Bunker Hill (CV 17) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 200 text:

W- -Mer..-. H , '- ,, , AIR GIQOUP 17 ..,jw '! W., c,,,...,.........,-.,- ..,. ,,,. ., .. 'TI'---..,.,.....,M.,..,-A---Je ., , B 1 X, CY I . , , gffi 5 an .f Iv u r- .Lf N 'K l- .f ' 1 1 a' t 'fi . I 4 1 . N T5 A .. l f ,. 1 l 2 J. J ,, Y ,in e 4 ,-,f r .ef X' xl J ,r ,Y 1 fa -' made an achievement o every command performance Savage, audacious blows at enemy stronglzolals were the assignments ana' the victories of the Bunker HiIl's yfrst squadrons, dir Group Seventeen. lp.. Y Y ,f11,.wi-te-::afa:.-. 4.-wave.:.,i e.:Y-..v....-2.n.e-:112f.vu1f,-,..--ie.E-n-q..'ee..,,,w1-n.fw-:.v.-ev,.4.-.-.-,nf-4......-.-. ommander M. P. Bagdanovich was one of those rare men whose ability to enjoy life cannot be beaten. The first Commander, Air Group Seven- teen, possessed a hearty, hard-driving nature that was the answer to the organization of the new Group and, particularly, the gearing of a maintenance unit to the squadrons in line with Bureau orders reducing the comple- ment of service personnel. His forceful personality had an impact on the Group that knit it into a well-run machine administratively as well as operationally. W7hen he left in January, 1944, he turned command over to Commander R. H. Dale small, red-haired Hellcat specialist who held the post until the Group's return to the States, leading them in the destructive raids on the Marshall Islands, preceding and supporting their invasion, and on Truk and the Carolines. Air Group Seventeen was the Bunker Hill's 'first love. From the earliest days before commissioning, the ship's company at Boston and Quincy heard reports of the Air Group, J J ..-.4-1 an-..-.-.,.... -f..-fv.-M. .-s..-.Ye-.....:f-Y V -,-- P1-.fwq-,-416: ,A-:eg- e::-.-: W . Y received second-hand accounts of the game battle it was putting up to make the Corsair and the Helldiver fit for carrier operation. And when they Hew aboard, headed by colorful, sincere Commander M. P. Ba89H Bagdanovich, their problems became the ship's and it was with high pride that the shakedown was completed with definite Proof that where others had failed, Air Group Seventeen and the Bunker Hill had won: the Corsair and the Helldiver were going t0 be all right, operating experiences had proven lf- But the rest of the Fleet did not concur 011 the Corsair and somewhere between the East Coast and Pearl Harbor orders were received detaching Fighting Seventeen. So they Went their way, returning but for one day f0 the ship that had mothered them, but in that one d-35' Paying in full every bit of love the Bunker Hill had given them. They went their way, and few aboard Wfll ever forget the memorable attack--our 5f5F'i when they roared from their South P2556 base to conduct a slam-bang air fight GH

Page 199 text:

The Their Y' v,. . ? is if' X' W i are -Q, x E, i i ,fi . F f ' Q, mia F , . . .MN ,?4' p .. he Bunker Hill IS proud of the men who flew up from her deck for it was her good fortune to have a pair of hard-Hying Groups aboard during her first busy year. Seventeen went with the ship in her baptism of fire at Rabaul, Hew hell-for- leather against the Jap in the Gilberts, at Kavieng, at Eniwetok, Truk and the Mari- anas, passing the burning torch of achieve- ment to Air Group Eight. Well-schooled, fired by indomitable determination and hard- iness to fulfill work-horse Hight schedules, Eight flew past the milestones of a hot year of Jap-smashing SH and Plane strikes and became one of the first Groups to Haunt their star-spangled wings over the Philippines. The Air Groups were an integral part of our life. We knew them beyond the glamor and glitter of their calling, sharing with them their own victories and disappointments and sweating out their every foray into enemy strongholds. They were the men we worked for, cheered for and yes, prayed for, as they went about the fierce drudgery of their tasks. To them go our thanks, deep, honest admiration, and a sincere pride in the records they compiled.

Page 201 text:

Vals and Kates threatening us And as the . - . ' , Y Continued their rough tactics, their hell-for- leather Hying, they set a Pacific record by shooting down 154 Jap planes in seventy-nine hot days of combat, including sixty missions of escorting bombers in the New Georgia, Bougainville, and Rabaul sectors. They scored half again as many probables shot down, their Skipper insisting no plane be reported as shot down unless it actually was seen falling in flames, they never lost a bomber from a group they escorted, they sank seven Japanese cargo ships and seven- teen barges, another record for a Hghter group. When they returned to the States in March 1944, they had thirteen members who had shot down live or more enemy planes. Lieu- J - --- - f--- ----- -.....a...........q.,,.,.,.,,.,,,,,,,,,,,,.,,,,m rm il... ,, .. Y.... -a....,-,.. ..-......-......,.,............... ',--- ,-af -ff A ' ': - ...1 f: - if f 'fl'Af11'fIT'h '...'T .17 1 ' A if 'E if1ig:Sfiit:xt, '4 J . , F' ' .gi e Q3iQi.'IlT..'ZL , .er wx .,:. ,. Aix!!! NN X 25 Q . ' .'?'i'iTEIZ, p . ff ' ' 1' 'sys if 1' Pjxpiff: N v'f,J X 1 f' l A fi Q . ' 9 A gl v x g f, .- I .W of , V .V 1,5 ,f a C111 X I K Ci! ,bmi J L ij Q J , ii , 1 ' f ' . Q ' .- i 3 ' -5. . 1 , ,L ,J , l f 3 X ff f --l iai, F - L- fli er X A xi., 'gps ,wif -,iff - I. - ' 1 L Tir , V A ui -W 1 I T Q 'Ti lffw ig- I 3: ,arf s 1271 if-:' ia r , . f N ' , V A le Q, , ,-, -rf , f 7 ,r I 5, 4, ' 1 ffzj,-.13 ,.rQ-251. 4-:f.fi1'-. V ,.-,g.,'.i-- ' - .faf-f a . we ff 1 ' ,W 'J .ft 'WST f ai l ' f '. -A .a S4511 ' L A i i ' XX 5 iffffl 5 L L f tenant Ira C. Ike Kepford, former North- western University halfback, paced his mates and for a time the Navy, with sixteen planes credited him. His Skipper, Lieutenant Com- mander J. T. Tommy Blackburn followed with eleven, the Exec, Lieutenant Commander Roger Hedrick, nine, Lieutenants ChenCW0Ch and Tim Giles, eight, Lieutenants Cjgl Earl May, eight, Paul Cordray, Mac Burriss and Danny Cunningham, seven, Bobby MimS afid Butch Davenport, six, and Lieutenants Jim Streig and Eddie March, five. ' We Were proud of them, proud of thell' record, just as we'd been proud and grateful for their work at Rabaul. They belonged to us, and were our shipmates. They too did their part in making the Bunker Hill the great ship it is. When they left it was hard to believe, as it so often is, that anyone could actuall take . Y their place. But Fighting Eighteen did just that. v. all A NEW FIGHTER OUTFIT Que day Fighting Eighteen was a new squadron in training-the next they were tossed into Pacihc combat, their half-com- pleted drills, their carefully scheduled growth, tossed to the winds. They were given the tough assignment of replacing a highly- trained fighter outfit in another Air Group, Seventeen. Lieutenant Commander Sam Silber, the husky, effervescent skipper of the squadron, may have felt that his men lacked the polish of a finished unit, but he never admitted it. Sixty days after they were commissioned, they were flying Combat Air Patrols in the South Pacific with but a nucleus of combat-exper- ienced men. The Skipper, Don Runyon and Willie Ambrosia had been in the African and Guadalcanal campaigns, with Don having logged time on the Sara and Enterprise where he had accounted for at least live Jap planes. Lieutenant Bob Dibb also had been on those two carriers, and had a Navy Cross to his credit. Jim Billo had served on the Big E, and Lieutenant Cjgj Jimmy Monahan had been on the Saratoga and in the Aleutians. Lieutenants Bill Kelly and Chubby Maness, and Lieutenants Cjgl Dave Mandt and Jim Pierce had been in a patrol squadron in Tahi- tian waters. A lesser man than Skipper Silber, and a lesser group of pilots, might have had qualms about their readiness for combat--but they exuded confidence. They became the ship's favorite that Armistice Day at Rabaul when they roared into the teeth of an heavy attack