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UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY

SIXTIETH GRADUATION ANNIVERSARY OF THE CLASS OF 1940

This is a transcript of "The Long Voyage of the Class of Forty-U. S. Naval Academy" taken from the book The Class of Forty After Fifty Years © W. M. Carpenter 1990. Original text by C. H. Hall and W. D. Lanier.

A year of major advances in the Pacific and in Europe began with a tragedy. On the morning of January 3, 1944, TURNER blew up while anchored off Ambrose Lightship, waiting to proceed to another anchorage to off-load ammunition. Lost, with most of her crew, were Art Alexander and Carlton Rees.

Half a world away, in Majuro Lagoon, a similar tragedy was averted by Terry McGillicuddy, alone with a fire hose in a blazing main battery magazine of PENNSYLVANIA. Terry was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, and, of more importance, the heartfelt thanks of his shipmates.

On January 31, the Marines went ashore at Kwajalein, with Paul Treitel leading a company in the assault.

On February 22, off Eniwetok as a forward observer for COLORADO, Cliff Bundy was skewered with Japanese shell fragments that he was still picking out forty years later. Brought back from his post with the dead, he was saved by the medics in PENNSYLVANIA.

In June, the Marines went ashore again, at Saipan, with Fred Karch, Jack Partridge, Paul Treitel, Erwin Wann, and Williams as company and battalion commanders. In the ensuing Battle of the Philippine Sea, MELVIN, with Lou Mayo as Exec, provided the only surface action, by spotting and sinking a surfaced Japanese submarine, RO-36. She teamed up with WADLEIGH to sink another sub, RO-114, a day later.

In the air, Swede Carlson picked up a Purple Heart and an Air Medal with VT-20, in torpedo attacks on the Japanese fleet. Dave Marks, with LANGLEY's VT-52, also launched torpedoes. Bill Bush, with WASP's VB-86, scored dive bombing hits on enemy ships. Active in the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" were Bob Clements with VF-11, Herman Klare with LANGLEY's VF- 44, Herman Trum with BATAAN's VF-49, and Bill Lamb with PRINCETON's VF-27, who was credited with five kills and won the Navy Cross. Jack Boyum, flying night fighters offWASP, won the 13PC for two night kills.

In other air action, in the following month, Kelly Blair was killed and Tommy Earle, with VE`-5, was shot down and lost.

D-Day in Europe, June 6, 1944, found us represented off the Normandy beaches by Al Cook in NEVADA, Lyle Ramsey in QUINCY, Bill Braybrook in TUSCALOOSA, Jonse Hughes in JEFFERS, Benjy Frana in BALDWIN and Gene Lamiman in BARTON, among others. Ashore, Fritz Freund commanded an Army infantry battalion, as did Ed Donley. Paul Brader, who left us youngster year, commanded a company of combat engineers.

Bill Lamb was shot down in September, while making a. fighter sweep with his PRINCETON fighter squadron on Luzon airfields, and ditched in Lake Taal, 70 miles south of Manila. He was evacuated in submarine CERO to learn that PRINCETON had been sunk while he was away.

Pluto Kemly overran his goal of becomng anchor man ior our class and we lost contact, but Ray Hundevadt says his destroyer picked Pluto up off Leyte Gulf when his TBM went into the sea on launching.

In the air strikes on Formosa in early October, non-grad Donald Tripp was shot down by anti-aircraft fire. Earlier, non- grads Billy Dean Brundidge and John B. Lewis were killed in action, the latter on Saipan.

In the Battle of Surigao Strait on the night of October 24, Ed Fruechtel, Fire Control Officer of WEST VIRGINIA, straddled battleship YAMASHIRO with his first salve. Lou Mayo, at a much closer range in MELVIN, launched torpedoes at battleship FUSO, with one hit credited. Art Esch, in LOUISVILLE, was close to the center of things, with RADM Oldendorf embarked.

In the Battle off Samar, the following morning, DE SAMUEL B. ROBERTS, gallantly charging the Japanese battle line, was sunk by heavy cruisers. Bob Roberts, Exec, spent two days in the water before being picked up. Will Morton, CO of NATOMA BAY's VC-81, picked up a Purple Heart and a Navy Cross leading his squadron in repeated attacks on the Japanese ships. Deacon Fickenscher was another making runs on the enemy, unarmed on some runs. "Deacon's Demon" had to find another home, however, after WHITE PLAINS was sunk. Whiff Caldwell, CO of HANCOCK's VB-43, won the Navy Cross for a series of strikes, including a bull's eye hit on a Japanese cruiser. John Williams, of CABOT's VT-29, had to ditch his shot-up plane after a torpedo attack and spent two interesting months with Philippine guerrillas before being picked up by the submarine HAKE.

In November, we made lieutenant-commander, a rank that, pre-war, required fourteen years of service even to be eligible. Felix Englander took command of DE WILSON, and Al Bergner became the first of our class to command a fleet submarine. Two of us took on significant staff jobs, Bob Kaufman as Aide to ComSubPac, RADM Lockwood, and Fred Pennoyer as Flag Lieutenant to ComTaskFor 58, VADM Mitscher. Fred was wounded in late November when a kamikaze crashed LEXINGTON. Ozzie Osborne, gunnery officer of the LEXINGTON, was also wounded but survived to earn a Silver Star from the incident. Don Banker, flying with VB-12, was killed in action in November.

Our losses to operational accidents continued. April was the cruelest month, with Ralph John, John Keough, and Steamer Stimson being killed in crashes. In September, it was Charl Mason, and in November, Campbell Hall.

In December, during a destroyer sweep of the Camotes Sea (West of Leyte), COOPER sank Japanese destroyer KUWA, and then was herself sunk. Killed in the action was the Exec, Willy Hodnett.

For submariners, 1944 was a busy but costly year. Shipmates Roy Anderson and Julian Burke in FLYING FISH: four war patrols, all successful; off Okinawa, Andy at the conn on the surface evaded a Japanese torpedo in the nick of time. George Kittredge's SUNFISH sank two ships off Guam. GRAYBACK sank 11,500 tons of shipping between Luzon and Formosa, but was lost a week later. Going down with her was Carthel Smith. In the same month, Don Scheu was lost in SCORPION, off the coast of China. And in March, Spence Wilson went down with TULLIBEE, another victim of a circular run of her own torpedoes, off the Philippines.

In June, Harry Fisher's THRESHER, as part of a wolf pack known as the "Mickey Finns", sank 41,000 tons of shipping in "Convoy College", between Luzon Strait and Formosa. In July, Pat Gray's STEELHEAD, as part of another wolf pack, sank five ships totaling 39,000 tons. But later in July, ROBALO went down in the China Sea. Lost with her was Reg Proseus.

In September, Bob Quinn's TUNNY joined with a wolf pack in sinking a transport, a tanker and a destroyer escort. Stan Orser's PAMPANITO sank a tanker and a transport. Dick Laning's SALMON engaged in a gun fight with a Japanese frigate, and the frigate came off second best. GROWLER sank destroyer SHIKINAMI, but was lost a month later in the China Sea. Going down with her was Dick Mason.

Ed O'Brien was lost in SEAWOLF, in October, off New Guinea, and Walt Shaffer in SCAMP, in November, off Honshu.

Mat Cain's RASHER sank CVE TAIYO in August, and in December Jack Newbould's REDFISH really hit the jackpot. She scored two hits on carrier JUNYO that put that veteran of the attack on Pearl Harbor out of action for the rest of the war. Then she sank carrier UNRYO. Jack's silver star was well earned, as was REDFISH's Presidential Unit Citation.

In December, during the Battle of the Bulge, Tom Riggs, who left us in 1937, was a lieutenant colonel in the engineer battalion of the 106th Division. After holding out for five days 25 miles closer to the enemy than Bastogne and losing 70% killed, the division was overwhelmed and Tom captured. He escaped to the Russians from Stalag 4-B and returned to his unit via Istanbul. After the war, he became a group vice president for Textron.