U.S.S. DeKalb, circa 1917-1919, Source: Naval History and Heritage Command

This past holiday season, my father passed on my great grandfather’s journal, which chronicles his service on the U.S.S. DeKalb during the First World War.

To help preserve my family’s legacy and to share history that, until now, has only been available to family, I’m posting entries from this journal 98 years to the day from my great grandfather’s first entry on February 8, 1918 to his final entry on May 1, 1918. These posts will include both a picture of each journal entry in my great grandfather’s own hand as well as a printed transcript for ease of reading.

Military service is typically associated with long stretches of boredom punctuated by brief instances of terror. The entries in this journal are no different and should provide a good perspective on what it was like to ferry men and material across the storm-ridden Atlantic and into sub-infested waters.