Montrose (APA 212) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 18 text:

■lfe - . xAMO.s EL TU. RM3 RM2 HAl I Li; RMl G1RZ co ' c tM The radiomen aboard tJie MONTROSE have many duties and responsibilities to tlie command. They must insure that all radio equipment is kept at peak operating perfonnance, that all required circuits are maintained, and they must effect delivery of all messages either originated by or sent to the ship. Our radiomen are commonly referred to as the Voice of Cominand. While in WeslPac the Radio Gang had many hard tasks to perform. Port and Starljoai ' d watches were the order of the day and a number of tedious hours were spent in Radio Central. They also had a few enjoyable moments, one of whicli, was a tour of the Naval Commmiications Station in San Miguel, P. I. All the many hours coupled with the good use of training programs made it possible for four men to be advanced in rate while in WestPac. These men also qualified as Naval Speed Key Operators. All in all, one can say we have a top notch radio gang comparable with any in the Amphibious Navy. V LTJG J. G. WEAVER Communications Officer • ' • ' •• — i i f- ' =„V ENS R. A. SEITZ. Asst. Communications Officer 14

Page 17 text:

O ien itcoH e ' BALI.EW HI)] SHADRICK ETl va(. i:r Rl)2 movM ki:r 1,1 l)T AT.; ? T C AOlC Ut Zap! A beam of electronic energy streak acrn-- the -kx . -tiikc- .in unknown object, and rebounds back to tlie hip in lc» than a .-ccond. At tliis instant a bluny-eyed radarman sitting in a rather dark room behind tlie wlieelhouse rubs his eyes and leans forward on his stool so as to get a better look at die face of his radarscope. He now calndy presses down the button on his sound-powered phone and reports. Con- tact — bearing 210 T. 7 miles. The officer of tlie deck liegins work- ing closely with the now l)riglit-( ' ved radarman and logetluM set off a series of events that enables tlie MONTROSE to ])crhaps avoid a col- lision or gain pertinent information in regards to a contact steaming near the ship. Tliis is the 01 Division at work, ll is composed of two different breeds of men — one, tlie radarman. who has the job of inter- preting what he sees on the scope, evaluating what he hears on tlic radio, and di scniinatin : tlii information to tliox ' who need to know : ENSJ.C. HKATH CIC Ojjicer 01 Division Ojjicer and second, the electronic technician, wlio i responsible for the main- tenance and smootli operation of all liic complicated electronic c{|iiip- nient on board ship including radars, fathometer, countless radio equipment, and a hundred other items. The 01 di ision enjoved a higii- ly successful tour in WestPac in regards to training and efficient per- tormance under rather difficult conditions. Electronic gear operated properly at all necessaiy times and the radar gang was always on the alert and prepared for anything. On two different occasions men were recognized as the Montrose Man of the Month in the six month ]ieriod. Deakle, RD2, pitched the Montrose softball team to over 20 victories in the team ' s cliampionsliip tour in otl ' ac. Zap! Another contact, it ' s back to work. FREDRICK KD3 F POPOFF ET3 TICKER RIJS. . IA.SSEY ETRS EBY Rm DEAKLE RDJ

Page 19 text:

Vr ' H OS ' Dco c Uc t The responsibilities of tlie siuiialiiicn are luatu and arit (l. They range from hoisting NPPI ' ( sliipV call iun I iiiinn ticllint; uiidenvay. to answering a signal liglil un a nearliv shi]). Since their primary function is visual communications (including flaghoist. semaphore, and flashing light), the signal bridge must be manned at all times. Whether the shi]i is steaming in fomiation. indepentl(Mitl . or i- in port, there is a signalman on dut) ' . Often there are other tasks which niu t be ix ' riornied besides visual communications. These include rigging dress ship flags (when tlie occasion arises), identifying passing ships, and rendering honors. An addilidiial la k was perfonncil b ibe division while the squadron was enroute to ' e tl ' ac; lliat being the use of special maneuvering lights and wliistle signals to maneuver the fomiation. iy, c:()i, l. .si .; Cli;(.(). L .M Li . li. Hoi I.I.I II OS Division Officer 15