Links
Earliest Midwatch Article
One of the earliest, if not THE earliest treatments of the midwatch in verse tradition can be found in the 1959 USNI Proceedings article by Robert McNitt entitled, “The First Watch.” Read the article here.
Midwatch Poem Contest
The Naval History and Heritage Command began a contest in 2020 to promote the composition of midwatch verse due to the limited number of New Year’s poems being written in ship deck logs in recent years. Voices Forged By The Sea: New Year’s Day Deck Log Contest provides historical examples, contest rules, and links to past winners.
From National Archives Blog
The National Archives houses the deck logs of US Navy ships back into the mid-19th century. This blog entry addresses the Archives project to digitize Vietnam War era logs and contains many example poems.
Article from September 27, 2022 – The Washington Post Magazine
Written by Danny Freedman, Can this quirky Naval poetry tradition make a comeback?
Book Appears in Weird Universe Blog on January 20, 2023
The blog, Weird Universe highlighted Midwatch in Verse in a January 2023 post
Article from the January 1, 1960 issue of the Wilmington Morning News, Wilmington, DE
The article briefly talks about the midwatch tradition and provides a few excerpts from poems prior to 1960.
Article from the January 1, 2006 issue of the Stevens Point Journal Sun, Stevens Point, WI
Another article that refers to the tradition and includes excerpts from past years.
Poems from USS Midway (CV 41)
The library volunteers at the USS Midway (CV 41) Museum compiled a book of midwatch poetry written aboard the ship. Rhymes of the Midway Mariners (2014) and The Complete Rhymes of the Midway Mariners (2016) contain midwatch poems, photos, and other related poetry from a variety of sources.
A Poem about the Midwatch