Albany (CA 123) - Naval Cruise Book

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EXECUTIVE OFFICER COMMANDER ROBERT G. MERRITT Our Executive Officer is Commander Robert G. Merritt. During the Yard Period he served as Commanding Officer while we were awaiting Captain Sieglaff ' s arrival. A past-master when it comes to heavies, and their internal organization and operating capabilities, as his extensive service in battle- ships indicates, Commander Merritt has given his all toward increasing the efficiency with which the Albany has operated. In carrying out his duties as Second-in-Command, Commander Merritt has a fund of knowledge on the requirements of his position gained through having been the Commanding Officer of the destroyer U.S.S. Holder in 1952 and 1953. An air of professorship seems to cling to him; per- haps his pedagogical manner is attributable to the three years which he spent at the U. S. Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, California where he taught in the Command Communications Curriculum. His ability as an instructor has not spent itself: few officers and men have failed to learn from his just and firm handling of difficult situations. Commander Merritt has overseen the Albany ' s development from the Boston Yard Period to the present day, and has been a great influence in determining the success which the ship has had on all occasions. As we all know, the job of Executive Officer is a difficult one. To handle it diplomatically is harder yet. With a smile and calm assurance, Commander Merritt has done the most difficult with ease. 101

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i Remember what I said a while back about the Department Heads? Well, all of them come under the Executive Officer who, in line with the Captain ' s desires, sets the standards to which we must adhere. This building up of authority and responsibility is what we call the chain of command and it culminates with the Captain who has full cognizance over everything — in the entire ship. The Executive Officer must ensure that the Captain is left free of the minutiae of the paper work and routine everyday occurrences so he can concentrate on things which directly con- cern all hands on board. [a to I ihi| -- ■ of ■:: Gr, Hi: om h ho, it (IK 100

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COMMANDING OFFICERS CAPTAIN W. B. SIEGLAFF Captain William Sieglaff came aboard in the Boston Yard Period, relieving Commander Merritt as Commanding Officer, and left us in Suda Bay, Crete one year later. The ship ' s high morale was due, no doubt, to his twenty-two years experience in submarines where he worked closely with his men and where he gained the ability to build incentive among them. After graduation from the Naval Aca- demy in 1931, Captain Sieglaff spent two years on the battleship OKLAHOMA. He also received a Master ' s Degree from MIT in Naval Engineering. On submarines during WW II, Captain Sieglaff served with the USS POMPANO and TAU- TOG becoming Commanding Officer of the latter and also CO of the USS TENCH. As duty officer on the TAUTOG on 7 December 1941 in Pearl Harbor, his submarine was credited with shooting down a Japanese plane. His record in the Pacific gained for him two Navy Crosses, three Silver Stars, two Legions of Merit. After the war, from 1947 to 1949, he served as Submarine Detail Officer at the Bureau of Naval Personnel and during the next four years at New London, Connecticut, he was successively, Commander Submarine Division EIGHTY-ONE, Commander Submarine Development Group TWO, Officer-in-Charge of the Submarine School and Commander Submarine Base. In October 1955, he made the big switch to the Surface Navy as Commanding Officer of the ALLAGASH, an oiler. October 1956 saw Captain Sieglaff assume command of the ALBANY where his extensive experience carried us through the Yard Period, Re- fresher Training, a Midshipman Cruise, through NATO Operations and then into the Mediterranean. 102 k