Bunker Hill (CV 17) - Naval Cruise Book

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various sizes, ranging from something resembl- ing a bowie knife to a smaller piece of cutlery that would have looked better in the kitchen. No one who could lay hands on anything remotely resembling a knife was going to stand by and watch this display, and so it developed into a sporting event. Now the high points ran to the man who Ahad the most original or outlandishly bizarre knife handle, custom built, with plastic as the favorite material. Into this savage atmosphere our extremist friend one day brought a native machete, in a huge leathern scabbard, and it hung to his knees, making the other deck-edge commandoes look like small fry! He wore it for several days, just so that there would be no question as to who had the most rugged hunk of cutlery aboard, but it must have gotten the better of him as it is seen no more. We often wondered how in hell he got through a hatch scuttle with it on. jj, -N yfama.. 1 V -......,,,,E-5 iv d f i ,Q ffxwfhma fl . .. r J' A J if vi C ,ff fgfi A! 'C' . I X n ,-. .,, , 'f i Q TT., A ml f-B ,A .433- ..'1,Tiv'A K swim 3? g'M '-Nw Q .1 W Avi -i-...ll . H u.....--f'---.,,c,...... i ,Me wdmg ,,, tk M, M, 'H-If-.--5' ' 'E-ff 4'-M -..-f-' , A fl i ri illfl . , If . -M-as . sf ' :A -I - ' ff' Aw ' K - , pq. Aj, I 1' ' Q , . . K i ,Jw ..VQil,L13-, .H 4 - +..-- Q ' x , I ,lA ,A - . twig,-'ff ,,7,,... A .V ,, L I , .1 - , ag: VA. 45, Ah., - 1 - I , , ' K, HQ . ZX ::, ,.f-as ,' 'AA .'-A-nw: 'A'--its f 1 4. -L, A A I s.aAv.v.-i :sew-'Pfrr-A AA . .A - X , I-'..2:QY.f,:, 235Zli5,:3g3i5gg'th uigr'-ffSM:+5, ,,Q5, fr. -' , , W . 4 wHH5'?Zi ..'g:'1'2EiFAWf ,i 1, ff' A- A A 4 ' ..,,.f A A 1 'rf ' x .,i,S-49.2, A :--f ' C., , 4 ' ,,. i.As2A,3?f1zg- Q W 1 .wifgxi-Pff'AA ff' 'fav' .f v ws ...L ,,yf7:gqi-,gym .,,..f-P. .. '.,f,fAs:n, 1g.,1'. ' A' ' A f - P i il-. ,L'.Y:1g', f'iE':7 . . -- '. .1-ah, ,lx - '-- - ,. A, , if. VA- Y: , .A ,,i..'-,:,-r.-A33 .A warm Q N 'r 'fi' ' 1 ,. r, i..,'5gz.v'1'f:wgA A .l jf ' ' jAz ,Aff Q Soon the requisite time for operations was up and we left the quiet, green island of Trinidad, gliding out through the same chan- nel that Columbus had used four centuries before, more recently frequented by German U-boats to the extent that it had become South America's Torpedo Junction. Headed now toward the States, the ship was ridden with a strange malady of the sea known as channel fever. Symptomatic of this disease is an immoderate urge to sunbathe, a pro- nounced hoarding of currency, a remarkably cheerful mien, and a sudden concern over the cleanliness of one's blues. Once again Boston was the field of opera- tions, this time the stay to be short. Some of Fortune's favorites got home on leave but it was the briefest of leaves. Each liberty was carefully spent, and it may be said that the crew of this ship made a name for itself in Boston. In spite of the excellence of Boston as a harbor, as a liberty port, and as an excellent place in which to execute one's task of conl suming a certain amount of the world's bottled goods, the time came for our Hnal departure. There were, of course, those who were loath to leave, some intimating that we needn't be in such a bloomin' hurry, this was going to be a long war, etc. But it was farewell Boston, and Salem, Roxbury, Field's Corners, Quincy, Scollay Square, good- bye to more Irishmen than there could possibly be in Eire, to the cab drivers, those stout fellows, and to the Navy Yard workers with their fiendish pneumatic chisels and burning torches. No more would we borrow ten and end up at the Ship's Galley at the end of Summer Street, watching some ass put the fiftieth consecutive nickle in the juke box for the inestimatable delight of hearing I've Heard That Song Before. Assign this ship to what home port they will, the Bunker Hill will always be connected with Boston, at least as long as there is a sailor that lived aboard her in those entertaining days and can still tell lies about the liberties that he threw there. ' So off we were, to the wars. At Norfolk, our Air Group came aboard quickly and with- out fuss, and once more we headed down into warm water, not to leave it for more than year. Gperations at sea now were routine, ,every man I-it into his job. There were some nCW faces, some of the old were gone, and WC whiled away the time as we headed for the Panama Canal. Arriving at the city of Colon, .-r i sf..

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wget a drink of water about two in the morn- ing, On the other hand, it must be noted that the seamen, by unanimous agreement, asserted that all of the shortcomings of the deck divisions devolved directly upon the divisional bos'n mates, and as it is heresy to Speak other than harshly of bos'n mates, the matter must go at that. In this manner, it came to pass that the Bunker Hill slipped into ways traditional with Naval life. The men soon found little places on the fantail, on the gallery walkways, and in odd spots below decks, in which to spend little snatches of time in the horizontal position, for which position the crew seemed to have developed a remarkable affinity. The Chief Petty Uflicers settled into comfort- able positions, drank prodigious amounts of coffee and told outrageous lies with perfectly straight faces, and the junior ofiicers became scarcer and scarcer when it came time to censor mail. The ship was contemplating going to sea. The last liberties were more than slightly alcoholic, as everyone endeav- ored to make up for an indeterminate period of time that was going to be lost. We'd have done more had we but known! Boston was finally left behind ina haze, and after the ship had been at sea for a day, it was found that the underway routine was considerably less hectic than the in-port routine had been. The event of immediate interest was the embarkation of the Air Group, an event which gave some concrete meaning to all this Vast expanse of deck. In the bright haze and occasional squalls of Tidewater Virginia, we fought the Battle of Chesapeake Bay, charging to and fro near Wolf Trap, all hands crowding the island structure to watch the amazing show of a flight deck in operation, positive, at first, that each plane would never make it. The flight deck of a carrier is, and probably always will be, the most un-Naval thing in the Navi'- Isis more like a football field than a ship, with the definite suspense, the colorful uniforms, the uproar, the strange hand and arm signals, the occasional applause and cheering for some nice timing, and of course, The Press- BOX-that reviewing stand on the fifty-yard lme-Primary Fly. The payoff is the way that people stream out onto the flight deck after a flight has been landed, and the action 1S over, identical to the manner in which spectators stream out onto a football field after a game. Except, of course, that no one offers you a nip. Norfolk, the most abused community on the face of the earth, was found wanting in some particulars connected with liberty, and many harsh words were spoken regarding it, but it was noticed that a very small minority of the liberty section stayed aboard. One bracing Spring day, Point Henry light- house was left abeam to starboard as we headed for the Gulf Stream. Soon the air became warmer, and the incredibly blue water of the Stream yielded clumps of char- acteristic weed. Flying fish broke the surface and were eagerly pointed out, with some amazement. Smoothly the Bunker Hill sped along, testing her myriad mechanisms, ad- justing and examining, training her crew, getting to know her squadrons, finding con- fidence as a ship. The shakedown had as a terminus, the island of Trinidad, one of the most historic of the British VVest Indies, and something in the way of an adventure to many of the new young men of the crew, most of whom had never been out of the States. Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, British West Indies- all were foreign and therefore slightly mysterious names. Consequently the crew collected souvenirs of all descriptions, currency being the most common and coconuts the most edible. A swimming and beer party allowed the lads to scurry about ashore and the returning boats were heavier by many cocoanuts, bananas, limes, mangoes and papayas-all in various stages of maturity. Une extremist put an end to a sort of contest that had developed on the trip down. The more rugged members of the crew had broken out and sported sheath knives of

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seven days out of Norfolk , the ship was rigged for canal passage, and the crew was decked out for a brief liberty. Scrambling down the brow and toward the gate, liberty-bound sailors found rows of taxis Cvintage, 1922- '27j waiting passengers. Every cabbie got a full load that night as they took the boys into the city, where was staged a ding-dong, jumbo- size liberty, compressed into a few hours. The next morning the Canal passage was started and throughout the day, navigation experts cropped up minute by minute, The big blue-gray carrier bumped, slid and sweated her way from Cristobal to Balboa with several inches to spare, thanks to the unerring eye of the canal pilot who had a special bridge built out over the flight deck from which he did some of his trickier conning. After a one night stop at Balboa we headed out into the Paciic, a three-ring aerial and Naval circus descending on us as we pulled out. Army lighters made sizzling passes at the ship from all bearings and angles, PT boats raced madly about, churning the water and laying smoke screens. No one was qui-te clear as X M ff fx? ff lei 3 .f N5 Q e, 45' ri? X9 AQ: . 'L' XX' V -.if 'r' , S 'Q J. 5? a '.,f-I 1 V N 1 I' fu Q., 4 H! ,.l1,!, kv!.. m y if f A in I 1 'T ' X im? Q , 5 f ' 1 X 65 4 . f if 'ii' K t' J f a f ' I X K' i W 1' V X to whatirn hell was going on, but the effect Was startling and impressive. Most of the planes managed to Hy under the deckedge elevator at least once, convincing uS that the pilots had at one time or other been Man- hattan cab drivers. After we had Wearled Of craning our necks and gaping, the, Plfmes formed up and Hew off in a more dlgmfled manner. The PTs executed a few fancY turns, blew off a little smoke and raced by, the crews waving us good luck. 'We had one more States-side stop, San Dlego, where there was a last chance to get 2. good drink of cow's milk, make a few phone calls and do a little shopping before the honeymoon ended. Our first taste of war Caine immediately in the persons of the CBS, W o turned the carrier into a transport, Camping cheerfully on the hangar deck, so we all settled down to a showerless voyage and got jolly well stinking together-lbut literally. One pleasant morning, Oahu loomed over the horizon, a mess cook dashed below, and in five minutes everyone's whites were ready! The thin bright line of the beach became more distinct and soon we were pointing out Diamond Head as though we had seen it before. Leaving the swept channel, we slid slowly into Pearl Harbor, picked up the pilot and solemnly gazed at scarred Hickam Field, found our berth, got lines fore and aft and the bull-horn dismissed the tugs. The gang- ways were rigged and began disgorging the CBS. Away they went, their hands no doubt itching for bull-dozers. Everyone longed to dash madly ashore, sprint out to Waikiki Beach, ride in on a twenty-live foot breaker and spend the after- noon drinking rum and cokes under a palm tree, observing the pretty ways of the natives. It was later that we learned the bitter truth. One day a carrier force slid in and we gazed at the veterans of a RAID! Now no one could keep up with the scuttlebutt. We did finally leave the enchanted isle, our stay productive of an accumulation of various articles made of native print cloth depict- ing the lives of the natives who Hacpliarently did little but dance the hula and d e away the day riding outrigger canoes. Someone carpingly pointed out that much of the stuff was made in Hollywood, but he was un- doubtedly an isolationist. We left, feeling not too badly about the Whole thing. Underway, the watches settled down to routine periods during which one must re-