Macomb (DD 458 DMS 23) - Naval Cruise Book

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fi Z 5 'X f M 4 cxfcvfivf OFUCEK X 2 1 Q 3 lp f' ' Xi ii. 'i ' f C' L hilt 'Il ,. -.,:!f in-4 ix lf AE' xx .gl--lift. J 6 x -A 4- I i .'.'il Yfi 3'--4 Nb' xxx- 'H ff' X i id HZ? -. 1, A., ,, I -Q V 7 9 M LQM . l didn t want at In-avr anyway hundred lllttll turn' at hzittlc' stutiuns. grinnly lJl't'llZll'f!tl tn duff-nd thu ship tu tht- lust. 'lihvn :mer the l'.A. systf-in tvzunev tht- unrtl. Swtin- from gent-ml qimrtvrs. Que-stiuns im-xituhly nrusv. What was it all ulmut? Was it an drill? And whvn thu dupe' got around that it was ull lwrnttsef tht- lfxvl' wnntvd u nwss hm. nf-Il. hi- wzts 1-ull:-it se-vt-rail nznnc-s ln-side-s llr. lhwwlx thin night. Wu vain only say in passing that ne- sin- 1'e't't'lt' hupi' that he' gut his t'ull4'f'. 'lihvn lllt'I't' was tht- time- nh:-n this Slllllt' flint'- uvtvr. having lwc-mnv 54llllt'lNllill mit-rstinmlutt-tl nn tht- lwalvll. rt'turnt'd tu tht- ship at Iittlt- lute- lur tlinnvr. The' vaptztin lu-ing uhsvnt. ht- ttmls his plum' at tht- hvud nl tht- tnhle' und stnrtt-tl In inhztli' his suup. Uni' of tht- utln-r nlliw-rs. llllYlll2 vmiiplt-t4'tl his mvul. llftltit' In le-nw. X tvrrillit' roar l-l'tlIll Mr. llriwlx drnppvd hiln haul in his scat us if ln-'tt lwvn ruppt-tl with u uzillvx m . 0 - lnsvutt. l.it'utt'nunt liruclu ruse' lrmn his vhuir. wvnt tn his romn. and in u lnuttvr nf sm-owls was lmcli. Carrying his scrvicv 43. Wt-uviiig slightly. ht' l't'Slllllt'tl his chair. Slillllllllllg tht- pistnl flmsn beside his plate. hv conlnmmlctl tht- uttvntiun of the table. v Noun said hc. l'll shunt tht' lirst man uh-1 lvavcs lmeforc lim finished. Buy. svrw tht- nn-ut... And he pruceedccl with his meal in il tlmnl silence. Needless to say. not a man stirrecl. lint inn-t lun:-ins -ft all his 1-xplmts vunu- 'tt x x -I lllllf' lWll ll tw iw!-' --pvmlin: mth tht- liflllill 1 . - A n llunn' l'ls'e't tn lvvlttnl Nwipt l'ltm. :tml ntl XUIWXQIN. Iht- XIQU-.null nn- .mrlmiwl in llxatll- pmlnt .it tht- tinnv. .nnl tht-nv xms nun-h xlsitlnp lnuls .tml twill: lwtnwn tht- unit- 1-l tht- lhtlish and Kim-:ruin lil.-vt-, l'rih.ip- tht- lut thi! llll'lt' sm- Nutt h. um. gmel :nan I-v ln' lmil til--.intl the' '.. . . lllIllNll -hips inns lmw lwvn lll'lIllllll'lllill Ill plu- I uniting -nth inte-in.itlwn.nl .inntx. ln- that av- it nmx. mn XII. ll:-HL, was riuhl in llll'Il' pitrlnngg i .ts nsnzil. XM- hun- it nn gpml .lIIlllHlllX. lmln it nuztn Q ish-v nn- ilu-it-. th.il Nli. lh'-'lt nn this pan'- tivtilnl' night NJN ln-.nel lu Ivll .1 liigli-mnltingi ullirwl' ul mn- ul lla- Nlnp--tx s fllll'-VI' that ua- vwnltl and sh-'nhl tram: unl 1-nr Iurpvfln Inlwf- :intl smlt hi- gntltlnrn tnlf nlth mu' -zulu., 'Ilii- nns prulmlvlx his Itll'iI nl :trim-iitiuy ullif-fl l'l'lil- llttllFlllll', Xflf-1' ri-svsnnug him lrmn thc' f'UIIN'- 'llivm-e-s 1-l this lm-mill nl hn- lnrnmnt re-lute-s that ho' IIlIl!lZl2 fl . 3 ' pitzilitx . our in- mth gr:-nt fluf- hf-uliy tt. Ha-I Xlr lvrtwl-t mtv Ihr- ships lmztt. mlm-h fiwttiiiaitf-ly sm- -tzinfling hy at thi' gang- ttm, Un the' trip luirlt ln tht- ship nu grvzit :lis- lanl-p Hfqyrk il.-4-iflml lib iillit' UXVT llll' iillvl' and 1-unit tht- lmut hnnse-ll. l nfl:-r Ihr- N-'glut nl su lllllt'lI unltl. tht- ri-gulnr vnx-until had no 4-h,,p-p sm-1-vmlt-I-.-tl llle' ltllvl' lu lifrwli and triwl lu t'f'llN'H1l'f'V lllP Pm? f'I'F. 51 3 i 1 1 il S is 1 l l

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I 4 i il 211, xl: THESE VVEBE DUR LIGHTER MUMENTS gg. ,gt THE LAST STRAW It happened way back in the earliest stages of the Macis career. With a crew of seventy-five percent red-bottomed boots, we had just left Boston Navy Yard, heading for Casco Bay and trial runs. It was our first general quarters. Lieutenant Schmidling, then gunnery officer of the Macomb, was at his battle station in the director, trying to bring order out of chaos. And it was chaos. It was more than that, it was bedlaml Phone messages poured in from bridge, from the guns, from plot. No power on Gun 1 hoist. The trainer from Gun two is missing. The pointer's dials on Gun 1 are reversed. Everything was wrong, and nothing was right. The gunnery ofliceris neck began to swell, his eyes bulged, his face turned a mottled shade of red, sure signs that his none-too-stable temper was about to let go. Then it came. Pounding footsteps were heard on the over- head of the director. A face appeared in the con- trol ollieelfs hatch. not three inches from Lieutenant Sehmidling's suffused countenance. Who the hell are youiw roared the gunnery ollieer. eyes ablaze. Why: l'm the hotshellman for the directorfl was the prompt reply. 1Vhen last seen that man was going rapidly aft on the main deck, hotly pursued by Lieutenant Schmidling, murderouslv brandishing the remains of his battle headset. EXPLOITS A LA BROCK Among the many legendary characters who have served aboard the U.S.S. Macomb. there is none more outstanding in our memories than our former engineering officer, Lt. Fenelon A. Brock. It has been said of Mr. Brock that he knew the family history of every feed pump ' - 7 beafillfl' 8SS6mbly and jo-pot in the engineering ipaeeszu And it was probably true. But the Chief ' will be remembered less for his pro- fessional abilities than for his extra-curricular 50 activities above and beyond the call of duty We have direct reference to his many daririu escapades while under the influence of inkoholj pardon us, alcohol. One of his more notorious pranks occurred when, as executive officer and while the ship was operating with the USS. Ranger at Argenlia, in April, 1943. Our wayward chief, returning from the officer's club in the wee smai hours C and well in his cupsl, decided he must have ll shot of mud fto soothe his war-ridden nerves. no doubtl. Receiving no reply to his call for a steward's mate, he rang again. Still no reply. Staggering out to the quarterdeck, he informed the Bosunis mate of the watch i-n no uncertain terms this enunciation may have been garbled. but his meaning was clearl , to get that stewardis mate up here, and -- quick. llc returned to the wardroom, waited a reasonable length of time ffive seconds, at leastl, then. bursting into a rage, dashed madly up the ladder to the bridge, grasped the general alarm and sent the call to battle ringing through the ship! It was several minutes before the amazed 0.0.D. could grasp what had happened. Bc- fore he could pass the word to helay the QQ., the entire personnel of the ship-some three Mr. Brock works Uut

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? 4 S il 5 i i t i 5 5 1 i i The course Mr. Brock chose was not the straight line to the ship. Ah, no. He chose to circle practically every ship in the harbor, Brit- ish and American alike, zipping up the gaHgW2lY, waiting until challenged by the O.D., and then shouting taunts and curses in reply, then giving the motor the gun and racing for the next victim. This was real sport, and was carried out with great zeal and glee, until he was informed that there was little if any fuel left. So Mr. Brock steered giddily for the Macomb. After some dif- ficulty he found the ship, and made a masterful approach to the gangway. The only trouble was that he forgot to give the signal to reverse in time, and they rammed the ladder with enough force to rattle the chains on every bunk on the ship. With some dilliculty, Mr. Brock made the quarterdeek. After insulting the 0.0.D., he started walking aft. under the impression that he was heading for the wardroom. After bodily eontact with several depth-charges. K-guns, and the like. he found himself on the fantail. The figure' of the sentry loomed before him, rifle in hand. The sentry paused. shocked into immo- hilily by this sudden apparition. But the exec was not faxed. not one hit. Crahbing the rifle from tht- seanianis hands. he raised it to the dark sky. fired two rounds. returned it to the sentry, and said in a matter-of-fact voice, Hit worksfi and with great dignity turned and weaved his way forward to his room. DRILUS EPOCHAL FLIGHT Autumn, 1943. Lt. Walter Lloyd Drill. QCD USNR, had reported aboard the Macomb only two days before his momentous voyage, one that was to make his name known through. out the ship--and the story of that perilous trip was whispered from ear to ear, until it became legend. Upon reporting aboard he became communi- cations officer, and it was in this capacity that he ventured forth in the lVlac,s indomitable whaleboat, The New Jersey had been sighted steaming down the Delaware Bay. A conference of communication officers had been planned to take place on this battleship that afternoon and Drill was to be one of the participants. It was assumed that the NJ. would shortly anchor in the vicinity of the DD,s. Soooo, our story begins .... The Mar s whaleboat, with Drill aboard, and two or three other whaleboats from nearby destroyers shoved off for the approaching ship. The Mae's repre- sentative, naturally, was in the lead .... The New Jersey swept down on the anchorage, past it, and on out to seal Other whaleboats soon became discouraged, but not Mr. Drill and his craft. Lighting off all boilers, jamming the OIJCII throttles against the stops, the whaleboat leaped through the water and for awhile it looked as though they might be gaining on the ponderouS battlewagon, which apparently took no notiCC of the frail boat .... Q 'Wil 1 f ., - , ft f qw! t OUR INTREPID A ' ' tw I WHALEBQAT , ty X 'and l'f's crew .... , if T E i, .AV A i - B , Xa .W fe- g ' fa up f ff .e t' 't ll l with 3 EW-'Q f 4 i A f ,.,!,f W t i i Q'v 51515335555 14 ,L -. T25 vu T! i - - -- 2.4 ,A f- 'UU' HT Q f . . Q, B 6 9 , D , p HS-ST f 1 A J uhfam' l 1 2 Q yWll fs.- ' ia -' fi-7'4 fx? K ','f f 'aWW . X-,Tb-, 4,7 'gg Z:55 , :- 1? A .A 5' ii 1 i I 4 N p it Q ,Je P' , i I I