Franklin (CV 13) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 22 text:

Big' Berfs Marine Detaclzirnelzt Aft, down on the third deck in the shipls hospital, Com- mander F. K. Smith's Medical Department had little trouble with the battle of organization-the Hospital Corps of the Navy is a self-integrated outfit and only the ucream of the crop is assigned to ships. No one, at any time, heard much from this department, but somehow it was always there when the need was mighty. Lt. Comdr. L. H. Birthisel, Jr., the fiery Texan whose gleaming high leather boots had spurned the snows of New- port as he spurned any soil or subject alien to the Nlione Star State, was uGun Boss. The Fighting First Division the Terrible Third, all the Gunnery Divisions from One to Eight, came into being branded with the fire-breathing im- print of a master gunner and rustler-chaser. It was a job .. f Lt. Conulr. L. H. Birtlziisel, Gunnery Ojicer zmfil December .1944 well done. The ,lap pilots who flamed into the Pacific can bear witness to the fact. The Communication department, under Lt. Comdr. D. I. Mather, was composed of the radiomen, K-Oneg the signal- men, K-twog the yeoman, mailman and printers, K-three. The radiomen - with sparks on their sleeves - were to flash out contact reports and receive the orders that helped to doom the last proud fleet of the Imperial Japanese Xavyg the signalmen-wearing the crossed flags - would send many a battle signal whipping from the halliards in the gusty winds of the Pacific, and they would be the most alert gang in the Fleet if Chief Harry Reese had his way. Yeomen, man- ning vital talker circuits in battle, would spend their waking moments with every report and request Big Ben could de- Conulr. I . K, Snzfflz, tlltfl. 1 t'1'gl1f Sllf'gt'UlI anal Senior illefil-cal Offzccr unitil June, ,I 9-15

Page 21 text:

sister carriers to blast an enemy base and then fault- but-k into tlu' ocean mists from which slu' had conic. ln that last. desperate moment. when ilu- ltfs are barking and tlu' Qllis coimncncc to open in at wild staccato. amd tlu' captain shouts his connnands. then ttu- lfngineering Depart- ment would he able to live up to its boast and its creed: Wie answ er all bells. The uw' being men like Pop Tur- ner. w atertender first class. who looked too old for combat duty. but actually was 50 years young. and would have nothing but the toughest for himself. He went forward, that fateful March ltlth and won the Bronze Star. Men like lfsslinger. Mintoni, Hunnnel, Brown, Darjany, and hosts of others gave their life'S blood that a thing of steel should answer all bells. H-One Division and R-Two Division of the Damage Con- trol Department. under Comdr. W. R. LeFavour, who had only recently been a submarine commander. soon acquired the air of haughty efficiency which was to characterize them. Custodians of the holds and voids, ever-vigilant watchers of the status boards in Central Damage Control, welders of steel. hewers of wood. experts of improvise and uCan Dow. these boys were busy with a purposeful zeal from one end of the road to Kyushu to the other. In each of the eight Damage Control and Repair parties that stood by the length and depth of the ship when battle threatened, the key men -masters of fog nozzle. of f'Foamite',, of shoring timber. of the last hatch and water-tight door-these were boys from Damage Control. Their deeds would become legend- ary. Chief Shipfitter Durrance would die beside his burn- ing rods as he strove to cut his way through a bulkhead to free Doctor Fox and the eighteen boys trapped in the sick- bay with him. The Navigation Department, under the beloved Com- mander g:Benny', Moore, with its expert quartermasters. and its departmental auxiliary, the shipis band, was worthy of its name from the first day. While the quartermasters had their jobs to perform on the bridge, the band had their battle stations down in the powder handling rooms or on the stretcher details. ln the evenings on the hangar deck before movies the band played their hearts out, with every man-jack who could muster within hearing distance as their cheering audience. Among their most enthusiastic followers. in later days, were the crews of destroyers fueling along- side, who never tired of a flight deck serenade. Their fa- vorite request was HSidewalks of New Yorkf, The Marines came aboard as a detachment under Captain Herbert Elliotg they kept their own compartments as shin- ingly clean as their rifle racks, they manned their own group of 40 mm. mounts and stood their sentry and orderly watches with military precision. The spirit of this outht from the first day aboard was typified by the grim sort of courage that forced Private Steve Novak back into the smoking wreckage of a compartment from which he had just escaped, to lead his shipmates to safety. Or Private W. I.. Kliemozwitz, with that handful of volunteers on Big liens last 10 mm. quad. blazing away desperately at a div- ing Jap bomber with such effect that the bomb missed the ship when another hit would have sent her to the bottom. Those were liig liens .x'l2iTlItfTF the 7th Division of thc Gunnery Department. Comdr. F. K. Agens, Chief Engineer uniil May 4th, 194-1, came from the Bunker Hill to found the Black Gang it 'Diff Corndr. W. R. LeFa1'our, Damage Control Officer until Feb. Qncl, I945. :fn ex-sulmzarine skipper. Conulr. lff'lIjIl-Illifllf llloore. lvfll'I.gILfUf In Scpl. 24111. lf?-H: EA7I?Cll-lllltf? Ujicer until Dec. 20111, 1944

Page 23 text:

.-1 Heffcafs plane captain, wary of Ilia prop, struids by with u wheel chock vise. Mailman Raymond T. Lorentz, with his hve helpers, would be the most important men aboard ship as letters be- gan to come and go. The printeris work was never quite finished and the debt due Chief Raymond D. Blair for his unselfish devotion to the shipfs paper will never be re- paid- Chief Blair was killed in action. Linder Comdr. Cone, the Supply Department had many activities. There were more than three thousand tons of groceries to fill Big Hens larders to be ordered and stored aboardf there w as government insurance to sell, payrolls must be met--and were. The pencil-pushing storekeepers checked and accounted for every last item and penny. The Commissary Section brought aboard the flour, sugar and other stores from freight cars on the dock. The Disbursing Section called 850,000 an average paydayg hit a bumper refgord of ST50,000 when liig lien pulled into lireincrton, handling scvffn and a half million dollars in the lirst lt! inontb- of 4f'IYlflf'. The Aviation storckccpcrs ran their own departrnent slorc, .Xll of those scrrtions coniposcd the S-Unc lJi'. l4l'Jf'I. .T-'lit-.o llivision Mai- inadc np of -tcwarrlis Itlillfcf lW- lialm-rs. and liilittfllf rncn. llir-sr sound tiki- huindrnin tasks. but f-H' il. inan had :i liattlr- -tation pu:--iiig jiowflrfr, kccp- ing i.-.atrli -an ttni grins. on icpaii jmrtic-. A task is not humble or menial when a man is at his battle station for many hours through the night, then passes food or clean clothing to his shipmates all day-and still grins. To every plane on a carrier comes a lad to be its constant guardian and protector. This man is not an olhcer. but is called a captain --a plane captain. And while he does not have stripes of gold on his sleeves or golden wings on his chest, he loves his plane just as surely, he sacrifices himself just as uncomplainingly. as only a real Captain could. He boasts of her deeds, he sorrows in her hurtsg he is the last to touch her before she roars down the deck, the gladdest to greet her when she lands aboard. His only duty is his plane. No tear in her sleek fabric. no rip in her tires or broken cable to her radio must ever mar her performance. Lack of gas, lack of bullets, or faulty lubrication must never make her the prey of crafty Zeke or Jap AA, or the victim of a crash landing at sea. in his leisure hours he polishes her gleaming sking he sleeps beneath her folded wings, or on the cushions of her cockpit. ln the anxious hours. while gunners stand tense and the combat air patrol is busy just over the edge of the sea. many of the quiet little knot of men uFWf'illllIg it ontii by 'Lfioinbat information ficntcru arc plzinc captains. illltfzstoryolitlit'!5vil'l.lcjvul'tIl1clll is the story of the plancis 5. f.. . it. gr. li - 1 1 fff tt.. if -??f if 5 Fit 23 ITT I .ll . in -f 1 .vf vi Pig ...j LIL! ll I 7' 1. 1 U' ps. .na nn. i-.1 r 1 A l H ,. , . L-' ,.f ... ,.. uv ,. t t I I Y .- U. ...4 ...- .... ..- R..- v- 1 N.. put guy 9... ,.. .v 4. .... :--i ,. .. ..., 4.-i in ,.. 9 6 G I I ,. 4 1 ... ,ni ...I H., ,,. p-Qi 1 'I re .. in ,. ll! L.. ,., . E.. it., 22 ilk u. xv- QI, V. IIE we ,sh an i