Bunker Hill (CV 17) - Naval Cruise Book

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akcn new carrier of this class, his job Was f C. W. Pete FlYnnv ommunication course at over by Lieutenant Cjgl graduate of the c Harvard. n . V. h Although the work is closely allied wt! the Air Department, the group that kept the plane radios functioning also was part of the t, Lieutenant Communication Departmen . Q ' William Yeagley and Chief Radio Electrician Waters spent many a night before a strike at the enemy climbing in and out of the air- craft, testing and approving their radio facil- ilities. ,Radio,1 Electrician Davis and Chiefs Gawlik, Mesher and Scott did top duty in keeping plane radios operating efficiently as well as assisting the maintenance .of other radio equipment. Originally, the ship went to sea with Radio Electricians Max VVebb and F. Kelly, who both won promotions to Ensign, and subsequent new duty. One of the nucleus of old Navy men who contributed much toward getting the Bunker Hill well started on its way was the original radio material oHicer, Lieutenant Miller, who supervised the installation of much of our equipment and ably answered so many of the questions in the early days. His years in the Navy qualified him for a new billet in early 1944 and he left for Statesside duty. Those who have the impression that to keep the vast amount of visual messages whigh the ship sends and receives moving is a life of ease are advised to strike for the rate of -signalmanl That's what they do, the men technically known as the K-2 Division. Signal officer through most of 1944 was Lieutenant J. I. Slattery, who, on taking over his duties found a group of signalmen who had first been trained, and then polished in the language of the flashing light and semaphore in a manner which left little to accomplish., Lieutenant George Webber wa the ship's first Signal Officer and his efforts in the days prior to commissioning built as adept signal force from a combination ii' recruits and men with the theory but HUT or no practical experience. The man ' - C responsible for so much of the skill Jointly that Was 3 40 demonstratetl was Chief mgkcr, a man of lung experience in and his buys can the ivfkilt rdacsd Lieutenant Slattery was the otiicer, succeeding to the your Dfw ant li. P. Kmart! and lacuteaam H, Berry. junior tltvtumn u5irtrl in ig Division were Lieutenant thigh! and lrnsigtt ll. A. Mihtttlicf, the of the Shglfs planknvmcri and Mcvighil more recent atltlitnm to the dqmrtznmg, The yeumcti, along with the formed the third internal section cmtfthelfq. munication llcpartttacnt, known gg :ht Division. 'liltr minute tifllil Ind mtg required in at murtntartial pnx'eadil'lg, supervision nc-ccssary for snmuth OQJCTIQM di the Captains and thc lixerutive Oioefz oliices fell to these men. Chief Yeomln . 113' if was the nrst mar of the Executive 0555. Ofiice, and always seemed to know how wb thmkls when no one else did. Hi! yilflu the work for the Navy were helpful B GW- lng the men who for the mo-pt part the Personnel tif the office. The Ch-if l-011 WCW construction, to lic followd Hl'renCh5 ' l-C lim-uf, Chief Yuan!! mOVec'l up from first class since abfmffl H! Quincy. .fhc central nfiice on the ship, 68 tamis Umm- WHS llivcn a sur-restful another ciqicrienced man If H A ln? .Clerk Koster saw that till legal fm this oliicc stayed unnvidr s 3 TCT being promoted to Plain turned to the States and his

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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

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w -.....,.............,..,....a. . V .,..-................ ... . -. - --.-a.--- - M.,-,f ......, -M hi V u-in-1--11---1-. 4 V -' H - 1- ff - J 'v - ...,- .4' ' la Yeoman Hill, duplicated that performance by also making Ensign and returning to duty aboard another carrier. Ship's Clerk Garrett succeeded Koster and Chief Massa became his assistant. The ship's printers are a willing and skill- ful crew who have earned a high reputation in the fleet for the excellent craftsmanship of THE MON UMEN T, the ship's weekly paper. Printer First Class Chandler and his gang de- serve much credit for that, as well as for the eliicient handling of the large amount of work required by the ship in the printing . .YYY Y-.-:.A:...Tm, 4 ,riff ---- .-.....-,.2.....--...af -Z-:.,...... 5- ...... .T..T,-.Z1 ,tx ' ' U . ..'. Q- 1.2142 .ii--.. .... ,... , ., LM., ,..,..,..--M w -,.- , - --- ----f---M ,,.. . ., ., --a. . f - -. -- - --- - ---f --- ..Ma-.A.,-. . -- - - - - V.. , ...... ---. M, . ,, . , ,, .. .. . . .M , . ...-a.......c-............., ...V K .. .... .,.., ,, . . 1 .-.la .--.fl-----:L--:::3...:.-..-....a...r-. -..'U'..... '. .... 31Z'..LT..T'.. , .. TI,T,'TfT', ,'TT.'T. ,Qf 'i'l.ffflZ'L'1flT.f v ,W ,, V .1 ,nw , . . - A I, -I M--... .. -J, N --J - A -an ,, USN 144 If y W If-A N. V A ...fx A up . ' 1 I' .fi-4 ' , e 1' , ' .ff ' line. Lieutenant Bill Berry was the K-3 Division Gflicer, assisted by Lieutenant Cjgl R. O. Herstine, both communication veter- ans. The lirst print shop officer, Lieutenant Qjgj C. W. Johnson, Spent his last day of duty aboard the ship in May. He received orders to new construction of another carrier in this class, the USS Bon Homme Richard. One of the most important jobs in the Communication Department is Ship's Secre- tary. Actually a part of K-3, the extent of the work and responsibility rates it as a separate unit. Lieutenant A. J. O'Connor gave the job its beginning, his experience aboard the old Wasp nominated him for the original assignment to the job. However, when Lieutenant Cjgb John Gott reported for duty in Quincy, it was decided that he would assume the duties of Ship's Secretary. The task of overseeing the work of the Executive Oflicer's ofiice falls under the title of Executive OHicer's Aide. A mid-year ad- dition to the Ship's company, Lieutenant R. M. Blake, handled this work, also considered a part of the Communication Department. He came aboard after a long stay on the beach at Munda, succeeding Al O'Connor who held the job temporarily after the original Aide, Ensign Roger Prouty, left the ship for new duty. The daily press news is also a service fur- nished the ship by Communication Depart- ment personnel. Lieutenant Cjgl Flynn and Ensign McVickers, who alternately edited it, will tell you that it was thoroughly maligned almost daily. This they consider a high compliment, however, for it means that the paper is closely read. Each day radiomen copied the best parts of several press broad- casts which emanated from the West Coast. The exploits of the Bunker Hill Ship's Post ofiice have long been known by most. This service also fell under the cognizance of the Communication Department. An estimate has been made that from time of commissioning through the first combat year, more than 100,000 letters monthly were mailed by the oliicers and enlisted men, and that they received an average of nearly a quarter of a million letters each month. A record was established for a single delivery on December 10, 1943, when the ship re- ceived 56 mail pouches, each containing ap- proximately 8,000 letters, and 625 bags of parcel post, magazines and newspapers. The Post Office handled 31,000,000 worth of money orders during the past year, a sum greater, on a percentage basis, than that credited to the New York City Post Oliice. Stamp sales amounted to S75,000, with 570,000 of this involving air mail. In one day, the Post Office sold 343,000 worth of money orders, a mark which still stands. On an average day, 54,000 in money orders and stamps are dispensed.