Stephen W Groves (FFG 29) - Naval Cruise Book

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f 'I Ens1gr1 Q A Stephen W. Groves l . A U' I He fearlessly plunged into aerial combat against large formations of enemy aircraft threatening the American carriers in the Battle of Midway. Contributing decisively to the disruption of the enemy, he continued determined counterattacks against desperate odds until, finally overcome by sheer aerial superiority, he was shot down from the skies. 'He gallantly gave his life to the fulfillment of a mission important to the great victory at Midway. - Ensign Stephen W. Groves posthumously awarded Navy Cross citation. Stephen W. Groves, a 25 year-old Navy ensign from East Millinocket, Maine, was one of the American flyers who did not return after the day-long Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942. Ensign Stephen W. Groves took off nine times from his carrier on that fateful day and that his was one of six American planes that fought off a vastly superior Japanese force that was trying to finish off the damaged carrier YORKTGWN. The small group was credited with shooting down 14 enemy planes and causing six others to retreat. Ensign Groves was a 1934 graduate of Schenck High School in East Millinocket and received a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Maine in 1939. He joined the Navy in December of 1940 and was commissioned in August of 1941. He boarded the carrier USS HORNET in December of that year. The HOFZNET began to transport Doolittle's Bombers to Japanese waters in April 1942, setting the stage for the Battle of Midway, considered one of the most crucial allied victories of the war. Ensign Groves was the first East Millinocket serviceman to be killed in World War ll. Today the American Legion Post in that town is named the Feeney-Groves Post, partially in his memory. 1

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' 1' 4 1 Ship's Mission USS STEPHEN W GRGVES CEEG 293 is a member of the Oliver Hazard Perry class of Guided Missile Frigates. She was designed to provide local area protection to battle groups, underway replenishment groups, amphibious forces, military and merchant shipping, and to conduct Anti-Submarine Warfare QASWJ operations. However. with the removal of her guided missile system, STEPHEN W GROVES has shifted roles and now primarily conducts Enhanced-Maritime Interception Gperations CE-M105 and Counter Narco-Terrorism CCNTD Operations. STEPHEN W GROVES and her sister ships of the class represent a break with tradition in many ways: a gas turbine powered propulsion plant with variable pitch propeller, austere manning accompanied by a high degree of computerized automation. a fully integrated combat system, two helicopter hangars, auxiliary propulsion units placed to maximize maneuverability, and a ship control console that provides steering and speed control from the bridge by a single helmsman. The assets that STEPHEN W GRQVES has to call upon to accomplish her mission include the rapid fire, dual purpose 76mm gun, a Close-in-Weapons System CCIWYSD gatling gun Ccapable of firing 4,500 rounds per minute at incoming air targetsb: anti- submarine torpedo tubes, two Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System CLAMPSD MK III helicopters, and an array of small arms weapons including 25mm guns and .50 caliber machine guns. A V 2 . s,sP'J' ir N V 3? ,Q ng? ' -35 'liifgz' 13 if FW Lfiaw