Columbus (CA 74) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 71 text:

i Mjri r- 1 ' • 1 ¥ if ' • ! ' • ,, . Tlthough the Tare Division is one of the smallest divisions on the ship, it is still one of the important cogs in the wheel it takes to run a Man-of-War. On these men ' s shoulders rests the responsibility of installing, servicing, and maintaining the ship ' s electronic gear. Under the able supervision and instruction of LT E. S. BAILEY, RELE C. E. hHORN, and E. L. MchHUGhH, division LPO, the division has strlved to keep the ship ' s electronic gear in proper working condition at all times. The division has been sub-divided Into three smaller groups to increase Its efficiency. The men in fire control, with the assistance of George LeMaire, service the radar equipments which are used in the directors to control the ship ' s gunfire from the mighty 8 down to the little 3 . The men in the communications gang stand watches in Radio II and are responsible for servicing and setting up the desired frequencies on all the radio transmitters and receivers. They must necessarily spend much time up on the masts, repairing the transmitting and receiving antennae. There have been quite a few changes in the communications personnel, but the gang operates quite smoothly with E. K. Francis in charge. Lastly, the search radar gang, headed by Ray Thompson, maintains the ship ' s navigating and early warning gear. They too, spend a lot of time swinging round on the masts servicing their radar antennas. The quartermasters on the signal bridge run for cover when an ET goes up the foremast. It seems a couple of our boys have dropped cans of oil and paint from the top of the mast without paying much attention as to what was below them. The electronics workshop is located between the soda fountain and the crew ' s lounge and houses all the heavy test equipment and Important publications. It is here that the men repair record players and radios for their ship-mates and align and service the TV sets that are placed around the ship when we ' re in the states. The main home of the division Is Radio II — that ' s where the coffee mess Is located! All of the rated men have graduated from the Navy Class A School for Electronics Technicians. The school, which Is thirty-six weeks long, starts with basic math and goes right up through most of the complicated electronic circuits.

Page 73 text:

he Victor Division is the smallest division aboard the COLUMBUS. The division consists of two pilots and five crewmen for maintenance work on the helicopter. Our duty is only temporary aboard the COLUMBUS, being sent out from HU-2 Lakehurst, New Jersey. Upon completion of each cruise we are sent back for further assignment to other ships in the fleet. In charge of our division is LT R.G. Mellin who is also senior pilot. Our junior pilot is an enlisted man, V.R. Sampair, ADI-AP who is one of the few enlisted helicopter pilots, hfaving full responsibility for the maintenance on the helicopter is the plane captain ' s job. Our plane captain hH.V. Peterson who has a total of twenty-five months aboard the COLUMBUS with different helicopters and crew, also claims that she Is the best ship In the fleet. Under the plane captain ' s supervision are four crewmen consisting of three Aviation Machinists who are J.F. Holland, AD3, C.C. Schllilg, ADAN and C.E.F. Farek, ADAN, also one Aviation Electronlcsman J. P. Kovacs, AT2. Maintenance consists of repairing any minor trouble, to complete helicopter overhaul. Our duties aboard ship consist of delivering guard mail, plane guard for carriers, gun spotting, anti sub patrol, mine spotting, and last but not least personnel transfer. Our passengers vary from military personnel to royalty. The COLUMBUS, being one of the pioneers to prove the windmill ' s usefulness to the fleet, has done so. The windmills are here to stay and the sound of Flight Quarters Is now a major operation. So heads up and stand clear, the rotor blades have never lost a battle yet. OLRlGHT, f)LH QHT FORQOl