Randolph (CV 15) - Naval Cruise Book

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days and while aT anchor, Diclx Cornish, our newspaper man, and Red O'Connor, who is sTiII suffering Trom saclt sores, gave The oTTice some semblance oT life, while Those old dependable sTandbys, Wiley SmiThson and Cooper Kirl: lcepT The office running. The Air OTTice, having Tulfilled iTs mission of spreading confusion, began To die wiTh The TransTer oT a number oT iTs personnel while sTiII in The Nansei ShoTog and The deaTh raTTles sounded as we headed Tor home. The end, which was peaceTuI, came as The ship was TransiTing The Panama Canal wiTh iTs crowd oT local sighT-seeing pas- sengers on board. One well-developed young lady, lead- ing her Troop of girl scouTs up The CapTain's Ladder paused To glance in The Air OTTice and The yeoman worlz- ing There. Comprehending aT once, she Turned To her girls, and said in a hushed Tone, OuieT, Chicks, This musT be Sicl: Bay. So be iT. IT is a TiTTing epiTaph. PRIMARY FLY STAND-BY TO START ENGINES-CHECK WHEEL CHOCKS, PROPELLOR CLEARANCES AND CON- TROL SURFACES-SECURE ALL LOOSE GEAR ABOUT THE DECK-STAND CLEAR OF PROPELLORS -START ENGINES, CUT WHEN WARM! SimulTaneously wiTh The lasT word over The bull horn , The engines roar as The plane capTains revv Them up preliminary To The evenTs To Tollow. One by one The engines Tall silenT as They become ready Tor TlighT. PiloTs sTream onTo The TlighT declc and man Their planes. The sTage is seT! All eyes are focused on one spoT in The island sTrucTure as The ship Turns inTo The wind-a green Tlag replaces The red-The Fox Tlag is Two-bloclned and a carrier springs inTo acTion. LAUNCH AIRCRAFT Primary Fly has spolmen. This small bridge in The island is The conTrol cenTer of Air OperaTions-here The Air OTTicer, popularly called The Air Boss , his assisTanT and a Tallxer run The show. IT is from This vanTage poinT com- manding a view of The TlighT decl: Tore and aTT ThaT The life of a carrier Talzes Trom during operaTions. The drama, paThos and humor oT The ship begins and ends on Primary Fly. IT was on The TwelTTh oT November, I944, ThaT The TirsT signal To begin TlighT operaTions was given To Fly One Trom a Timid and somewhaT innocenT Primary Fly. Since ThaT day iT has given The green Tlag To ThirTeen Thou- sand planes and has emerged a much wiser and Tougher conTrol cenTer. The piloTs who commiTTed DilberTs on The TIigh+ declc or in The air around The carrier will TesTiTy as To The Toughness oT The silver leaves on This bridge as more Than one was Ii+eraIIy called before The masT up There. Comdr. L. C. Simpler drew The honor oT being The TirsT Air Boss. His was The job oT malxing airdales ouT oT a conglomeraTion oT BooTs. Add To ThaT The misery oT shaking down a new Air Group ThaT iusT loved To land Their planes upside down and you have a sure pIoT Tor 1, 'I I ', 'Alf . JJ' A, , VM, if , f AY. 1, pf 4' , a f , ' I 1 s

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1,1 AIR DEPARTMENT Broadly speaking, fhis volume would be incomplefe wifhouf a brief hisforical skefch of fhe Air Office and ifs inhabifanfs, and fhaf is fhe only excuse we can offer for ifs inclusion here. I+ is, we realize an unpopular subiecf, for fhe lay sailor insfincfively regards all airedales wifh suspicion and all yeomen wifh confempf. The Air Office, as an ouffif organized fo spread ad- minisfrafive confusion, was born in July, I944 in a li'H'le quonsef huf in Newporf, Rhode Island. No fablef af fhaf humble spof pays fribufe fo fhaf occasion, in facf, if memory serves, fhe huf was surveyed and ieffisoned. Of- ficiafing af fhe birfh was a midwife by fhe name of Sweeney, so you can see fhaf if was more fhrough good forfune fhan skill fhaf he was able fo usher in a lusfy baby, whose name, oddly enough, furned ouf fo be Papa! To Mark W. Papa, fhen Y3c, fell fhe dubious privilege of being fhe firsf yeoman in fhe Air Deparfmenf of fhe fhen land sfillll unknown carrier. And one of fhe firsf communicafions received from fhe crew af Newporf News was a leffer signed by one J. M. Cloud, CY, beginning, To avoid duplicafion of efforf . . . Thai' sef fhe fempo. There was no duplicafion. There was no efforf. The day of commissioning found a goodly number of yeoman under our colors, and a greaf deal of work fo do. Affer fhe inifial avalanche of work was squared away. namely fhe Air Deparfmenf Organizafion Book, Shake- down Reporf, seffing up of files, liberfy cards, efc., fhe office seffled down and fhe sniping befween fhe Air Operafions yeomen and fhe Air Office men commenced in earnesf. Represenfing fhe Air Op men manning Flighf Ouarfers sfafions on Primary Fly and in Air Plof was Mike Champ Papa, Red Schneider, R.P. lNosel Henry lonly man fo achieve a barrier crash wifhouf using an airplanel, Sam Geison, Louis Hammel and A. Flysheef Swofes, all of which have been discussed elsewhere. In fhe opposife corner, wearing purple fighfs and represenf- ing fhe Air Office was Chief Cloud, J. E. Bilbo, Dick Cornish, Wiley Smifhson, Red O'Connor, Cooper Kirk, Norn lThe Generali Lee, Howie Ouderkirk and Al Fiorello. As soon as fhe ship cleared San Francisco for Pearl Harbor, work in fhe Air Office seffled down fo a dull roufine, which, fhank heaven, is beyond descripfion. Com- baf condifions usually found fhe boys sacked in and barely able fo make soup call in fhe morning. Along abouf noon, fhey usually roused fhemselves sufficienfly fo play checkers and cards. Far ouf in fronf as a favorife sporf. however, was fhaf of argumenf, and almosf any hour of fhe day, fhe air would be blue wifh invecfive of fhe rnosf profane nafure. The boys really oufdid fhemselves in abuse, however, when called on fo perform any proiecf calling for efforf of any kind. Evenings under fire and alerfs usually found fhe Chief Bandmasfer holding fourfh wifh his inimifable fales of fhe China Sfafion, unfil if was fime fo sack in. On refueling

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frouble. Buf fhe Comdr. managed fo weafher if all wifh fhe aid of fwo imporfanf fhings-Cassidy's ice fhaf was brewed in Flighf Deck Confrol and fhe couch in Air Plof fhaf seemed fo soofhe him so much when he as- sumed his famous horizonfal posifion. He had a hidden genius for finding ice cream and freafing all hands even during fhe sformy days af Suicide Junc'rion off Okinawa and Kyushu. Combaf will never forgef how he used fo yell info fhe squawk box, Combaf, where are Our planes? each fime a flighf was overdue. He was a familiar sighf during G.O. wifh his helmef iammed on backwards, and once even walked around wifh a helmef saying Messenger in whife leffers across fhe fronf. The falkers for Air Confrol as Primary fly was some- fimes called were Pappy and Harry. They manned fhe I JG sound powered phones in shiffs and became fhe besf of friends. Pappy iMark Papal calls fhe smokey cify of Piffsburgh his home and Harry Crow hails from fhe rice paddies of Liffle Rock, Arkansas. This was al- ways good for a secfional baffle wifh no decisions or winners declared. AIR PLOT There have been fimes, while fhe ship was underway, fhaf Air Plof was nof crowded and did nof resemble a madhouse . . . we don'f remember when. When we firsf came aboard and were assigned fo Air Plof, Cdr. Simpler and Lf.-Cdr. Minfer inow Cdr.l were fhe only fwo who had a clear idea of ifs funcfion. l visualize us as fhe nerve cenfer of fhe ship, if nof fhe Fleef, said Swofes, fhe erudife yeoman, whose loffy calm has never been disfurbed lexcepf when fhe Naviga- for accused him of borrowing painfl. Nervous we were, buf hardly a nerve cenfer. lf was foo crowded fo be much excepf confused. A check of fhe personnel assigned fo Air Plof as a General Quar- fers sfafion revealed we had fhree Lf-Cdrs., Messrs. Berg, Sweeney and Sarforis, fwo Lfs., Messrs. Usher and Wilkins, one Lf. ligl, Mr. MacMannis, one Ensign, Mr. Sul- livan. ln addifion fhere was Schneider, Swofes, Papa, and Henry for Talkers, plus fwo refugees from fhe Training Room, Talberf and Crow, a radioman fname unknownl who never said anyfhing, and Fiorello, iMayor LaGuar- dia's boyl, for a messenger. This was our regular sfaff. The Air Boss, Cdr. Simpler and his assisfanf, Lf-Cdr. Minfer, were fhe fwo for whom fhe resf iusf worked. They hung ouf in Air Plof. The Execufive, Cdr. Nebleff, delighfed fo come in and heckle us abouf fhe locafion of our dial phone. And fhe C.O., Capf. Baker, found our pool room afmosphere so enferfaining he would come in and heckle us. Planes would mysferiously disappear. Whaf had been a flighf of 20 planes had only I9 when if landed. A hydraulic leak compelled one fo land af Waller Field, buf Air Plof forgof fo fell fhe Boss. When fhe schedule was changed so fhaf fhree divisions would fly CAP insfead of fwo, Air Plof forgof fo fell Mr. Madden. The Air Boss assumed his usual calm while correcfions were made. Soon we had a well-oilecl machine sef up. The pilofs never fhoughf so, fhough. Flyers seem fo regard non-flyers fhe way seagoing sailors regard shore- based sailors: fhey're human beings, alrighf, buf noi very brighf. Air-plof was expecfed fo know fhe answers fo everyfhing, and was panned confinually when if didn'+. The men in Air Plof felf a personal hurf when planes failed fo refurn: fhey came fo know fhe pilofs so well. Af Ulifhi, orders appeared for many of fhe original Air Plof crew, and when fhe smoke cleared Lf. Craw- ford, fhe windmaker, found himself doubling in brass as Operafions Officer. Assisfing were Lfs. Buchanan and Newman as Air Plof officers along wifh one member of fhe original crew, Ensign Sullivan, fhe only bald-headed ensign in fhe Navy. V-1-H HANGER DECK V-IH was formed in Newporf News, Va., a few days before fhe ship wenf in commission. These men, sfrangers fo each ofher before reporfing abroad, soon became close friends. They had fun fogefher on fheir leaves and liberfies and during fheir bull sessions fhroughouf fhe cruise. They also suffered grief fogefher when several of fheir buddies were killed and several more wounded fhrough enemy acfion. These green men fhaf wenf fo sea are now all seasoned veferans. V-IH produced fhe ship's firsf baskefball and volley- ball championship feams. Bofh fournamenfs were hofly confesfed, buf wifh such afhlefes as Mike Sobieraiski, Ed Kufley, Lou Frass, Bob Fusfin, Phil Godfrey, Johnnie Ger- des, Boafs Campbell, Johnnie Hirf, Norf Blume and playing manager Joe Emerson, fhe pushers came fhrough vicforious. Remember how L. S. King and J. Gorgoreffi gof sea- sick whenever we were in rough wafers-when Chief Gilliam, Pop Richardson, H. P. Monis and Norf Blume were sweafing ou'l ' fheir blessed evenfs-why Joe Emer- son and Walf Gardner were called fhe bogie boys . Remember D. E. Hyland and all his pracfical iokes ihow could you ever forgef 'eml-Marfy lFungusl O'Neil sfick- ing wifh Nofre Dame's 44 squad and faking all comers- Brooklyn's pride AI Habib and his million dollar voca- bulary-and fhaf midnighf reveille when Idaho Pefe Price used shaving cream fo scrub his feefh lhe was sfill asleepl-how we used fo scrub fhe hanger deck, even when we were on fhe Nips doorsfep wifh enemy planes overhead? V-1-A ARRESTING GEAR AND CATAPULT On November l2, I944, fhe firsf plane, a fighfer lF6Fl made a landing aboard. Since ours was an enfirely new l'YPe Ui afl'eSfing gear, fhis was indeed a big evenf. ll' was also fhe firsf fime fhaf fhe new crew was solely re- 5P0'1Sible fOr 'flie proper operafion of fhe gear. The gear 0Pe a+efl Pe ieC+lY and was a good omen fo us. By