Midwatch in Verse: New Year’s Deck Log Poetry of the United States Navy, 1941-1946

Naval deck logs require young officers to record mundane details of a ship’s condition every few hours. According to a U.S. Navy tradition, the New Year’s midwatch log--covering midnight to early morning of January 1--can be entered as poetry. Each chapter of this first book-length examination of midwatch poems presents verses written 1941-1946 aboard a ship engaged in combat during World War II, including celebrated warships like the USS Enterprise and nameless vessels like PC 1264. Historical overviews of the ships’ operations, along with biographical sketches of the author(s), relate each poem to its moment in history.

David E. Johnson is emeritus professor of psychology and is a former president of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology. He has published articles, chapters, and books on the Pedagogy of psychology. He lives in Siloam Springs, Arkansas where he continues his research and writing on US Naval history. Gary Guinn, emeritus professor of English, is the author of two novels, short fiction, and poetry. He served as a medical corpsman in the Naval Reserve from 1968 to 1974 and now lives in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.