Bunker Hill (CV 17) - Naval Cruise Book

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1 l 3 1 Q I 3 l s l l l 1 i l l l ......-.-- .,, .l 1 i l.. lk . . - k s uadron and aviation engineers' Chuc lilhrlow, CBM, the Hangar Deck, Chlef' and Bill Stolzenburg,AMM1c, his assistant, were the deck bosses, aided bY an assortment, of plane directors who were adept at threading planes through the jampacked hangar with a minimum of Dilbert accidents that brought out raging engineers to replace a smashed stabilizer or bumped wing Stub- These directors, all of them crew leaderS SIHCC commissioning, included Joe Fernicola and Donald Dinges, AMM3csg C. E. Lambdm and D. E. Mitchell, CoXs'ns, and Johnny Surrett, BM2c. Two other units whose work attracted less attention but was as important to flight op- erations as any other were the arresting gear crew and the catapult gang. The arresting gear gang did its job with a high degree of efliciency, learning many tricks of the trade under their first Chief, Vincent Prevetti, whose 18 years of experience won him pro- motion from CMM to Warrant Machinist, and transfer back to new construction. His place was filled by quiet W. E. Smith, who came aboard as a first-class aviation mech and rose to ACMM. J. E. Toczek, W. R. Braun and B. L. 'Burow were the AMM1cs heading up the crew. The Catapult crew, saddled with a new type of machine whose peculiarities under heavy use had to be learned and mastered in the combat zone, was ably bossed by F. P. Zimmerman, ACMM, whose long exper- ience with all types of machinery, and his innate mechanical practicality were of im- mense value. M. D. Harsh, Art Engelgau, and T. S. Jones, AMM1cs, were the bull petty oiiicers credited with maintenance and per- formance of the intricate and powerful Cam- pults. Fox 32-in coininission-roger. Talkers at the Status Board and at the VF engineering desk, erase a line on their black- boards, chalk in an oc , and another plane ij ready I0 fly. Fox 32-a husky Hellcat-had returned from the afternoon hop, its wing blasted to hell and the fuselage riddled by debris thrown up by on exploding f7ap gunihoa. Bwig following dawn, if ,flew anotherfghu-r' 1? ' Jlxla ,imrnu in that. .Yo glansor. I! zamfaf, it mf fffwff' 'ff 'W -fed I wvdm lzuml on the sfirk, and wen! hflaw- -if UTI ,m.,.j,5 amy' ,W-fgl,t111t'!l1.i' Iooh' utter, Ill! BBQ was f1.f,tf.t,m1', and work started. In Ihr shadow, baruish ligh! of the hfmgar' rink, sl wing gg clianged, an mginr w'lli14-ffmfnf wwf, flflflws Inge palrlml u jr. .in armmg threw packed the gypsy will: lllflf' 11lr'.1'll'l4'4lI!?f' ltntlfal, Gnd Wdkllgd while two men with headsrls rlamprd to their ears-hdf1'le1l wilh Ihr radio. From some Corner came a rrew of men ,making a gas hose through the forest of wlirels, pol-rd Ihr brass nozzle into tlzirsly tanks. Up forward the homhmgi and arming crews, 'Yreslf' from Ihrre hours of sleep, gulped ho! coffee as they awailrdllzr bombs that vm due up from the nmgazirirs al 17200. Bring 'em up, send 'em lopsidr, do all the numer- ous little things izeressary to insure proper op- eration ofa lflllfllmll, l000wpound bomb--all in lhc' pilflz-blafk of Ihr-fllghl deff. Fox 324 sr'r in roirinizssirin roger. To the vast and relatively unrecognized V-2 division falls the responsibility for the servicing and maintenance of the carriers hitting power, keeping aircraft availability ll the highest possible peak. Working long hours through the night on engine repairs, fighting the thick blackness of the flight deck to ser- vice planes for the first strike, the men of V-2 get little of the glamor of carrier com- bat, the thrill of watching a flight rendez- VOUS in the murky dawn s-finale of the COP' side's big show. 'l'l1cy've more work todo. Their satisfaction will come from the pilot? thumbs up okaying engine pcrformtmlf bomb release and gun operation, when 59 lands back on lioaril. .The Bunker Hill's YJ2.-li gang had it! 59' gmnrngS with the first squadrons at NNW' R'!ll1Ci'JC Igommamler Major and Cornmlw . .' . - i ' on t V -k. agdanowith, lulgfy. AU Qu-agp een s WPCF. freely mixed squadron and personnel to build an ace maintenance sion. Tirelessly fighting the bugs af tht dl,

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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

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Helldivers and Corsairs, with which the eidrws were equipped, was a trio of en- ollicers: big, competent Lieutenant John Lacy on the skittish fighters, quiet cap- able Lieutenant Cjgj Tom Balhizer on the bombers, and the pipe-smoking Lieutenant G31 John Dink Flint, trouble-shooter extra- erdinary. Directing them and constantly devising means for higher aircraft availabil- ities was the good- natured Scot- Dutch workman, Lieutenant Fred Rick Davidson, :ze Q-fe, i who was division e.,4,N head until relieved A by Lieutenant Com- .. ' manderRobert Glen- ' --as - 1 1 denning just before a ' l shakedown. Glen- itee -------.-------. denning held the as- signment until his transfer, and Com- mander Frauenheim, then Lieutenant Commander, succeeded him when the ship headed for the combat zone, holding the job until he was made the Assist- ant Air Officer, when Davidson again took the division. Additions to the oliicers' roster included youthful Ensign E. Kremzier, assigned to the bombing engineering crew, and round- faced, cheerful Ensign M. E. Piper, who went to the torpedo plane unit. As in any good Navy machine, the import- ant cogs were the enlisted men who carried out the orders and saw the job through. The muster roll of CPOs and rated men who sweated out screwdriver-and-wrench time and held responsible posts in the various V-2-E units is long, and a complete summary is nearly impossible. But to name a few: BOMBERS: Chiefs H. M. Watts, Jimmy Milligan and Red Rolando, of the ship's com- pany, and Chiefs Piercy and Red Griffith of VB Seventeen laid the groundwork for the Bunker Hill's pace-making use of the SB2C when other carriers were refusing to accept them. Cliff Jacobs made ACMM on the bid' of his work with VB engineering, as did H. L. Besselievre, now in charge of V-ZEB, who bc- gan his care of the ship's aircraft when two SNjs at Squan tum comprised the complement. FIGHTERS: First the Corsair, then the Hellcat, occupied such mechanical experts as Chiefs H. A. Wade and Henry Hobson, both of the ship's company, and VF 8's Odom, Barker and Fitzpat- rick. Chiefs F. R. Malosh, H. F. Harris and E. E. Gerner made their rates while aboard, keep- in' 'em Hyin'. TO R P E D O S : Chief R. Frenchy LaBrie bulled the ship's VT engineer- ing gang, with A. J. Csontos and R. Kane, also ACMMs, helping direct work on the Avengers. SHOPS: Chief Al Allen was in charge of all electrical work on the various types of planes, and a full house of miracle workers manned the metal shop. R. M. Doles, the Rebel, was senior CPO until transferred, when C. A. Smith took over. Jack Ballas and W. C. Kraut made ACM with the ship, just reward for their work in the metal shop. Up in the parachute loft, E. W. Cowart, slim PR1c, bossed the functions of that important unit, and D. G. Keeling, AM1c was in charge of the oxygen shop, where all maintenance and servicing of the high altitude equipment was carried on. Both shops were under the supervision of Ensign Piper. ACMM C. C. Smoky Phelps, one-time bomber specialist, was put in charge of the large crew of plane captains whose loyalty as Hellcat-Helldiver-Avenger nursemaids prob- ably is best exemplified in the case of Sheldon Miller, AMM3c, who rode a fighter right over the side, in a vain attempt to brake buck- ing plane while the ship was under attack. -Qilvi'