Bunker Hill (CV 17) - Naval Cruise Book

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on the ship. When evening fell, they totted up the score: thirty-threeVa1s, Kates and Zekes. They didn't stop that day, either. Through the tiresome Gilberts campaign, the audacious raids on Kavieng and the intense Marshalls campaign they continued to fly with the poise and assurance of a squadron blessed with every item of a training syllabus. And they provided cover for the bomber and torpedo planes that was air-tight, many times refusing cinch', shots that would have meantsquad- ron glory, but which might have meant ex- posing the bombers to attack. Lieutenant Commander James E. Vose, USN, VB Seven- teen commander, said of them: They've given us the best escort coverage I've ever seen. And it was the radiomen of the squadron who wrote, upon leaving: When We first got the word Fighting Seventeen was leaving us, there is no use to deny our stock went down 100 per cent. It meant losing a squadron that had been with us throughout our training and shake- down cruise. Fighting Squadron Eighteen? Hellcats? What were they like? Xxx ' ,mmm ,, ,,. ,, . ,, rxw ,.....i,......,,, ,,c, , xxx, f, W. ,, ,E ----Q---.----. .... H.-. .... ... .. L- N'-If-,,,-hgh vi ---.........--., .... A., .. .. .gr,,X,N Lv'-fffff A -W' V Alf 'T' ,Imax .vm , - ...M --.. .......-., W, , 3 y is A 1 , fiyrl' -.H-...--g... -- i .4 ' ' hai.-i .. .' j: 'i it - I f ,Cl .Xia ii. ,arg ,I .f.'.f5.'f'L43,Q-1 V er-, ,Q 4 S5fK'im1f'5di'f x,:wJ3'iff.2v'X. Qi, 1-5:f r.f .28-' 'MQfiif'51'lwi Lt 53 5 171 -39354 X-if NQHQFT' 0- f ,M pgzr.. ,,.,Qfu Xjj!LfMi,fgi,.gf1:1gQig:lgg-mn gQEfg??f,ffa,,,..,,,. I -wi-mil, aw --.. .- as are-as if f i Y: :.g,,,.5,,! r :5ip:,3i5g.?Qr,v :jd -7f',..,4f'QqE?,,5?,,.M,K,W1-rl.,smgrgxf,-,-nw-, --ww-9-6' 1512141 ',-wfrfre mw1Jf'W'W .fa--1. :lff : 41'?1a2s -,,,,'.,, , ' ' -e , --.532-3'ff,5.Jw.:. ,T.,y1jgt?'.f-,rm gran: . iwinfz.-w,.4f-fe-1... 'v :f ,. .- - .. ..- , ,, N- .., .,, N, .tt-.53,. I-,' Y, --f k ,,..-1-,,, f -. I -45.4-2h:g,, I - nfnxgggflgfj-Qi1L,g3y,5,4gH,j-,5.Ef', ?:j51n,.J-1'd:',:2S,,7,,,.w,:,w .1 Mwf, 'f-:4- -'V ffegsggfwzif-'ff ., +fa:ffe.,,-J.:Q5-:?Lr'-7- . ..,. ,..ff- Qv ., . nf. -- a . , -1, .74 ya 14 ,i.y,'C'-q '--N5-:hw ,gf -1, 4 -..-- ' 9, '4asfe:f1, N Ween--' ca 7:-a12fQr:-- it 'n f li .,- -' s.-e'155ff43'j1 '!iT'i:'q97'7'5f:fP7'52 f'4 'f' U1- f ' '7-', 1-A m GS ,y . 'ff' a , -'f'1?v.3 - '6x ..: ., J 3 'tf Z... as g,:,:,,. ., 43. WYZY , .V F ,--- X, -,,.f...- -If if nggfjyf- pifff 255,- wul dj, v3gf,.1i.,,, JW. - :.,,,,,,,:..,x,.....f:, . -5, 3 . g, VL, , ,,,.,,---- ,,,. .-.1 a . . i ,. Fellows, we watched you at Kaneoe saw you in the air day and night, yes, we went over the sleeve just as soon as it hit the ground after gu-nnery runs. We sweated your first landing with all of our hearts. It was said more than once: 'They're trying harder than any outfit we have ever seen.' a 198 Then came Rabaul. To a rear-seat man in a dive bomber with a couple of pea shooters, a fighting squadron means everything-and that's what you were. We've all seen times that you could have broken oH' cover, gone down, dropped a Jap, and picked up more personal glory for yourselves. It would have been easy to dive off range and not have drawn all the ack-ack you took at Kavieng, Kwajalein and Truk that could have concen- trated on us. You have received praise from many for your job, but take it from us-the fellows whose necks were saved more than once by your protection-we know you're the best damn fighting squadron that ever went 'up- stairs.' Thanks. No greater praise could be any lighter squadron's. - ,. W fa 'fx s VT-17-TORPEDO SPECIALISTS orn in Norfolk, weaned on the dust and grime of Chincoteague, and schooled at the feet of a pilot's pilot, Torpedo Seventeen Hew as a monument to the inspirational lead- ership of its first tutor, and to its own esprit de corps. Only two of the twenty-seven men mustered at the squadron's commissioning, January 1, 1943, were combat veterans, and Lieutenant Commander Frank Whitaker, USN, their silver-thatched skipper, therefore took them to the auxiliary field at Chincoteague to paCC them through a training mill experienced by few squadrons. They learned to tear down their engines, to load bombs and ammunition, and to maintain equipment. Night flying WHS almost routine, and weather was seldom an excuse for staying aground. It was arduous, it was a program under which a weakly-led squadron might easily have cracked. But even that possibility WHS not present, because the Skipper was always out front, doing the tough jobs first and alwayS doing more than anyone else. His own C11- thusiasm, magnetic personality and gentle un-

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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

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dm-standing of all their problems was always the guiding light. Thus when the training period was over, their morale equalled the peak of their tacticaQ perfection. The first dividends of that training program came in their record on the shakedown cruise: not a single plane was even slightly damaged during their practice of carrier procedure. Torpedo Seventeen went to combat and put to good use that grueling training, as well as the novel attack signals and division recognition calls which the Skipper devised. He was known as Hobo, as was his First division, the second division was Box- car, and the third, Caboose All were a part of the big train whosehome was Hobo- town and who rendezvoused at Round- house. The mess hall was the inspiration for attack signals. The Skipper's familiar Chow Down, spoken over the intercom, was the spine-tingling call to the attack. Dinner is Ready, feasted their eyes on the sight of the enemy-the attack was to start. And that stern study of their specialized type of flying and perfection of tactics early brought them laurels in combat. It was ironic that the climax of their initial combat period came after the Skipper had failed to return from a mission-the Skipper, who had schooled them so well. The day was bright, the target-units of the Jap fleet. The squadron had been flying without spirit, almost automatically, so hard had been the blow of the Skipper's untimely death. Nearly every man felt that Torpedo Seventeen no longer existed. Their Skipper had been Torpedo Seventeen. But they manned planes dutifully and went to the attack. Led by Lieutenant G. N. Owens, upon Whose shoulders as Executive Officer the squadron command had fallen, they stalked a tail-turning Jap ship, found it, and Owens called to attack. Perfectly timed, excellently executed, the attack was a triumph of flying and fighting skill. Radios Were jammed with the cheers of the pilots as they SaW 'Shell' 1 torpedoes run true and blow the enemy out of the water. As they returned aboard, it was easy to see that Torpedo Seventeen again rode the crest. The long hours of study, the grueling training program, had left their marks on every one of them and they once again felt that they were doing the job each one had pledged himself to do-carry on for the Skipper. Lieutenants Cjgj B. F. Buck Berry, S. G. SuQlivan and Del Schatz came aboard with Wide grins and on deck, excitedly told of the attack. Lieutenant Cjgj D. H. Termite Robertson joined them, then Grady Owens. Together they moved off the flight deck and toward their ready room, still shouting at each other, comparing notes. They had won more than the skirmish, that day. They had proven themselves that they were still a squadron. The esprit de corps inculcated in them by The Hobo flamed anew. Once again their laughs were loud, the bantering keen, and they kidded The Duch- ess -athletic, chattering Lieutenant Cjgl G. A. Turnbull, assigned Lieutenant E. H. Lieder to the bogey watch and continued the high-spirited tomfoolery of old. So the ship knew that Torpedo Seventeen was the squadron of old, now led by Owens and Lieutenant P. E. Dickson as Exec. No story of the torpedo squadron is com- plete without the inclusion of the radiomen and the gunners whose work so often goes unsung and little recognized. The average twenty-year-old man in the tunnel or turret seat lives in the reflected glory of his pilot and no pride of accomplishment is greater, no allegiance firmer, than that of a pilot's crewmen. In the ready room post-battle bull-session the pronoun used in describing an action is always Uwe. 1 Torpedo Seventeen's bag tells the story of harmony between crewmen and pilots in much more emphatic manner than words. Tales of fighting their way back from raids are numerous, and the engineering gang that