Leyte (CV 32) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 34 text:

AIR DEPARTMENT Air Boss Asst. Air Boss 14 WHEN we reached the Sea of Japan, the Air Department swung into action with a vengeance. The three V divisions worked around the clock to keep our planes clobbering Red targets. ' Our first three weeks at sea were spent in assisting R.O.K. troops in capturing East coast towns like Wonsan and the Ist Cavalry in capturing the Red capital of Pyongyang. Our planes hit RR centers like Songjin and Kilchu and silenced many Communist gun positions. The striking power of an aircraft carrier is the result of one of the closest team-work associations to be found anywhere. In order to put planes over the target at the time that they are needed. a fvast group of Hight and hangar deck handling crews, maintenance men and plane servicing per- sonnel is assembled as the AIR DEPT. of the sl1ip's company. The AIR DEPT. is headed by CDR. C. E. Ingalls of Montgomery, Alabama who is ably assisted by LCDR. A. J. Kinion. I 5 .:s.az:2mw::a:.- .... ,,, ,, . rrimairy fly-ne,.Ue ce t . as-- launching and landing Zldiibs 'S

Page 33 text:

U. N. ARMADA Cruisers HMS CEYLON USS JUNEAU and KENYA THE armada that we had joined was not the largest in history, but it most certainly displayed the largest variety of flags. Over 400 United Nations ships roamed the Korean Coast under the over- all direction of VICE ADMIRAL JOY, Commander of the Far East Naval Forces. The ships ranged in size from the 45,000 ton MISSOURI to tiny R.O.K. patrol craft. The combined displacements of the ships, sent by nine countries, was over a million tons. The United States and Britain sent the heaviest units, but Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Netherlands, Siam and Korea were all represented by destroyers or smaller craft. c Besides the flagship MISSOURI, the American cruisers HELENA, TOLEDO, ROCHESTER, .IU- NEAU, WORCESTER, MANCHESTER and ST. PAUL and British cruisers JAMAICA, CEYLON, and KENYA could bring havoc to coastal targets. The carriers BOXER, PHILIPPINE SEA, VAL- LEY FORGE, LEYTE, PRINCETON and HMS THESEUS could send over 500 ,planes roaming all over Korea. ' I A little after dawn on October tenth we slipped past the harbor gate and sailed North in Task Force 77 into the Sea of Japan for our first blows at the Red'Aggressor. At dawn our escorts E -- sortied past us K

Page 35 text:

- , 1 ' ., . ..., - he ,rev .,-...'.'-' L' ' ' - The 'bossl plans a spot- that will look like this FLIGHT DECK CONTROL if THE uFlight Decknigang is composed of about 106 men split up into 6 crews. In charge of these crews are uYellow Shirts who are the semi-bosses of the flight deck. The duties of a yellow shirt are to direct aircraft about the deck and have charge over tl1e 6 crews. Tl1e crews arecalled the c'Plane Handlers and they push or pull the aircraft by means of manpower or tractors. Tl1e 6'Tractor Driversn drive their tractors, with a plane attached, into.the assigned spot prior to the take-off and after the landings. The work of the flight deck gangis longuand weary. It is tl1e busiest on board ship as well as the most dangerous. The men who handle these aircraft are well aware of the responsibility that lies in their hands and are quite careful with all the planes. The HF1ight Deck Officer is in charge of the whole Flight Deck Operation under the watchful eye of the uAir Officer who is referred to as the uAir Bossf' The 6 Flight Deck Officer has three as- sistants and they are: the uHangar Deck Officer who is in charge of tl1e aircraft parked on tl1e hangar deck, the uFlight Deck Bosinw and the cGFlight Deck Chieffl The Air Department is quite an organization and must be Mon tl1e ballw during operations. The re- sponsibility lies not only in the hands of the Air Boss but also tl1e lowest Plane Handler. The Flight Deck is again split into four Q41 different groups tl1at are part of tl1e V-1 Division. We have al- ready mentioned the plane handlers so we go to 4cCatapult.', The term uCats'7 refers to catapults and their job. These are the ones who see that the plane is catapulted from the flight deck. A fast, smooth-operating catapult gang is a major asset to operation of. the flight deck. Next we have 4GArresting Gear group called MACH and they have the job of catching the aircraft as they hit the deck. Sometimes the MBarriers fpart of AGJ have to stop the aircraft if the tailhook misses the pendants that run across the flight deck aft. This job of '4AG', sometimes provesvery exciting. Next we have ulfiepairw which you will read about in another article. This is about all there is on the Flight Deck without going into too much detail. V V-I FLIGHT DECK CREWS y