Stevenson (DD 645) - Naval Cruise Book

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Jaw ACME THE U. S. S. STEVENSON LLEFTI AND THE U. S. S. STOCKTON. TWO OF THE FOUR DESTROYERS LAUNCHED DURING A BRIEF CEREMONY COMMEMORATING THE 24TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARMISTICE DAY, ARE READY TO SLIDE THE WAYS AT THE FEDERAL SHIFBUILDING AND DRY DOCK CO. AT KEARNY. . I ffg F'7JyZf1!f l'1 ACME THE DESTROYER U. S. S. STEVENSON CLEFTJ GOES DOWN THE WAYS AFTER ITS CHRISTENING AT KEARNY DURING A BRIEF CELEBRATION IN COMMEMORATION OF ARMISTICE DAY. THE U. S. S. STOCKTON. ANOTHER OF THE FO-UR DESTROYERS LAUNCHED AT THE CEREMONY, IS READY TO FOLLOW. V,--,I , -..-1,7 r If f-1,.v, 4 ' I X , I I

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O'ZE,0lTO'Z I HIS book does not aim to carl y an accurate record of the Stevenson fa but a fairly complete log of the many experiences, we have actually -., witnessed. lt is a souvenir, containing pictures taken by us and sto- I IQ. 4 4 I I 5 ries written by men who have been with the ship a long while. f Our purpose in making up this book is for men who have served -F aboard the Steve, since this Ship is to go into the Reserve Fleet. To those who don't receive a book, we express our apologies because over nine hundred men have come and gone during the three years of this ship's exist- ence. Although we tried to contact men who have been transferred, our efforts have not proved too successful. I It. is our hope that this souvenir may continuously recall your time on the Stevenson and its many memories. We shall not soon forget the ports, inva- sions, and the World Cruise back to New York in 1945. The sights we saw, the things we heard and friendships made will linger with us for years. We wish to acknowledge the efforts of time and work by those who will- ingly contributed to the construction of the Stevenson's log. First of all to the Editor, Chief Fire Controlman G. S. Zozak, without whose efforts the book would never have been more than a good idea. To Lt. fiql R. S. Mather who supervised the editing and layout of the book. To Lt. Cjgl Cowles, Lt. Cjgl Herrick, Bob Cashatt C.S.M. and Ray Gelotte, C.E.M. whose sketches and designs add originality to our log. To the writers of the stories of -the various ports we made. They are: Iohn Coleman, RM l fc, Lieut. Gaillard, Lieut. Price, Lieut. Manley, Lt. ljgl Dancause, Lt. GQXR. Iacob, l..t. llql l. Side- bottom, Lt. UQ? R. H. Smith, Lieut. Price, R. Keddie, RM Zc. We cannot forget the typists, and photographers A. Anderson, FC l fc, and F. Kelly, FC Zfc, who devoted much of their time to taking, developing and printing pictures besides doing all the typing with the aid of I. Hoxmeier, GM Zfc. To those men of each division who helped write up the biographies of their particular division. Also our whole hearted thanks. to everyone who has contributed in any way to the success of this book, and to those men who lent their personal pic- tures for photographers, such as Lt. Cjgl Coleman, Lt. Cjgl Herrick, E. G. Blosch, EM lfc, R. E. lones, EM Zfc, R. E. Devote, S lfc. There are no medals or certi ficates for these men but the appreciation of every officer and man who has served aboard the U.S.S. Stevenson. Weargool Qommiffee 3 I

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, t if Qwwfxi - .4 sw ar were It all began in the Federal Shipyards of Kearny, New lersey, where thou- sands of ship-builders Correlated their workmanship on steel, from our great steel mills to put together Q ship which was to join the fighting forces of the Navy. To the Navy it was a ship, to the civilians a boat, but to us who came aboard on the 15th of December 1942, it was our home . Ou that day Lt. Comdr. T. C. Green, U.S.N., accepted the command of the Stevenson which then became a commissioned ship of the U. S. Navy. Everyone of us who did something or other, in our own field of training, for the completion of the Stevenson felt a thrill of 'deep pride. We knew that this ship had tovserve a purpose for Freedom-that's why we were there too, so though the gripes and groans were many, there was gladness in our hearts when the day came to take her out to sea. F or a great number of the crew the' Steve was their first ship and she threw them when at sea because a new ship is like a wild horse, except to the bronc- buster who can handle a wild bronc because of his experience. In short many of the men were slightly seasick. . So on we sailed to Casco Bay for a shake-down cruise. After several weeks of hard work and strenuous training in every drill conceivable, we turned the Steve's nose back for a check-up to see how well she had mastered the sea. That short voyage back to New York was ahappy one because we were ready to accept whatever duty was given us, but that happiness was sliced in half when in the dark of night a Collier cut through the bow of the Stevenson just forward of Gun l. The damage was great but the loss of a life in that ac- cident was a greater sorrow to us who knew l. L. Granger, Cox, as a friend and shipmate. This catastrophe only delayed our joining the fight for freedom with thousands of other Navy ships. Our thanks go to the workmen of Bethlehem Steel Co. who put in many' hours of hard work fitting out a new bow for the Stevenson. During that period the crew greatly enjoyed the privileges of un- authorized liberty through the open bow. About the middle of March we received our call to active duty status. The nature of that duty was unknown to the members of the crew, so the stories were really tall. The prophecies of many were soon to unfold into a reality. The duty given us was that of convoying merchant ships to Casablanca, North Africa. ' We'll hesitate a moment to recall the many interesting incidents and mem- ories of that distant place Casablanca . 5