The Diary of

Seaman 2nd Class
Kenneth A. Holcomb

U.S.S. Hilton

During a visit to Grandma and Grandpa's home in August of 1981, Grandpa showed me his World War I diary. He told me then that it was not complete and that he always intended to complete it after he returned from the war, but he never did. I read a few entries and told him that it was fabulous. He told me to keep it. I never really read it completely until after he died. If only.......

Grandpa enlisted in the Navy at an age of 16 years and 4 months. He had to get his mother's approval. He told her that if she did not give it, he would run away from home. He entered into the Navy on April 25, 1917. It would be almost 9 months before Grandpa would go aboard ship. He went to training at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. In training he broke his leg. Until he went over seas he was stationed there as a Armed Guard. He served on the U.S.S. Hilton. The U.S.S. Imperator brought him home from Europe. Upon returning from the war, he went back to Belvidere High School and got his high school diploma.

Recuperating at Brooklyn, 1917

I do not believe that as Grandpa was writing the diary he intended to have anyone else read it. They were his "notes" to help him remember his war experience. Thanks to his efforts, his descendants can learn a little about him and the "war to end all wars."

The diary covers the time from January 24 to June 28, 1918. Grandpa was just 17 years old. It ends with increasingly less detail and times being left blank. Could the warnings about possible capture by the enemy, and the information about troop movements falling into enemy hands have kept him from filling out the entries with times? Could this be why he stops making entries? I will never know, but I think it is a strong possibility.

The diary itself measures 5 3/8" by 3 1/4". It has a cover page, an "English - French Vocabulary" section, a section titled "Addresses of Home Friends," a section for "Autographs of Comrades," a section for "Account of Battles Engaged in," a section for "Superior Officers," a French and Great Britain money exchange table, a table on the metric system, and the daily entry section. The rear of the diary has a few wax paper pages, which have some dried pressed flowers in between them. [His ship the Hilton is referred to in navy documents as the U.S.S. Hilton and the U.S.A.C.T.(Armored Cargo Transport?) Hilton.]

What follows is a transcription of the diary. Careful attention was paid to transcribing it exactly the way it appears in the diary. Spelling and punctuation were not corrected and the order of entry was left unchanged. He made entries in pencil and it was sometimes hard to read. He occasionally made errors in dates, but they are easily figured out. The pictures and the miscellaneous items located through out the transcription come from the pictures and the things Grandpa saved from World War I. Great Grandma McDowell gave him a camera when he went off to war. These are the photographs he took.

As you read the diary remember that Dad remembers Grandpa saying that he crossed the English Channel 40 to 50 times during the war. Dad also remembers another interesting story. Grandpa was going into a tattoo parlor to get a tattoo and a First Class Boatswain Mate "threw him the hell out."

David B. Holcomb

Billet Card U.S.S. Hilton

USS Hilton (Unconfirmed)

German Prisoners Mentioned Above
Note "PW" Painted on Prisoner's Back

French Dirigible

Rough Seas for the Hilton

Some of the Boys

Entire Crew in Life Vests

With Some of the Petty Officers

3-inch Gun in Action

Brest France

[Undecipherable lists of money owed by or to individuals deleted.]

[Apparently, this is a list of the ports visited by the Hilton:]

Miscellaneous Information