Randolph (CV 15) - Naval Cruise Book

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Green and Winburg, and some 50 o+her fechnicians, he had spenl' 'lhe summer direcling +he inslallalion of +he --Rand0lPh'5 weapons. Jusl' before commissioning The depar+men+ go+ +o- geiher for fhe firsl' fime. Cap+. Barry, once of +he Guadalcanal Firsi Division, broughi his seagoing Marines aboard. L+. Cdr. Jordan lformerly Ordnance Officer a+ NAS, and now Gunnery Officer of lhe USS Essex l, broughi ihe Wyoming deiail aboard and look over as Assisfani Gunboss and conscience of ihe depar+- ment Few of 'lhe men of fhis defail had ever heard gun- fire when 'ihey boarded The Chesapeake Raider g aboard her +hey learned +heir +rade and gol' +heir firs+ drone and sleeve. They were now +he Firsi, Second, and Third Divisions. Enihusiasm among ihe Newporl' lasi' difchers was low afier Their nighi in +he aisles on The way down, bu'I' L+. Rosen a+ leasi' fell' ihai' his Hrs? view of 'I'he Randy was wor'rh il. Called P T by us for his Mediferranean service, and FlaH'op by his old mos- quifo flee? ma+es, he had shared ihe honor of being our firsl' casually wifh Breauf, 2 I,'c, when a 20mm shell lxx in-Q

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GUNNERY DEPARTMENT Everybody was unhappy a+ Newporl, harrassed by an endless rouline of processing , drills, muslers, happy hours , classes, chils, divisional reassignmenls, saluling, and a+'l'emp+s 'ro find somefhing inleresling 'lo do on liber+y. Bur in every one of Those bolhersome ifems we were learning 'ro be sailors. Ou'r of 'l'he bewildering mass of brand-new bools, survivors, and ve'l'erans of a hundred kinds of duly, moslly on shore, 'lhere emerged 'Phe ouflines of deparimenls and divisions. One faint, skelch in parlicular began 'lo look like The embryo of an anfi-aircrafl ballery. Loading drill for lhe 5 38 men, ma'l'hema'lics for fireconlrolmen, shooling a+ Price's Neck for auiomafic weapon crews, and seamanship, from square knofs fo paravane rigging for everyone-all fhis we endured, siudied, and more or less absorbed. On Sepfember lb, 'rhere shoved off, in a hurry +ha+ was nol' as snafu as il looked, a parfy of l3O men under BM lfc Cogburn lwho always lhoughl a liberly was worlh a ra'l'e any dayl and 8 olilicers, for a 3 weeks' cruise on 'lhe USS Wyom- ing's Floaling 5 school. Aboul lhe same 'lime fhe direclor-compulor leams began 'lhe firecon+rolman's never ending elilori 'ro know as much 'rrigonomelry as 'lheir machines do. Down a+ +he ship +here were fhe people who knew ihe score bes+. Ll. Cdr. Lasall had come from being Fire Con+rol Oliicer of lhe Essex's firsf and 'lhe old York- +own's lasl cruises. Wi+h Chief Bolling and Ens. Sechrisf, bo+h old York+own fireconfrolmen, and wilh Gunners 'LI'

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exploded in a hoT barrel aT Price's Neclc. Two of The Dragon's children, LT. ligls Howe and Messmer, Trom The USS SaraToga, broughT down The 40mm people and The looicouTs llcidnapped by Air DeparTmenT in November and recapTured by Gunnery on January 4l. LT. Herod, ciTed Tor earlier anTi-sub work in The ATlanTic, broughT F Division To Their TirsT Taslc of aligning The baTTery. The TirsT record The Randolph crew broke was on OcTober 3l, when The Gunnery DeparTmenT lwiTh a liTTle aviaTion ordnance helpi, lowered The normal 4 day am- muniTion loading period To 36 hours and puT aboard 1400 Tons oT ammuniTion. Cn November 8, The crew of MounT 8, 5 f38 single, MounT CapTain FiTzgerald. GM 3 c, won a Navy E wiTh iTs TirsT Tiring during shori range pracTice. These evenTs illusTraTe The spiriT and The abiliTy of our gunners even before shalcedown. Bay Trials. November 5-I9, included sTrucTural Tiring, sleeve prac- Tices wiTh all weapons, loTs oT Tracking and drills of all sorTs, and seamanship exercises oT all sorTs. F Division had The mosT imporTanT job-calibraTing The baTTeries day and nighT wiTh incessanT bore sighTing, direcTor checking, Tramming, cam cuH'ing, and all The oTher Tiniclcy deTails oT adiusTing Their equipmenT To The mosT perfecl' level of coordinaTion. The proof oT Their pu'l'Ting Olll' was in The shooTing down. Trinidad on The Spanish Main was The TirsT foreign waTer Tor mosT oT us. STill landlubbers mosTly, we lefl' The Virginia Capes, as blue waTer sailors we plowed OUI' TirsT rough seas oTT HaTTeras and dropped The hooll inside The TeeTh of The Dragon in The Gulf oT Paria- There, Three and a half cenTuries ago, Columbus Tirsf saw The American conTinenT and called iT The Garden of Eden. We noTiced a Tew changes Trom ThaT Time.