I am looking for history on the use of merchant marine ships by the US Navy in the Atlantic during WWII. Two ships in particular. The SS Plaudit and SS Harry Luckenbach.
I am looking for history on the use of merchant marine ships by the US Navy in the Atlantic during WWII. Two ships in particular. The SS Plaudit and SS Harry Luckenbach.
Dear Tom Boyer,
Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!
In addition to the helpful information provided by Mr. Daverede, we searched the National Archives Catalog and located the series Armed Guard Files, 1934–1946 in the Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (Record Group 38) that includes records related to the SS Plaudit and the SS Harry Luckenbach during World War II. We also searched the series Armed Guard Logs, 1943-1945 in the Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel (Record Group 24), but we were unable to locate any records related to the Plaudit or Harry Luckenbach in this series. These records have not been digitized. Please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) at archives2reference@nara.gov for access to these records.
We also located the World War II War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories, ca. 1/1/1942 - ca. 6/1/1946 in the Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (Record Group 38) that contains 4 references to the "SS Plaudit" and 9 references to "Harry Luckenbach" during World War II. These records have been digitized and may be viewed online using the Catalog. Please keep in mind that the Catalog does not always list files in chronological order.
In addition, the Official Merchant Logbooks from 1910 to 1980 in the Records of the U.S. Coast Guard (Record Group 26) may include the logbooks of the SS Plaudit and SS Harry Luckenbach during World War II. For more information about these records, please contact the reference unit listed in the series description.
You may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgment as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RDT2 or other NARA reference unit. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience as we balance mission-critical work and the safety of our staff during the pandemic. Please check NARA’s web page about COVID-19 updates for the latest information.
We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!
I found this information on another website. Does it coorespond with your information? I get lost in series and record groups, etc.
During WWII, members of the U.S. Navy served as Naval Armed Guards aboard merchant vessels. The Naval Armed Guard Commanding Officer prepared a written report after every voyage. These reports are found at the National Archives and Record Administration, General Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel (Record Group 24.2.2 Logs: Operational and signal logs of U.S. Navy armed guard units aboard merchant vessels, 1943-45).
The National Archives also holds records of the United States Navy’s Tenth Fleet. Included in these records are movement report cards for the merchant ships that Naval Armed Guard served on. The movement report cards list:
For these vessel movement cards, see the Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (Record Group 38.2.4 Records relating to U.S. Navy operations received from the Operational Archives Branch, Naval Historical Center: Records of the Tenth Fleet, Headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet, 1939-45)These movement cards can assist researchers in locating the logs of the merchant ships, and convoys, which are held at the nearest records center to the U.S. port where each voyage ended. Folders for each convoy usually contain:
I found this information on another website. Does it coorespond with your information? I get lost in series and record groups, etc.
During WWII, members of the U.S. Navy served as Naval Armed Guards aboard merchant vessels. The Naval Armed Guard Commanding Officer prepared a written report after every voyage. These reports are found at the National Archives and Record Administration, General Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel (Record Group 24.2.2 Logs: Operational and signal logs of U.S. Navy armed guard units aboard merchant vessels, 1943-45).
The National Archives also holds records of the United States Navy’s Tenth Fleet. Included in these records are movement report cards for the merchant ships that Naval Armed Guard served on. The movement report cards list:
For these vessel movement cards, see the Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (Record Group 38.2.4 Records relating to U.S. Navy operations received from the Operational Archives Branch, Naval Historical Center: Records of the Tenth Fleet, Headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet, 1939-45)These movement cards can assist researchers in locating the logs of the merchant ships, and convoys, which are held at the nearest records center to the U.S. port where each voyage ended. Folders for each convoy usually contain:
Tom,
Unfortunately those citations come from the 1996 Guide to Records of the National Archives, the bane of NARA staff since its publication. The records are not organized in the record stacks as listed in the Guide, so they are really not helpful to researcher or archivist. Rachael has cited the correct record series to search; the only other thing to do would be to head to College Park and check the finding aids for the series in the Textual Research Room and pull the appropriate records. NARA’s digitization project will take a long time, even if funding can be sustained, so there will be limits to remote archival research for some time to come.
I hope you can find the time to visit College Park. An in-person visit can resolve a lot of the confusion associated with records organization. The expertise is there and is much clearer than can be done by pounding on a keyboard. That’s the best I can come up with.
A. J.
The “Record Group 24.2.2 Logs: Operational and signal logs of U.S. Navy armed guard units aboard merchant vessels, 1943-45” are the Armed Guard Logs, 1943–1945 mentioned by Rachael. We both checked our finding aid for this series, but could not find listed Armed Guard Logs for these ships.
The vessel movement cards are in Records Relating to Merchant Shipping and Convoys, 1941–1948.
The following are all the records we could find relating to these ships, sinkings of Merchant Marine ships, and convoys sailing from New York.
These records are NOT available online. Please email the reference units for more information.
National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (Archives2reference@nara.gov)
National Archives at New York (newyork.archives@nara.gov)
National Archives at Washington, DC - Textual Reference (Archives1reference@nara.gov)
