1942 ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT DIARY AND TRAVEL LOG OF AN UNKNOWN SOLDIER ON HIS WAY TO FREETOWN ON THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA

On offer is a very interesting, original manuscript relic of World War II being a handwritten diary for the 'Second Foreign Voyage of The America Sun' dated September 1942 - January 23, 1943. The American Sun was a custom tanker built by the Sun Oil Company in Chester, PA. [The Sun Oil Company was the single largest shipyard in the country. The America Sun was renamed America Son in 1966. The ship was scrapped in 1968.] Some days the notations were simply about the weather and condition of the seas, loading and unloading cargo, and reports of subs providing an interesting account of what perils this unidentified serviceman faced on a daily basis. It begins on Sept. 26, 1942, "Laying in Sun Ship for repairs" and ends on Jan. 23, 1943 (although the year is incorrectly entered as 1942), "Sighted Navy blimp and planes 7:30 A.M Arrived in New York 10:30 A.M." Here are some snippets: Sept 30, 1942: Left Delaware River Breakwater 7:30 AM. Sailing for Curacao an island of the West Indies belonging to the Dutch. Passed convoy with a Navy blimp overhead. Oct. 2, 1942: A wiper is going nuts - a special watch put over him. Rough seas. Oct. 4, 1942: Planes have been with us till nightfall. Sighted Island 11:30 AM passing them all afternoon. A plane reported a sub somewhere around. Our guns were loaded. Oct, 6, 1942 - 2-3AM: U.S. Army bomber dropped a flare above us to identify us. Good thing no subs were around. We were a perfect target. Sighted Curacao 6:15 AM. Arrived at 10 AM. Oct. 9, 1942: Left dock 9 AM heading out to sea for Freetown, West Africa by ourselves. In the S. Atlantic gunners on watch said a torpedo missed our stern. Oct. 18, 1942: Smoke sighted on the horizon. Proved to be a British gun boat which was hunting for us to escort us into Freetown - Plenty of subs reported in vicinity. Our speed cut now to 11 knots. Oct. 20, 1942: Sighted a destroyer at dawn also a freighter in the afternoon. Our escort signalled us to speed up it had picked up a sub astern us. But the heinie was smart he went all the way to the bottom I guess. Oct 24, 1942: Left Freetown 4 PM heading back to Curacao. Two ships the Esso Manhattan and a Limey transport and two escorts. Oct 29, 1942: Night is like day with a big moon shining bright. Nov. 5, 1942: Sighted a neutral ship at 4 AM, 4:30 AM another ship was attacked by a sub ahead. These waters are really hot. Sighted islands 6 AM. Arrived in Curacao at 3 PM. Nov. 7, 1942: In a convoy of 5 ships out of Curacao before we got in only one got through. The subs also got the U. S. Navy Gunboat Erie. It was brought in Curacao but capsized there. 2 PM Sailed from Curacao again for Freetown. What a life. Nov. 8, 1942: On our own again zig-zagging slowly. Saw a life raft about 1 mile off. Looked like a couple of men on it. But we have orders not to stop for anything. It might be a trap. Nov. 18, 1942: Sighted top of a wheel house floating by at 715 AM. Arrived at Freetown 330 PM Really African weather. This heat will kill you. This place is known as a white mans grave yard. We are now taking quinine for malaria here. Nov. 28, 1942: Ship was shelled 24 hours ahead of us. We sure are getting by. Seems like we are missing everything. Dec. 11, 1942: Rough and cool weather. Sub thought to be chasing us. Dec. 25, 1942: Christmas in Africa. We had our turkeys. Discharging into a Norwegian ship stationed here. Jan 7, 1943: Finished loading. Underway at 11 AM. Headed for Panama on our own. There was rumors we were going back to New York. All the crew would just love that. They've been grumbling and growling for the last month wondering when the hell they were getting back." Entries were made almost daily with a total of 26 pages of entries. The diary has a bit of edge wear to the cover and the pages are yellowed. Overall G+.; 16mo - over 5¾" - 6¾" tall; KEYWORDS: HISTORY OF, WORLD WAR II, AMERICA SUN OIL TANKER, THE AMERICA SON, SUBMARINES, NAVAL WARFARE, MARINE, NAUTICAL, SAILORS, AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES, WWII, WW2, AMERICANA, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, DIARY, JOURNAL, LOG, KEEPSAKE, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTO ALBUM, PHOTOGRAPHIC ALBUM, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, HANDSCHRIFT, HANDGESCHRIEBEN, MANUSKRIPT, DIARIES, JOURNALS, LOGS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, PERSONAL HISTORY, antiquité, contrat, vélin, document, manuscrit, papier Antike, Brief, Pergament, Dokument, Manuskript, Papier oggetto d'antiquariato, atto, velina, documento, manoscritto, carta antigüedad, hecho, vitela, documento, manuscrito, Papel,