original post asked about the SS Elizabeth Blackwell

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We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the Armed Guard Logs, 1943 - 1945 in the Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel (Record Group 24) that includes logs of the SS Elizabeth Blackwell for 4-13-1943 to 3-28-46 (Box 243); SS Carl Schurz for 7-3-43 to 1-2-46 (Box 145); and SS Aleutian for 7-24-43 to 9-17-45 (Box 26). We also located the Armed Guard Files, 1934 - 1946 in the Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (Record Group 38) that include file units titled Elizabeth Blackwell 04/13/43 - 04/22/46 (Box195); Carl Schurz 12/13/42 - 02/01/46 (Box 104); and Aleutian 06/06/42 - 09/25/45 (Box 16). For access and/or copies of these logs and file units, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) via email at archives2reference@nara.gov.

 

Since Merchant Marine log books were required for vessels that traveled between Pacific and Atlantic ports, the logs must be submitted to the U.S. Coast Guard at the final port of the voyage. Therefore, we searched the Catalog for these logs and located the following series in the Records of the U.S. Coast Guard (Record Group 26):

 

• Official Merchant Vessel Logbooks, 1942 - 1974 for the port of Jacksonville that include logs of the SS Elizabeth Blackwell for 1-10-43(?) to 1-1-59. For access, please contact the National Archives at Atlanta (RE-AT) at atlanta.archives@nara.gov.
• Official Logbooks of Merchant Vessels, 1942 - 1989 for the port of New York that includes logs of the SS Elizabeth Blackwell for 1-7-44 to 8-28-46. For access, please contact the National Archives at New York (RE-NY) at newyork.archives@nara.gov.
• Official Logbooks of Merchant Vessels, 1942 - 1978 for the port of San Francisco that include the logs of the SS Elizabeth Blackwell for 11-23-43 to 3-10-45; the SS Carl Schurz for 9-11-44 to 10-11-44; and SS Aleutian for 1-13-46 to 2-10-46. For access, please contact the National Archives at San Francisco (RE-SB) at sanbruno.archives@nara.gov.
• Official Logbooks of Merchant Vessels, 1910 - 1978 for the port of Seattle that include the logs of the SS Carl Schurz for 2-4-43 to 5-1-46 and SS Aleutian for 3-27-42 to 10-21-49. For access, please contact the National Archives at Seattle (RE-SE) at seattle.archives@nara.gov

 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RDT2, RE-AT, RW-SB, and RW-SE. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.

 

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