Bunker Hill (CV 17) - Naval Cruise Book

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E GUN ERY ,K ,::--...-- ,t , hm ,,,. y ,,k,,m,t,,,,,,,,,,-,A , H -we s. dx dv 'M ----...,,, X A JN L xx Clime and again the gunners proved the knew their jobs well The long line, two abreast, halted. Several hundred strong and clad in undress blues, the string of young manhood stretched out from the very tip of the huge South Boston Drydock to the portside brow of a new carrier whiclz lay moored to the sides of the freshbf flooded dock. Her steel was a new and resplendent gray, her lines were sharp, interrupted evidences Q' power and kinetic energy. 1 W . ,W . . Y , -:....,....-v. ... .-.ww hen came a word from the quarter- deck : Bring them over the port brow. The line moved, single file this times and the Gunnery Department per- sonnel, having left their Fargo barracks be- hind, climbed aboard their new home-which for many was their lirst sea-going home. They came aboard, seven deck divisions or- ganized, including a Marine Detachment, and began the long, strenuous process of learning and practicing. Ahead of them lay a task that few of them could visualize, defending the ship against intruders that would find their way through a Hghter plane cordon . . . real enemy planes that would be shoot- ing at you and dropping bombs down a line of sight that always pointed at your right eye. They were undertaking a job that would re- quire twenty four hour vigilance, in addition to an expert knowledge of the variety of weapons provided in the ship's armament. Now these same men who a year ago were little more than boots are tried and experi- mm- W.-.-.. -.--an-f -F s...-,M ..,, -me Ja- 1-f.,a-,.,..fs.fg,m.,-ws-.. w.1,..f,...-.-...fav--..a S..-n,1......-...-....m. -,m.,.,,,.,,.,..,.,,, enced gunners. While they trained-there were tow planes and lifeless sleeves-it was beyond their scope of imagination to visualize what was in store for them. Track that imag- inary target . . . keep your sight steady . . . watch that low Hying torpedo plane . . . there come the dive bombers out of the sun-there! right there! now simulate reload . . . ah, hell . . . it goes on day afterday. Then one day of-F Hawaii they got their lirst taste of what real smoke from a burning plane smelled like. Subsequently, a memor- able November 11 came, and the heat of a South Pacific sun became more intensified. But some Vals came down burning, as did several Ka-tes and Zekes. From there the story is best measured by events, for weeks and months are hard to keep separated. A night oli' Tarawa, when between the ship and the sun sixteen tiny specks appeared, low on the water. These specks grew fantastically fast, and in a matter of seconds guns were blazing and the air was heavy with the smell

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ants, Ensign T. A. Sofos, 1944 Naval Academy graduate, went aboard the S. S. MafYland after six months in the division. is FOUR WARRANTS IN DIVISION Four warrant oiiicers were attached to the division: Electricians A. M. Plascjak, who returned States-side for duty, and L. E. Lentz, I-I. A. Manuel and R. C. Pennington, who was ':..'2.'Q-:7 - l- W cggggggfiiffifif Si' Si 45 1 P' A :U 4- ' 1 ,.:.,g.1.g. QL 7- Y 1, g M 4' A, ' iijggfi' -geifl Q ai is A 3 it , . - ' '- gf 159 497 -3' f izi:55Qi ., Mi'4'iA Qui . ig 5 ..ff,f::rgif:,:1 ' 1 ' ' w'g, 't,5' W, ..,,-. -.. .. - - l Q it 5- ,. ,A ' 'M' QQQvl?'w.'iL 1-3 Q , 1 .5 ,if . ,Q -: :iw V' Q A rffsgir I' ,gigE2'?i7ETiE fi-T? ' x '-- D. A i V ,f 444fig:.i4g,1.1,i.gii,i 555' t t if ,, L . .., I ...r...- 1 -. t --ee. -. gr.: ... .TT. ,gl-pgfigy .. . ,Y 5- ?5f'ff5Q.jf:f:if, t , lift detached at the iirst of 1944. Lentz, one-time battleship sailor, took charge of electrical dis- tribution and the auxiliaries and lighting in the machinery spaces, While Manuel majored in supervision of the I. C. circuits. Directly concerned with the maintmtamd the thousands of miles of electrical cable, gg the machinery and appliances nf Tilt zhipwm six Chief Electricians Mates and EM1c's who helped train the newcemuu. They included such Chiefs as C. A. Clark, Lowe, J. H. Brown, W. B. Garlington, L. D. Swinford, il. M. Croker and C. L. Pace, and the EMlc's H. Nise, lil. M. Woodman, C. VV, Wolfe, G. Renken, Finney, A. M. Adams, and A. P. Moylan. Moylan's caliber work won him promotion to Warrant Electrician and a transfer. JE- ALERT AND CONSCIENTIOUS Lieutenant M. C. Jorgenson, USN, Wim fifteen years of naval experience behind him, headed the unit the first year, with die exception of the shakedown era when Lim- tenant J. H. Millington, USN, ran the divi- sion. Jorgenson's j.o. was Lieutenant fjgl H. G. Dutch Phelps, Brown University graduate, who had been attached to Bethle- hem Steel Company at Quincy before moving aboard. Originally, two station officers also were on the roster, Chief Machinist L. M. Estridge, and Machinist R. A. Brumlow, both USN. Brumlow was transferred in March, 1944, however, and the combined duties fell to Estridge. Estridge joined Jorgensen and Phelps in forming an ideal combination fer engineering eliiciency. Alert, conscientious men of the M Divi- sion on many occasions prevented major cw- ualties to the ship's power plant by their tlwf- ough familiarity with the division's machlmfl' and to the men who helped train them MW go credit. A few of those who gave freely' ef their knowledge and experience include Machinist Mates F. Crane, W. E. Brennlfif Stuhli S. Wnorowski and P. M. Sdtw, S. Horak, I. L. Bocox, Gray, S. we Ostrowski, K.. F. Madsen, Gabarra, C. 0 and S' Baifczie, First Class Machinist

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, le l l i 'K xi. I 51 I l e I 2,1 il : I Q Y 5.4 .5 l 51 . F4 5. ali We f i, , ill l f I l, ill , . FE 1 is , all I lf! . R51 H xl 'w kr f lllggli 'alll .,,w, ,'. 5. 1 nu, iii- 7 if ll- - ui' r l. .1332 .--'::- 1 ,ff .mfr .gi 3 'Q li l l I l it i f 5 .l z ra' Ui il 23 lx' i ll l L 5 of cordite and hot brass. Five Betties had caught their last glimpses of a setting sun and were lost in an inferno of smoke and Hame sent up by our guns. The ship's war diary would show you accounts of many other sum- mons to- battle stations, of otheractions, and of countless hours spent by these men at their guns . . . waiting, when the enemy didn't come, and when he did come. The gunners have done their job well. Boss of the Gunnery Department was Com- mander James C. Shaw, class of '36, USNA, Whose experiences in war and peace constitute an odyssey within themselves. He succeeded Commander W.R.D. Nickelson, USN, last spring, both of these officers had gone through the epic battles of the U.S.S. Atlanta together, from her commissioning to her death oH Savo Island in November, 1942. Commander Nick- elson deserves a round of lasting applause for his job in organizing the Gunnery Depart- 'DFI ment. All during the pre-commissioning days, he, assisted by Commander Shaw, spent hours of unrecorded worry and planning, theirs was the task of shaping a new sea giantess for the fights that lay ahead. Commander Nickelson left the ship to become executive ofiicer of a new cruiser. Prior to his wartime duties, the present Gun Boss spent a tour of duty in the Asiatic destroyer fleet, where he came to know Hrst hand the temperament and methods of his present enemy. Manila, Mindanao, Shanghai, I-10ng-K0ng, and even Yokahoma were a few of the Far Eastern points he became familiar with. During a stay in Manila he was con- fronted with his first spur-of-the-moment com- mand, when he took a destroyer to sea for four days during a typhoon. COITlmander Shaw, who is a native of the Great Middle West CMinnesotaD, is both a capable leader and an efficient administrator. A tireless worker, he has always been aware of the .gf-1 ,JV ,fd J' -cur' I .. wr' rw' fl, 'ZH' Jgqfbi' , constantly changing needs of his departmentg he is a combination of an ideal student and a searching professor. Assistant to the Gunnery Officer was able Lieutenant Philip H. Bradley of South Orange, New Jersey, who came up from the First Division oHicer's post to take over the duties left vacant due to Lieutenant W. H. Mack's transfer. Lieutenant Bradley was a veteran of the Atlantic Fleet, having served aboard the U.S.S. Massachusetts before coming to the Bunker Hill. During his tour on the North Atlantic, the Massachusetts spearheaded the battleship attack on French Fleet units dur- lng the Hrst days of American landings on the North African coasts. Prior to 1942, he served with the Navy Department in Wash- lngffm, H job most Naval ofiicers only dream about. As control oHicer manning the fOr- ward director, Lieutenant Bradley chalked UP an enviable record, chief incident of which occurred off Bougainville when he brought down two dive bombers with one five-infill