Hamlin (AV 15) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 10 text:

X QQ? xx S EM F1 Page 8 N ii .--Am

Page 9 text:

In Communications is the Executive Officer's Office, under the direct supervision of Commander McKeel. The Exec's office deals primarily with personnel administra- tion. A few definite functions are: Details in connection with leave, liberty and recreation, shore patrol, transfers, service records, operations engaged in with medals and ribbons authorized and quarterly marks of all men. The brief summary of facts and figures below may be of interest: Received on board C-Day ........,..... 522 Received since .,.,,...... . . . 474 Reenlistments ........... . 3 Extensions of enlistments . . . . 1 1 Transfers .....i............. ......., 3 34 Passengers idaily averagel ............. 180 K tv fx it A lot of water has passed under the bridge since the days of the measure mile runs in Puget Sound up to the recent excursion up the mine swept i?l East Channel of Tokyo Bay, none of which could have been accomplished by any vessel without the Navigator and his right hand men, the Quartermasters. The Navigation gang is at its best when that always anticipated word is passed, Now go to your stations, all of the Special Sea Details. From the Navigator bent over his chart desk in the wheel house to the two .lM's on the port and starboard pelorus, to the Chief at the helm, it is a master display of teamwork. There's the bugle, we're underway, the Navigator hollers. Let's have a cut. The Machine is in motion. The bearings of navigational aids are called in over the phones and plotted on the chart. And there we are! It is not easy in the beginning when the quartermasters are up to their eyeballs in charts, instruments and publi- cations. The HAMLIN went into commission with a na- tional ensign and commission pennant run up by the QM's. From then on, it was a combination of watch standing, sea details and keeping the paint work up to par. The quartermaster of the watch-his duties? Picture yourself in an information booth at Grand Central and you have a fairly accurate picture of ye ship's quarter- master on the quarterdeck. Even had one salt ask us if we knew the name of Riveter No. 747 at Lockheed. When not answering questions, there's that notebook and weather log to keep up to date. Off duty hours find the Navigator and his men of the Chart Table, bringing charts and publications up to date, taking soundings around the anchorage, winding clocks and chronometers, unpainting that just painted pilot house and cutting all hands in on the latest dope. We leave you with a few last remaining thoughts. Quartermasters do not issue clothes, their scuttlebutt is always reliable for about ten minutes and the Navigator has been known to get a pin-point star fix. tHe framed itl. Hey! There goes movie call! 7 1- f 1' X Y ! Q IU, 4 li x f V it : LQ E! 1 , T: 4 2 Y : .. sw X Xxx xXxXxXxX X P4 I If jg WI ' ' On June 26, of 1944, the S Division of the Supply Department was created. But not the work. The pre- commissioning days were hectic, studded with hangovers and invoices, boxes and working parties, blueprints and requisitions. The mad rush to take the gear aboard, allot so much to each division and stow it in the proper storerooms forced us to forget the hours of the day. Moun- tains of airplane parts, toilet paper, oil, line, machinery, anything and everything which would keep a city living came aboard. Ship's stores such as ice cream, coca-cola and candy, barber shop and cobbler supplies, found a home on the HAMLIN. Behind the strong wall of the fortress called the BuSandA Manual, the storekeepers have fought a never-ending battle with the airdales over the problem of chits. For months on end at forward areas, the ship lived and kept a squadron in the air with the items the Supply De- partment had to offer without any extraneous assistance. Before that time, the outside men scurried to supply ships, combat ships, destroyer tender, and tankers to obtain the wants and wishes of each particular division. To demonstrate how much it took the HAMLIN to live on for the past year, here are a few facts and figures. The Disbursing Office gave out 24,000 pay receipts, stopped 285 allotments, started 750 new ones. Since commission- ing, over S937,841.37 has been paid out. Added note. 98 per cent of the crew have insurance. The Supply Office, heart and blood of the division in administration and coordination, was responsible for the availability of all material necessary to properly run the ship. Wing Stowage has on hand ten tons of structural parts while Aviation Engine Stores has issued approximately 500,000 pounds of gear. There are 4,000 parts in that storeroom alone. The Main Issue Room has over 1,000 items, from giant snips to leather rigging. The Soda Fountain turned over 24,000 dollars worth of business, selling a total of Page 7 375,000 cokes and 175,000 cups of ice cream. lt takes 14,000 poundsof soap and half a ton of starch to keep the crew in clean clothes. Page after page of statistics and logistics could be written, about the 27,000 packs of cigarettes or even 150,000 cigars which were chewed, chawed or smoked, or even the 20,000 haircuts which have been given. Untold quantities of food have found their way into the rotund tummies of all hands. From the-figures already quoted, we hope to have given some idea of how big a job falls to the storekeepers and the special service men of the supply department. The background and conduct of the personnel of the Medical Department is typically American. The farm, the city, the factory, the store and school, the mine, are all represented, and with doctor, obstetrician and corpsman, truly a cross-section of life is presented. During the first days at sea, the entire shelf of drugs was tried for sea-sickness, but the only improvement was in the distance they threw it. Soon, however, there was little for any cures. The crew was becoming salty. Sea- sickness was replaced by athlete's foot, trench mouth or heat rash. At Saipan we spent one night picking shrapnel particles out of two men's hides. Always there was the heat rash in warmer climes along with plenty of cuts, bruises, abrasions and confusions. Combat, but not Jap. At lwo, we had the privilege of caring for Marines wounded in the fierce fighting ashore. We saw their superb fighting qualities stand them in good stead on the operating table. ln addition to this, we were able to be of service, receiving, preserving and distributing whole blood Cover 200 quarts from lcyal friends on the West Coastl, caring for downed aviators, ailing small-craft men and wounded Marines. By staying close to Suribachi at night, we were usually the only available ship on occasions. Of the crew themselves: A dozen appendices and an equal number of tonsils were snipped out, and various other appendages were improved by'surgical intervention. Navy cat fever was ever present but never threatened to become epidemic. Fifty or more was the daily average sick call, except in liberty port. Like the rest of the crew we are sweating out that day when the HAMLIN turns her bow eastward and doesn't drop the hook until we are well inside that sign which says, Within the Continental Limits of the U. S. A.. And there we shall be content to lie and lie and lie.

Page 11 text:

r-DAY It was in Tacoma, Washington, on June 26, i944, that lite was breath- ed into a hulk ot steel, and the USS HAMLIN became a ship ot the United States Navy. Many things have been brought together to produce the unit ot ship and crew, and from that day forward, the existence ot either was to be ccmpletely dependent upon the other. A good ship with a good crew sailed from Tacoma, headed tor Shakedown, and tor the seo. 6 ifxxsvgi N S, . RMA. Q'-Q s , fr it .tfyttw ,cc by MR , 4 JA, 'X .. A , 5 S - 'K i '.-- M - +V x X ' X , N Xe Q x sh -' r Page 9