Description:

U.S.S. DELAWARE ENSIGN''S WORLD WAR I DIARY
Fascinating, excellent content handwritten diary presenting an account of U.S. Navy Ensign T.L. Allen''s experiences aboard the battleship U.S.S. DELAWARE, which as a part of Battleship Division Nine - consisting of the Delaware, U.S.S FLORIDA, U.S.S.WYOMING, and U.S.S. NEW YORK - was detached to reinforce the British Grand Fleet during World War I. These ships joined the British fleet on Dec. 7, 1917, with the first entry in the diary made Jan. 1, 1918, while Division Nine is stationed in the Firth of Forth. Interestingly, although Allen''s name appears on the front cover, it appears that he shared this diary with a fellow unnamed ensign. Allen''s entries appear in black ink, with additional entries executed in pencil by the second ensign. The first entry by this second ensign reads, in part: "This diary started when I was Ensign U[nited] S[tates] N[aval] R[eserve] on board USS Delaware in the War Zone. North Sea and Orkney Islands. We were with the Grand Fleet (British), Delaware, New York (flagship) Rear Admiral Hugh Rodney in command, Wyoming and Florida..." The daily entries generally indicate the ship''s location, the duties performed by the ensigns during the day, and occasionally the weather and any other interesting events and observations. The entry for Jan. 4, for example, reads: "...Light cruisers stood in pretty badly shot up one anchored astern of the New York and began to sink but was saved by making a dry dock in time..." The next day, it reads: "The Hun seems to be getting the best of the Norwegian Convoy scraps. I guess they will send warships next time. If they do we will get our chance soon and if we do Heine will get a surprise." Division Nine relocates to Scapa Flow, and much of their time is taken up with gunnery drills; when Division Nine joined the Grand Fleet, is was found that the quality of her gunnery was sorely lacking in comparison to their British counterparts. This shortfall is alluded to in several entries, including this on Jan. 24: "... proceeded out into North Sea for Battle Practice New York, Wyoming, Florida & Delaware. Range between 12,000 and 10,000 yards. Delaware comes out ahead but all four did very poorly considering..." From Jan. 29 to March 18, only three brief entries appear. During this time, Division Nine was greatly employed escorting the above-mentioned Scandinavian convoys. Regular entries resume on March 19, demonstrating a marked improvement in the quality of gunnery: "Fired by Division New York, Texas [which joined the fleet in February], Florida, Delaware and Wyoming, six salvos apeace. Results! Delaware makes high score all hits but two. Range 11,000 to 10,000 yards. Congratulated by Commander Cresop for excellent range finder work as the visibility was very low..." The Gunnery Officer''s congratulatory message is affixed to this page. The next day''s entry bears more interesting information: "...News that two British Destroyers, two French Destroyers and two French Torpedo Boats met the Germans off Dunkirk and defeated them in brilliant battle sinking four enemy destroyers. French suffered no losses, British suffered very slight losses..." As the diary progresses, each daily entry contains interesting and personal observations and information. These include such diverse topics as the progress of the war on the Western Front ("...5000,000 men ready for business - God help these Huns now - we will clean house soon...), the testing of the new Browning Automatic Rifle, shore leave in London, Red Cross trains full of wounded soldiers ("...dismal sight..."), anti-submarine activity ("... Two destroyers convoyed and we had no trouble with subs. I guess the 3 subs that were sunk disheartened the Huns..."), and much else. ON April 24, the Grand Fleet sorties in an attempt to find the German High Seas Fleet, which had sortied the night before against the Scandinavian convoys: "...4th B[attleship] S[quadron] went to sea at 11 AM to help cruisers reported in action in North Sea. We received orders at 11.15 to get up steam as fast as possible. Another order at 11.30 to prepare of action in all respects from C in C [British Admiral David Beatty]. Every one happy and anxious to get busy and clean house... Entire Grand Fleet stood out first battle cruisers, light cruisers, destroyers, battleships, subs, 300 ships I should say..." The account continues on the following day: "... headed directly for Jutland banks and the Skagarack [sic] when we reached a certain point we steamed south covering the sea for miles and miles effectively blocking in a big circle Heligoland and the German High Seas Fleet from interfering with Zeebrugge and Ostend campaign. Nothing happened outside of distant rumbling sounding like heavy firing. Several depth charges were detonated on subs.... over 300 ships took part in this maneuver probably the greatest gathering of warships in the world''s history. Everything from subs to super-dreadnoughts..." For much of this patrol, the American battleships of Division Nine lead the fleet; if they had encountered the High Seas Fleet, they would have been the first to engage during what could have been the largest naval battle of the war. Following all of this excitement, the fleet returns to business as usual. The ensign, ever observant, takes note of the many warships entering and leaving the anchorage, including the British battleships MARLBOROUGH, IRON DUKE, CANADA, LION PRINCESS ROYAL REPULSE, RENOWN, and many others. He also discusses baseball games between the crews of the American ships, watched with much interest by Admiral Beatty and his American wife Ethel, as well as golfing in Scotland, visiting an airfield ("...Went to field event of Aerodrome Turnhouse, very interesting, saw many machines including the Sopwith Pup"), a mock raid by a British airship, patrol in the North Sea ("...As far as the eye could see there was a line of battleships about 500 yards apart, out into the North Sea with destroyers on either side of this line. A truly wonderful sight..."), protecting minelayers off Norway, the sinking of a German U-boat just outside of Scapa Flow, and much else. Finally, the Delaware is relieved by the USS ARKANSAS on July 29, and sails for home waters the following day. She arrives at Nantucket on Aug. 17. Affixed at various points throughout the diary are various rare articles of ephemera, including a dinner menu from the Delaware, a program for a vaudeville shows put on by the ship''s crew, a ticket for a lecture given to fundraise for Ethel Beatty''s Jutland Battle Fund, and temporary passes to two Scottish golf clubs. The spine of the diary is in fragile condition, with the covering missing, and the pages for September 13 to the end of the year are missing, not affecting any content. The first page is detached but present, and some damp stains appear on the covers and some pages. Nevertheless, this remains an excellent account, written in a strong, legible hand by a very observant writer, providing an eyewitness view of the most active group of U.S. Navy ships involved in World War I.

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September 14, 2017 11:00 AM EDT
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