Monrovia (APA 31) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 17 text:

The success of an amphibious invasion de- pends or weakening the enemy ' s resistance at the point of attack. This is where the big guns of the Navy go to work, and their effec- tiveness depends on the ship ' s Gunnery Department. In peacetime the guns are constantly ready for action. The complexities of the modern gunnery system require all the skill of care- fully trained fire control technicians and gunners mates. They must be able to send round after round of ammunition into the enemy ' s defenses with pin-point accuracy. The success of any amphibious operation depends on this. 6 M »ta ... and after 1 care ull computed the target angle and cautiously cranked in the elevation, I fired and blew down the mainmast. Whatta day. . . A.Baker.GMGl B.Depper.GMG2 D.Zywica,GMG2 F.Carillo,FTG2 D.Nicholson,FTG2 D.Althaus.GMGi R.Foreman.GMG2 J .Larimer. GMSN F.Maso.FTGi R.Carawon. FTGSN D.Clark.SN

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ENS J. C. Wes pbal CIC Officer Bridg e, this is Combat. The Ops O fi, M Miles. RDl J. Coilnan. RD2 No haircut, no liberty. lv Bridge, this is Combat. Those three bogies you reported are plotting dead in the air. We believe them to be stars. mm ' Noble. RD2 L. Kasson.RD] 4 4 . Bova.RDi W.West.RDj M.Smolinski.RD] J Baglama.YNi L.Creus.SN H Hoeck.PFC

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LTJG R. W. McMam First Lieutenant The Rembrandt of Five Hatch. As long as there has been a Navy there have been boatswains mates. These are the men who rule the deck force, the ones who can create works of art with a few feet of line and a piece of metal called a marlin— spike, who look down on the sea from the rigging ' s dizzy heights. They are the old salts, the men people picture when they think of the typical sailor. But this is only a very small facet in the world of the deck force. They have a less romantic and very real job to perform today. Skillful handling of cargo, the maintenance, and the overall appearance of the ship are their daily concern. They are of necessity a hardy lot, for their endurance and skill are called on time and again. On a ship such as the MONROVIA, all this is doubly true for our pur- pose, the putting ashore of boats, vehicles and personnel, depends on them. They are the ones who move the entire assault force from the ship to the water. Often they must work from before dawn until long after sun- down without a let-up. But when the planning is done and the preparations made, the deck force is called on to perform the final step of the job we have been sent to do, and they can be counted on to produce. up forC.Q. a te