California (BB 44) - Naval Cruise Book

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ST 01- 6 Q mem, 0 4' at A H gf.-F' va G H-'nur 1 M - w 'K L A Q? 496 oshns OWN' NTRODUCTION ww ' A., , Zz T cy if Q DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY 'Q uss CALIFORNIA CCGN 367 A M? W af ' I FPO AP 96662-1 163 IN REPLY REFER TO: ,VI N I October 11, 1994 Dear USS CALIFORNIA QBB-44, Crewmembers, Relatives and Friends, USS CALIFORNIA is still at sea! At this writing USS CALIFORNIA QCGN-363 is operating in the Western Pacific as a member of Task Group 70.4, the USS KITTY HAWK Battle Group. The past few days we have been operating east of Okinawa, in waters probably not unfamiliar to you. CALIFORNIA has been deployed to the SEVENTH Fleet since late June, and God willing, we expect to return home to Bremerton just before Christmas, 1994. During this deployment we have made port calls to places you might remember: Singapore, Yokosuka, Japan, Chinhae, Korea, Hong Kong, and Buckner Bay, Okinawa. Unlike you, we haven't been called on to repel an attack or attack an enemy, but like you, we have kept our systems ready and our powder dry. You would be very comfortable with the 45 officers, 49 chief petty officers, and 523 sailors in today's CALIFORNIA--because they are very much like you, displaced about a half a century. Despite the technological changes in the ship, sailors are still sailors: They work hard, they goof off, they get dirty, they look sharp, they joke around, they become very serious at their jobs, they always have fun on liberty, and they have pride in their ship and in themselves for the job they know they are doing. As we are proud of the job you did in your CALIFORNIA, you have every right to be proud of what today's CALIFORNIA sailors are doing. The biographies and stories in this book give a human face to the histories of the War in the Pacific. They give us a glimpse of the hardships, fears, successes and joys that made up your lives in USS CALIFORNIA QBB-441. We in USS CALIFORNIA QCGN-36, are conscious of the heritage you have left us, and pray that we will always be worthy of your name. God's speed, Fa' Winds, and Following Seas, 4 Y A. WALLACE Captain, U.S. Navy Commanding Officer

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5 msgs. PUBLISHER, S MESSAGE 1 KL Ia! I All Turn erfp ' q5o2y443-0121 Po. Box 3101 15021443-0128 Paducah, KY 42002-3101 The American fighting spirit is justly respected around the globe. Gur refusal to accept defeat, under all but the bitterest of circumstances, is the stuff of legend. The battleship USS Calyfornia is uniquely symbolic of this spirit. Commissioned in 1921, she set sail with a promise of hope in a world that thought it had fought the War To End All Wars. That promise was broken in the early morning light of December 7, 1941, when the Calqfornia was among the proud vessels mercilessly hammered by the Iapanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. But like the phoenix, the fiery bird of myth, the Calfornia rose from the ashes, and after major reconstruction, sailed again, to deal blow after grievous blow to the Iapanese until the Allies emerged from World War II victorious. Our thanks go out to Mr. Harold Bean, Tumer Publishing's contact with the USS Cal Qfornia Veterans' Association. While this book addresses the other vessels that carry the proud name Calyfornia, its main concerns are the battleship and crew that contributed to some of the greatest naval battles ever fought. To you and your fallen shipmates, this book is dedicated. Sincerely, Dave Turner President Publishers of America's History