In a search of the subscription website Ancestry.com (www. ancestry.com), I found two records for Edward Mayo, both for voyages aboard SS DWIGHT W MORROW. Ancestry.com includes databases of the crews and passengers of ships arriving at certain U.S. ports from foreign ports.
The first record is that of DWIGHT W MORROW arriving in New York on Oct 30, 1943, from Nuevitas and Manati, Cuba, two ports near one another on the north coast of Cuba. The ship had departed one of those ports, I can't determine which, on Oct 28. Edward Mayo is listed as the ship's purser, an administrative position responsible for crew pay, ordering and purchasing supplies, bookkeeping, filing and other paperwork. Pursers were also trained in first aid and had a supply of medicines, drugs and medical supplies, becoming by default the ship's medic. (Merchant ships did not carry medical personnel unless the ships were carrying troops or other large numbers of passengers.) Edward Mayo and the rest of the crew had joined the ship on Oct 9 in Jacksonville, Florida. The record describes him as six feet tall and 145 lbs., age 27. As of the arrival in New York he had total sea time of just seven days, so clearly this was his first voyage. (Five other crewmen likewise had the same seven days of sea time; by contrast the 2nd mate had 45 years of sea time.)
The ship itself was on its maiden voyage. DWIGHT W MORROW was constructed in 92 days by the St. John's River Shipbuilding Company of Jacksonville. Her keel was laid July 5, 1943, she was launched Sept 21 and was delivered for service on Oct 5, with her first crew going aboard days later. She was scrapped in 1969 in Mobile, Alabama.
The second record I found for Edward Mayo was for the arrival of DWIGHT W MORROW in New York on Jan 1, 1944, from Liverpool, from which she had sailed on Dec 1, 1943. Edward L. Mayo is again listed as purser and, not surprisingly, most of the crew is the same as that for the short earlier voyage to and from Cuba. On Jan 10 the ship continued on to Philadelphia, arriving there the next day, and planned to sail again on Jan 19 to an unspecified destination. A large portion of the crew was replaced in New York and Philadelphia, a very common situation as merchant sailors did not like to wait around, unemployed, for days or weeks while their first ship was readied for sea again. Edward Mayo apparently did not sign off the ship and must have expected to make the next voyage. However there is no record in Ancestry.com for the next voyage.
If you wish I can supply crew lists for the two voyages, although I would have no contact information for any of the men, nor would I know whether any are still living.
I hope this information is useful.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster
Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website
www.armed-guard.com
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