Quick question – do you have idea what type of ship would be designated U.S.E.D. ?
In the War Diary of the USS Edward C. Daly (DE-17), she indicates that she was escort for the “U.S.E.D. Pacific”, in Pacific Convoy 4852, October 8-11, 1943, from Canton, Phoenix Islands to Funafuti, Ellice Islands.
I have been unable to find any reference to what type ship a U.S.E.D. is. Any idea?
Given the number of types I have found in War Diaries, it could be a mistake, but it appeared 4 times.
All of the below is from the War Diary of the USS Edward C. Daly for October, 1943.
The Edward C. Daly (DE-17) was moored at Tutuila, Samoa on Oct. 5, 1943. She was ordered to locate and rescue the crew and passengers of a PBY that went down nearby. She located the PBY and recovered the survivors (mostly marines) later that day. She was ordered to proceed to Canton, Phoenix Islands to discharge the survivors.
She arrived in Canton on October 8, and disembarked the survivors. At 1253 that day, she was underway per orders of ComTaskForce 56 "Escorting the U.S.E.D. Pacific in Convoy 4852 from Canton, Pacific Islands to Funafuti, Ellice Islands".
The entries for October 9, 10, and 11 say "Steaming in accordance with Comtaskforce fifty-six dispatch 050135 operation order 85-43 escorting U.S.E.D. Pacific in convoy 4852 from Canton, Pacific Islands to Funafuti, Ellice Islands."
The next entry indicates that she moored in Funafuti at 1854 on October 11. No further mention of U.S.E.D. Pacific.
This certainly indicates that the diary is referring to a ship, but I have never run across a designation like U.S.E.D. Another mystery for me to chase down!
I did a search on Fold3.com (great web site!) and found several references to U.S.E.D. It appears that this relates to some civilian engineering function. There are muster rolls showing various trades people (carpenters, welders, etc.) being assigned to ships and stations. The ships were typically barges, tugs, drydocks, etc. Several ships had designations such as USED ##, whee ## was a 2-digit number.