Bataan (CVL 29) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 64 text:

Mavigation Department 1 he Navigation Department, consisting or the quarrermasrei gang, is one of vital importance. The deparlment is under the able jurisdiction of LCDR. P. A. HORNE, Navigator, who is as- sisted by ENS. R. T. OLSEN. While at sea, the N Division Lcdr. Home is primarily concerned with the science of navigation. Acting as an assistant to the Navigator and Officer of the Deck, the quarter- master ' s duties are many and varied, including steering, taking bear- ings, rendering honors, keeping a running log of the ship ' s activities, and knowing the Rules of the Road, buoyage systems, and naviga- tional lights. In port, a 24-hour watch is maintained by the Quartermaster of the Watch, who is responsible to the Officer of the Deck for the gen- eral functioning of the quarterdeck. Front Row, L. to R.: Kurtz, Witwer, Eilers, Mathis, Carroll, Whitley, Rawlings. Second Row: Chief Connaughton, Vayda, Mog, Olsen, Nice, Carroll, Norcross, Walls, Ens. Olsen.

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Operations Department It is the responsibility of the Operations Department, under Commander SNIPES, to collect, evaluate, and disseminate combat and operational information re- quired for the assigned missions and tasks of the ship and desig- nated airborne craft. Thus the Op- erations Department is the nerve center of the ship. Its eyes ore the ship ' s radars, electronics devices, lookouts and signalmen. Its ears are the radio circuits. Combat Information Center serves as the clearing house for information coming in through the electronics gear and the short-range radios. Using squawk boxes and sound powered telephones, CIC can communicate almost instantly with any place on the ship, and can therefore disseminate quickly material received by radar, sonar, or radio. Air Operations, Intelligence, and Aerology determine the suitability of targets and brief the pilots on these targets. These three also set up, subject to the Captain ' s approval, the strikes to be conducted the next day, based on weather, debriefing of the pilots, and radio information. Communications takes care of the out-of-sight radio transmissions and sees to the expeditious routing of the information coming in by that means. Both clas- sified and plain messages are handled by this group, and a large part of the work in Main Comm revolves around the rapid decryption and encryption of messages. The three groups, operating smoothly and efficiently together, help to keep the ship at an operation peak for the quick striking against an enemy. Cdr. Snipes Front Row, L. to R.: Ens. Campbell, Lt. Erickson, Lt. Thigpen, Lt. Hopkins, Lt. Gaiennie, Lcdr, Smith, Lcdr. Thurmon. Second Row: Ens. Potter, Ens. Dennis, Ens. Hill, Ltjg. Thompson, Lcdr. Bailey, Cdr. Snipes, Lt. Dussel, Lt. Younglove and Lt. Gauche.