Bataan (CVL 29) - Naval Cruise Book

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- N lf' 5 72 J.,,.Q-. i.z:..4e.f4 ,um .. nu . .1 H YI NAVIGATIO

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ll May 45 W made violent maneuvers to clear Bunker Hull The time 1S nearly two in the morning the bridge and ship are quiet save for the vibration of the engines driving the ship along at 21 knots The ship 1S off Okinawa running dark The moon will not be up for another two hours and the stars thrusting through the five tenths cloud coverage afford meagre light insufficient to tell that the sea new battlewagons in the group or that the cruisers and destroyers are away pounding hell out of Minamr Darto Jima The quartermaster on the helm in the pilot house rolls the wheel slowly through his hands keep ing the ship on course more by instinct than by thoughtful effort The quartermaster of the watch the bosun mate and the quartermaster on the one Jay Vee phones have just finished a deep discus bridge watch IS no longer tired The men speak more rapidly are alert ready Sir Engmeering and Navigation report manned and ready for General Quarters Condition Able has been set throughout the ship But the show 1S over The Jap Snooper beat a hasty retreat after meeting a heavy curtain of fire of Sake content to let the Fifth Fleet rule the ocean off the celestial homeland In a short time the Captain set condition One Easy and later returned the ship to condition three maintaining one easy in the A A battery The first strike has been launched The star sights have been taken our pos1t1on on the chart corrected and reported to the flag Soon the second strike takes off It 1S 0800 the watch is relieved and reported 1 -cc e ' ' .H I a 4 1 , 4 l ll '. ' I Y I ' I 4 . ' ,Yi IS c-alm, that there are four other carriers and two from the Cruisers, He went home for angthef Swig sion on subject Able women, and are now on subject 'Able-Able'- When are we going home? One said, I claim we will be in the states by the first of October. Hell, no, says the Jay Vee talker, I heard the assistant Navigator s-ay we would not get back before March. He's crazy, the Air Group says we'll take them back by the end of next month. The man on the wheel is lost to the whole conversation and muses, I hope we have a quiet day. He is startled to hear the Junior Ofiicer of the Deck at Conn echo his thoughts. You're not the only one. The conversation lags as the quarter- master of the watch goes for the 0200 D. R. posi- tion and the usual onerous hourly routine reports. He returns to hear the squawk box in Nav Plot break violently into the stillness- Have a bogey bearing three-five-five, thirty-nine miles. Can't tell yet which way he's going. Damn those snoopers! No sleep tonight, moans the Jay Vee talker. Call the Bugler right away. Bogey closing fast. now at 25 miles. No bugler can get up here in time for this, retorts the Bosun Mate. The man on the helm can't quite hear the O. O. D.'s report to the Captain in his sea cabin. but does catch the final Aye Aye Sir. By now the Bosun Mate is at the One M. C. waiting. Set condition one in the -anti-aircraft battery. commands the J. O. O. D. His words are hardly out before the bosun arouses the crew with a shrill piping which demands audience and obedience. The piping is done and ship lapses into silence again for 30 seconds. Then rises the sound of many feet hammering the decks and ladders as the Gun Club takes over. Log this-Observed firing by the returning crui- ser division bearing zero-two'zero. distance twenty miles. Sir, is there much firing up there? queries the bugler who has just arrived in the pilot house. Yeah, the whole sky is lit up. The bastards are dropping flares. Tell Main Control to get all boilers on the line. Bugler! Yes Sir? Sound General Quarters. Aye Aye Sir. All these orders from the J. O. O. D. pour through the voice tube in rapid succession. The Jay Vee talker is telling the men aft at Trick Wlieel all he knows or can glean from the gang who have been relieved by G. Q. and are scurrying for their battle stations. The Page One Hundred Twenty-four to the O. O. D. The whole quartermaster gang troops topside to clean down the bridge structure. No one loves this job. I'm tired, I had only two hours sack time, moans the first man. That pulls the stopper, the groan and gripe society is under- way with a full head of steam. The N division officer comes up to correct the even day log and caustically remarks to the swab jockeys, Think what fine husbands you'll make. Log this. . ., the Navigator yells down the voice tube. This log ain't nothing like I was taught in quartermaster's school, dryly observes the Jay Vee talker. An hour passes, then two. The returning planes, rotations of the axis, routine reports, changes in speed and course combine to keep the bridge gang very busy. The conversation-al subjects 'Able' and 'Able-Able' are forgotten. Two planes diving on the Bunker Hill! The bugler heads for the nearest port but remembering his job returns to the mike and stands by. Sound General Quarters! The notes tumble out in ma- chine gun rapidity. Pull the cork on the General Alarm. The bugler goes through his call again faster than before vying with the steady bong- bong of the alarm. The Jay Vee talker is peering out the port, his mouth agape, hypnotized by the drama. The planes seem to move with the terrible swiftness of a striking rattler and yet it seems eternity waiting for the results. The Navigator swears as he hears the dull explosion and dashes for Conn. Helmets are embraced as long forgotten friends. The black funeral pyre close aboard the BATAAN's quarter rises higher. The bugler describes all he can see to the men in the pilot house and chart house. The wounded carrier is now abeam. The formation makes an emergency turn to the right, the BATAAN's way is blocked. LEFT FULL RUDDERV' The BATAAN swings hard to port and maneuvers to regain station in the formation. The watch is quiet again. The day has been a bad one. The enemy has lost two planes and put a proud ship and her fine crew out of action. The Quartermaster of the watch breaks in, All right. guys, let's clean up this place before the Old Man comes through here again. The Navigation gang finds no peace in the Pacific.

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WHEEL, CGLORS D BGSUN PIPING .. Page One Hundred Twmtg-six