Bunker Hill (CV 17) - Naval Cruise Book

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VETERANS SET THE PACE - hrough the pre-commissioning period, duf- ing shakedown and in combat action, it was Commander Smith, who paced the air operations. A volatile, practical malji the heavy-set Warrior pounded the deck Wlth all the stamina and vigor of his big frame- Uncompromising in his demand for a fast- stepping, efficient organization, Commander Smith Worked unceasingly, driving himself harder than he did his men, to create that team. He measured operations in seconds and fractions of seconds, and tirelessly strove for perfection in every phase of operations. Even as Air Boss, he retained his interest in expediting the drudgery of deck operations and you often could find him on the Hight deck, bearing a hand. His right bower was a survivor of the old Wasp, Lieutenant Cjgj Paul Bedwell, USN, a wiry, iiery, one-time Boatsvvain Whose eleven years of flight deck experience were of ines- timable value in the training of the Hight deck team. He was its wheelhorse until his transfer to the States near the end of 1943, and under his tutelage Lieutenant Wallace C. Mitchell, Lieutenants Qjgj E. Cardon Walker, Steve Miklausen and D. W. Browne were Whipped into leaders of a fast-operating V-1 division. Succeeding Commander Smith as Air Of- ficer was square-jawed, quick-moving Gil Frauenheirn, who had come aboard as Lieu- tenant Commander at San Diego for a visit, remained to take over the V-2 division, moved to Assistant Air Boss with Com- mander Major's transfer, and had the de- partment leadership thrust into his hands by Fate. With it came a spot promotion to the rank of Commander, to lend him weight in the unnumbered discussions of operations, and to complement the ability. that qualified him forthe silver leafs. His first assistant was Commander P. P, Pete Barrick, conscientious, steady work- man who had reported aboard in April, 1944, and was completing a tour of duty in the various Air Department divisions when M stepped up. ln September, 1944, he received 0,-del-5 to a sister carrier, being relieved in Qctober, bv Lieutenant Commander W. E, Bertram, USN. veteran carrier pilot and ern. while Belleau Wood flight deck officer. Four units comprised the V-l division, whose primary concern vias aircraft trafiic and control, V-1-A, the arresting gear crew, V-1-C, the catapult crewg Y-l-ll, the Flight .1 5 1 - --- , f 1 , deck handling crews, elevator operators, jeep and tractor drivers, and Repair Vlllg and V-1-H, the hangar deck crews handling sim- ilar duties. Qi, 'U' THE UNIT LINEUPS SHIFT The original administrative lineup found Commander Smith as V-l ofiicer and, head- ing the units, Lieutenant Cjgj Walker in ar- resting gearg Lieutenant Mitchell, the cata- pultsg Lieutenant C-igi licdwell, the flight deck, and Lieutenant Rushmore H. Mariner, the hangar deck. As time went on and trans- fers .were afiected, change in the lineup of division leadership make recapitulation read like a boxscore. Stocky, imperturbable Rush Mariner moved to V-I ofiicer when Com- mander Smith became Air Bossg Lieutenant Percy H. Clark, Mariner's first assistant, t00k over V-1-H and later the division, with bulky Lieutenant ljgi Victor A. Hughtih former Chief Machinist and Clarks assist' ant, aSSuming the unit otiicership near the close of the first vear, a Lleumnanlf tial. Niklatisen, after A mart pprentlceshlli' as J- O., took Over V-l-A, 1115

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vw X-Nwafw-'!E?2!l 1r , .-.un 21 1 i launching schedules. As a team, comprised of the men in bombing, gassing, maintenance and handling crews, it met all competitors. And the crew's greatest pride was the ful- fillment of their boast: The best flight deck out here. -xslt' 4. 'REL' THE CREWS LIKED SPEED f they grumbled when an extra patrol was transferred to the Bunker Hi1l's schedule, they consoled themselves with a record of never having given one of their hops to another carrier. On such performances as taxi-aheads and respots their interest in the time consumed was as great as Primary Fly's, and highest praise is justi- fiably theirs for the part they played in the Bunker Hill's outstanding record of air oper- ations. ' To Commander M. Carson, USN, the ship's first Air Ofiicer, and Commander W. O. Smith, USN, its first V-1 division officer, must go major recognition for the building of that record. It was Commander Carson who picked the team, ably mixing green, in- experienced men he interviewed at various training centers with veterans, many of whom he had known in previous duty. Astute, thoughtful and even-tempered, Commander Carson was concerned over the smallest de- tails of operation, one of the contributing factors in the creation of an Air Depart- ment second to none. He moved to the bridge as Executive Ufiicer on january 15, 1944, and four months later was ordered to a carrier unit as Chief of Staff, winning the eagles of a Captain in the transfer. Working closely with him in the creation of an organization and in smoothing out the team performance between divisions and units, were Commander C. H. B. Morrison, USN, his assistant through the pre-commis- sioning and shakedown periods, Commander A. S. Major, USN, who directed formation of the V-2, or aircraft service, division as well as organizing the Fighter Director and Air Plot units, and who later became the Assist- ant Air Officer, and Commander Smith, a veteran of the original Hornet, whose hangar and Hight deck experience made him ex- 'K .-.. .XA p I ,Q .wi-'w ..:ii::E:Y . ,f.. 4 ' A Q'L,p.1fTE'fi i i . r g' 5 , X Q-5-2555 if , ai ...i I ---- A 1 , V w ,t,:p,?j W, ,.., 51 if-i15?i lit? 7?ff'il .. A M G 1'.y4.sy'., X . H, K' ,fe . i i . ' ..-'. -sr v . ggi. -'Mug 9.4 All g A A i 5 4 I 4 'ii' . f' fr f' ' X ,Q Avfzfgin ull,-xi, M .,,:sQ,,3- vi, ,iff , 4, , 'f -iff.f W 'L LY 5 Tai . W . 2 I gf? f '-:af A if? tremely valuable in readying the units for combat operations. Under their direction the Air Department, spread up and down the East coast in june of 1943, was assembled and trained, and re- ported aboard eager to take on the final polish necessary to meet the high-speed de- mands of combat. The Air Department early caught the first characteristic of any crack team-a compet- itive spirit. The earnest desire to become proficient fired plane handlers, mechs, arming and gassing crews with drive and enthusiasm. The bugaboo of internecine squabbles and feuds never existed, even in the most nerve- strained days of combat when fagged minds and bodies easily might have led to explosive brawling. There was, as there should be, a veneer of family shadow-boxing that quickly dissolved when any member of the clan was challenged. 29

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intense, hustling Blackie Walker became V-1-D junior officer under popular Lieuten- ant A. R. Land-Pappy Middleton, athletic officer who switched from V-4 to V-1 late in 1943. Middleton's transfer to a Naval Pre- flight school in the early summer of 1944 left the V-1-D unit in Walker's hands, and Lieu- tenant K. A. Hashagen reported aboard to take over Fly Two and athletic duties, mov- ing to Fly One on Mitchell's receipt of orders in August. V-1-C remained in the hands of Lieutanant Mitchell throughout the first year, until he was relieved by Ensign Howard J. Nelson, Jr., and proceeded to duty at NAF, Philadelphia. Primary job of the Walker-Miklausen- Mitchell team, over and above direction of their specific units, was management of the flight deck, the control of traflic and the direction of crews topside. Walker assumed the duties of Flight Deck Control on Bed- well's transfer, playing the key liason role between the schedule makers of Flag and Air Plot and the translation of their orders into flight deck trafllc. Miklausen handled Fly Three, the gruelling direction of aircraft out of the landing gear and up the deck, and the precise business of spotting for launchings. Mitchell worked Fly One, launched all flights and directed stacking of planes upon landing, and the flow of air- craft aft for respotting. Repair VIII, included on the V-1-D mus- ter rolls but a distinctive unit of its own, was the small, alert crew headed by Lieu- tenant Cjgj Browne, bomb demolition expert and Air Department flre marshal. Its func- tion was in effecting rescue of personnel from crashed planes, clearing away wreckage, fight- ing fires and making emergency repairs to the deck when damaged. The blonde, gag- loving Brownie stayed with the ship until August, 1944, when his long-awaited orders to flight training, and his relief, Lieutenant Cjgj William Pitscher, arrived. Browne and one of his crewmen, Slc C. H. Martin, were awarded the Navy and Marine Corps medal for one of their many actions in emergencies. Fast-working, genial R. E. Howell, AMM 2c, was the bull petty ofllcer of the unit. Working with the angry, deafening roar of engines in their ears and fighting the blast! of slipstream that could tear the shirts off their backs or blow men helplessly down the deck, the crews of V-1-D well deserved the words of praise so often spoken by observers watching the machinery of a flight deck op- eration. Flight Deck Chief J. D. Tex Sadler, ACMM, youthful Wasp veteran and Texan, headed the crews and paced the work I C51 an . or .4 X x - f a 'r . Y, 5. la X Q ,pl Y ,N ff it .1 . , ...gl - ., .1 ' 1 . , J V 1 I ' ' K' -,A Q, 'ju' , sn-, 1, gi mb . F. 5 V p 1' . ,, 'QU Q 41 . eggs? sr: . 1, - -Ra'-. . if -, H a -- i :'m'.f'?::, i .is ff ..- it -'S' 559' ri? If' J ,p at if gi - ,- Q .Q , a i, ,, .11 M. ,. -3, a f as .. ,A . H ,.-M I ,iii ,c , 4, ,i,,,,,AL . . H .7-4 V -A I 1 K4 , 5 a- N Q, Y, . . .ff-'J . .A 4 I , I ., of the spotters and directors. Among the latter were burly A. H. Pete Kludjian, BM1cg stogie-smoking P. E. Penza AMM1cg quiet Frank Niadna, AMM1cg wiry H. I. Bud Lofton, BM2cg Frank Renz and James Ellison, AMM2cs, affable Charlie Almond, PtrV2c, and big Joe Scarba, AMM3c. It was due to their efforts that the crews main- tained a consistent record of top-notch per- formances, strike after strike. A .ff- 1 L. .r U 'sa' HANGAR DECK HUSTLERS Cn the hangar deck, a similar esprit de corps and hustle spurred the efficiency of V-l-H, the virtually anonymous backstage performers of the big show topside. Hand- ling planes as fast as they could land and be placed on elevators, the hangar deck crews were in position to make the flight deck look good or bad-and they always made it look good. They had such further bedevilments as working with only inches to spare between planes, and special spotting demands of the