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Our Navy 1959
Mobile Amphibious Squadron Established. A new highly mobile amphibious squadron has been established as part of the Atlantic Fleet’s Amphibious Force. Spearheading the squadron, designated Amphibious Squadron 10, is the carrier USS Boxer (CVS‐21). Although an ASW support carrier, Boxer will function as an amphibious assault ship while serving with PhibRon 10. In addition to Boxer, PhibRon 10 will have four high‐speed dock landing ships, all of which have helicopter landing platforms. Reassigned from the four existing amphibious squadrons, these ships are USS Hermitage (LSD‐34), Fort Snelling (LSD‐30), Plymouth Rock (LSD‐29) and Spiegel Grove (LSD‐32). Creation of the new squadron will give the Amphibious Force a fast highly mobile squadron capable of putting into operation the fast landing force concept and the technique of vertical envelopment. Establishment of PhibRon 10 doesn’t change the major command structure of the Amphibious Force. But other organizational changes took place at the same time. These involved the disestablishment of seven commands and the reassignment of several ships. They include the following:
o Disestablishment of Landing Ship Flotilla 2, composed of LST Squadrons 2 and 4, LCU Squadron 2, and LCU Divisions 21, 22, and 23.
o Reassignment of the Flotilla’s 14 LST‐type ships to the other four Amphibious Squadrons and transfer of the six LCUs to Boat Unit 2.
o Changes in titles and designations from Commander Amphibious Squadrons and Commander Transport Amphibious Squadron 2, 4, 6 and 8 to Commander Amphibious Squadron 2, 4, 6 and 8.
o Shifting of USS Krishna (ARL‐38) and Kleinsmith (APD 134) from disestablished Landing Ship Flotilla to Commander Amphibious Squadrons.
o Transfer of USS Rankin (AKA 103) from Amphibious Squadron 8 to Amphibious Squadron 4. AH January 1959
Over One Thousand Selected for Master and Senior Chief
In January 1959, over 1000 Chief Petty Officers had been selected for advancement to the new pay grades of E8 and E9. 1073 CPOs were advanced to Senior Chief Petty Officer and Master Chief Petty Officer. 149 master chiefs and 924 senior chiefs were selected. The Aviation Machinist’s Mate rate had the most advanced with eight selected for E9 and sixty‐one for E8. Five women were advanced to senior chief—two for yeoman and one each for storekeeper, personnel
man, and aerographer. There were no female selections for E9. The selections were made after each chief passed a written advancement test and had their service record screened by a selection board.
Number Selected Rating E8 E9 Aerographer’s Mate (AG) 6 1 Air Controlman (AC) 9 1 Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (AB) 9 1 Aviation Electrician’s Mate (AE) 21 3 Aviation Electronics Technician (AT) 39 5 Aviation Fire Control Technician (AQ) 5 1 Aviation Guided Missileman (GF) 2 1 Aviation Machinist’s Mate (AD) 61 8 Aviation Ordnanceman (AO) 15 2 Aviation Storekeeper (AK) 8 1 Aviation Structural Mechanic (AM) 34 5 Boatswain’s Mate (BM) 40 7 Boilermaker (BR) 3 0 Boilerman (BT) 28 4 Builder (BU) 5 1 Commissaryman (CS) 32 4 Communications Technician (CT) 15 2 Construction Electrician (CE) 3 1 Construction Mechanic (CM) 3 1 Damage Controlman (DC) 10 1 Dental Technician (DT) 6 1 Disbursing clerk (DK) 6 1 Draftsman (DM) 2 1 Electrician’s Mate (EM) 38 6 Electronics Technician (ET) 30 4 Engineman (EN) 37 5 Equipment Operator (EO) 5 1 Fire Control Technician (FT) 16 2 Guided Missileman (GS) 2 1 Gunner’s Mate (GM) 26 4 Hospital Corpsman (HM) 42 6 Instrumentman (IM) 0 1
The first selections for Senior and Master Chief Petty Officer
Number Selected Rating E8 E9 Interior Communications Technician (IC) 13 2 Journalist (JO) 2 1 Lithographer (LI) 1 1 Machine Accountant (MA) 3 1 Machinery Repairman (MR) 7 1 Machinist’s Mate (MM) 47 7 Mineman (MN) 2 1 Molder (ML) 1 1 Musician (MU) 4 1 Nuclear Weapons Man (NW) 3 1 Opticalman (OM) 1 1 Parachute Rigger (PR) 4 1 Patternmaker (PM) 1 1 Personnel Man (PN) 15 2 Photographer’s Mate (PH) 7 1 Photographic Intelligenceman (PT) 1 1 Quartermaster (QM) 14 2 Radarman (RD) 23 4 Radioman (RM) 47 8 Shipfitter (SF) 22 3 Ship’s Serviceman (SH) 14 3 Signalman (SM) 13 2 Sonarman (SO) 13 2 Steel Worker (SW) 1 1 Steward (SD) 16 2 Storekeeper (SK) 27 4 Surveyor (SV) 1 1 Torpedoman’s Mate (TM) 12 2 Tradevman (TD) 5 1 Utilities Man (UT) 2 1 Yeoman (YN) 42 6
Short Sleeve Shirts Approved for Enlisted Men E‐6 and Below A change to Navy Uniform Regulations in spring of 1959 authorized enlisted men below chief petty officer to wear a white cotton short‐sleeve shirt in lieu of a white jumper. The change also allowed enlisted men to wear short‐sleeve dungaree (chambray) shirts. The new enlisted tropical white long uniform included of a white hat, a short sleeve shirt with rating badge (or group rate mark for non rated men), undress white trousers with a white web belt with brass buckle and black shoes with black socks. Enlisted men were also authorized to modify chambray shirts by cutting and hemming the sleeves to measure 9 inches from shoulder seam to lower hem. This change formally approved a process that had been going on in the fleet for years. It was not uncommon to see Sailors that worked in the engine room or thtropical environments to have “converted” short sleeve chambray shirts.
at served in
Uniform Changes Three uniform changes, affecting chiefs, Waves and officers, have been approved by the Secretary of the Navy. Male CPOs will be wearing metal rank insignia on their shirt collars by 1 July. The devices will be worn on both shirt collar points of the khaki, tropical white, tropical khaki, and blue flannel shirts. The collar device is a miniature of the CPO garrison cap device which is to be the size which could be fitted into a 15/16 –inch circle. It will not be issued by the Navy and will not be stocked in the Navy Supply System. But it will be available at the Navy Exchanges in the near future. Cost will be nominal. Also adopted is a new women’s summer uniform for wear by officers and enlisted personnel. It will be made of a light blue and white striped, corded dacron/cotton fabric consisting of a shirt and short‐sleeve jacket with a garrison cap and hat cover to match. The present day gray seersucker dress will be discontinued when sufficient quantities of the new uniform become available. The third change eliminates tan gloves for wear by officers with the Service Dress Khaki uniform. AH May 1959 New Work Shoe Adopted The Navy has adopted a new water, oil, and wear resistant utility for Fleet‐wide use. Know as the Fleet Shoe, the new item was developed by the Clothing and Textile Division of the Naval supply Research and Development facility at Brooklyn, N.Y., with the cooperation of the National Bureau of Standards as well as leather, shoe and allied chemical industries. It is expected to replace the standard high‐topped General Purpose Shoe, the flesh‐out “boondocker” of CB shoe and the Flight Deck Shoe. The ankle‐high “chukka” style footgear has silicone‐treated upper leather that takes a brilliant shine. Non‐marking heel and soles, made of specially compounded synthetic rubber, are highly resistant to abrasion—even on the sanded flight decks of the newest aircraft carriers….AH July 1959
School for CPOs Studies Problems of Leadership The first class of 60 top CPOs form the Naval Air Training Command started classes earlier this year at CNATRA’s newly formed Chief Petty Officer Leadership School at Pensacola, Fla. The school, which trains Chiefs in both theoretical and practical phases of positive leadership, will serve the entire Naval Air Training Command. It is administered by the Chief of Naval air Technical Training, Memphis, Tenn., and logistic support is furnished by NAS Pensacola, Fla. CDR Robert L. Ashcraft, USN, who graduated from Navy flight training in 1942, is the Officer‐in‐Charge. S.P. Gray, BUCS, USN, is the school’s leading chief and senior instructor. Gray’s world‐wide duties have often found him acting a construction officer on independent duty. School administrative work rests with R.F. Watson, ADC, USN. In 1958 he won the Pensacola Navy League Council’s Leadership Award. Test Evaluation is the task of W.M. Opava, ADC, USN, holder of the Commandant’s Award for performance of duty at the Barksdale Air Force NCO Academy. Other instructors assigned to the Navy school are R.G. Growe, PHC, USN; R.J. Frazier, AEC, USN; R.A. Breed, AEC, USN; and John S. Rogers, RMC (SS), USN. Student instruction includes military law, moral leadership, supervision and management, communicative skills and public speaking, world affairs, and physical training. Formal instruction by the staff is supplemented by military and civilian guest speakers. AH August 1959 USS Providence Back in the Fleet as CL‐6
USS Providence, the former CL‐82, is now back in commission as a guided missile light cruiser. She returned to active duty, as CLG‐6 in ceremonies at the Boston Naval Shipyard, Charlestown, Mass. The present Providence, third ship of the Fleet to be the name, was built at Quincy, Mass., in 1944. She saw active service from 1945 to 1949, at which time she was assigned to the Reserve Fleet. Conversion of the
15,000‐ton cruiser began in June 1957, and sea trials were completed on 20 June 1959. Providence is armed with Terrier, a supersonic antiaircraft weapon capable of intercepting enemy aircraft under all weather condition. Other armament includes one 6‐inch turret and on 5‐inch mount. The Terrier launcher was installed in February of this year (1959). The launching system carries the “birds” in a fully ready position in below‐deck magazines. In operation, the missiles are automatically selected and loaded onto the launcher, pointed in the direction called for by the fire control system and launched at an exact pre‐ computed instant to hit their target at the most desirable range. Providence has a crew of about 70 officers and 1000 Bluejackets. AH August 1959
George Washington Launched The first of nine fleet ballistic missile submarines that have been authorized to date was launched in June. This nuclear‐powered, Polaris‐missile launcher has been designated SSB(N) 598 and has been named USS George Washington. She is 380 feet long and displaces about 5400 tons light and 6700 submerged. George Washington has 16 vertical tubes for firing the solid‐fueled 1500‐mile Polaris missiles from the ocean depths or on the surface. She is also fitted with a conventional torpedo‐firing system for attacking surface ships or enemy submarines. This ballistic missile sub will also be equipped with SINS (Ships Inertial Navigation System). George Washington is scheduled to be commissioned in December and will become operational in 1960, when the solid‐propellant, inertially‐guided Polaris is also scheduled to become operational. AH August 1959 USS Kiowa ATF‐72 Recovers Space Monkeys On 29 May 1959, USS Kiowa ATF‐72 recovered the Space Monkeys, Able and Baker, after their 1500 mile journey through space in the nose‐cone of a Jupiter missile. The monkeys were part of an experiment investigating the effects of manned space flight. It was also the beginning of the Navy’s support in recovering spacecraft for NASA. USS Kiowa AT‐72 was commissioned in June 1943 and operated in the Atlantic Theater of Operations during WWII. Kiowa was present during the D‐Day Invasion at Normandy escorting LSTs to the beach. She also rescued crew members of the USS Glennon DD‐840 which was damaged and had run aground off the invasion beaches. AH September 1959 Twenty Ships for OPTEVFOR The Navy established an Operational and Test Evaluation Force (OPTEVFOR) to centralize and strengthen the Navy’s research and development program. Rear Admiral William D. Irwin, USN, was named to lead the new organization. OPTEVFOR mission was to coordinate all test and evaluation projects and to have operational control over twenty experimental ships including USS Norton Sound AVM‐1, USS Sarsfield EDD‐837 and USS Bays AGSS‐318. Four air development squadrons located in the Atlantic and Pacific were also part of OPTEVFOR. AH September 1959
U.S. Fleet visits Great Lakes for First Time in 142 Years
In June 1959, Operation Inland Seas got underway. Task Force 47 under the command of RADM Edmund B. Taylor, Commander Destroyer Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, became the first U.S. armed fleet to enter the Great Lakes in 142 years. Task 47 was comprised of ten thousand navy men including 7500 Sailors, 1000 midshipmen, and 1500 marines. Task Force 47 operated with ships from Canada and Great Britain. The Task Force transited to the Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence Seaway which was formally opened by President Eisenhower and Queen Elizabeth II on 26 June 1959. The presence of a U.S. armed
Fleet in the Great Lakes was the first since the Rush‐Bagot Agreement of 1817 was signed between the United States and Canada. The agreement provided for the demilitarization of the Great Lakes. Task 47 consisted of twenty‐eight ships which included the USS Macon CA‐132, USS Willis A. Lee DL‐ 4, USS Sablefish SS‐303, USS Corsair SS‐435, USS Torsk SS‐423, and USS Quillback SS‐424. The amphibious group consisted of seven ships –USS Donner LSD‐20, USS San Marcos LSD‐25, USS Cambria APA‐36, USS Oglethorpe AKA‐100, USS Kleinsmith APD‐134, USS Terrebonne Parish LST‐1156, and USS Suffolk County LST‐1173. The destroyer force was made up of ships from DESRON10 and DESRON 22, including their flagships USS Forrest Sherman DD‐931, USS DuPont DD‐941. The other thirteen destroyers were USS Haynsworth DD‐700, USS Henley DD‐762, USS Ault DD‐698, USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. DD‐850, USS Willard Keith DD‐775, USS Putnam DD‐757, USS Charles H. Roan DD‐853, USS Samuel B. Roberts DD‐823, USS Forrest Royal DD‐872, USS Waldron DD‐699, USS Charles R. Ware DD‐865, USS Warrington DD‐843, USS John W. Weeks DD‐701. During Operation Inland Seas ships of Task 47 made port calls in many U.S cities that had never hosted a U.S. Navy ship. The operation ended in August 1959 when the last ships of Task 47 transited the St. Lawrence Seaway to the open Atlantic Ocean. AH September 1959
FADM William D. Leahy, USN (1875‐1959)
Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, USN died on 20 July 1959 at Bethesda Naval Hospital. He was born in Hampton, Iowa on May 6, 1875. FADM Leahy was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1897. He served in the Spanish American War aboard USS Oregon. He later served in World War I and World War II. In January 1937, Leahy became Chief of Naval Operations. He retired from active duty in August 1939 and became Governor of Puerto Rico from September 1939 through August 1940. In August 1940, after the fall of France, he became U.S. Ambassador to Vichy France.
In July 1942, Leahy was recalled to active duty as Chief of Staff to the Commander and Chief of the Army and Navy—the President of the United States. In December 1944, he became the first Fleet Admiral in the U.S. Navy as well as the first person to hold five‐star rank in the U.S. Armed Forces. Leahy remained in his post, serving two Presidents, until he resigned in 1949. He remained on active duty until he died in 1959 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. FADM William F. Halsey, Jr., USN (1882‐1959) FADM Halsey died on August 18, 1959. William Frederick Halsey, Jr., was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey on 30 October 1882, the son of Captain William F. Halsey, USN. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1904 and spent his early service years in battleships and torpedo craft. During World War I he commanded USS Shaw DD‐68. Between world wars, he served as Naval Attaché to Germany and commanded destroyers and destroyer squadrons. He earned aviator wings at the age of 52 and then commanded the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga. Halsey spent World War II in the Pacific and led Fleets and Task Forces in nearly every campaign. Halsey was promoted to Fleet Admiral in December 1945. He retired in 1947 and died on 20 August 1959. Navy’s Own Flag After 184 years without one, the Navy has adopted a flag of its own. By Executive Order, President Eisenhower earlier this year approved the flat’s design, which was submitted by the secretary of the Navy. The order describes the flag as: “Of dark blue material, with yellow fringe, two‐and‐one‐half inches wide, in the center . . . is a device three feet on in over‐all, consisting of the inner pictorial portion of the seal of the Department of the Navy, in its proper colors within a circular yellow rope edging, all two‐feet‐five‐inches in diameter above a yellow scroll inscribed ‘United States Navy’ in dark blue letters.” The flag’s over‐all dimensions are four‐feet‐six‐inches fly. Before the new flag was adopted the only banner flown by the Navy during ceremonial parade and display occasions was the U.S. Infantry Flag (the blue battalion flag used to denote infantry units in landing forces). It was frequently used with the organizational flag of the Marine Corps. The new flag of the Navy will now take its place alongside the flags of the Army, Air Force and Marine Corps. AH October 1959
Chow 21 Hours a Day on USS Shangri La CVA‐38 A new system of feeding the crew aboard the aircraft carrier USS Shangri La was implemented in 1959. The new system was designed to save the ship 315 man days each day by eliminating chow lines for the over 2500 men assigned to the ship. Prior the change, chow was served for six hours a day—2 hours for each meal. The average wait time in a chow line for enlisted men was one hour. The new system improved the quality of the food. Smaller quantities of food could be prepared that allowed cooks to better control the quality of the food. Bakery products were fresher since they were baked more often during the day. Drinking cups had time to cool down eliminating the need for ice. AH November 1959 Biggest Blimp Yet Airship Airborne Early Warning Squadron One (ZW‐1) based at NAS Lakehurst, N.J., is carrying out some of its AEW detection and tracking missions these days in the biggest blimp ever built. First airship designed strictly for AEW duties, the ZPG‐3W is 403 feet long, 118 feet high, and contains one and a half million cubic feet of helium in her cotton neoprene envelope. The huge blimp carries a crew of 25 on one‐to‐two day patrol missions as part of the AEW network of the North American air Defense command. She’s armed with a new radar detection system, the APS 70, which receives signals from the largest antenna ever lofted by any aircraft. ZPG‐3W is powered by two 1500‐hp engines, nearly twice as powerful as those used in her predecessors. She is the first of four of her type scheduled to be in operation with ZW‐1 by next January. AH December 1959 Roll‐On Roll‐Off
The new roll‐on roll‐off shipping technique applied to the transfer of vehicles between ships at sea has proved highly successful during a recent joint Army‐Navy test. Taking part in this operation was USNS Comet (T‐AK 269), which is assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service and the Army’s radically new lighter, Lt. Col. John U. D. Page. During these first roll‐on roll‐off tests, Comet and the shallow‐draft Page maneuvered into a stern‐to‐stern position and were linked together by a special hinged ramp. Vehicles from Comet were then driven onto Page’s “flattop” deck.
During the actual operations, however, Page would carry the vehicles to the beach and lower her bow ramp, permitting the vehicles to roll off toward their destinations. This phase of the
roll‐on roll‐off operations had previously been tested and was omitted from the recent deep‐water experiments. Comet is the first military ship to be built which employs the roll‐on roll‐off principle. She is 499 feet long and can accommodate loaded vehicles ranging in size from jeeps to huge semi‐trailers. AH December 1959