Bunker Hill (CV 17) - Naval Cruise Book

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the . mit to active combat was taken to CON? f hi mate who dee the mortal remains o a S P gavle his life to establish peace on earth, aid as the ship surged westward through if bright night, vainly hunted by an enFmy 1? the air and under the sea, the feelmgsuo many were expressed by 9- mall who Saldf God has his arms about this ship. S , ,, ,, , t, ...p 5 . , , ,,,, ,K , , .., i,T'f'i3i3' Y3l'lY'4Nflil1lllllllllilii lriirfifi' 4 l 32 Eqfygirsmi . 'fl it l P liiliila li tl' ,. .- lQifgfl.: gli V llilllfqlfi ig w fi?T t ' f5f1QSlQLm' ' g , as - , p--rr-I., li 1 lp! i i. ' f d dx I U up l ike .tj .f .1q ' 44,2 iii f ee i emi li oor i fi if i' fElE 1 ,Q e eeli 1 we :A -t .1 -. at Nl W'-l K-4' A i. .1 ' I i ff ' 5 -.--M-1 X f i X x Q ix V li il .I . i f i . Into the hands of two Chaplains, Lieuten- ant Commander Floyd Dreith and Lieu- tenant J. J. Quigley, was thrust the respon- sibility for the spiritual welfare of the ship when it sailed from the States. Chaplain Dreith was with the ship in pre-commissiom ing days, as spiritual leader for personnel des- tined to become part of the ship's company as well as the organizer behind the limited social activities of that period. He came to the Bunker Hill with wide experience, having served on a battleship, a heavy cruiser, a destroyer, a destroyer tender and at a Naval Air Station during his previous six years' ex- perience. He held the pastorate of a Lutheran Church in San Diego before joining the Navy and his knowledge of matters civil as well as Naval have served the crew in excellent stead when men faced problems of general welfare or marital, financial, physical and mm-af troubles. Chaplain Quigley left his Catholic parish at Syracuse, N. Y., in April, 1942, to join the Navy and served his first year at the Naval Air Station, Norfolk, before joining the ship just prior to its shakedown period His enthusiasm for all things worthwhile soon manifested itself in the wholehearted manner 1n which he entered upon his duties. Out- standing among his many contributions to the welfare of the shll' his Nw Q tion of 'lilllfi x1uNl?Mr.NT, which editorship WHS fff7 5n'wd pubhcly 9 3 the l leet's outstamling shirfs Late in Aulwili Ch'l'l'l ' lllh. lieved hy Lieutenant R. li. Delaney, vi of durv at San juan, and I few Yi Q Chaplain Dreith received orders L Executive Uriicer of the Chaplains' TIIQ School at William and Mary Wd, iamsburg, Virginia- T he obvious friendship and close mga.. tion in all things, spiritual and tempmll, between the two Chaplains hu done Q to enhance the cause of true Chfki aboard the Bunker Hill. Chaplain lilelanefs quiet manncr,hix elm- ness to continue the extra,-curricular work af his predecessor with as much interest md: him immediately popular. l..ieutenl.nt Cm- mander H. M. lforgy, a veteran of some ef 2 ' , , . , . .. L ,..,,.a......,-Q-.M-,--N g , .. ,., ,.....,..., Maf--.-..... r . . .1 ...,,,....f-.w--.f-.-.aff-M., X .,.,, ,.,....-..-...,..,-..-to-4-una' Ji WW' t ' l i t is ' sw mn- V 4 V, fa-v-w,1m-uu-auu- ,N -Q f-.. :EXE ,AA 1 ...A li.. 14,44 ' it V . 'r .i.. .ilia-Z' Q C H , ' i .V,, a afjrjeza T itty-gg.. ' if D A Q n Q . , ll i i R K Q 5 5 Q. igqgggss V, . 'f ' a 5 5 Q D I Q ix 5 5 5 5 1 0 A A A E , , , ,,,,.+-iq:-vw f i . .- .mga-neiik 2 , 3 V f ---shi li ii lag . awp... ff,,,.q-wwf' the hot and heavy Pacific actions in part of the war, relieved Chaplain but remained ahoard only 3 ghgn time, Causing his transfer from the ship the hands of men such I8 Alb Splflfllal and moral welfare af tht Hill s personnel Wag aggqrgdl

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ii iii 4,Ii'ii i'A'fiif' afili Nfbfi' ... N b if i i 'Tc if C H A Pi , A I N S 1' if Q5 .. ,A 5.-. is Q, g 2 ,Vg MW-Alf: A ,Mm Nvjhs K, ,., as , V, . I J . V 2-M -.. MwM4z,, T 't t ,,gs-- ff- f i' I4 - . . -ff e X31 l . H lf ,JJ -1 r - .-.aff . ,,..AW ' i Q Q' , 1 , 7 g ff N, f K, 1 1--ff .1. I .1 i ' '1 i i't .,,, ' Yi!! 'vw ,,.,,. - f 1 f L f I f v f ' ,f ,X O OTLC CCLTI TYICCLSMTC their true value to the ship The call to worxlzip has markea' a frequent ana' regular interval in the oft-times hectic life aboard the Bunker Hill. t was obvious from the first that the Lord was on our side and men eagerly sought expression for their dependence on the Master, and found in Him great strength and courage to tide over lonely hours of routine and through the business of battle. From the time of commissioning, the Com- manding Officer insisted that each man, re- gardless of creed, have reasonable opportun- ity to worship God in accordance with the dictates of his conscience. In addition to the regular Catholic masses and Benedictions, and the Protestant services and devotions, Christ- ian Science readings were conducted weekly and Hebrew services were held. Before each engagement, a prayer for all hands was said over the ship's speaker sys- tem and on the vast, dusk-shadowed flight deck, in the nerve-strained ready rooms, on the gun mounts-men stood with heads bared as their hearts and minds joined in the prayer for Divine guidance and protection. In their rooms, the Chaplains spent many hours with men who sought the comfort of God's word before carrying the attack to the enemy. At the regular Communion services, or in the bare surroundings of a small room, men made their confessions and received new inspiration on the eve of battle. In the mind of the individual, some service may stand out due to his own particular need at the time, or to some blessing which he re- ceived therefrom, but in general we will re- call the Memorial services for our departed shipmates. The late afternoon, for instance, that virtually every man not on watch stood on the Hight deck to pay his respects to those heroic men who had failed to return from missions. To see and hear those several thousand men raise their voices in the Navy hymn, Eternal Father, Strong to Save was to feel instinctively that men of such devotion could not fail in their appointed tasks. Strangely enough, too, a new religious sig- nificance came at Christmas when the ship was deep in enemy waters, retiring from its first raid on Kavieng. A brief moment from N.,-I .... H .-u..,.-mga, -

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COMMUNICATIGN Through these men we received orders to jig ht - and mail from home What's the garbled word? -the Navy'.s hoary jibe at all communicators, stood as mere gag material aboard the Bunker Hill. ngzmwwwmmum aw, aj..- v. ,L -2. he transmission and reception of all messages that came to, or left, the ship was the major duty of the De- partment, but in addition, the Com- munication Department was entrusted with carrying out many of the administrative de- tails Within the ship's internal organization. A pair of communications-wise officers headed the Communicators through the ship's first year in combat. Commander Porter Lewis, USN, held the post from commis- sioning until May, 1944, when he left for the stali' of Commander, Fifth Amphibious Force. An Academy graduate, he was a vet- eran of that type of duty, coming to the Bunker Hill from Recife, South America, where he had headed Naval Base communica- tions. His successor was Lieutenant Com- mander V. J. Cheek, who came aboard from the U. S. S. Belleau Wood. Prior to that he had logged solid Navy experience in the At- lantic, adding to civilian training and exper- ience in radio and broadcasting. The Communication Department breaks --,.mamvuyww internally into three groups: radio personnel, signalmen, and the yeomen, the latter group including the ship's print shop, and the Ex- ecutive OHicer's and Captain's ofiices. Assistant Communication Officer and Radio Officer, second man to hold the job, was the Pacific veteran, Lieutenant James Veitch, who has a continuous record of sea-duty since his graduation in one of the earliest V-7 re- serve classes. A destroyer sailor of twenty- eight months before reporting to the Bunker Hill, he succeeded Lieutenant L. E. Harrison, who reported to the ship while she still was at Quincy, and whose experience aboard the U. S. S. Ranger contributed much to the or- ganization of the department. He left the ship for new duty in May, 1944, going to Jacksonville, Florida. Lieutenant CjgD Neil Hartley, former as- sistant in the Radio Division, graduated from the Special Communication School at the Naval Academy, and organized and trained the radio gang in a thorough manner. VVhen he left for duty in the commissioning of a