Beschreibung:

28 pp. 14 x 8 cm, blue spiral notebook. Original handwritten diary kept by Seaman 2/C - Radar-Man, Willard J. Wilson, aboard the U.S.S. Duluth (CL-87) which was a United States Navy Cleveland-Class light cruiser that served in World War Two. A personal account of the 3rd fleet during war time; starting Sept. 18, 1944 to August 25, 1945 Among handwritten entries: "April 29, 1945; We arrived at Pearl harbor. April 30, 1945: Liberty in Honolulu. Very nice clean city. People clean and friendly. May 8, 1945; War against Germany officially ended this morning. We left Pearl Harbor and headed in the direction of Japan. We arrived in Ulithi on May 18, 1945; at 2315 (11;15 P.M.) an ammunition barge rammed our ship. It made a hole in the bulkhead right across from my bunk. It sounded like we were hit by a shell and it looked as if fire was coming through the hold, but there was actually no explosion and no fire. I investigated and reported the damage. May 21, 1945; We left Ulithi and headed for Okinawa. Two DD's as escorts. DD's names are "Marshall" and "Lewis Hancock." He signs; Willard John Wilson S 2/C Radarman. U.S.S. Duluth CL-87 "May 27, 1945; We joined task group 58.1. The following ships are in this group: Hornet CV; Bennington CV; Bellowood CVE; San Jacinto CVE; Massachusetts BB; Indiana BB; Pittsburgh CA; Baltimore CA; Quincy CA; Atlanta CL; San Juan CL; Duluth CL; Alabama B.B.; Vencennes CL (Detached); Vicksburg CL (Detached). May 27 till June 5, 1945; Our task group operated off Okinawa and on Amami Gunto by planes from our carriers. One day in particular our planes attacked a huge airfield on Amami Gunto, destroying all the runways, rocketing the AA batteries which surrounded the field, and destroying a huge sugar factory. One plane - pilot lost. During the entire time we operated in the area we weren't attacked by enemy planes. We were on high alert by enemy planes coming close to snoop. On the 4th of June we refueled from a supply "train" (a group of 40 to 50 tankers, ammo ships, and cargo ships.) During the entire day we were warned of an approaching typhoon, so we secured everything for foul weather."" "June 5, 1945; I was awakened shortly after midnight by a terrible banging noise. Somebody turned the lights on and we discovered that the ship was pitching and rolling violently. A "G.I" can had rolled down the ladder from the deck above where I slept and that is what wakened me It was so rough that I couldn't get back to sleep. At 03:30 I was called to go on watch. At 04:15 the typhoon struck with full fury. The wind had a speed of 80 to 90 knots, and the waves were 50 to 60 feet high. I saw the water come pouring down through the upper structure from the signal bridge which is three decks above the main deck About 05:30 I heard that our bow had buckled just forward of No. 1 gun turret, about 100 feet back from the edge of the bow. All of the officers were moved out of the bow and it was closed up air tight. As fast as plates were welded on, they came flying loose, or the seams split somewhere else. The bow was expected to break entirely off at any time. Around noon the storm subsided. Our fleet was scattered over a large area, but re-grouped by 1600 (4 P.M..) Our group was damaged pretty badly. The damage suffered by each separate ship was as follows." Here he goes into great detail as to the damage befallen each ship in his group."Flight decks damaged, planes completely demolished, steering controls lost, a man overboard and lost at sea. One of the destroyers lost an officer and three enlisted men when they attempted to secure something that was loose on the main deck." "Two damaged DD's and the Duluth started for Guam for repairs. The rest of the fleet went back to Okinawa. There were to make repairs en-route. We were designated to tow the Pittsburgh back to port but the advent of the tug relieved us of that duty. We may need to be towed yet ourselves because the bow is jumping around while the rest of the ship