Getting information from deck logs

My dad was in the Armed Guard/Pacific on 3 cargo ships in WWII, between 1943 and 1945, and I know the ship names and dates he served. I’d like to find out where the ships went, dates in each port, and what cargo they carried. I understand there are deck logs of commissioned Navy ships available to researchers. Are cargo ships considered to be commissioned Navy ships? And is looking at deck logs the best way to get this information?

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    Thank you for posting your question on History Hub!

     

    Armed Guard records and records of merchant ships are separate from US naval vessels. Merchant ships were privately owned and during the war had government contracts, but they were still run by a merchant crew. The Naval Armed Guard was a special unit of naval personnel put aboard merchant ships that were outfitted with Anti-Aircraft and/or Anti-Ship weapons to protect the merchant ship from attack. The Naval Armed Guard was separate and distinct from the merchant crew.

     

    In Record Group 38, there are operational files for the Naval Armed Guard (Entry UD 93) arranged by the name of the merchant vessels. There are Armed Guard Logs (Entry PI-123 2) in Record Group 24 also arranged by the name of the merchant vessel. The Armed Guard logs are not very descriptive and only relate to the Armed Guard units and not the rest of the merchant ships or their crews.

     

    As for researching where the ships go during their service, Record Group 38 as part of the 10th Fleet Records (Entry A1 348) are the Movement Cards.

     

    The logbooks, opposed to deck logs, of merchant ships are located in Record Group 26: Records of the US Coast Guard. The logbooks are located in the branches of the National Archives closest to where the ship(s) put into an American port ending a voyage. So if the merchant ship finished her voyage at San Francisco, you will want to contact the National Archives in San Francisco for that logbook. The logbook would only pertain to the activity of the merchant crew and ship, and less about the Naval Armed Guard unit.

     

    To know where the logbooks are located, if you send a list of the ships and dates of sailing you are interested in to archives2reference@nara.gov, then we can look up the ships and see where their logs are.

     

    Cargo manifests and passenger manifests (outside of immigration records) are not retained as permanent records, but you can get some idea of the cargo from the Shipping Articles, which are also in Record Group 26. The shipping articles may have to be requested using a Freedom of Information Act request due the presence of personal information in the series, which goes up to 1978.

     

    We hope this assists you with your research! 

     

    Sincerely,

     

    Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR)

    [25-01704] - NSP

Reply
  •  

    Thank you for posting your question on History Hub!

     

    Armed Guard records and records of merchant ships are separate from US naval vessels. Merchant ships were privately owned and during the war had government contracts, but they were still run by a merchant crew. The Naval Armed Guard was a special unit of naval personnel put aboard merchant ships that were outfitted with Anti-Aircraft and/or Anti-Ship weapons to protect the merchant ship from attack. The Naval Armed Guard was separate and distinct from the merchant crew.

     

    In Record Group 38, there are operational files for the Naval Armed Guard (Entry UD 93) arranged by the name of the merchant vessels. There are Armed Guard Logs (Entry PI-123 2) in Record Group 24 also arranged by the name of the merchant vessel. The Armed Guard logs are not very descriptive and only relate to the Armed Guard units and not the rest of the merchant ships or their crews.

     

    As for researching where the ships go during their service, Record Group 38 as part of the 10th Fleet Records (Entry A1 348) are the Movement Cards.

     

    The logbooks, opposed to deck logs, of merchant ships are located in Record Group 26: Records of the US Coast Guard. The logbooks are located in the branches of the National Archives closest to where the ship(s) put into an American port ending a voyage. So if the merchant ship finished her voyage at San Francisco, you will want to contact the National Archives in San Francisco for that logbook. The logbook would only pertain to the activity of the merchant crew and ship, and less about the Naval Armed Guard unit.

     

    To know where the logbooks are located, if you send a list of the ships and dates of sailing you are interested in to archives2reference@nara.gov, then we can look up the ships and see where their logs are.

     

    Cargo manifests and passenger manifests (outside of immigration records) are not retained as permanent records, but you can get some idea of the cargo from the Shipping Articles, which are also in Record Group 26. The shipping articles may have to be requested using a Freedom of Information Act request due the presence of personal information in the series, which goes up to 1978.

     

    We hope this assists you with your research! 

     

    Sincerely,

     

    Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR)

    [25-01704] - NSP

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