1944–1947 WWII & Postwar U.S. Navy Rescue-Boat or Crash Boat Archive of Six Manuscript Volumes, Mediterranean Operations, Florida Patrols & M/V Quest

On offer is an archive of six manuscript books associated with U.S. Navy officer Eugene Francis Leach (1918-2004), bringing together Mediterranean wartime service, postwar rescue-boat operations along Florida’s Atlantic coast, and the early civilian use of a former Army crash boat. The principal logs cover 1944–1947 and are complemented by equipment records and a directory of fellow skippers.

Leach appears as an officer exercising authority aboard A.R.B. #25, as the named skipper of C-18351, and among the crew of M/V Quest. Written by several hands, the books preserve both his maritime associations and the daily work of the men serving alongside him.

The archive comprises the A.R.B. #25 daily log; two associated C-18351 logbooks, described together below; the M/V Quest logbook and technical notes; a brief Title B equipment manuscript; and a skipper directory with watch roster. Together, they follow the practical business of keeping small vessels operating. They look at  navigation, machinery, and emergency response to crew discipline, provisioning, and the transfer of boats between assignments.

Summaries of each component of the archive follow. 

A.R.B. #25 Daily Log - Sept 18, 1944 through Nov 24, 1944.

A wartime daily log of A.R.B. #25, an American aircraft rescue boat serving in the Mediterranean, with repeated references to Eugene R. Leach exercising authority aboard. Aircraft rescue boats were used during the Second World War to recover airmen forced down at sea; this manuscript documents the navigation, maintenance, crew management, and transport supporting the vessel’s service. 

The entries establish that No. 25 carried radar, twin gasoline engines, and 20 mm and .50-calibre weapons, and place her at Bastia in Corsica, Maddalena in Sardinia, and ports along the North African coast. Many entries are signed by Anthony Frederic, S 1/c.

The log offers a candid account of the practical demands of operating a small naval craft: unreliable radar, engine failures, leaking hull seams and cracked ribs, underwater propeller replacement, gunnery practice, and cooperation with neighbouring rescue boats and shore repair personnel. Watchkeeping failures, absences, medical visits, and a sailor bluntly described as “Drunk, useless” bring the crew’s daily circumstances into view. 

Its particularly distinctive episode follows the boat’s westward passage from Bizerte to Oran and preparations for transport as deck cargo. The crew constructed cradles before the entire vessel was hoisted aboard a Panamanian tanker on November 22 and secured with cables, chains, and supporting timbers; the tanker departed the following day with both boat and crew aboard.

C-18351 - Two Logbooks, September 1945–April 1946

Two associated logbooks documenting the immediate postwar service of C-18351, a 104-foot Design 235 rescue boat delivered in 1943, with Lieutenant E. F. Leach identified as skipper and Ensign R. Bentley as executive officer. Operating from Fort Pierce, Florida, the vessel made repeated passages to Banana River and Cape Canaveral, undertaking patrols, responding to reports of vessels in distress, and towing targets for training aircraft. The books provide a detailed working record of these duties, combining navigation and engine observations with crew rosters, watches, safety drills, maintenance, and personnel movements during the transition from wartime service to peacetime operations.

Alongside routine entries are accounts of heavy seas with Leach personally at the helm, dangerous gasoline fumes, a parted mooring cable, and an emergency tersely recorded as “Fire in engine room - put out.” 

A response to the disabled fishing boat Sunny Boy documents the assessment of its condition and a recommendation for Coast Guard towing assistance. Crew leave arrangements and the closing words “So Ends 1945” add a personal dimension to the operational record. 

The continuation volume follows the boat’s final recorded passage south to Port Everglades and its handover to the Fort Lauderdale boat facility on April 26, 1946, giving the paired manuscripts a documented endpoint.

M/V Quest, Former U.S. Army P-740 — Logbook and Technical Notes, 1946–1947

The logbook of M/V Quest, identified aboard as “Former Army P740,” an 85-foot rescue boat built by Robinson Marine at Benton Harbor, Michigan, and subsequently sold into civilian service. Originally constructed for the Army’s wartime air-sea rescue programme, the vessel is documented here during a postwar passage planned from New Orleans to Daytona Beach, with Eugene F. Leach named among its three crew members. A January 1947 entry signed by Leach records a 105-mile day’s passage from the New Orleans area to Pascagoula, preserving navigational observations, bridge delays, engine checks, and replenishment of supplies.

Marked “Do Not Remove from Ship!”, the volume also served as a practical onboard reference, with an alphabetical index and technical notes covering engines and clutch controls, electrical supplies, emergency lighting, and fire and bilge pumping. Compass-deviation tables prepared at New Orleans in December 1946 accompany a measured docking plan showing the placement of supporting blocks beneath the hull and skeg, with the vessel’s overall length recorded as 85 feet 2 inches. Together, the voyage entries, operating instructions, and drawings document the handling and maintenance of a former military rescue craft in its early postwar years.

Title B 77452

A brief equipment-accountability manuscript associated with Eugene R. Leach, comprising a list of fourteen items recorded as aboard and twenty-six “Title B” items requested. These few pages document the practical work of recording equipment on hand and requesting additional supplies, adding a small administrative component to the archive.

“Addresses of Skippers—keep up to date” - Directory and Watch Roster

A few pages recording the skippers of ten boats, RPC-17 through RPC-26, pairing each vessel’s designation and C-number with its officer in charge, including Lt. (j.g.) Leach aboard RPC-17 / C-56179. The designations correspond to a series of 63-foot Model 293 boats built by Miami Shipbuilding in 1943 for the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease, providing an apparent connection with that wartime programme. The directory preserves home addresses, temporary contacts, and subsequent address changes, alongside references to Pier 92, New York, and a rotating watch schedule for the ten boats. Headed “Addresses of Skippers—keep up to date,” it offers a compact record of vessel assignments and the network of officers associated with Leach.

Historical and Collecting Interest

This archive will interest collectors of World War II naval manuscripts and rescue-boat material, researchers of Florida’s maritime and aviation-training history, and those studying the postwar use of military vessels. Its research value lies in the combination of operational logs, named personnel, administrative records, and technical drawings associated with one naval officer across several vessels. The books preserve the details that broader service histories can overlook: how crews managed failing machinery, maintained watches, responded to emergencies, prepared boats for transport, and continued their work after the war. Retained together, the six volumes allow those activities and personal connections to be studied in relation to one another.

Shipping Note: These books are “overweight,” and additional shipping costs will apply. Please prepare for a shipping invoice due to the unusually large weight of this manuscript archive. 

Condition

Six manuscript books, overall Good Plus (G+). Five measure approximately 5 × 8 inches; the M/V Quest volume is folio size. All are government-issued, numbered cloth hardcover books, bearing “Manufactured by U.S Government printing office” on the front endpaper. Covers show rubbing, uneven fading, surface soiling and scattered staining, with wear to corners, edges and spine ends. The Quest volume has more pronounced spotting and discoloration to its covers, together with handwritten titling and a blacked-out marking.

The A.R.B. #25 logbook and the first C-18351 logbook are substantially filled, with manuscript entries occupying over 90% of their pages. The concluding C-18351 volume contains only a few pages of entries, covering April 3–26, 1946. The M/V Quest volume contains approximately 20 pages of manuscript content, including diagrams and technical information, with its table of contents completed for the material present; approximately 10% of the book has been used. The Title B and Skippers’ Address books each contain approximately four pages of manuscript content.

Interiors show age toning, occasional spotting and staining, and varying degrees of creasing and waviness, particularly in the A.R.B. #25 log. Handwritten entries in ink and pencil remain generally clear and legible, with some lighter passages, corrections and cancellations. The books retain the appearance of working shipboard records, with wear consistent with use and age.  Overall condition: Good Plus (G+).

Biographical Notes

Eugene Francis Leach Jr. (July 15, 1918 – September 3, 2004) lived a life anchored by a deep dedication to maritime service, education, and his family. Born in Massachusetts, Leach developed an early and lifelong affinity for the water, a passion that would define both his military career and his civilian pursuits.

During World War II, Leach served as a Lieutenant (j.g.) in the United States Navy, where he is recorded as the officer in charge of the boat RPC-17. His surviving 1944 logbooks paint a vivid picture of a diligent and firm commanding officer operating in the Mediterranean theater. Navigating the coasts of Corsica, Sardinia, and North Africa, Leach led his crew through intense operational conditions, frequently managing mechanical crises like failing radar systems, blown engines, and damaged propellers requiring diver intervention. The logs also reveal his strict but fair leadership style; he conducted late-night bunk checks and did not hesitate to discipline crewmen who were found absent from their watch or intoxicated while on duty. Toward the end of his wartime deployment, he ensured his men were squared away for their return home, instructing all hands to make a signed list of the souvenirs they were taking back.

Following the war, Leach's maritime expertise remained in high demand. In January 1947, he commanded the M/V Quest, an 85-foot former Army P740 crash boat. His logbook meticulously documents a journey charting the vessel from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Daytona Beach, Florida, navigating inland waterways and stopping for supplies in ports like Pascagoula, Mississippi.

This time in New Orleans neatly dovetails with his personal life, as he was courting Helen Patricia Flannery, an Eastern Airlines hostess based in the city. The couple married on October 20, 1947. Prior to his formal separation from active duty, Leach served as a commanding officer at Fort Pierce, Florida, eventually continuing his service to retire as a Captain in the Naval Reserves.

Transitioning to civilian life, Leach and his wife made their home in the Hartford, Connecticut area. He pursued higher education with the same discipline he applied to the Navy, earning a Bachelor's degree in Education from Central Connecticut State University and completing his Master's degree at Columbia University. He channeled his mechanical and leadership skills into a long career as an Industrial Arts teacher for the Farmington School system.

Eugene F. Leach Jr. passed away on September 3, 2004, at the age of 86 in Hartford, Connecticut, and was buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery. He left behind a legacy of service and family, survived by his wife of 57 years, his daughter Deirdre, his son Eugene F. Leach III, who followed in his military footsteps to become a Colonel, and five grandchildren.

Restated Shipping Note:

These books are “overweight,” and additional shipping costs will apply. Please prepare for a shipping invoice due to the unusually large weight of this manuscript archive.