California (BB 44) - Naval Cruise Book

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.4 ,g 3'- it it Q1 if Il lil! I' it U :ig all-M We -amz 1. .V 1? -it rw! 19 -EFA E i Wall' ti-H ' .eff 9 il F' Y - x -fix g ar iw A 5' Q we , f, f .-- X ts r ff' - vs. Wx x X Si.. X fg x f,ff, r -,jf Sass? X W :Ng ts, x ss . js.: Q - ,f ffm USS California leading a battleship division in maneuvers ojfSan Diego, 23 October 1926. Overhead is a Douglas torpedo plane. lCourtesy ofHarold Bean.l At the close of World War ll, the U.S. Navy was incomparably the world'S strongest. Britain's Royal Navy, while still a major force, did not have the economic and industrial foun- dation ofthe U.S. Navy. Gradually, as its em- pire broke up, Great Britain reduced its over- seas naval operations. THE NUCLEAR AGE The U.S. Navy's only serious rival was the U.S. Air Force. Air Force lobbyists argued that future wars would be won with nuclear bombs, a strategy in which the U.S. Navy had no role because nuclear bombs were at that time too large and heavy to be carried by carrier- based aircraft. The U.S. Navy between 1947 and 1950 countered with plans for esupercamersr but was unsuccessful. NA VAL VESSELS There were six naval vessels to honor the State of California. They were the screw-sloop, the annored cruiser, the large converted steam yacht, the small converted steam yacht, the battleship, and the nuclear guided missile cruiser. The symbol of naval warfare from the turn of the century until World War ll was the dreadnought BATTLESHIP, named for HMS Dreadnought, the first of its kind, launched in 1906. This type of battleship, with a turret- mounted main battery consisting of a limited number of the largest guns that could be mounted and dispensing with secondary arma- ment, dominated naval warfare until the sub- marine and the aircraft carrier reached matu- rity. Battleships grew steadily in size and power, and sophisticated fire-control systems with optical ranging and electrical control were adopted, battleships continued to look much like the HMS Dreadnought, however, until they were retired in the 1950s. The battleship, an armored fighting ship of the largest and most powerful class, emerged in the 1870s as a separate and distinct class. lt could defeat anything else afloat, and it domi- nated naval warfare for seven decades until World War ll, during which the biggest battle- ships of all were built. lt name is derived from the line-of-battle ship in the time of sailing vessels, when ships went into combat in a line- ahead tcolumnl formation. The battleship was developed in the mid- 19th century when armor was applied to the hulls of warships- a step taken in response to the introduction of the shell-firing cannon. De- signers experimented with various armament and protection methods. At first, mixed arma- ment was use. French battleships, in particu- lar, resembled weird floating castles from which turreted guns of all sizes jutted out in every direction. Early battleship design cul- minated after 1900 in the creation of the dreadnought battleship. On the dreadnought, major secondary annament was dispensed with to make room for larger guns. It carried a uni- form main battery of the largest guns that could be mounted. Battleship strength was considered a ma- jor component of national power, and nations expended enormous efforts to build the most powerful vessels possible. The result was con- tinuous development. Larger and faster battle- ships were built, with improved armor protec- tion and increased offensive power. The gen- eral trend was toward larger guns, fewer in number and mounted in larger turrets. Design- ers sought the greatest destructive power while conserving weight. The British ship HMS Dreadnought, which put to sea in 1906, displaced some 22,000 tons at full load, had a speed of 21 knots, and mounted ten 12-inch guns in five turrets. The British Queen Elizabeth class, launched in World War I, displaced some 33,000 tons at full load, could make about 25 knots, and mounted eight 15-inch guns in four turrets. De- velopment reached its peak in World War II with the American Iowa class and Yamatos. The USS Iowa, fully loaded, displaced some 56,000 tons, mounted nine 16-inch guns, and could make 33 knots. Yamato, although slower with a maximum speed of 27 knots, displaced nearly 73,000 tons, making it the largest battle- ship ever built. The USS Calzfornia QBB-443 displaced 32,600 Cnormall or 35,190 tons Cfull loadj with a best trial run of 21.46 knots and a main ar- mament- her reason for being- consisting of a dozen separately sleeved 14-inchl50 caliber 81.7-ton guns mounted in superfiring triple turrets, two forward and two aft. All U.S. Navy battleships were decommis- sioned in 1958 as the development of long- range missiles threatened even the most pow- erful ships. The USS New Jersey returned to service briefly during the Vietnam War as a specialized land-bombardment vessel. ln 1981, Congress appropriated funds for recommis- sioning of the USS New Jersey and three other battleships as part of a general naval buildup. During the Persian Gulf War in 1991, the USS Wisconsin and the USS Missouri were used to shell hardened targets in Kuwait, firing cruise missiles as well as guns. The USS New Jersey was decommissioned in 1991, and both the USS Missouri and the USS Vldsconsin were decom- missioned in 1992 as a result of a reduction in military budgets. The USS Iowa had been de- commissioned in 1990 following an explosion in one of her gun turrets. This ended an era of battleship history which included the distin- guished service of the USS Calhfornia CBB-445. ln their period of dominance, battleship fleets were screened by squadrons of armored cruisers and unarmored destroyers. The cruis- ers of the two World Wars were essentially small, fast battleships with lighter armor and guns and assumed an antisubmarine role equal in importance to their function of screening the main fleet. Aircraft carriers, used tentatively in World War 1, became major capital ships in World War ll, deploying powerful squadrons of dive bombers, torpedo bombers, and fighters. Car- riers dominated fleet actions in the Pacific and were also important elsewhere. Today, carrier-

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FROM THE GRIZZLY BEAR - ON BOARD THE USS CALIFORNIA , DPLCEMBER 20, 1921 lN0te.' The Grizzly Bear was the daily newsletter producer! by the crew on board the .shipj DOES RQMANCE EXIST IN THE NEW NAVY? HA newcomer in the service remarked in our hearing recently that there is no more ro- mance in the U.S. Navy. We take issue with that hasty statement. There is romance in the U.S. Navy to- dayg not, perhaps, the romance of days gone by, but the new romance of a more compli- cated time to which we have not yet adj usted ourselvesg The romance of speed and power and modern miracle, the romance of disput- ing the skies with the petrel, the albatross and the sea gullg the romance of disputing the depths of the sea with the life that lies below. f'Man makes his own romance: the op- portunities are all around him and in infinitely greater riches today than in any other time in history. This is the age of steel and electricity in the U.S. Navy, as in the old days it was the age of wood and sail. The motive power still skies, only it is Electra that is enthroned in- stead of Boreas. But Neptune still rules the waves as he ruled them when Jason sailed from Iolcus in Thessaly, or when the galleys of Venice went forth to war upon the Landlocked Sea, or when Spain sent her galleons across unknown waters to carry the Cross and Sword to heathen peoples- to bring back blood-stained cargoes of gold and silks and precious stones. '4Wood is a kindlier fabric than cold steel- or so we think who have not yet adjusted our- selvesg and we miss the sails our youth ro- mantically conceived as the motive power for ships. A man may have served on a sailing ship, but he is so constituted that his traditions die hard, and somehow as his battleship glides effortlessly along he looks aloft for the spread of snowy canvas that should be there, but is not, and never will be again. Adjustment will come, howeverg in fact, it is on the way, and will be fully here as soon as we fit ourselves to the new era. There are many little things in the U.S. Navy to help, the least of which are the old traditions that still cling to even the latest type of superdreadnaught. Here and there throughout the ship there are quaintly named ujim-hick- eys and one hears odd phrases that recall days when the fighting ships of our U.S. Navy were making imperishable history. f'They have almost obliterated the memory of sails on a battleship by the mechanics of the fighting-mastf you would need a lively imagi- nation to rig a suit of sails on that lattice work! But they call it a mast.,' And while no frigate or corvette ever sported a smokestack, we yet cling to the old Hgun ports. 4'When the admiral comes aboard ltis side boys that line up to do him honor, although the boys are long past the age of marbles and their tooties are no longer bare as they used to be when Captain John Paul Jones came aboard his good ship Bon Homme Richard and a bos'n still pipes him over the side. We may quench a thirst at one of the new- fangled bubblejet affairs that modern hygiene says are better than the old battered panniken, but we still go to the 'fscuttlebuttv for a drink. And if we get a tummy ache from unwise in- dulgence in an up-to-date battleship chow of cucumber salad washed down with lemonade and topped off with ice cream Cshades of the ,salt-horse kegj it is to the sick bayv that we carry our groans. NA while back some official busy-body who never used bil ge-water for a chaser after a beaker of alky, nor ever had tar rubbed in his hair, tried to have the U.S. Navy Hmodemizew its time-honored nomenclature by changing, for instance Htopsidel' to Hupstairsj, but he got properly squelched. Hang on to the old names. They are links to the great past. The shades of John Paul Jones and Farragut still make their rounds of ships of the U.S. Navy Calthough they must miss the van- tage of the old poop deckj, if it be true that folks come back to visit again scenes and things they loved in the flesh, and so long as the shades of those beloved heroes of our U.S. Navy would the quarter-deck, be sure the U.S. Navy will have its romance. 4'All we need to get in touch with the new romance is the spirit. This has nothing to do with wood or steel, nothing to do with sails or turbines, but it has to do with men. They say the old breed is dying out- that the men of today are not like the men of yesterday, but in the essentials this is not true. If one thinks that U.S. Navy men today are flabbier of fibre and less able to Hstand the gaff' than the salty breed of other days, he must have slept through the exalted and heroic deeds of our U.S. Navy dur- ing the late war. The men of today have a different view- point form that which the men of the past had, they are the product of far different conditions than those which obtained in the days of John Paul Jones and Farragut. In all the essentials of red-blooded manhood the men of today are as strong and fine as the mighty men of old, What is needed is that they play the game hard as it was played in the old days, and that they take the same pride in their craft of man-ol-wars-men. f'Machinery in the LIS. Navy today does much of the work that of old was done with muscle- and thereinlies the danger. Flabbj. muscles mean flabby souls. A Navy is not a thing of wood and sail, not a thing of steel and juice, but a might mechanism fabricated of men. -Ed Gallahern THE CALIFORNIA l' I dreamt I saw thy awful form Athwart the horrid ranks of war. I saw thee plunge into the storm And blast its hideous clouds ajar. I heard thy dreadful thunder roar, Thy lightning shocks of shot and shellg While all the land shrieked red with gore. And all the seas yawned down to Hell. Almighty Guardian of our fate! Great God, whose goodness we pursue! Preserve the fortunes of our State And grant my dream may not come true! Give us the work for social zeal. Which prospers fair and happy life, And from mad strife sustain our vveal! The world has had enough of strife. Sail, Calpfornial Sail and be Defender of our blessed landf Protect our rights on every sea And prove our worth to every strand! Sail for the coming Golden Age. When love shall reign and war shall cease: And let thy frightful powers of rage Expire in universal Peace! -Albert Rupp, the slzzpycml poet. The Griggly Bear . December 20. l92l as K'omnzzuzic'r1rim1.v group lf'S,X' 'r Q' 5 X .. -X it 'T-stiff . , . C zlrlr mm it t7lll'ft'N'X' of lolm llfri'lzt'll l

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centered task forces are a major component of the U.S. Navy. Submarines played a pivotal role in the Atlantic in World War I and in all oceans in World War II, antisubmarine warfare absorbed an increasingly large proportion of military re- sources. This trend is very much evident to- day and has been accelerated by the appear- ance of nuclear-powered submarines. Radar, sonar, and sophisticated electronic sensors be- came part of naval warfare, and smaller anti- submarine vessels such as frigates and cor- vettes were designed. Amphibious warfare, important from Napoleonic times, gained renewed importance in World War II. Britain and the United States developed highly specialized vessels for am- phibious -warfare, notably the LST Clanding ship tankl for putting armored vehicles ashore on unprepared beaches. Tracked amphibious- assault vehicles were developed, along with specialized ships to carry them. Vessels of these types, recently joined by the helicopter assault carrier, continue to play an important role in the wor1d's major navies. Since World War II, naval forces have been profoundly affected by the appearance of nuclear weapons, nuclear propulsion, and guided missiles. The nuclear-powered ballis- tic-missile submarine is now considered a capi- tal ship in the navies of the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France. All of these navies also have nuclear-powered at- tack submarines. Ships of all types are now armed with guided antiship missiles whose range and power have rendered guns essential obsolete as a means of engaging major naval units. The nuclear guided missile cruiser, Calyfornia CCGN-365 is an example of the evolution of U.S. Navy ships and modern Navy tactics which accompany the new technology. Ac- tive, electronic defenses have replaced passive armored protection. Antiaircraft missiles have assumed the main burden of protection of in- dividual ships from air attack, supplementing carrier-based interceptor aircraft, themselves armed with missiles, in the defense of carrier task forces. While enormously increasing the offensive potential of naval forces, nuclear weapons have also complicated the problem of fleet defense, calling into question the con- cept of massed task forces. THE FIRST FOUR CALIFORNIA SHIPS THE S CREW-SLooP CALIFORNIA The first naval vessel to honor the State of California was a Civil War-designed sloop- of-war launched at the Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Navy yard on July 3, 1-867. It was originally christened the Minnetonka. The Minnetonka 's completion was slowed by post- war govemment economies. On May 15, 1869, the vessel's name was changed to Calyfornia and she was finally commissioned on Decem- ber 12, 1870 with Captain J .M.B. Clitz as the commanding officer. The Calyornia displaced 2,354 tons and as the first Calnfornia was 313 feet, six inches long which was a little under one-half the length of the USS Calyfornia CBB-445. Her beam was 46 feet with a draft of 17 feet two inches. Ship-rigged with sails, as well as a coal-burning steam engine which turned a single propeller, the sloop could make 12 knots speed under the very best of conditions. Her armament of 23 guns was mixed: two 100- pound rifles, one 60-pound rifle, a pair of 20- pound rifles, and 18 smooth bore nine-inch cannons. Her complement was 325 officers and men. The Calyfornia reached San Francisco via the Straights of Magellan on July 30, 1871. There she became the flagship of Rear Admi- ral John A. Winslow, whose USS Kearsarge had sunk the Confederate Alabama off Cherbourg, France, in 1864. Following a year- long cruise to Hawaii, Chile and Columbia, the sloop retumed to Mare Island, where she was turned over to Rear Admiral A.M. Pennock, commanding the North Pacific Squadron and Civil War fleet captain of the Navy's Missis- sippi Squadron. In November, 1872, Admiral Pennock took the Calqfornia out to Hawaii once more, this time to supervise the protection of American interests in Honolulu. The ship re- turned to San Francisco in May, 1873, where she was decommissioned. Two years later, in May, 1875, the Calqfornia was sold. THE ARMoREo CRUISER CAL1FORN1AfSAN D1EGo KA CRXCA-61 The second Calnfornia CACR-65 was the last of three armored cruisers authorized by the Naval Building Act of March 3, 1899, and the one designated to be built on or near the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Sponsored by Miss F. Pardee, daughter of California Governor George C. Pardee. The ship was sister to the Pennsylvania CACR-45 and West Virginia CACR-51. The California CACR-63 was launched on April 28, 1904, at the San Fran- cisco yards ofthe Union Iron Works. Follow- ing a delay in the completion of her outfitting caused by the great Earthquake of 1906, the cruiser was commissioned on August 1, 1907 with Captain V.L. Cottman in command. In a gleaming coat of white and spar color, the 53.8 million Caljornia displaced 13,680 tons with a normal load. She was 503 feet 11 inches long with a beam of 69 feet seven inches and a mean draught of 24 feet one inch. Ar- mor on the mail belt ran five to six inches, de- pending on location, while steel protection on the turrets was six inches, with nine inches on the conning tower. Her main armament con- sisted of four eight-inch guns in twin turrets, one forward and one aft of the superstructure. The secondary defenses featured 14 six-inch guns arranged in easements, seven to a side, plus 18 three-inch quick-firer guns and two 18-inch submerged torpedo tubes. Two three- inch anti-aircraft guns would be added in 1917. The two-shafted vertical reciprocating engines and BW, type WT, coal-fired boilers gave 23,000 indicated horsepower, sufficient for a seldom-achieved speed of 22 knots. Bunker space was provided for 2,075 tons of coal. Though the vessel was originally equipped with two military masts, the foremast would be removed in 1911 and replaced by a cage mast which, together with four funnels, proved the ship's most distinguishing features. Berths were provided for 47 officers and 782 enlisted personnel, although in the years before World War I, the ship would be lucky to have 370 volunteer bluejackets, including flag comple- ment and United States Marines. Following the Shakedown cruise, Captain Cottmanls proud new vessel took part in a May, 1908, San Francisco naval review. Shortly af- terward, the Calgfornia became the flagship of Rear Admiral Giles B. Harber, commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet. That fall, she ac- companied the U.S. Armored Cruiser Squad- ron on a short Pacific cruise to Hawaii and Sa- moa. The cruiser would spend much of her early career as a flagship in the Far East and Pacific, serving on those routine training and flag-showing cruisers common to many Ameri- can vessels prior to World War I. ln early 1910, the CalUfornia's top two officers were rotated. Their replacements were destined to achieve illustrious naval stature. The new captain was Captain Henry T. Mayo. He would become commander in chief of the Atlantic Fleet in 1917 while the new Execu- tive Officer, Commander William V. Pratt, would be named Chief of Naval Operations in 1930. In the summer of 1910, the Calnfornia returned to the West Coast for a year of over- haul and what seemed to her crew as never ending drills which included division maneu- vers, target firing, director drills and night mock attacks by torpedo boat flotillas. Both Mayo and Pratt were transferred to other com- mands in the early part of 1911. In December, 1911, the Calyfomia departed Mare Island for Honolulu and in March, 1912. she continued westward for a brief tour on the Asiatic Station, visiting ports in China, Japan, and the Philippines. By August, she was back in San Francisco, from where she was ordered to Corinto, Nicaragua, to protect American lives and property dtuing a time of internal political disturbances. When the Nicaraguan troubles ended, the cruiser resumed her training off the West Coast, often slipping down to Mexican wa- ters when Mexico faced internal strife. On September 1. 1914, the Calnfornia was renamed the San Diego. in order to permit as- signment of the state name to the newly au- thorized battleship. Thereafter. the cruiser con- tinued her intermittent service as fleet flagship until a boiler explosion forced her into Mare Island for repair. The ship remained in re- duced commissionl' through the summer of 1915 after which time she resumed her flag- ship status until February 12, 1917. when she was placed in reserve. The San Diego is reserve status lasted less than two months. She was returned to full com- mission on April 7, 1917. She immediately began operations as flagship for Commander. Patrol Force. Pacific Fleet. On July 18. 1917. the now largely obsolete warship was ordered. via the Panama Canal. to the East Coast. This