Lexington (CVA 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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SIGNAL BRIDGE SCENES SCREAMING ABOVE roar of flight deck launch, signal's hlinker team puts out message. WATCH scans other ships for flag hoist, blinker activit- ity. Semaphore, flashing light, the yardarm blinkers, and the Well-Worked flag hoist are the main means of visual communications. OS division is made up of the men who utilize these communication methods. The signal flags, are used so much they Wear out before they are ever Washed. Foxtrot U flags, which indicate that the ship is operating aircraft, last two days during normal air ops. UP SI-IE GOES as signal team sends out flag message to the entire task force. BRIDGE CALL- ING, Watch in signal shelter gets message right, fast.

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THE SIGNALMAN, SYMBOL OF VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS, PRACTICES THREE HOURS EVERY DAY, STRIVING FOR SPEED Semaphore, Blinker, And- THREE HFOXTROTSH A WEEK

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In the bunting locker Cat rightb, OS sewing machine Craftsman' turns out the Foxtrot il flags by the dozens. Flags are Whipped to shreds by high winds necessary to launch and recover the aircraft. The signal gang are among the first people on the ship to know What's going on, are often sought out by spreaders of mess deck intellig- ence ', to give the correct information, which they usually know. Top row: E.A. Dearing, H.H. Moore, J.H. Sandifer, W.1-I. Schmidt, K.A Klocke. Second row: E.E. Mason, H. Davis, G.L. Frizzell, R.E. Strine, J.N. Lynch. Third row: E. J. White, T.E. Jordan, R.W. Fronsman E.L. Gaddis, L.C. Egland. Fourth row: R.G. Harris, T.H. Eubanks RQS. Hallberg, L. Logan, I.A. Bates. , sw ? gust.. BLINKER PATTERNS on half opened, huge twenty-four inch searchlight