Bunker Hill (CV 17) - Naval Cruise Book

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1 ,,5,l,, 1 , .ji iijf' W .I. p i if -'-zt- i 5 'if i Pi 51 i If H ii ii ' iw: lil J gf:g'3 iiig N i .iiitiii iii, Fiiiii iv fi llfl i lg I l ji' WP 'iii ir, sl g iiiivl Qiiiz' 5 TH! , it H, ,,. i. wi is if iiiii iii 'iii Ebiiiff lifj '1. iifil illgi 1 Hi i l L il li it : .gi :til ' iii: if lg., , .4 iii i. .,, i,.,,, ii- i ,ii iligiiii ijllliili 4 . . 1 ' l lztl 1 :ii ig fi Partners-in-leadership for the division were Lieutenant Dennis A. Wagner, USN, fCOf1tI'0l aft efiicerj, Ensigns W. J. MacGowen, USN , and J. N. Clark. Willie Frank, BM1c, was the leading petty ofhcer for the deck hands, while D. R. Glover, CGM, wielded the divi- sion's big guns. When it came to forty millimeter guns, rugged individualism and ready-service liberty parties, Lieutenant Joseph H. Cahill and his Third Division won hands down. It was the Gunnery Department's largest division. Sev- eral of the Third's more rugged individuals took up weight lifting for a time Cthey were students at the Case Gymnasium in the Sec- ond Division's spacesj, but they were forced to give it up after Lieutenant Willard Healy went on a health campaign and pilferred their ..................,.,,,. -T..-Z.. , ,M,,,,,.M...-...- f H.-4 NL' W' -H'-Lf'-Si -fi'fL-2'--vi-'-----:iv-J.--.f --............----- ' -111 -.-i. 'f-i- i , ' ' xt, . , -1---------g L ki , ,,'., '!V 6 fl- '-F if :Z-,p-v:-2-'ll ' 'ei' 'M - - . 4 lx Xxx-Qllit-qi'-lips-:gg , 5' X -, is WXNVT-NIR A X X-s Ni- Nts . XXX -...Nm 5+-.,,k'w.e?,,oN'-1 -,,K . lik xx, Nsslf-ssl?-QQ-. weights. But they're Hghting men, and more than once their guns sent the Jap down in flames. Division Officer Cahill came to the Bunker Hill from the U.S.S. New York, a ship named after his home state some few years before his Naval career began. He served with the Atlantic Fleet for eighteen months before Coming to his present assignment, and during that time. he spent interesting cruises which ranged from North River's immortal Pier 51 to Scotland's Albert Harbor an Grande Jetee. Lieutenant Cahill's divisional assistants were Lieutenant Healy, Lieutenant Cjgb Ever- ett F ettis and Ensign John Hayes. Lieutenant d Casablanca's figi K. D. Higgins left the division this sum. mer. Key man on the guns was Pi. Clyde, CGMg and ruler of the fantail was D. W, Kauffman, Bhllc, whose sea details included rigging in and out the starboard gangway and tending the stern mooring wire. The next division, referred to in its own circles as the lfighting l ourth, is living proof that sidecleaners are made and not born. A casual observer might easily be led to believe that the entire division was orig- inally recruited from the trapeze tent of Barnum and Baileys-'ethey dangle from stages .............,,.....,...,.. ....,.c.. M-.- . , K. . . . . . .. .L .... .........W.,,..c-.... -W...-.......,,..........---. ,,w.e,,,,. ,,,, .A ,,,,-e. .........-,......-.-m.-....w,.. M . L...-,-..., . .L ...-... ig ii. , .,.. it,sim--e--f1i i'.fq ...... 33-A3737'W ' W ii. i Qi i e'e'r 'r'ft::T? '- ............,. L:::gig , ,ji f - .t v KL Q, , Q ,Nh My -- E M JM 'Q A 1 I -----li-df , it ge- i 2 37.2 ', Vu. 5 .. . I ,- U ..w...,e,fQE'-in in ' i V V Q .H J ' 0 wa wb and lines as they move up and down the ship's side, giving her a cleaning and paint- touching-up each time operations permit. For battle stations, these men man the after twenty millimeter batteriesg the hail of tire they are capable of putting up has frequently discouraged and sometimes stopped the heart- ICSE of Nippon bombers, ,Heading the Fourth Division officers WSIS Llsufenam John J. Hasiiurgh, of Kansas city, Missouri, who came to the Bunker Hill early U? 1943, following almost two years of exten- sive Operations in the Pacific on board the U.S.S. Minneapolis. VVhile serving aboard the latter, he became a veteran of virtually everl' engagement that the fieet had during the first Year of the war. Originally Lieuten- ant Hasbufgh, was Fifth Division ofiicerg 110 imc fo the Fourth after the transfer Qf 'eutemmt hd Epstein, who left the ship E0

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nlvo. Like the Gunnery Ofiicer, he came to the Bunker Hill early in 1943, and before the ship was commissioned he served as ofiicer- in-charge of the Gunnery Department for the Bunker Hill detail stationed in Fargo Barracks. These two oflicers were charged with the job of keeping in a lighting, trim unit the scores of gun mounts and batteries carried by the Bunker Hill. Their assistants were the division officers and junior division ofiicers of each of the seven major departmental units. THE ' DIVISION ORGANIZATION Lieutenant William Linenberg, formerly the Second Division officer, was leader of the keepers , of the forecastlej' the mighty ninety-man First Division. His team of huskiesf manned the forward five-inch gun mounts, took care of the ship's ground tackle, and handled a share of the mooring lines. Pre-war days found Lieutenant Linenberg making convoy trips down Pennsylvania Ave- nue in Washington, Where 'he was assigned for dutyg but early in 1942 he put to sea on the U.S.S. South Dakota, which was later to earn the title of the Mighty X, and blast her way to fame and glory in night actions off Guadalcanal, at Santa Cruz, and in several other engagements of lesser importance. Bill still occasionally harkens back to the night surface engagement, which he considers more of a nightmare than finding Mayor Hague on Rittenhouse Square, which happens to be in his home town-Philadelphia. Assisting Lieutenant Linenberg in division- al duties were Lieutenants B.pH. Ridder and Paul R. Levine and Ensign James Holbrook, USN, who, as their junior, claims a lion's share of the work. If you ask any one of them how many enemy aircraft the First Division has accounted for, the answer would probably be: How many planes have come after us in the past year? Stanley Capp, CTC and a salt from the word go, keeps 'em firing down on the mountsg and S. F. Scruggs, BM1c and line heaver par excellence, was the leading deck petty oliicer. They supervised a division which--as a Sec- ond Division man said one day-is first in more than one thing, especially the chow line. The lighting characteristics of the Second Division's senior ofiicer date back to his childhood in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he held a hometown record for knocking out street lamps. Lieutenant K. C. Casey Somers Cno relation to the at-the-bat poetized heroj is the man to whom we refer, and his after five-inch mounts claim one plane less than Tojo had when the war broke out. In spite of their burly enthusiasm, however, the Second Division personnel was a colorful unit. Their color dates back to a boatswain's mate by the name of D. L. Henderson, who was a Hrm believer that the four-stack destroyer could be and would be America's secret e.. ,.,.........,a .........,. va., .nm .,1,u..,. .......-..-...---.1 . ' in 'Tl'I '--l '- - --e-v:q,,.-:.- ,ff weapon. Henderson's school of thought car- ried over into more recent petty ofiicer ad- ministrations, and even today you're likely to hear about the ship such Hendersonia as: airplanes and ships ain't got no business lighting each other. Under Lieutenant Somers' leadership the Second carried on high standards of gunnery and seamanship. Their portside collateral duties included taking care of a boat boom and a gangwayg and they divided equally the live-inch gun mounts with the First Division.

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rug -rv-,vm E e 9 ii ,. ,. Q. a 5 fi if ci i Q 9. A fl S .enter Hight training in the summer of '43. Ensigns K. K. Hall and W. J. Nolan made up the supporting cast on the division oHicer's roster. Two Lieutenants, E. F. Brissie and K. C. Somers, who were Fourth Divisioners at the outset stepped up as Sixth and Second Division oliicers, respectively. Leading petty officer for the division was Ernie Laurent, BM1c, while P. McFarlane, GM2c, took care of the guns. . if N 'iff ,M THE FIFTH DIVISION LOOKGUTS Although its division ofiicer-Lieutenant Robert E. Thum-comes from the land of yawning canyons and singing cowboys, the Fifth Division doesn't particularly remind one of the West. Seeing the lookout experts lined up at quarters for muster is more likely to remind you of an Armistice Day parade in Brooklyn or an election day on Journal square in Jersey City. By and large they are Easterners-New York, New Jersey, New England, with a sprinkling of Pennsylvanians, Ohioans, Chicagoans and a few Southerners. They looked after the ship's boats, tended liferafts and helped rig transfer lines, but their main job was that of serving as sky and surface lookouts, As lookouts, they drew frequent praise for their excellence in air- craft recognition, taught by Lieutenant Cjgj Charles Simmer. The Division leader, Lieutenant Thum, was a veteran of 1942's Pacific battles, in which he participated while on board the original U.S.S. Hornet, and told occasional stories of Midway and Santa Cruz, the latter of which spelled the Hornet's death. During the period between duty on the Hornet and the Bunker Hill, Lieutenant Thum served on Admiral Halsey's staff at the famous commander's South Pacific headquarters. He hails from Rock Springs, Missouri. The division's two junior ofiicers were Lieu- tenant Cjgj Charles Simmer and Ensign C. C. Crandall. H. P. Vaughan, BMlc, was the division's leading petty officer. Fire Controlmen, the Gunner's Mates and Torpedomen comprised the Sixth Division personnel, not to mention a couple of Gun- nery Oflicer yeomen. It was their job to take care of and operate all the ship's fire control equipment, to maintain and take care of tor- pedoes, and to keep under strict surveillance the ship's magazines, which, for a fact, do not include Saturday Evening Post. When you brought these three units together, you had duties strung out from bow to stern, port to starboard, double bottoms to masttop. When you got the personnel of these units strung out, you were likely to have riots, tornadoes, horse races, rummage sales and some work done, too. Normal complement of the divi- sion was seventy-five men, most of whom were rated. Lieutenant Eugene Field Brissie, one of the first water-bound poets since John Masefield, who went down to the sea in ships, headed f ga . V 1 if -,V . xi. , V . , 1 Y' ' 1:-T if ' .-2 r f. ' . ' 2:33 f - .ef ..f .1 ' ,mf L 1 -3,131+-a, .-if . ff xy. ...-s,,...... . .I -we.. the list of Sixth Division officers. Coming to the Bunker Hill from the U.S.S. Arkan- sas-a ship whose fame flared up after he left, Lieutenant Brissie had behind him over a year of North Atlantic duty, including stays in the United Kingdom and Africa. He suc- ceeded Lieutenant W. H. Mack, USN, as division officer, Lieutenant Mack left the ship in 1944's mid-summer for further assignment. Also leading the Sixth Division were Lieu- tenants James Burgess, and Harry Hamm, Lieutenants Cjgjr A. M. Spore Qtorpedo ollicerj, and Charles G. Rodman, Ensigns A. L. Hage, and YV. L. Clary, Chief Gunner R. L.