Badoeng Strait (CVE 116) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 83 text:

ST The Fighting FIRST , conformed of twenty- four old time salts are the men to thank for that clean, sparkling, freshly painted flagship look indicative of a proud ship and a proud crew. Thev also operate as a public service the paint locker and the Bosn ' s locker. The paint locker not only offers a variety of pastel shades (gray, gray, gray just to name a few) but also has a long line of free interior decorating advice and it it ' s fancy work you want, the Bosn ' s locker is the last word in authority. As a relief from the long hours over the side chipping, scraping and painting, they keep a small pleasure boat on the fantail for rest and relaxation. Almost any good day in port, a group of happy laughing, yachts- man can be seen in the vicinity of the ship proving once and tor all that the FIRST really watches out for the welfare and morale of it ' s own. Winters issues some of his newest shade paint to Rafferty for some interior decorating. . V T ' £? I v%x ft D. W. Bound, O.J. Rafferty, S. R. Barber, ENS Snell.A.T. McGill, R.W. Wichman, W. R. West R. L. Broughton, R. C. Winters, W.M. Messer, A. I.. King. G. W. Weeks, C.J. Nagel. J. A. Albright R.J. Brown, Jr., S. G. Poe, J.E. Peaeock, M. L. Pegg. R. H. Probst, H. E. Meyera

Page 82 text:

h e k y : IKfiU The Gunnery Department is charged with the responsibility of the operation and direction of guns, ordanance, ammo handling equipment, deck seamanship, fire control radar, gun mounts, cleanliness of the exterior of the ship, mooring lines, anchors, ships boats and life rafts. LCDR T. A. Nicholson, Gunnery Officer It ain ' t polite to point but CHBOSN Stepanovich uses all kinds of gestures during fueling operations. Gunnery department yeoman, Summers and Baxter check the general stores catalogue for stock numbers and prices for an order. Heave in on that line ! Blares the bull horn as used by LTJG Van Kirk from his First Lieutenant station during refueling.

Page 84 text:

Anchors aweigh : The ship is underway, and the lightning 2nd Division is scurrying about the forecastle admist giant chains and manila lines to secure the huge anchors for sea. Soon the men disperse from stem to stern to perfrom their other duties. The boat crews go into action on the Captain ' s gig and the motor launch to keep them sparkling and worthy of displaying a CVE 116 on the bow in all ports. While fueling other ships alongside the Bing Ding at sea, the division may transfer anything from popcorn to people over the narrow but treacherous gap of water. If not seen the men of the 2nd are certainly heard, for they may be the boatswain mate of the watch over the ship ' s 1-MC system, or a sound-powered phone talker on the bridge, or the man with steel vocal chords directing the replenishment of another vessel, or the OOD messenger, or the helmsman repeating his new course through the voice tube, or just the hill- billy vocalists around the coffee pot straining to overcome the percussions of non-rhythmic chipping hammers. Also in 2nd Division are found the eyes of the ship, the lookouts, who constantly watch for and report anything except just plain water and lastly, call out that eagerly awaited, land ho ! Southworth, Simmons, Monson, Jackson, McDonald, Flanagan and Stanton heave in the port anchor before getting underway. WELL IE BOYS, LETS Tt RW TO AUD ORAB Y ANCHOR CHAIN, TM£ WILDCAT Monson, Gilliam, Nicholson and Kissick conduct routine maintenance on No. 2 motor launch.