Bennington (CVA 20) - Naval Cruise Book

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3 l Hot water and a hot breakfast prepare us for a long morning of hard work. No more salt water and buckets for most of us, but a seaman's day still starts early. e Chaplain conducts services amidst the organized clutter of a crowded hangar de Daily church services are held throughout the cruise l : ' ul F1 his l .TR lil its 555 iffa me we x ff ww' 1 J L f 1 Q'-4,1 l Lis, s t . '1 WY' 425 K ,JI 4 if -j ts . ,xr lk v , V 9 vw E . 1V T I th: x h ck - . 4 Ei il' f ,, fl Q

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he United States Navy is a well-trained highly effective military organization. The full-fiedged Navy man must become an integral part of his ship, he must develop particular naval skills. He must learn how to work alone, but he must also learn how to work with others, for aboard ship everything is team- work. If he is lucky, he will learn his lessons in time of peace. There is little time when we are at war. There is no time when we are in battle. BENNlNGTON's routine includes drills, many of them: gunnery drills, damage control drills, general quarters drills. BENNINGTON is at sea, cruising through hostile waters. Some of her battle stations are manned. We have fighters airborne as a Combat Air Patrol. No immediate is trouble expected, but we are ready. ombat Information Center: a radarman third watches his search scope. A faint, fleeting, fiash appears near the left edge of his scope. His attention is concentrated on the spot where he thinks he might have seen something. Two sweeps go by, then a definite pip appears. Verticle Plot from Search. I have a contact: 27l degrees, T27 miles . The Radar Control Officer directs Track and report . The next plot shows the contact to be closing the force at high speed. Designate him ' Bogey One ' and take him with Delmar 27 says the CIC Officer. At the same time he punches the button marked CONN on his communica- tions console. Conn, combat, we have a bogey closing from the west. Recommend going to general quarters . The Captain's decision is announced by the general alarm and General Quarters! All hands man your battle stations! The CAP is headed for the bogey at Gate . Bogey One is closing the force another mile for every six ticks of the CIC clock. overleclf: Our 3Vf5O guns spit fire during an Air Defense drill. Bogey One, two-six-nine degrees 86, many bogeys , comes over the sound power telephone to the Verticle Plot where the whole picture is displayed. Delmar 27, this is Delmar, bogey many planes altitude twenty-five thousand. Your angels OK ? Twenty-one, Bogey eleven o'clock twenty-eight . At forty miles our fighters are turned to the cut-off . The bogey is at sixty-five miles. Our planes which have been closing the bogey on opposite course will now approach him at right angles. Port zero-niner-zero, Bogey heading orders the Air Controller. This will bring our planes to a course parallel with the enemy. No sooner is the transmission out when Delmar 21 answers: Tally- ho, six boxcars, one-fifteen, down three thousand . The Gunnery Liason Officer alerts gunnery control Bogey one 268, 40, closing. Now slowly the seconds pass. Those on the ship await the results of the aerial mortal combat in progress. Then- Splash four boxcars, heads up two boxcars! CAP has done well. Four enemy bombers have fallen to their guns. Two have slipped by our fighters. They are between CAP and the ship. The safety of BENNINGTON now depends upon the AA defense team. The enemy closes rapidly. The fire control radar operator reports Target gated --he is now automatically tracking the two bombers. Electronic signals flow from the radar through computers and into the gun directors. The solution looks good. Air action Port. The mounts shift to automatic following each motion of the director. Below decks hoists start lifting ammunition to the guns. Ever-diminishing movements of the mounts indicate an increasingly refined solution to the ballistic problem. Inform the Gunnery Officer that he may open fire when Raid One comes within range. aa defen The Captain's order is relayed through the sound powered telephones. I Commence Firing ! Fire! The firing key closes, out fly the pro- iectiles, the gun smashes back in recoil. An empty shell case tumbles to the deck. High pressure air clears lingering debris from the barrel, ano- ther proiectile is slapped onto the loading tray, the rammer drives it home. The breech is closed. Fire ! Again and again the cycle is repeated. Suddenly the signal Cease Fire, Cease Fire. Raid One has been splashed . All planes are down. The CAP got four, the gun gang two. We smile and relax. lt was a good show. Everyone has done his iob well. his is iust another drill . The hostile waters were in a Fleet Operating Area close to Pearl Harbor, the enemy bombers were some of our own planes, the ordnance was all dummy ammunition. We never actually fired our guns, just another drill. We are learning our lessons in time of peace. We are becoming well-trained. We will be ready. There is little time when we are at war. There is no time whem we are in battle. opposite: An unidentified plane is tracked on the radar scope. C