5 May 1942, the S.S. JOHN ADAMS was torpedoed off Noumea,
New Caledonia, and he spent five days in a lifeboat adrift in the Coral Sea. While on leave after V-E Day, Moyes married Ellen
Ledger at Kings Point and the couple moved back to San Francisco where the couple had six children.
Moyes continued to sail as Chief Mate and Captain until 1950 when he went into business for himself as a marine surveyor and
ship's inventory specialist. In 1954, Moyes successfully helped in brokering the return of the BALCLUTHA (built 1886; ship,
3m) to San Francisco.
Moyes died on 3 February 2010 in Sonoma, California.
The Moyes family papers, 1940-1945, 2000 (SAFR 23386, HDC 1647) is comprised of records and photographs relating to Captains
Roy and Anthony J. Moyes' work as lifelong mariners.
This collection contains information on their lives and careers as well as the ships they commanded including photographs,
clippings, and ephemera pertaining to the PACIFIC QUEEN (built 1886; ship, 3m), now known as the BALCLUTHA. Also included
are charts, correspondence, booklets written by Roy Moyes about his early life as a sailor, and lists of the ships sailed
by Roy and Jim [A.J.] Moyes. The collection has been processed to the file unit level and is open for use without restrictions.
This collection of six (6) legal folders has been arranged first chronologically and then alphabetically.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Seafaring life
Moyes, Roy
Moyes, Anthony James
Balclutha (built 1886; ship, 3m)
Pacific Ocean
Gelatin silver prints
Nautical charts
Autobiographies
Correspondence
Ephemera
Maritime history
Personal papers
Clippings
Captain