Question on a Navy Merchant Ship (WW2)

[brandon_rss18]

I found and bought a Shellback from an antique store dated 1943. The deserving crew member was listed on it as belonging to the M.S. Daystar and it states was awarded it in the Southern Pacific Warzone. I am sure that M.S. probably means merchant ship but I cannot find anything on the M.S. Daystar. Any tips, hints, or information on the ship would really be appreciated. Thanks guys.

[Charlie Flick]

I found and bought a Shellback from an antique store dated 1943. The deserving crew member was listed on it as belonging to the M.S. Daystar and it states was awarded it in the Southern Pacific Warzone. I am sure that M.S. probably means merchant ship but I cannot find anything on the M.S. Daystar. Any tips, hints, or information on the ship would really be appreciated. Thanks guys.

 

Hi Brandon:

 

First, the acronym "M.S." does not mean Merchant Ship. It means Motor Ship, or a ship that operates off of an engine other than steam . (SS means Steam Ship.) MV means Motor Vessel, and is synonymous with Motor Ship.

 

Second, the ship in question, the M/S Day Star, was a Danish ship seized by the USA in WW2 and turned over to the American President Lines to operate in the service of the US and renamed. Its name before this seizure was the M/S Laura Maersk. I don't know if it survived the war or what became of it. I will leave it to you to chase this down now that you have these leads.

 

Hope this has been helpful to you.

 

Regards,

Charlie Flick

[brandon_rss18]

thats awesome, thank you for the leads, now im off to investigate

[SDS]

I found and bought a Shellback from an antique store dated 1943. The deserving crew member was listed on it as belonging to the M.S. Daystar and it states was awarded it in the Southern Pacific Warzone. I am sure that M.S. probably means merchant ship but I cannot find anything on the M.S. Daystar. Any tips, hints, or information on the ship would really be appreciated. Thanks guys.

Hi Brandon,

 

The Day Star the survived World War II. My wife has a letter sent from her father as he was returning to San Francisco from the pacific aboard the MS Day Star.

 

Steven Douglas Smith

Navy Veteran - Destroyer Escort

[Salvage Sailor]

Aloha Steven,

 

Thanks for the follow up to the original query from Brandon. Always nice to have first hand information from unpublished sources.

 

Welcome to the USMF, We have a section on Destroyer Escort patches and items you may be interested in too here http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/289209-de-der-ff-destroyer-escorts-and-fast-frigates/

 

Haze Grey and underway from a former Salvage and Tin Can Sailor