The ship my Father was on from1944-1946 SS Whirlwind C2 I have his original discharge papers I know where the ship went just wanted to know what it purpose was during that time he was listed as a mechanic I tried the Navy ship records but came up with 0

Question

I am looking for what the SS Whirlwind C2 did during WW2 from 1944-1946 I have my dad&rsquo;s original discharge papers it said where it went just wanted to know what it did any help would be greatly appreciated thank you K Clemens

Textual Reference Branch, Archives II · Answer

KClemens 
 Thank you for posting your question on History Hub! 
 There are many records relating to the US merchant ships during World War II, but one of the more difficult things to determine is what they were doing aside from hauling troops and supplies to and from the combat zones. 
 Some places where you might be able to find your answers are in the Armed Guard Files and the records of the 10th Fleet in Record Group 38: Records of the Chief of Naval Operations at the National Archives in College Park. 
 The Armed Guard Files contain the records of the Armed Guard unit aboard the merchant vessel, and among the records in those files are the Voyage reports. The Voyage Report might discuss the purpose of the voyage, but it may not go into detail about things like cargo or what troops are passengers. They also would not discuss what the intended destination of the cargo is once it gets to shore. 
 The records of the 10th Fleet have records such as movement cards of vessels and Convoy reports in the Routing and Convoy Division records. You would use the movement card of a vessel to see what convoy designations the ship was in during your period, and then you can pull the individual convoy reports. Again, there will not be any specifics about what the cargos or passengers were in the convoy, but more about how it got from point A to point B. 
 If you are interested in these records you can contact the National Archives in College Park via archives2reference@nara.gov. 
 In Record Group 26: Records of the US Coast Guard at the National Archives in Washington, DC, there are the Shipping Articles of merchant vessels. The Shipping Articles are a contract of sorts between the shipping company and crew, and they should describe generally what the cargo is. 
 You can contact the National Archives in Washington, DC via archives1reference@nara.gov . 
 The other record in Record Group 26 are the logbooks of the ship. These records are located in the National Archives Regional office associated with the last port of call at the end of a voyage. For your time period, there seem to be logbooks in Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle. For these logbooks, you will need to contact the respective facility: 
 National Archives in Philadelphia 
 14700 Townsend Road Philadelphia, PA 19154-1096 Telephone: 215-305-2044 Fax: 215-305-2038 Email: Philadelphia.archives@nara.gov http://www.archives.gov/philadelphia/ 
 
 National Archives in San Francisco Leo J. Ryan Memorial Federal Building 1000 Commodore Drive San Bruno, California 94066-2350 Phone: (650) 238-3501 E-mail: sanbruno.archives@nara.gov http://www.archives.gov/san-francisco/ 
 
 National Archives in Seattle 6125 Sand Point Way NE Seattle, Washington 98115-7999 Phone: 206-336-5115 Fax: 206-336-5112 https://www.archives.gov/seattle Email: seattle.archives@nara.gov 
 We invite you to continue the conversation with community members on History Hub, but should you have follow up questions for the staff at Archives II, please email us at archives2reference@nara.gov so that we can assist you further. 
 We hope this assists you with your research! 
 Sincerely, 
 Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR) 
 [24-12603] - NSP