Currituck (AV 7) - Naval Cruise Book

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COMMANDER EDWARD W. BISHOP Executive Officer Commander Bishop reported aboard the Currituck in the Galapagos Islands during Operation Churchy. Archie hails from New Haven, Connecticut, and is a graduate of Trinity College. He completed flight training at Pensacola in 1938, following which he served in patrol, observation, and training squadrons. After the war he wrote orders in OP-54 and then took command of FASRON 101. After a year of study at Line School in sunny Monterey during 1949, CDR Bishop served in various staff capacities coming to the Currituck from MATS Headquarters at Andrews Air Force Base.

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This is the Captain speaking. I have some things I would like to share with you concerning this cruise . . . With these words, Captain Black would open his fireside chat, to us, his crew. It is not unusual at a time like this to see a momentary cessation of activity throughout the ship as all ears are turned to the straight dope from the Captain. Captain Black came to us from the Joint Staff, Office of the Joint Chief of Staff, on May 28, 1953. Prior to that time, he had served as Executive officer of the Coral Sea, and of a CVE. He was an air group commander in WWII, and also a member of the staff of Commander Air Force, Pacific. He was a pilot in various carrier-based squadrons for seven years, and was attached to a patrol squadron for an ad- ditional two years. From there, he attended the Armed Forces Staff College, and the Naval War College, and served a tour of shore duty as Executive officer at NAS, Quonset Point, R. I. ... we are now departing on an extensive tour through the pages of your cruise book. I hope it will bring back to memory the exciting cruises, liberties in foreign ports, and many fine shipmates. In closing, I would like to say to All Hands, Well Done, and may all your cruises be as happy. J. D. BLACK Commanding Captain J. D. Black Commanding Officer

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Former Captains And Execs CAPTAIN JOHN H. McELROY ; August l9U-n June 19i2 Captain John H. McElroy, our first skipper, brought the CURRITUCK out of mothballs and took command at the re-commissioning ceremonies, 1 August 1951. Captain Jack saw us through those difficult days of re-conditioning the CURRITUCK on our shakedown. He then led us skillfully through Operation Convex III and several lesser operations in the Caribbean. Captain McElroy is from Ala- bama and attended the Alabama Polytechnic Institute before entering the Navy. A member of the class of 1929 at the Naval Academy, he served in the following commands be- fore coming to the CURRITUCK. U.S.S. Cincinnati, U.S.S. Florida, VP 7, U.S.S. Lexington, VP 11, VD 2, VD 1, and the Bureau of Aeronautics. He has served as flight instructor at Pensacola, Chief of Staff, Fleet Air Wings Atlantic, and Director of Naval Photography. CAPTAIN HARVEY P. BURDEN 1} June 19 2-28 May I9i} Captain Harvey P. Burden was in command during the important operations, Mainbrace and Springboard, which brought the CURRITUCK to a high state of efficiency. Captain Burden was born in Texas, and is a member of the class of 1930 at the Naval Academy. He served aboard the U.S.S. Mississippi, and the U.S.S. Memphis, before be- coming a Naval aviator. In 1939, he took part in a forma- tion flight from San Diego to the Philippine Islands, an important Naval aviation first. His World War II years were divided between the U.S.S. Enterprise, and N.A.S. Corpus Christi, Texas. Between the end of World War II and the time he assumed command of the CURRITUCK, Captain Burden served as Executive Officer, Naval Air Technical Training Center, Norman, Oklahoma, until it was de-commissioned. Thence to Washington, D. C, with the Aeronautical Board and a year as Operations Officer, Staff of Commander Carrier Division 1. From ' 49 to ' 52, he was Commanding Officer, N.A.S. Birmingham, Ala., and a student at the Naval War College, Newport, R. I. COMMANDER WALTER S. REID Executive Officer I August 19U-2} April 19i2 Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Cdr. Walter S. Reid was graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy with the class of 1937. He served aboard the U.S.S. Tuscaloosa, U.S.S. Wichita, and the U.S.S. Satterlee until 1940 when he en- tered flight training at Pensacola, Fla. During World War II, Cdr. Reid hunted subs with Black Cat Squadrons and was with HedRon 10 in Australia and the Admiralty Islands. Between the end of the war and his coming to the CURRI- TUCK, Cdr. Reid served at the Naval Proving Ground, Dahlgren, Va., in Guam with VU 10, at the Air Command Staff College in Alabama, and with the Bureau of Aeronau- tics. In 1946, he helped established a record flight as one of the pilots of the Truculent Turtle a P2V which flew non-stop from Perth, Australia to Columbus, Ohio, a dis- tance of 11,236 miles in 55 hours, 17 minutes. COMMANDER FRANK D. HEYER Executive Officer 2) April 1952-6 October 195} Cdr. Frank D, Heyer was born in Newark, N. J., and after attending Newark Acaderriiy he entered Rutgers University and was graduated in 1937. He then joined the Naval Aviation Program and in late 1938 was assigned to VP 11 at Pearl Harbor, and was stationed there until the Japanese attack. During World War II, Cdr. Heyer served with VP 92, N.A.S. Sanford, Florida, and N.A.S. Beaufort, South Carolina. In May 1945, he was sent to VPB 152 based on the Pelelieu Islands and Saipan. Since May 1946, he has served at the General Line School, Newport, R. I., with Staff Commander, Fleet Air Wings Atlantic, and with the Bureau of Naval Personnel. Cdr. Heyer was Executive Officer of the CURRITUCK when she participated in the following operations; Mainbrace, Springboard, and Churchy.