Bon Homme Richard (CVA 31) - Naval Cruise Book

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of dry dock OUT RD E RICHA M HOM N BO guiding U.S.S. Tugs ie16 3 l tires 3? l Before we left the yard the word got around that we had a good crew. We like to hear this and as we looked around we began to realize it was the i truth. We had new men iust back in from civilian 5 lite, and we had a lot who had been ordered to l us from carriers which were operating out where things were cooking. They had a lot to tell us and we listened plenty because we knew we were going out there. l l

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52 Q V! VD clear t A VV 1, 7 , qf v Q , M I, , ,V -I -0- L 0 -Q , Q cz 92 I Tugs nose U. U i 2 ll-I E E O I ln the weeks that followed we found that activating an attack carrier is a tremendous undertaking. It looked like a hopeless task to put this cold, uninhabited steel hull back into fighting condition -but we had the support of the Brem Group who had the know-how. Time was limited and we worked hard. We forgot about leave and 48's and concentrated on the iob to be done. .lt

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Z 2 n. Ill 5 VD o .: U : o h. IE .2 .E ll. Ill D 0 rn .E : D before -Q- VI D We got to know our Captain, perhaps a little better than most crews get to know the old man, cmd found he knew this carrier business from A to Z and had held down almost every iob connected with it . . . flying planes, flag-waver, exec, and already skipper of two smaller ones. We found he was a square shooter and when we had to go to mast he gave us every break in the book. We also found he had a sense of humor, something really important in this business we were in. MW