Hamlin (AV 15) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 34 text:

In ony ocTion, The enTire ship funcTions merely os o ploT- form from which To fire our guns ond The mosT essenTic1l men ond moferiol cxboord ore The gun crews ond Their bofferies. On ouxiliory ships such os This, There is no primory or sec- ondolry boTTery. From modern Worfime experience, iT hos been found ThoT our opponenf will oTTocl4 chiefly by oir. Thus, our guns were consTrucTed ond designoTed os duol- purpose wedpons. More imporTonT Thon The guns, however, ore The Troined men who Trock TorgeT, lood ond fire. Upon Their skill ond couroge under dTTock resTs The lives of hundreds of men ond quife ofTen, vicfory ifself. Poge .32

Page 33 text:

From our posiTion we could see smoke buf very liTTle fire. The plone hdd evidenTly corried cnly lighT bombs ond no oddifionol explosives. IT wos ci reol relieT To woTch The rcxpidify wiTh which The domdge conTrol porTy exTinguished dll Tire ond wiTh The hospiTol corpsmen, core Tor The cc1suolTies. In The mednTime, The oTher oircroTT vvos moneuvering dll over The sky, dodging Tlok ond Trying To geT inTo posiTion Tor dnoTher oTTock. The onTi-c1ircrc1TT Tire incredsed in occurocy ond volume while The Jop circled lower dnd lower over The wdTer. One wing dropped ond The crippled plone plunged inTo The vvoTer beyond The islonds in The some spoT where The c1mmuniTion ship hdd gone dovvn o monTh before. Spldsh one bogiel

Page 35 text:

LEFT TO RIGHT, FIRST ROW: Sletten, Fine, Gydosh, Savana, McCarthy, Beam, Ensign LeBlanc, Atkins, Stobaugh, Bensen, Eltrich, Lambert. SECOND ROW: Valentine, McKenna, Bernett, Suedel, Repta, Lavely, Benton, Pherigo, Kistner, Woods. THIRD ROW: Olstad, Mortiner, Czatt, Parker, Wood, Schlichter, Field, Couch, Coit, Mulnix, Beers, Danford. Throughout each twenty-four hours of the day, part of the ship's guns were manned by Condition Ill watch standers, Condition Ill being a state of preparedness for possible attack but with no enemy reported in the immediate vicinity. In addition, surface and sky lookouts were stationed at points of vantage about the ship, to see and report suspicious objects on the water or the approach of aircraft. Underway, look- outs also report ships sighted or smoke trails beyond the horizon. Much depends on the ability of lookouts and gun crews when emergencies arise. Those precious minutes be- tween the time an enemy is spotted and the General Quarter's crew take over would be sufficient for a Kamikaze or suicide boat to make a successful attack. llllNlll'l'lll The torpedo gang and a tin fish. Gunner's mates tear down a 20 MM for cleaning Page 33 Ill