



Chief Torpedoeman Harry S. Morris enlisted at Newport, Rhode Island on 3 April 1903 as an Apprentice 3rd Class. After 11 months of Newport, he boarded the Revolutionary war frigate Alliance for his training cruise. This same sailing ship was the one used by Benjamin Franklin when he made one of his visits to France in Colonial days. From the Alliance, Morris went to the West Indies on the USS Topeka. In 1905, Morris was aboard the USS Dixie which made a cruise to Algeria to photograph the total eclipse of the sun. It was the first American man-of-war the Arabs had seen. Electricity and ice produced by the ship was also another first for the Arabs, who were astounded by the light which could be turned off and on and ice, which was something out of their world. During his time in the military, Chief Morris believed that he was the only enlisted man ever to receive the honor of a seven gun salute intended for an American consul. In 1906 when an earthquake demolished most of Kingston, Jamaica, his ship the USS Kearsarge was ordered there with food and medical supplies for the many victims. While ashore on a rescue mission, Morris' ship got underway without him. He later received word to telegraph to report to the American consul for duty until he could meet his ship once more. Upon reporting to the consul he found him undergoing treatment for a broken back suffered during the earthquake. For 11 months Morris was the consults right-hand man. When Secretary of the Navy Victor H. Metcalf arrived at Jamaica aboard the U.S. gunboat Yorktown, Morris in the consults boat started out to meet him. Upon seeing the American consular flag flying from the approaching boat the Captain of the Yorktown immediately ordered the traditional seven gun salute which this important personage rated. It isn't recorded whose face was the redder, the captain's or Morris, when the latter enlisted man stepped aboard in all his glory. Morris also served in the "Great White Fleet" from 1907-1908, a US Navy program fostered by then President Teddy Roosevelt. The "Great White Fleet" was a worldwide round the world cruise performed by 16 US Navy battleships of the Atlantic Fleet. Later, Chief Morris was the founder of the "Great White Fleet" Association which held annual reunion dinners to commemorate the cruise at the U. S. Grant Hotel in downtown San Diego. Promoted to Chief Petty Officer. In 1937, Morris was classified as an "old timer" in the U.S. Navy, in which he would continued to serve another 20 years. From December 1941 to February 1942, Chief Morris helped in the salvaging and raising of all but two vessels lost during the Japanese attack on 7 December 1941. This Salvage Division labored hard and productively for over two years, represented one of history's greatest salvage jobs. Chief Morris was 55 years of age. Chief Morris retired on January 31, 1958 at the age of 70. He had served 55 years in the Navy and spent 41 of those years on sea duty, a record which cannot be surpassed under current regulations. Morris had been awarded medals from nearly every country in the world and had been stationed aboard battleships, cruisers, torpedo destroyers, and submarines. Morris was the last living apprentice boy entitled to wear the apprentice "knot" on his uniform.

