Block Island (CVE 106) - Naval Cruise Book

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A Mix r .. Y -Ns. an ,AA X Qi THE 'TOR' I THE M5 INCH GREAT GU The gunnery divisions on our ships have made splendid rec. ords although they have seldom had to fire in defense of their vessel. CVE 2l. had two live-inch thirty-eights manned on the fantailg ten twin forty-millimeter guns arranged about the flight deck catwalks and on the fantail. Twenty-seven twenty. millimeter guns were located on the flight deck and lower sponsons. These guns showed accuracy in drill. In actual combat in the Atlantic the guns were trained on submarine attacks. Star shells from their barrels guided planes on patrol, CVE 106 had more firing power. In addition to the usual two five-inch guns on the fantail, there were 3 quadruple forty- millimeter mounts, two on the stern and one on the forecastle. Twelve twin 40 millimeter guns were located in gun sponsons at the sides of the ship. Twenty twenty-millimeter guns pro- vided close range protection from the catwalks along the flight deck. As in the first USS BLOCK ISLAND, the gunnery depart- ment made a fine showing. Since planes did not break through our air screen at Okinawa it was never necessary to fire other than practice rounds. Firing at bogies in Ulithi proved the efficiency of our gun crews. On the way back to San Diego, after leaving Pearl Harbor that last time, the record of the guns was unusually high for ships of this class. When the gunnery department was not actually on watch at their stations, they were busy about the ship. It is a job to maintain guns but the men found time also toskeep many spaces of the ship in first class condition. ffm THE CUNNICRS ANU TIIICIR S'I'RlKlqRg

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MB DIVISION B DIVISION is the Boiler Divisionf, The boilers of CVE 106 are bent-tube, super- heated, attaining a temperature of 7700 F. and developing 450 pounds pressure per square inch. The men have a Hhot time in this division. The thermometer at the throttle has often reached 1380 F. and stayed there for hours at a time. They use a lot of fuel. The tanks can carry 971,990 gallons of fuel oil, 128,198 gallons of Diesel oil, and 10,240 gallons of lubrication oil. At the standard speed of 16 knots the ship will bum 30,200 gallons of fuel oil in 24 hours. Even when the ship is not under- way, four to five thousands of gallons of fuel oil are required daily. The SBD Division makes the fresh water- one of the big jobs on the ship. The boilers require 7,500 gallons each daily. The rest of the 36,000 that the evaporators can produce daily is available for use in the laundry, the mess hall, the showers. '6Wlater hoursi' are familiar to the men of both BLOCK ISLANDS. Our three plants can only pro- duce so much and the demands in the heat HB DIVISION of the Pacific are great. YVe have tried to maintain a reserve of 90,743, the capacity of our reserve tanks. Wiith the exception of that one unpleasant day when it was discovered that some one had ignorantly opened a valve that pumped our fresh water over the side, we have never been dangerously short. ti-X DIVISION The MA Division mans the auxiliary engines. They keep the whale boats in running order. Provide the steam for the anchor windlass and the steering engine. Spread all over the ship, their excelleucy in their varied activ- ities involves the efficiency of the entire vessel. NE DIVISION Electricity is the nerve system of any mod- ern naval vessel. From the time the word is passed over the public address system, the lights are turned on for shaving, the food is cooked on the electric stoves, to the time of Movie Call at night, everyone is obviously aware of the importance of electric power. The radio and radar, the telephones and the refrigerated storage, searchlights, the laundry and gedunk stand, everything seems to depend on the generators. No one can estimate how many thousand power outlets there are in the ship, how many electric light bulbs, fans, and phones. The power plant of CVE 106 consists of four A.C. Turbo-Generators. There is a special D.C. generator. An emergency Diesel Generator is the most precious engine on the ship. It can automatically cut in to furnish power for essentials when all other power is gone. The HE Division and its circuits are about as important as anything on the ship but no good sailor will ever evaluate one division higherl tgan tile other because each man must 0 IS jo . FIRST LIEUTEN ANT The First Lieutenant and his crew are the housekeepers of the ship. They Construct and Repair. They are the damage control, the fire fighters and the leak pluggers. This ship has fortunately been in the hands of skilled First Lieutenants. These fellows can build anything and put back together almost anything they take apart. .1-4' ' : .wif -f-IJ' fa Y 'We 4 V EJ R DIN ISION

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