Looking for deck logs & crew list of USS Dempsey

Dear Mr. Taylor,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941 - 1983 and the in the Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel (Record Group 24) that include the deck logs of the USS Dempsey (DE-26) for 24 July 1943 through 15 November 1945.  We also located World War II Action and Operational Reports in the Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (Record Group 38) that may include reports submitted by the USS Dempsey. For access to and/or copies of these records, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) via email at archives2reference@nara.gov.

The record series Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities, 1/1/1939 - 1/1/1949 in Record Group 24 includes Dempsey (DE-26), 7/24/43-11/1/45 which has been digitized and can be viewed online for free through the Catalog.

The muster rolls are also available as a name searchable database via Ancestry as the data collection U.S. World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949. There may be a fee for this service. You can access Ancestry for free at any of  NARA's facilities for free via a NARA PC. For the nearest NARA location, please consult our web page at http://www.archives.gov/locations/. Additionally, you may check with your local public or university library as these institutions often provide access to Ancestry.com.

We also located 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) which contains war diaries and reports concerning the USS Dempsey’s activities during World War 2. These records have been digitized and can be viewed online through the Catalog. Please keep in mind that the Catalog does not always list files in chronological order.

In addition, we searched the website of the Naval History and Heritage Command and located an article about Dempsey as well as two photographs.

If you have not done so already, you may wish to request a copy of your father’s Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). OMPFs and medical records of enlisted men of the U.S. Navy who were separated from the service after 1885 and prior to 1958 are located at NARA's National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), (Military Personnel Records), 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO  63138-1002. To request these records, please mail a completed GSA Standard Form 180 to NPRC. For more information, please see Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Archival Records Requests.

We hope this information is helpful. Best of luck with your family research!