USS MacKenzie (DD-614)

Deck Logs

1 March 1943 to 15 October 1945

(16 September 1944 - 31 January 1945 are missing)

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From the Department of the Navy website:

Deck Logs: Purpose, and Content

A Navy ship's deck log is a daily chronology of certain events for administrative and legal purposes.  Preparation of logs is governed by the current edition of Office of the Chief of Naval Operations Instruction 3100.7 (OPNAVINST 3100.7) series.  This specifies the kinds of events to be entered:

A deck log identifies a ship's location and movements daily.  If the ship is underway, its latitude and longitude are to be entered three times each day in blocks provided for the purpose.  Deck logs are not narratives, and do not describe or explain a ship's operations.

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NOTE

From 1 March to 3 August 1943 the deck logs consist of a "Remarks" form.  The information was hand written and as a result, is sometimes hard to decipher.  "Remarks" primarily consists of personnel actions including transfers, arrivals, departures, captain's mast, courts martial, as well as routine drills and inspections.  There is no information on the ship location or combat activities.  For example, on 16 May 1943, the day that the ship engaged the U-182, the only record is "8-12 Mustered crew on stations, no absences.  1200 Made daily inspection of magazines and smokeless powder samples, condition normal." The only indication of location would be the "Zone Description" which would indicate which time zone the ship was in.

On 16 June 1943, the ship began using the "Administrative Remarks" form, however the information recorded remained the same.

From 6 July through 19 July 1943, the "Operational Remarks (War Diary)" form was used, however "Confidential" and the form's title were crossed out and "Administrative Remarks" written above it.  No additional information was included.

On 20 July 1943, the ship again used the "Remarks" form, then returning to the "Administrative Remarks" form on 4 August 1943.

On 1 December 1943, the "Operational Remarks" form was initiated.  This easy to read, typed report contained a more thorough record of the day's activities, including most of the items indicated in the bullet points above.  This report was used throughout the rest of the period that I have on record.

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These logs are posted as PDF files.  Click the logo above if you need a free PDF reader.

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1943

MARCH    1-10    11-20    21-31

APRIL    1-10    11-20    21-30

MAY    1-10    11-20    21-31

JUNE    1-10    11-20    21-30

JULY    1-10    11-20    21-31

AUGUST    1-10    11-20    21-31

SEPTEMBER    1-10    11-20    21-30

OCTOBER    1-10    11-20    21-31

NOVEMBER    1-10    11-20    21-30

DECEMBER    1-10    11-20    21-31

1944

JANUARY    1-10    11-20    21-28

FEBRUARY    1-10    11-20    21-29

MARCH    1-10    11-20    21-31

APRIL    1-10    11-20    21-30

MAY    1-10    11-20    21-31

JUNE    1-10    11-20    21-30

JULY    1-10    11-20    21-31

AUGUST    1-10    11-20    21-31

SEPTEMBER    1-10    11-15

1945

FEBRUARY    1-10    11-20    21-28

MARCH    1-10    11-20    21-31

APRIL    1-10    11-20    21-30

MAY    1-10    11-20    21-31

JUNE    1-10    11-20    21-30

JULY    1-10    11-20    21-31

AUGUST    1-10    11-20    21-31

SEPTEMBER    1-10    11-20    21-30

OCTOBER    1-10    11-15


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