Merriam Press World War 2 Memoir Series. In addition to being a memoir based on the author's secret wartime diary, it is also the only complete history of the battleship ever published. The author, who served on the ship throughout the war, was the observer in a Vought OS2U Kingfisher seaplane used for aerial spotting and observation, especially during the shelling of enemy defenses during amphibious invasions. In addition to his diary, he researched the ship's records in the archives to produce this complete history/memoir. 79 photos, 43 documents, 2 maps.