Kawishiwi (AO 146) - Naval Cruise Book

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.., fa f 1 X 'I 5.31. Captain Melvin J. Carpenter USN

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as a laundry, tailor shop, clothing store, soda fountain, ship's store, library, U.S. Post Office, bakery, machine shop, barber shop, hospital, and hobby shop. The ship carries the most modern movie projection equipment, and nightly movies are part of the ship's routine both underway and in port, Though most ladies won't tell their age quite readily, KAWlSHlWl's youth is no secret. She was built by the New York Shipbuilding Company of Camden, New Jersey, the keel was laid in Cctobcr 19 53, she was launched in December 1954, and commissioned in July 1955. Her original home port was Long Beach, California, where she arrived after a voyage from the East Coast via the Panama Canal. Pearl Harbor has been home to KAWISHIXVI and her crew since January 1958. Her record is a proud one, including two consecutive years ff J mm'lfwuuyp as winner of the coveted Battle Lfficiency Award, followed by two years as runner-up. She has also won the covetedNEY award for having the best food service in the U. S. Navy. Justly deserving, justly proud, KAWISIIIWI men strive to present a picture of the Navy's finest. Our officers and men come from nearly every state in the Union, and from the far- off territory of American Samoa as well. We also number as shipmates nationals of the Republic of the Philippines. This interesting mixture of racial and cultural backgrounds aboard ship is very appropriate to the cosmopolitan setting of Hawaii, and KAWISHIWI is proud indeed to carry the 'ALOHA' spirit with her in calling at various ports throughout the vast Pacific. In this same spirit we invite you to be anhonorary KAWISHIWI shipmate and share with us our pride in a fine ship. 'Shipmate' is a term peculiar to the seafaring fra- ternity the worldoverg it is an all-embracing term that covers a multitude of human emotions but in KAWISHIWI, especially, it means that you're part of the heartbeat of a mighty ship. ' 4 , 1 Q 'ni - 1' ..,., .- .'Y -rf.. FMT - - - W 4,-. . ..--:.,.-,, ..-...-,--'.- .. ' .' sw., -3-, ...N ,, 6 -s-. -T?

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Captain Carpenter is a native northern Californian who attended St. Mary's College of California where he was a member of Slip Madigan's famous Galloping Gaels . Upon graduation from St. Mary's in early 1942 he received his basic Navy training at N,O. B. Norfolk and Princeton Officers School, During WWII he served as Commanding Officer of the LCT 395 in the Aleutian cam- paign where he participated in the landings on Attu, Kiska, and Shemya, In late 1944 he was ordered to the South Pacific as Commander LCT Group Forty and, as such, was involved in the landings on Anguar and Palau plus all LCT operations in Ulithi atoll, In October 1945, after serving at the Amphibious Base, Coronado, for four months he was ordered to the Mine Warfare School and thence to the Pacific as Commanding Officer, USS Sprig QAM-3845. During this tour he participated in the minesweeping operations inthe Yellow Seag Sasebo, and Nagasaki, Japan, entrance clearance mine- sweeping, Yangtze River entrance clearance minesweeping and the Tsushima Straits operations. In July 1946 he joined the Atlantic Fleet Mine Force as the USS Sprig was the last of the U. S. minesweepers to be returned to the U. S. Captain Carpenter's next assignment was as Executive Officer of the USS Ellyson QDMS-191 where for the next three years he was to participate in springboard operations, Sixth Fleet deployments, rendering of services to other units of the Atlantic Fleet and many other operations in the Atlantic. Upon reassignment from the Ellyson he attended the Navy Line School, Monterey, followed by a short tour in the Mine Warfare Branch of OpNav. In July 19 52 Captain Carpenter was again ordered to the Atlantic Mine Force where he was to serve as Aide and Flag Secretary for the next two years. At this time he assumed command of the USS Fitch QDMS-25i and in February 1956 decommissioned the Fitch, the last of the destroyer minesweepers to be decommissioned. From April of 1956 to June 1958 Captain Carpenter served as Ilead of the Training and Operations Division in the Navy Section, Military Assistance Advisory Group, Taiwan. As such he was the personal advisor to the CinC, Chinese Navy, the Chinese Naval Academy, the Command and Staff College and numerous other activities within the Chinese Navy. Upon completion of two years in the MAAG he was assigned as a student in the Naval Warfare Course at the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island. At the end of the year's course of instruction, he was transferred to the staff of the War College where he served as the Assistant Secretary of the College for the next two years. In August 1961 he assumed command of the USS Edson QDD-9461. It was during this tour that two interesting episodes occurred in that Edson assisted Hollywood in the making of the TV series Ensign O'Toole and the Twilight Zone film, Thirty Fathoms Deep , Upon departing the USS Edson, Captain Carpenter attended the interdepartmental seminar on Problems of Internal Security at the State Department Foreign Service Institute and then reported for duty on the Joint Staff, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific, in the Military Assistance Branch. In November 1965 he assumed command of the USS Kawishiwi lAO-1465. I-Ie is married to the former Jane Wishle of Washington, D. C. They have three children - - Melvin, Jr. , Kathleen, and Carl. 4