THE WORLD OF USS BLOCK ISLAND
CVE-106
Music ( Marine
Hymn & Anchors Away )
READY FOR A FIGHT - THE FLEET
GETS UNDERWAY
(click on picture for a
larger view)
Escort Carriers sortie from Ulithi in
column of ships.
The world of USS Block Island CVE-106 was very different than that of CVE-21. Since this ship is just a hunk of cold steel and must have a crew to provide the heart and soul. In the circumstances surrounding these two ships the majority of the crews were the same “heart and soul” of both ships. This circumstance also put these crew members in another world. The picture above shows only six of the 7 aircraft carriers that were a part of the CVE 106 task force. The picture also does not show the some fifty escort or service ships that were also a part of the force. Not one single day went by where no other ships were in sight. By the time CVE 106 went to fighting duty the Navy had fairly well taken care of the Japanese submarine force. CVE 106 and the crew had to defend against enemy surface vessels, enemy aircraft and other actions. The aircrews and pilots had to defend and attack enemy aircraft, ships, land based guns, and at the same time provide protection to the allied troops undertaking the task of retaking the islands from the Japanese. Along with their new US Marine counterparts, the entire crew of CVE 106 proved that the only thing that really changed was the circumstances that was presented in this new world.
Shiny new CVE-106
riding high in the wate
CVE 106 June 1945 South Pacific
This one is from The Tacoma Times dated Thursday, December 28, 1944
To Commission Block Island
Probably the most dramatic moment in the history of shipbuilding in the Northwest will be when Old Glory is run up on the flag-staff of the USS Block Island here Saturday afternoon, at 3 o'clock.
For it will be the second time that a fighting vessel of the same name has been commissioned during the present war-at the same shipyard-built by most of the same men and women who saw their labor go into completion of the original escort carrier bearing the now-famous name. Workers at the local yard of Todd Pacific Shipbuilders, Inc., have a special place in their hearts for the words,. Block Island.
But more unique in the annals of naval tradition: The crew of the first Block Island, which was sunk in the Atlantic last may, will formally take over its name-sake at the simple but impressive commissioning ceremony. It is the first time in this war, probably in the U.S. navy history, that a crew will have been, transferred intact from one vessel to another under such circumstances. A large percentage of the crew is made up of men from Tacoma and the Northwest.
Approximately 1,000 high ranking naval officers, city officials, guests and the ship's crew, will assemble on the ship's hangar deck to witness the simple ceremonies, shorn of trimmings to fit the tempo of war, and presided over by Capt. J. L. McGuigan, USN, superintendent of shipbuilding in the Tacoma area.
He will call upon Capt. F. M. Hughes, USN, who was in command of the old Block Island, to accept command of the new ship. Capt. McGuigan will also introduce O. A. Tucker, Todd vice president and general manager, who will speak briefly.
A feature of the ceremonies, to follow piping aloft of the colors and posting of the ship’s first watch, will be a presentation by Todd workers, to the crew, of a bronze plaque bearing a replica of the old Block Island, and a fund for the ship’s welfare section.
The workers will be represented by Mrs. Jewell Greening, a fellow-employee, who will make the presentation in honor of her son, Lt. Col. Charles Ross Greening, now a prisoner of war in Germany. Lt. Col. Greening, a Tacoman, was One of Doolittle’s raiders who participated in the first bombing of Tokyo when they took off from the USS Hornet on April 18, 1942.
Another feature of the ceremony will be awarding of medals and citations to 23 members of the Block Island crew by Rear Adm. J. J. Ballentyne, commander fleet air, Seattle. Crew members hold the presidential unit citation for their previous record with the old Block Island.
The escort carrier Block Island, which will be commissioned Saturday, is larger and more powerful in all respects than its predecessor.
The commissioning Saturday will be the second addition of a ship of this new type to Uncle Sam’s navy in just a bit over a month. Its sister ship, the USS Commencement Bay, also built in Tacoma’s Todd yards, was commissioned Nov. 27.
The Block Island and the Commencement Bay are the two largest ships of their class ever built in the northwest, and the two largest allweld ships in the world.
End of The Tacoma Times dated Thursday, December 28, 1944
From the Seattle Times January 5, 1945
CVE 106 was the first Carrier to Have a
Complete Marine Air Group including a complete aircraft service unit. They came
aboard with an F6F 5n night fighter squadron, a TBM/.TBF bomber squadron and a
F4U fighter squadron. The Navy personnel that were replaced were assigned to
other duties throughout the world. Some Navy ordinance personnel were retained
and worked hand in hand with these Marines.
The story of the Marine Air Group being
brought aboard a Navy Aircraft Carrier was maybe some day envisioned but not
much real thought or understanding had taken place before the decisions was
made. First of all, up until 1942 the Marine Corps had their own training
facilities for pilots directed toward total land operations. The idea of Marines
being on aircraft carriers did not even exist. However, in early 1943 the
Marines terminated their training facilities and the Navy took over the entire
training program. After the pilots were trained somewhere around the top 10% of
those being trained were then selected to be Marine Corps pilots. This was
entirely based on land based training. After graduation from the flight schools
the designated Navy Pilots then had to go to special training for Aircraft
Carrier training operations. Those Pilots designated for the Marine Corps then
went on to continue land based training at Marine Corps Training facilities.
This type of program still did not envision that Marine Pilots would be flying
from Aircraft Carriers. All Pilots designated as Navy Pilots had to go through
many months of special training directed toward Aircraft Carrier operations.
Aircraft Carrier Operations was a special designation for the Navy alone.
In late 1943, as the war with Japan became an "island hoping"
operation, in order to have Marine Corps aircraft to provide cover for Marine
Corps landings there had to be a land based facility available for the Marines
to operate from. No land based facility being available then the Navy Aircraft
Carriers and the Navy Pilots had to provide the air support for such landings.
This became a real problem and a major concern because logistics and
coordination in not only the operation but also in the training and mind set of
the two branches of service.
When the Allies made the decision to invade France in June 1944 this
circumstance of "split services" became a factor. Three CVEs were
operating in the Atlantic so they were assigned to provide air cover for
the ships and the Army Air Force provided the "ground cover" for the
landing troops. Here again that "split of services" became a factor.
The Army Air Force was a part of the Army but all the ships were a part of the
Navy. The Army wanted their troops covered by Army and the Navy wanted their
ships covered by Navy. This may sound sorta out of hand "nowadays" but
that circumstance was very much realism in the 1930s and 1940s and early 50's .
In late 1944 the decision was made to have a
Marine Aircraft Squadron Service Unit established and trained for possible
service on an aircraft carrier. After that decision was made then came that
"service split" again. If you are going to have a Marine Aircraft
Squadron Service Unit then you had better have Marine Pilots and Marine Aircraft
involved.
The sinking of CVE 21 and the building of CVE 106 became an very important part
of the decision making process for the Navy, the Marine Corps and the then War
Department. A new class of CVEs were being built in Tacoma Washington that could
well serve this welding process. However, CVE 105 was the first ship of this new
class and not only would the Navy Crew have to be trained, the Marines and the
Marine Pilots would also have to be trained which was a great time factor. The
Navy crew for the first new carrier had been selected and the Navy Air Group was
being trained elsewhere on the West Coast.
Then came the decision of the Navy and the War Department to have the second aircraft carrier of the class renamed the USS Block Island and to place all the survivors of the first USS Block Island on that ship. This meant that the ships crews training would be almost nothing because these were experienced carrier personnel. Not only would this be a historic move it would also provide a new carrier for almost immediate wartime service for the Pacific Fleet.
In an effort to set forth the real history of Marine Aircraft Squadrons on CVEs the Website is going to provide a link to a Website that fully sets forth that History.
Then some 400 or so of the Navy Air Department personnel were removed and replaced with a complete Marine Aircraft Service Detachment. As soon as CVE 106 pulled into San Diego the three Marine Air Groups pilots replaced the Navy Pilots that were to have operated from CVE 106. Thus the Marine Corps became a part of the history of the USS Block Islands and as such in today's world both Navy and Marine Pilots and aircrews fly from all US Aircraft Carriers.
In the rescue of the POWS from Formosa it was proven that both landing forces and air coverage could operate from carriers. There are no CVE classifications use by the Navy, however new ships have been developed that are classified as Amphibious Forces which are designated as LPDs, LCCs, LHAs which have brought together the air and ground forces. CVE 106 was scheduled to be retained by the Navy and rebuilt for these purposes in 1957. With new technologies and the cost of rebuilding the decision was made to design these new ships from the keel up for the total needs of the Amphibious Operations. CVE 106 was then sold for scrap metal.
The picture of the "Keel" which was the employee and
information newspaper of the shipyard where both ships were built. The December
issue carried the story of the sinking of CVE-21 and the flag shown was placed
at half mast in recognition of those who lost their lives when CVE-21 was sunk.
Todd Pacific Shipyard in Tacoma Washington built both CVE-21 and CVE-106. When
the Navy made the decision to put the surviving crew members from CVE-21 on the
new CVE-106 these crew members were brought to several cities on the West Coast
. A selected number of of personnel were housed in part at the Navy Receiving
Barracks there in Tacoma just off the docks where CVE-106 was being built.
With over 800 crew member to be housed presented a problem for the Navy. Where
they are to be housed and what are they going to be doing while the ship is
being completed was no small logistics problem.
All of these crew members had served on an active carrier and were well trained
on carrier maintenance and ships repairs and also knew the ins and outs of a
ships structure. Then came
the idea by the Navy to have some of the crew members work right along with the
ship yard workers while the ship was being built. Instead of getting up in the
morning with nothing to do many of the men reported directly to the ship just
after breakfast.
The Webmaster was one of those crew members. The slip in which the new ship was
being built was directly across from the receiving station barracks and there
was a railed fence and a walkway running directly up to the area where the ships
was. There was a ship yard refreshment stand with a small sandwich shop that was
there by the walkway for the ship yard workers. In that sandwich shop was brand
new cabinet style "juke box" with all the era big band music.
Selections were 3 for a quarter and these young home sick sailors took a
great liking to going there for breakfast and lunch and even some time in the
evening just to hear the music.
Day after day and week after week you could hear the music from one end of the
walkway to the other. This also put the sailors in more contact with the ship
yard workers. The "juke box" became a way of life for these "away
from home and family and very lonely" young men.
As the yard workers were building the ship the sailors were building the
infrastructure and at the same time keeping their minds off of just being lonely.
Finding something for the crew members to do with their time proved to be a good
choice by the Navy in that the proposed and estimated construction time for the
ship was cut down by a couple of months. Being involved on the ship also cut
down the time that it would have taken for the crew to get acquainted with the
ship after it was built. In fact many of the ship yard workers went on the shake
down cruise with the sailors. There were welding lines, electrical cords and
many machines strung out all over the decks and ladders. The workers and the
sailors had become a family.
When the ship pulled away from the dock there in Tacoma there on board the ship
were all the records that had been on the juke box that were donated by the
owner of the sandwich shop.
When the "Navy Airdales" were replaced by the Marines some 400 of
these shipmates were transferred to stations all over the United States and
there was a big dent left in that "comradeship and bond" that had been
generated by the circumstances.
(Click on the above picture for a larger view)
They Can't Leave Without Me.!!!