TRANSCRIBED FROM THE MALVERN TIMES JOURNAL NOVEMBER 1, 1917 P. 1
Portmouth, Va., Oct. 19, 1917.
D. G. Allen, Malvern Ark,
Dear Uncle and Aunt:
My address is U. S. S. S. Duncan, New York, care postmaster. Always just write to that address, and I will get it no matter where I am as all the Army and Navy mail goes to N. Y. care P. M. and he sends it to the ship no matter where she is. Well I am having some time now, have been to England once, and France once. I come from Frisco through the Panama canal, the 14th of March, and thought of you. I had heard you say you would like to see it, well, believe me it certainly is some piece of engineering work. I have quite a bunch of pictures that we made as we came through the C. I sent them to aunt Matilda. You can have her send them to you, if you would like to see them, and send them back to her. In fact, I sent a whole album full of pictures of places all over the world. If you send for them, you can see what kind of life a fellow has in the Navy. As lots of them are taken on Man of War. We are in Dry Dock now. Are going in the water tomorrow forenoon. Don’t know where to then, but back to New York I hope. We painted ship today, and I was rather tired, but have just finished taking a good shower bath, a real cold one; and you know how that helps a fellow out. I will try to tell you about the ship I am on. She is a torpedo boat, or destroyer, 310 feet long; she had 4, 4 inch guns, and 4 21-inch torpedo tubes, which holds 8 torpedoes. She makes 32 knots, or 36 miles per hour, so you can see when we start anywhere, we can go quicker than most trains.
We have been conveying transports to France loaded with soldiers. I made three trips to Europe, and have not seen a sub yet. We exploaded one mine on the first trip. I will close for this time. My address is U. S. S. S. Duncan, N. Y. City, care postmaster, always,
With love to all,
Allen G. Jones.
NOTES: This letter was written to his uncle, D. G. Allen of Malvern, Arkansas.
TRANSCRIBED BY KAREN PITTMAN
Portmouth, Va., Oct. 19, 1917.
D. G. Allen, Malvern Ark,
Dear Uncle and Aunt:
My address is U. S. S. S. Duncan, New York, care postmaster. Always just write to that address, and I will get it no matter where I am as all the Army and Navy mail goes to N. Y. care P. M. and he sends it to the ship no matter where she is. Well I am having some time now, have been to England once, and France once. I come from Frisco through the Panama canal, the 14th of March, and thought of you. I had heard you say you would like to see it, well, believe me it certainly is some piece of engineering work. I have quite a bunch of pictures that we made as we came through the C. I sent them to aunt Matilda. You can have her send them to you, if you would like to see them, and send them back to her. In fact, I sent a whole album full of pictures of places all over the world. If you send for them, you can see what kind of life a fellow has in the Navy. As lots of them are taken on Man of War. We are in Dry Dock now. Are going in the water tomorrow forenoon. Don’t know where to then, but back to New York I hope. We painted ship today, and I was rather tired, but have just finished taking a good shower bath, a real cold one; and you know how that helps a fellow out. I will try to tell you about the ship I am on. She is a torpedo boat, or destroyer, 310 feet long; she had 4, 4 inch guns, and 4 21-inch torpedo tubes, which holds 8 torpedoes. She makes 32 knots, or 36 miles per hour, so you can see when we start anywhere, we can go quicker than most trains.
We have been conveying transports to France loaded with soldiers. I made three trips to Europe, and have not seen a sub yet. We exploaded one mine on the first trip. I will close for this time. My address is U. S. S. S. Duncan, N. Y. City, care postmaster, always,
With love to all,
Allen G. Jones.
NOTES: This letter was written to his uncle, D. G. Allen of Malvern, Arkansas.
TRANSCRIBED BY KAREN PITTMAN