Bunker Hill (CV 17) - Naval Cruise Book

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Q ' ctig After brief destroyer duty, he was mmm quite safe and sound.. T I Dean of the division was small, dx 1839 l. Tommy Lyons, ACMM, who was another Ol Commander Carson's choices from the AHB- costia roster. A keen student of all things- mechanical, he usually was the court of highest appeal in any discussion or experi- ment revolving about the planes. ARMING CREWS WERE FAST Among a strike-day's more interesting sight was the eflicient, time-defying operations of the V-2-A unit. To its men fell the respon- sibility for putting the slug in the carrie-r's hitting power, hanging bombs and torpedoes, keeping the plane's guns ready for instant action when aloft, and doing it all on the run. The diligent training done while the squadrons were forming in the pre-shakedown period, and the constant improvement of methods in the first days of combat, com bined to produce a topnotch outfit. Starting hours before dawn, the arming and bombing gang put in the longest hours on the Ship during heavy operations. A delay in take0H', H tardy returning flight could Wreck .a strike schedule if V-2-A WaS,unable to' do its rerarming job in unbelievably short minutes. Lieutenant Harry Yoe wry gh featured West Virginian, was the uniii fglipg majoring, with Lieutenant James Pow? Gr re-bombing operations. Powers wa rs, m ferred back to the States in mid s S trans- 1944, and Lieutenant C' T 5 ummm of , , is? . . rocket specialist, assumed his gosljggilgglzsg,

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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'

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1 I'91lNy 'ft ,- ? .isxsqnwt 5 ufwffiyi -2 , if saggy. if wafers-ge:-emimi: 5 etewmen, trailing their long hoses from risers, were the first to board amrning planes. Freeman's constant pres- gee on the deck, and his fierce exasperation dill inefficiency, characterized by as blast- kg a choice of expletives as the ship could bout, made good his frequent claim to other Bight deck ofiicers: We never held you up a damned minute! Berchtold, in charge on the hangar deck, did a similarly good job consistently, managing to have every plane glssed as soon as it was put into commission. I. F. Baumann, the magic metalsmith of the crew and boss of its Repair VII headquarters, made ACM in Gctober, 1944, in recognition of his ability. Backstage manager of defensive and offen- sive operations of the squadrons--and of the ship-in five critical fields, is the V-3 divi- sion, comprised of Aerology, Air Intelligence, Air Plot, Fighter Direction, and the Photo- graphic Lab. In a war the size of the one conducted in the Pacific, the aerologist can do as much for a strike against the Jap-if not more-as a screen of battleships. All that Flag Plot ever asked for was a nice, cozy storm to use as cover for the force while marching within striking distance. Successful master of this was Lieutenant W. A. Haviland, who suc- ceeded Lieutenant Commander R. A. Chand- ler, USN, in January. As Aerology Oliicer, his pride and joy was the week-long front he found for us when we first hit the Philip- pines. Pilots swore they needed no navigation boards, they merely headed for the biggest storm cloud upon returning from the target, dropped through it to 500 feet, and entered the landing circle! Keeping a constant check on the whims and fancies of the weather and trying to nurse the thermometer from the 85- degree point it held through our first year in the Pacific, was a quintet of plankowners: George Bellino, L. E. May, Clarence Pope and Pete Simonetti, Aerographers First, and Ed Stone, AER3c. First Lieutenant Charles Tenney, then Lieutenant Charles de Bretteville, headed the ship's Air Combat Intelligence oiiiee, that island nook where the prying eyes of visitors are as welcome as bogeys. Both Charlie! were top-Hight men, thorough, painstaking, efficient, and mentally geared for the long hours of briefings that preceded an operation, and the longer grueling hours of interpreting the reports and results of the squadrons. Lieutenant Cjgj R. H. Paschall, photographic interpreter, was added to the staff in July, r -.-1.-.-..-i-.1 5,-,,,. 1944, as photo missions began to assume greater importance. Office manager was the obliging, quiet-spoken Chief Yeoman Herb Reas, who reported aboard as Ylc, and pro- ceeded to win not only the fouled anchor of chief, but a subsequent recommendation for a commission. The ship's control of its aircraft aloft cen- tered in Air Plot, and in the Fighter Director bogey hatch, ofiicially designated as the Combat Information Center. From Air Plot, battle station of the Air Ofiicer and Assistant Air Boss, are issued the Hight schedules, the arming plans and the general direction of the squadron and Air Department operations. By means of telephones of every type, teletypes, Hsquawk boxes and radio, Air Plot stays in constant contact with every unit in its vast and complicated domain, aloft and aboard. Lieutenant Commander Robert Wood, '39 Academy graduate and erstwhile member of VB17, assumed charge of Air Plot as aide to the Air Officer in January, 1944, relieving Commander Major, V-3 division ofiicer until his transfer to the States to become Executive