• Welcome to BellGab.com Archive.
 

What is in my Father's notebook?

Started by Walks_At_Night, October 13, 2018, 06:20:43 PM

WOTR

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on November 01, 2018, 08:08:28 PM





Thanks for the reply, Walks.  I can see where the lubrication would come in.  I also have to keep in mind that where a modern car is almost sealed with no grease nipples, the old ones needed grease every 10 miles (or thereabouts.)  ;)

Your picture seems to show a pretty integrated ships crew...

Quote from: WOTR on November 02, 2018, 05:34:06 AM
Thanks for the reply, Walks.  I can see where the lubrication would come in.  I also have to keep in mind that where a modern car is almost sealed with no grease nipples, the old ones needed grease every 10 miles (or thereabouts.)  ;)

Your picture seems to show a pretty integrated ships crew...

This an interesting photograph in many ways.  It shows the USS Argonaut, which was an interesting boat, in and of itself.  Designed
as a mine laying submarine, it was one of the largest, non-nuclear subs ever built by Americans.  It was converted from a mine
layer into a troop transport and as indicated on the photo was involved in the rather strange Makin Raid.  The weapon the guys
are sitting next to is huge.  It is a 6 inch "wet" gun , where as most US subs carried a 3 inch gun.   The gentleman left of
center may not be crew at all.  His hat looks to be a Marines hat although the insignia looks rather wide for the globe and anchor.
The Argonaut and the USS Nautilus both were filled with Marine Raiders so we can surmise that perhaps he was a
Marine.   Hopefully that was so - he might have survived the war then. The crew of the USS Argonaut would not.  She
would be sunk a five months later with all hands being lost.

The whole story of the Makin Raid is an interesting one and warrants further attention.  Evans Carlson, the leader of Marine Raiders
was a communist sympathizer, FDR's oldest son was on the raid as well.


Uncle Duke

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on November 02, 2018, 06:43:55 AM
This an interesting photograph in many ways.  It shows the USS Argonaut, which was an interesting boat, in and of itself.  Designed
as a mine laying submarine, it was one of the largest, non-nuclear subs ever built by Americans.  It was converted from a mine
layer into a troop transport and as indicated on the photo was involved in the rather strange Makin Raid.  The weapon the guys
are sitting next to is huge.  It is a 6 inch "wet" gun , where as most US subs carried a 3 inch gun.   The gentleman left of
center may not be crew at all.  His hat looks to be a Marines hat although the insignia looks rather wide for the globe and anchor.
The Argonaut and the USS Nautilus both were filled with Marine Raiders so we can surmise that perhaps he was a
Marine.   Hopefully that was so - he might have survived the war then. The crew of the USS Argonaut would not.  She
would be sunk a five months later with all hands being lost.

The whole story of the Makin Raid is an interesting one and warrants further attention.  Evans Carlson, the leader of Marine Raiders
was a communist sympathizer, FDR's oldest son was on the raid as well.

He appears to be black, so he was probably a USN mess steward.  Here's a rare color photo of a WWII black steward wearing what appears to be the same hat.

Quote from: Uncle Duke on November 02, 2018, 07:22:48 AM
He appears to be black, so he was probably a USN mess steward.  Here's a rare color photo of a WWII black steward wearing what appears to be the same hat.

Well I thought about that but I didn't figure that a submarine would have had a mess steward(s).  A cook for sure but I think the fleet boats only had 6 officers out of a crew of 80.  A dedicated steward seems a bit of a luxury for six officers but some research shows that US Navy fleet subs most definitely did have stewards.   Here is a web page dedicated to Jesus Manalisay, Steward 3rd class, who was killed when the USS Wahoo was sunk.  Here is a photo of him wearing that same style of hat:




Really the pits that Mr. Center-Left was probably killed with the rest of the guys in that photo.  He looked like a friendly dude.

So Mr. Center-Left is Willie Thomas: http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/thomas-w-d.htm  and Mr. Center-Right is William Wehner: http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/wehner-w-g.htm   From Nashville and Mitchell, S.D. respectively.   Trying to ID Mr. Far-Right next.






Edit:  I think Mr. Far-Right is Charles Ferguson of Hickory, Mississippi.  Another friendly looking guy.  http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/ferguson-c-v.htm

Page 12 is written in pencil and the top portion continues the discussion from Page 11. 

The middle of the page deals with Leads through the Manifold Plate  five of which handle air and one which handles oil. 
An interesting aside is that American torpedoes utilized compressed air whereas the vicious Japanese "Long Lance" torpedo used
pure oxygen.  Air is only about 20% oxygen so a pure oxygen torpedo had a significant advantage in range as it provided a 5 times
greater oxidation capability for the same volume.  Also the exhaust from an oxygen torpedo is pretty much carbon dioxide which is
very soluble in water and thus did not give off much of  a tell tale bubble trail like one sees in the movies.   Of course pure oxygen is
much more dangerous to handle over compressed air and the Japanese spent a huge amount of development time to get it to work
properly.  However they were limited by the Naval Treaties of the 20's and 30's to the 3 in the famous 5:5:3 ratio for warships - where
the US and Britain were the 5's.   Figuring that they would lose any large surface gun battle to the US based due to being out numbered
the concentrating on torpedo development and night optics.  This would serve them well at the beginning of the war.   

The bottom of Page 12 contains a calculation where the clearance distance between a nozzle and turbine are calculated.
Page 12



Battle Stations

Of course while at sea there would be times when the sailors on the Destroyer would be called to battle stations.  The would drop whatever
the were doing and head off to where the would need to be.  The right side of the ship would be for going forward and up and the left side
would be for going aft and down. 

On a WWII destroyer it would sound like something along these lines

I believe on larger vessels there was also typically a bugle call as heard in the first section of this training recording

Gear for battle stations would include putting on a life preserver and a helmet.  Either the talkers helmet as shown earlier in the thread or
just a standard M1 helmet.  The helmets were kept near the various stations for easy access.  That is shown here:



Here are two torpedomen at their battle station on a destroyer - one is a talker.  In the background is a 20mm anti aircraft gun position.

*It would seem this must have been taken during a drill. If you look closely at the right hand picture there is some very relaxed looking
dude photo bombing the 20mm guys in the background.


Here is a Talker's outfit with Kapoc Life Vest, Helmet, Mic, Headphones and Jacket:



If you would like to own a piece of history, life jackets are available for sale.  Will only cost you a grand!




Rix Gins

How many Talkers can you spot in this clip from the movie In Harm's Way?

https://youtu.be/ypvQtoKAKGc

Quote from: Rix Gins on November 03, 2018, 10:09:37 PM
How many Talkers can you spot in this clip from the movie In Harm's Way?


Think I saw 5 in total.  Here is another scene from In Harm's Way where you hear John Wayne's Cruiser being set
to Condition Three via a pipe call and then later set to Condition One or Battle Stations via a bugle call and announcement by
the Bosun.  The Bosun's lanyard with pipe is also visible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjOvQYeZXvY

The enlisted sailors are wearing their tropical work outfit of a white t shirt and pants which had to be hard to keep clean.

Page 13 is written using cursive and in ink.  It discusses various types of Chemical Ammunition it discusses Chloroacetophenone C.N. tear gas, White Phosphorous and Hexachloroethane a substance used in making smoke.

Page 13

Rix Gins

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on November 04, 2018, 06:04:23 AM
Think I saw 5 in total.  Here is another scene from In Harm's Way where you hear John Wayne's Cruiser being set
to Condition Three via a pipe call and then later set to Condition One or Battle Stations via a bugle call and announcement by
the Bosun.  The Bosun's lanyard with pipe is also visible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjOvQYeZXvY

The enlisted sailors are wearing their tropical work outfit of a white t shirt and pants which had to be hard to keep clean.

Wow, I had no idea that J.R. Ewing  and Archie Bunker were in WWII!  Kidding aside, I like this movie and watch it every so often.  Kirk Douglas used to argue with the director (Otto Preminger) about using plastic boat models for combat scenes.  If you ever watch the movie you will see that Kirk was right.

Weather

"Weather is cold.  Weather is hot.  You are gonna have weather, whether or not."

If it was warm out, sailors might wear a white T shirt with white pants and a belt:


In wet weather, traditional rain gear would be worn by deck crew:


Cold weather was problematic as ice would build up on the ships and have to be removed.  Either by chipping it off or blasting it with a steam hose:




They also had a cold weather face mask that is the thing nightmares are made of.


Quote from: Rix Gins on November 04, 2018, 07:28:09 PM
Wow, I had no idea that J.R. Ewing  and Archie Bunker were in WWII!  Kidding aside, I like this movie and watch it every so often.  Kirk Douglas used to argue with the director (Otto Preminger) about using plastic boat models for combat scenes.  If you ever watch the movie you will see that Kirk was right.

Also Archie appeared to be trying to cultivate a pipe..............

Rix Gins

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on November 04, 2018, 07:32:01 PM
Also Archie appeared to be trying to cultivate a pipe..............

Oh yeah, I hadn't noticed that.  Good eye, Walks!


K_Dubb

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on November 04, 2018, 07:11:24 PM
Page 13 is written using cursive and in ink.  It discusses various types of Chemical Ammunition it discusses Chloroacetophenone C.N. tear gas, White Phosphorous and Hexachloroethane a substance used in making smoke.

Page 13


Now that is interesting, Walks.  Speculating on why they might carry tear gas, my mind goes immediately to suppressing mutiny, but there must be another reason.

I was listening to a lecture recently on the Falklands War where the admiral was talking about what he called "institutional memory", claiming that the Royal Navy had completely forgotten about the smokescreens that might have been useful in their Bomb Alley.

Quote from: K_Dubb on November 04, 2018, 07:47:13 PM
Now that is interesting, Walks.  Speculating on why they might carry tear gas, my mind goes immediately to suppressing mutiny, but there must be another reason.

I was listening to a lecture recently on the Falklands War where the admiral was talking about what he called "institutional memory", claiming that the Royal Navy had completely forgotten about the smokescreens that might have been useful in their Bomb Alley.

I don't know about the C.N. Gas.   Digging someone out of a cave or a bunker for questioning comes to mind but at sea I can't think of an application that makes sense.  Smoke screens, of course were a part of a Destroyers job

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgsEw4GpuS4

K_Dubb

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on November 04, 2018, 07:56:46 PM
I don't know about the C.N. Gas.   Digging someone out of a cave or a bunker for questioning comes to mind but at sea I can't think of an application that makes sense.  Smoke screens, of course were a part of a Destroyers job

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgsEw4GpuS4

Wow, that is fantastic footage, thanks!  Can that possibly be a whale at 0:30, peeping his head up to see what all the fuss is about?

Quote from: K_Dubb on November 04, 2018, 08:04:39 PM
Wow, that is fantastic footage, thanks!  Can that possibly be a whale at 0:30, peeping his head up to see what all the fuss is about?

Kind of looked like one, didn't it?

Quote from: K_Dubb on November 04, 2018, 07:47:13 PM
Now that is interesting, Walks.  Speculating on why they might carry tear gas, my mind goes immediately to suppressing mutiny, but there must be another reason.


Well I found this from a book about the Royal Navy 
The Royal Navy and the Capital Ship in the Interwar Period

https://books.google.com/books?id=lvgrBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA263&lpg=PA263&dq=Chloroacetophenone+wwii+naval+shells&source=bl&ots=OSxb_qtq0e&sig=8A65-VwECVE6kE8AaqN3zbpjzZI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjK4dn7lLzeAhWxnuAKHZdOB6kQ6AEwFXoECAUQAQ#v=onepage&q=Chloroacetophenone%20wwii%20naval%20shells&f=false


It discusses tear gas for rousting sailors out of a disabled submarine.  The German phrase google translates to:
QuoteIf you resist me, I will release poison gas into the command tower


K_Dubb

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on November 04, 2018, 08:17:34 PM
Well I found this from a book about the Royal Navy 
The Royal Navy and the Capital Ship in the Interwar Period

https://books.google.com/books?id=lvgrBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA263&lpg=PA263&dq=Chloroacetophenone+wwii+naval+shells&source=bl&ots=OSxb_qtq0e&sig=8A65-VwECVE6kE8AaqN3zbpjzZI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjK4dn7lLzeAhWxnuAKHZdOB6kQ6AEwFXoECAUQAQ#v=onepage&q=Chloroacetophenone%20wwii%20naval%20shells&f=false


It discusses tear gas for rousting sailors out of a disabled submarine.  The German phrase google translates to:

Well now that explains it.  Well done!  I forgot all about captured submarines and codebooks and stuff.

I'm reminded by the term Giftgas that gift in Norwegian and Swedish (and now German, it seems) also means "married", which leads to all kinds of puns which are impossible to translate.

Page 14 continues on with the discussion of Chemical Ammunition.  It finishes with a section on Black Powder which was
used to fire the smaller depth charges from the K-Gun launcher from the sides of the ship and of course was also used to launch
the torpedoes from the torpedo tubes.    There are a few misspellings here - have not seen many to date.  Spell Checkers have just
absolutely destroyed my ability to spell, so I'll cut Dad a bunch of slack!      Also in the  Black Powder section there is a reminder to
keep your powder dry.  :)

Page 14

Disease

Venereal disease was a big issue.  According to Wikipedia (🤷) " a case of gonorrhea required a hospital treatment of 30 days, and curing syphilis remained a 6-month ordeal".   The military sure took it seriously.   Serviceman were bombarded with movies and posters imploring them to not contract V.D.   Here is a sampling of  V.D. posters.

They tried shame


They tried warnings that all may not be as it seems


They tried to scare



On a destroyer, sailors with the clap were regulated to the "Hot Seat" - a special  red toilet seat of shame.



After an encounter that seemed worrisome, servicemen were supposed to use a special kit that told them to
wash everything down thoroughly with soap and water and then inject a tube of gunk  up their fuselage and then
massage the gunk in for several minutes.   :o



As mentioned, there were also films.  The one of most interest is USS VD: Ship of Shame   A hard partying crew
of a destroyer pulls into port and despite all the warnings the crew tears it up - with disastrous results.  Destroyers typically
did not warrant an M.D. - they usually had a Pharmacist's Mate who had received basic medical training.    In this clip,
"Doc" sees a constant stream of sailors that have been naughty.  His exasperation finally becomes visible when the last chap answers
the question of "Did you use a rubber?"  with  "No Doc.  She said she was married". 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19_245hkRak





Uncle Duke

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on November 06, 2018, 08:22:03 PM
Disease

Venereal disease was a big issue.  According to Wikipedia (🤷) " a case of gonorrhea required a hospital treatment of 30 days, and curing syphilis remained a 6-month ordeal".   The military sure took it seriously.   Serviceman were bombarded with movies and posters imploring them to not contract V.D.   Here is a sampling of  V.D. posters.

They tried shame


They tried warnings that all may not be as it seems


They tried to scare



On a destroyer, sailors with the clap were regulated to the "Hot Seat" - a special  red toilet seat of shame.



After an encounter that seemed worrisome, servicemen were supposed to use a special kit that told them to
wash everything down thoroughly with soap and water and then inject a tube of gunk  up their fuselage and then
massage the gunk in for several minutes.   :o



As mentioned, there were also films.  The one of most interest is USS VD: Ship of Shame   A hard partying crew
of a destroyer pulls into port and despite all the warnings the crew tears it up - with disastrous results.  Destroyers typically
did not warrant an M.D. - they usually had a Pharmacist's Mate who had received basic medical training.    In this clip,
"Doc" sees a constant stream of sailors that have been naughty.  His exasperation finally becomes visible when the last chap answers
the question of "Did you use a rubber?"  with  "No Doc.  She said she was married". 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19_245hkRak

I was told officers didn't get VD, instead their medical records showed they'd been diagnosed with "non-specific urethritis."  My Dad, who served in the AAF at the end of WWII, once told me only enlisted guys who'd not contracted VD got "Good Conduct" medals.

Page 15 is written in ink using cursive and is entitled Test     There are 14 points listed and the way it reads, it seems to indicate tests
to run on the Torpedo itself as opposed to a test on knowledge of the torpedo.  Whew!  The Old Man dodged a bullet there!

Page 15

At the time my Father joined up, the US Navy had seven aircraft carriers.  Of the seven, one would make it through the war pretty much
unscathed, two would be badly mauled on multiple occasions and four would end up on the bottom of the ocean.   I'll assume that everyone knows what an aircraft carrier is - rather obvious by the name.   US Carriers of the time generally carried three types of planes, Torpedo Bombers that were tasked with sinking enemy shipping by dropping an aerial torpedo , Scout/Dive Bombers that were tasked with searching and dive bombing and fighters that were to protect the bombers on their missions and of course protect the fleet from the oppositions bombers. 

The naming convention was rather a mixed bag.  Three of the carriers took their convention from the cancelled Battle Cruiser programs and were named after prominent American battles - these were the USS Lexington  , USS Saratoga and the USS Yorktown.  Two of the carriers took their name from stinging insects, USS Wasp and USS Hornet and two were traditional names for vessels in the American Navy, USS Ranger and USS Enterprise.

The Lexington would be the first to die. At sea during the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Lexington would launch aerial raids on Rabaul in New Britain and Lae on New Guinea before meeting her fate during the Battle of the Coral Sea.   She would be struck by two torpedoes and two bombs dropped by Japanese dive bombers.   A number of post attack explosions would doom the Lexington and she would go down on May 8th, 1942.   She would not be found until March of this year.

USS Lexington    Happy times, near death and as she looks today


The Yorktown would be killed next.   During the Battle of the Coral Sea she would be very roughed up.  Making it back to Pearl Harbor, she would be patched up and sent with Enterprise and Hornet to take part in the Battle of Midway.   Midway was a great victory for the US Navy and the Yorktown almost survived it - badly damaged by three bombs and two torpedoes, she was abandoned but still refused to go down.  A fleet tug was dispatched to haul her back to Pearl Harbor but she was spotted by a Japanese submarine which pumped two more torpedoes into her.   Eventually she rolled over and sank on June 7th, 1942. 

USS Yorktown    Happy times, afire during the Battle of Midway and as she looks today:



The Wasp would go next.  In action off of Guadalcanal she would be struck by three torpedoes from a Japanese submarine.  They would strike near the aviation gasoline storage tanks and turn the ship into a raging inferno on September 15, 1942.   The Wasp would be abandoned but would remain stubbornly afloat.  During that night her hulk would be wracked by more explosions but she would not go down.  Finally an American destroyer was ordered to put her down and after three more torpedo strikes she would finally sink.

USS Wasp    Happy times, afire off of Guadalcanal



AFAIK the wreck of the USS Wasp has not been located.

The Hornet was just about everywhere in 1942.  She took part in the famous Doolittle Raid on Japan where Army B-25's were launched from her decks, she took part in the Battle of Midway, during Guadalcanal she was the only US carrier left operational in the Pacific for a time.
During the Battle of Santa Cruz she would take three bombs from dive bombers and two torpedoes from torpedo bombers but still hung on.  On October 27th, Japanese destroyers would score four more torpedo hits on her and she would go down.

USS Hornet  in happy times and under attack during the Battle of Santa Cruz


The USS Saratoga would survive the war but she would take a beating.   Not long after Pearl Harbor she would be struck by a torpedo fired from a Japanese submarine.   She would be laid up for months and miss Coral Sea and Midway.  Repaired finally, she would see some action off of Guadalcanal before again being torpedoed by a Japanese submarine.   She again required lengthy repairs but by 1943 she would be back in action.  During May of 1943 she would be the only US carrier left in the Pacific although she was then operating with the British carrier HMS Victorious.     She would see some action during the rest of 1943 and in 1944 she would be coupled with HMS Illustrious for operations in the Indian Ocean.  Shortly afterwards, she would be rammed by an American destroyer and would require more repairs.  In 1945, during the Battle of Iwo Jima she would be struck by five bombs and damaged yet again.  By the time she was repaired, she was slated for using as a training vessel.   After the war she would be sunk off of Bikini in an atomic bomb test.   She would survive the first bomb, Able but the second, Baker would finish her. 

USS Saratoga  In happy times, and today


USS Enterprise would see a great deal of action during the war.  She would be the first US Navy vessel to get on the board when her planes sunk a Japanese submarine just three days after Pearl Harbor.  During 1942 she would be involved in raids on Kwajalein where should would be damaged but quickly repaired and again would be involved in raid on the Marcus Islands.  She would then screen the Hornet during the Doolittle raid and then would play a major role in the Battle of Midway.   During Guadalcanal she would be hit by two bombs and damaged but repairs would be quickly made by the Sea Bee's in a forward area and she would return to finish out the Guadalcanal campaign.  During the first half of 1943 she under went a major overhaul.  She would be involved in many battles during the rest of the war up until Okinawa when she was hit by a Kamikaze.  By the time the repairs were complete the war was over.   By then there were any number of newer Carriers in the fleet and she was decommissioned in 1947. Numerous attempts at turning this famous ship into a floating museum and in 1960 she was finally scrapped.
A few artifacts were saved but it is sad that more wasn't done.

USS Enterprise  In Happy times, being hit by a bomb and her stern name plate today



The USS Ranger was deemed too slow, small and gnarlly to be used in the Pacific against Japan, so she spent the war in the Atlantic. 
She would tangle with the Vichy French (who was the first enemy my Father fought) during the invasion of North Africa and would raid German positions in Norway.  She would then finish out the war as a training ship and was scrapped in 1947.



Hog

All this talk about CN gas has brought back some memories.

Canada, USA, Australia all use CS gas as part of their CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear) training.
During  Basic Training, now called Basic Military Qualification(BMQ) we were told to go to a certain group of buildings in the middle of this bush and we were to bring our Nuclear Biological Chemical gear with us.  Upon arrival, the 8 females of our platoon were taken away by female instructors, they returned about 15 minutes later.
there was 3 "gas huts" in a row in the middle of a forest, we would go into a "gas hut" wearing just our combat uniforms.  Apparently they kept each "hut" at different concentrations of CS gas. Starting at light, we progressed to the medium, then the heavy huts. 
Once inside the  first "light gas hut", In the middle of the room there was a table with a Naptha Coleman stove with a small pot of boiling water.  I remember thinking to myself, I dont feel a thing and then all of a sudden, WHAMO burning eyes, nose running drooling.  We were told to don our gas masks which we did, OK thats better.
2nd hut, we walked in wearing our masks, had to doff our masks once inside, clear them then don them again.
3rd hut, we entered with masks donned, were forced to exercise and get sweaty, then were stood in front of the SGT, told to doff and stow my mask, and was forced to recite my serial number and spell out my name in NATO phonetic letters, which wasnt fair as I  had one of the longest names, I was the tallest of my platoon(more surface area of skin for the gas to attack) plus the SGT replied that he didnt hear me and I had to repeat EVERYTHING again.  By this time I was beginning to panic and when I was released I bolted for the door accidentally bodychecking a Corporal who was in my way.  It felt so nice to be outside with the cool air blowing over me, we were told to slowly wave our arms to aid in the first steps of decontaminating ourselves.

Later on while talking to one of the girls, she told me what they did when they were led away.  The literally had to tape field dressings over their vulvas so that the gas wouldnt attack those areas.  I had a little chuckle with her over that one.

I always thought that CS stood for Crowd Supressant, but it appears that CS, CN and CR are all just designations for such gasses.  I dont think they use CR as its pretty nasty and its a suspected carcinogenic.

peace
Hog

Page 16 is the start of a multipage segment on The Development of the Torpedo   It is written in pencil, using cursive and is rather intense.  For the first time, the back of the pages in the notebook are used.   

Page 16


Powered by SMFPacks Menu Editor Mod