Belleau Wood (CVL 24) - Naval Cruise Book

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F EU G DAY During the war the Navy developed an amazing sys tem of rnaintuning and supplying a fleet at sea so that the ships could stay on the offensixe indefinitely without returning to port Ewery fourth day or so 1 train f tankers cargo ships ammunition ships and eseort ear riers rende xoused with the fast carrier task groups who had retreated 1 safe distance from the forxvrrd area Contaet was nude in the early hours of the morning audible over our receivers Ships in need began sending their requirements and 1 sustained volley of messages filled the TB3 eh innels the rest of the day -...nisn l D L c v V I C , Q 2' ' V . f' . . M C 7 ' g . Y . 4 , 4 . e ' g . ' f f . 'L ' 1' o , U .M . . . a I g I . Z Y J V. 1 C . V g .t C yt . Tc U g A y V I . C 1 . K when TBS transmissions in the fueling group began to he . . , K I M . V t z Q I . - 4..,1.,,,, ,- ..., M .a.,.r , rr,, , o ruouu ,r..,..,- A , . Ai gwvxwmi gl, .N-.....1n

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As we fueled on June 4 the weather closed. Several messages had come in warning of a prowling typhoon O11 the loose. In ominous tones the words came over the speaker, All departments secure for heavy weather. Securing for heavy seas meant lashing down every moveable object-from airplanes to ash trays. Men worked into the night-and hoped the lines would hold. In the wee hours of the morning the storm struck. Keeping just enough speed to maintain a course into the wind, the ship pitched violently-the bow soaring high into the air and then plunging viciously downward, crashing the waves with a blasting crack which shot tons of water outward and skyward to be blown as clouds of spray down the flight deck. The violence with which that bow' slapped the water made you wonder how it kept from snapping off. Near daybreak we heard the PITTSf BURGH call the flag, Romeo, this is Barbarian. My bow just carried away and is floating down my port side. Am dropping and will back into the storm. We quit wondering and began praying-that ours wouldn't go too. For stability, the elevators were dropped to lower the center of gravity. Masses of water crashing against the ship fsome of the waves were over fifty feet highj washed two men from the flight deck down the elevator opening into the hangar. Water poured into the air inf takes, flowed through ventilators, and tumbled into com' partments below. This immediately blocked the ventilaf tion system. Nobody could sleep, it was almost imposf sible even to stay in a bunk. Extinction of fresh air supply made the air hot and foul. In some compartments water from four to six inches deep sloshed back and forth with a myriad of floating debris-books, socks, shoes, paper, and pencils. In aerology office Tony DeLuca glanced down at a book floating by entitled Hurricanesf' It had opened itself to the chapter, Typhoons of the Western Pacific. All gun watches and unnecessary watches topside were ordered below to escape the waves. A howling wind of nearly 100 knots spun the propellers of the planes to the flight deck and beheaded the waves, filling the with spray. Visibility dropped to almost zero. Ships be yond the hills of water were obscured from view. The ship was momentarily caught in the trough gf the sea and rolled heavily. A tractor broke loose on the hangar deck and went on a rampage. It cut a swath of destruction through the parked planes, tearing them loose to skid around and crush each other. 1 The few who dared eat breakfast found that the only possible position was sitting on the deck fsetting up benches and tables was actually dangerousj. But even then there was no assurance that you and your breakfast wouldn't go scooting across the deck. By noon the storm had subsided sufficiently for the ships of the task group to refform. To our surprise we discovered a fleet tug, a 'small escort vessel, and a mer' chantman had strayed into our outfit. We recovered from the furious round with the ty' phoon, received replacement aircraft from a CVE in a refueling group, and took one last crack at Kanoya on June 8. So near to the Philippines last Uctober, we still had never caught sight of the land. Stories of the guerillas, our spies, daring visits of U. S. submarines, the bitter fighting on Leyte just a few months earlier, all was fresh in our minds as we steamed past Homonhon Island on june 13 toward the new fleet anchorage in San Pedro Bay. To our nautical eyes which had seen scarcely any land since leaving Pearl Harbor in January, the towering mountains of Leyte loomed twice as high as they really were. On June 16 Air Group 30 departed for home after establishing an impressive record. Succeeding them came Commander B. S. XVeber with Air Group 31 possessing one of the best reputations in the fleet. Pictures at the extreme left and right are of the U.S.S. LANGLEY ' , . i

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As far as most of us were concerned, the primc qucsf tion to ask tankers was, Have you any mail for us? The reply usually was so many bags for the entire group which set off immediate calculation and prediction as to the number for us. Upon meeting the tankers at dawn our ships fell out from the circular cruising disposition of 5fRoger and lined up in ranks astern. One by one we took our turns in drinking from assigned oilers. Man all stations and communications for fueling from tanker, starboard side. As the ship ahead of us finished, we crept up abreast the slowly moving tanker and shot lines across for hauling back fuel hoses. Soon the two vessels were linked by a towing pendant, distance line, provisioning lines, hoses, and telephone lines. As the ships rolled from side to side these connecting sinews al' ternately sagged low to decapitate frothing waves gush' ing between the hulls, then stretched taut as the vessels rolled apart. The hauling on these hose lines, bight lines, and provision whips required veritable tugfoffwar teams on the flight and hangar decks. If the day was calm fueling wasn't so tough, but in rough seas special vigilance was required to maintain the same speed as the tanker and remain at the right distance from her. Quartermasters were 'gmadel' at times like this. . johnson, Condon, and Hanson handled our wheel through the months at this ticklish job of keeping close to the tanker so the hoses wouldn't part, yet far enough away to prevent collision. Men whose orders had come rode across on the trolley lines to board the tanker for her return trip to port. Fref quently the tanker' had new men for us. It was usually two hours before the oil king said, Enough and the tanker ceased pumping. Engineers broke the hose connections, the hoses, phone lines, and whips were retrieved. We slowly pulled away. The smoking lamp is out while alongside ammunition ship.