1943 Original Handwritten War Diary of the USS Edison Serving in The Oran-Azeu Area During World War Two

On offer is a simply outstanding, first-hand record of naval combat in World War Two (WWII). It is the war diary for the USS Edison (DD-439), a Gleaves-class destroyer of the U.S. Navy. The diary covers the month of October, 1943, when the USS Edison was captained by Commander Hepburn Alcott Pearce. The diary contains daily entries, sometimes several entries per day, written and signed by the ship’s navigator, J.A. Boyd, and other members of the deck crew including Richard F. Hofer, Franklyn E. Dailey Jr., Edward A Meier, and S.R. Graw.

The diary lacks a cover and has clearly been excerpted from a larger document. The dates covered by this dairy are October 2, 1943 from 2000 hours through October 31, 1943, inclusive. While the diary was kept, the USS Edison was working in the Oran-Azeu area. Near the end of October, the USS Edison was part of a convoy, helping to move transport and merchant ships from Oran to the Gulf of Pozzuoli, Italy. On October 29 and 30, the Edison sailed alone, stopping in Palermo for fuel and then escorting the USS Brooklyn back to Naples. According to the DaileyInt.com, “The 29th and 30th were spent in called fire from a shore fire control party on targets on beaches north of Naples. The Edison in company with the USS Wainwright and the cruiser Brooklyn went to Palermo on the 31st, where Edison fueled and took on ammunition”. This is where the war diary ends. For more on the USS Edison and the use of the War Diary, see BIO NOTES at the end of the listing.

The pages follow sequentially by date, the entries are made following each 4-hour watch, the standard naval time system. From the very first page of this war diary, she is in action. Some excerpts from the diary give a sense of its flow:

“...2217 Commenced swinging right to 25o(t) to commence attack. 2226 Dropped one 600 lb charge on course 25o(t). Target has no motion. Oil slick directly over target…” [2 Oct 1943].

“… 0610 Underway from port side USS WOOLSEY in accordance with CD 513 disp, 24173017 to patrol swept channel between points “A” and “B” until departure convoy NSF-6. 0655 Commenced patrolling assigned station at 14 knots. 0727 Commenced forming in column astern USS GLEAVES in accordance visual dispatch from CDS-7. 0731 On station astern GLEAVES. Formation in column order USS PLUNKETT, GLEAVES, EDISON, and BERNADOU, course 35o(t), speed 15 knots, OTC is CDS-7 in PLUNKETT…” [25 Oct 1943].

“0404 Battle stations. 0432 Commenced firing at designated shore target (road junction) on course 310o(t)...” [31 Oct 1943].

There is a typed copy of this war diary available online, however the handwritten version is unique. For a historian, especially a naval or military historian, this is a superb example of the type of detailed naval effort that was vital in securing victory in WWII. This would be an excellent addition to the library of a professional or private sailor.

BIO NOTES: This is a war diary of a NS Navy ship during WWII. Invented by the Prussians, a war diary is a regularly updated official record kept by military units of their activities during wartime. The purpose of these diaries is to both record information which can later be used by the military to improve its training and tactics as well as to generate a detailed record of units' activities for future use by historians. War diaries are focused on the administration and operations of the unit they cover and generally do not contain information about individual personnel. From Wikipedia: “USS Edison was laid down in 1940 and commissioned in January 1941. From that point, she saw constant service in several theaters of war. She escorted convoys between St. John’s NL and Iceland and then sailed with the invasion convoy of French Morocco in Oct 1942. She participated in the naval Battle of Casablanca before returning to Norfolk VA. From July 1943 to Feb 1944, she served in the Mediterranean Sea escorting supply convoys and participating in the invasions of Salerno and Anzio. Following a refit, she returned to action, taking part in Operation Dragoon in southeastern France. Following the German surrender, she transited to the Pacific where she was doing workups in Hawaii when Japan surrendered. Following the war, she was placed out of commission in the reserves and in 1966 she was stricken from the Navy list and sold for scrap”.

This document measures 15.0 inches by 10.0 inches and contains 38 single-sided pages. It was part of a much larger binder and the pages are drilled for pins or posts. The pages are currently secured with only one pin and the last page has come apart from the rest. There is wear along the left side and top side of the diary. There is no cover page as this appears to be an excerpt. The entries are all quite legible. Overall Fair.