Midway (CVA 41) - Naval Cruise Book

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Cdr. H. E. Toponce Cdr. Harvey E. Toponce is one of the few aboard who can claim San Francisco as his birthplace. He was born there, raised there, and graduated from high school there. He then went to the Uni- versity of California, where he received his commission in the Na ' ' in 1944 through the ROTC. Since then he has served on nearly every type of Naval ship. He has also served as head of the Fire Control Section of the Weapons Dept. at Officer ' s Candidate School. gunnery DEPARTMENT With muskets and cannon belching black smoke, the Bon Homme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, defeated the H.M.S. Serapis on September 23, 1779. The tools used in this battle were standard Navy muskets, standard Xavy cannon, standard Xavy cutlasses (Mod 1, Mk 3 ' , and standard Xavy iron men. This crew was one big gunnery department. The fleets of the world have become more and more complicated since the days of John Paul Jones, until today opposing ships never even see each other during a battle. The once-proud guns now are the secondary striking arm of the fleet, used for shore bombard- ment and anti-air defense. But the jobs done by the crew of the Bon Homme Richard in 1779 are still the jobs that have to be done by the Midway in 1962. Men must sail the ship, men must fire the guns, men must keep the decks and passageways shipshape, and men must stand watch. These traditional jobs are still the duty of the Gunnery Department. In addition to these duties, the Gunnery Department must now store bombs and missiles for the aircraft aboard, and when they are needed the men of Gunnery must be able to get them to the airplanes and loaded in a minimum amount of time. 237

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Lcdr. R. E. Sykes Officer-in-charge Though Light Photographic Squadron Sixty-Three has had several designations since the unit ' s original formation in the late forties, its primary mission of furnishing photographic intelligence in support of naval operations has remained constant. This squadron, designated as Light Photographic Squadron Sixty-Three on July 1 of last year, currently flys the F8U-1P super sonic jet Crusador, due to be replaced by the Phamtom Two F4H sometime in the near future. Home-based at NAS Miramar, the squadron placed a detachment aboard every carrier that participated in the Korean Conflict and today places a detachment with every West Coast carrier deploying to WESTPAC. These teams possess the capability of taking photographs of military objectives from 50 feet off the deck to altitudes above 50,000 feet at speeds greater than the speed of sound, while also being capable of preparing first-phase photographic interpretation reports and rough maps. (STANDING); Chu, D. A. ; Renaud, T. A. ; Ellis, R. C. ; Haynes, A. ; LTjg. E A. Forthmans ; LTjg. P W Crane Lcdr. R. E. Sykes; LT. J. B. Miner ; LTjg. D. D. Young ; Yaroch, J. E. ; Mack, M ; Sapp, W M • Tone, R. N. ; (SITTING): Smith, P. A. ; Keeler, D. A. ; Jenkins, J. L -Gross. !•. L. ; Stcphans, -- Comns P. E. Bower, M. A. ; McNair, J. R. ; Koontz, R. L. ; Seamon IS. ; Kemp, A J. ; Umbel, ' - McFee D E ; Garde, J. C. ; Felt, D. A. ; Miller, K. M. ; Reeves. W. ; Calapp, W. M. ; (KNEELING): D. E. : McCrown, G. N. Adkins, , L. ; Littleton, T. L. ; Perez, J. B. ; Boose, G. G. 1 L .

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Gunnery Office (STANDING) : Carn Lcdr. F. V. Martin; Cdr ; Gallagher, R. L. Toponce ; Lcdr. K. D. Nelson, (;, W. I ' rak ; With any organization as big and diversified as the Gunnery Department of a modern carrier, there must be an office to coordinate efforts of the entire organization. The Gunnery Office fulfills this need. The nine men who work here handle all incoming and outgoing correspondence for the entire department and insure that all divisions comply with the many rules and re- quests filtering down through the administrative system of the ship. 238 X don ' t care whbt he said, you CrDJTH LET IT DRY FIRSTi