Monthly Archives: March 2013

Calvert’s Departments and Divisions, Circa early-to-mid 1960s

  •  Boat: Responsible for the operation and maintenance of all ship’s boats and boat equipment, and for providing boat crews trained in boat engineering and amphibious boat operations.
    • BC Division
    • BE Division
  • Deck: Responsible for the supervision of deck seamanship operations and evolutions; for the employment and maintenance of the armament and ordnance equipment of the ship; and for the supervision of loading, unloading, and stowage of cargo; and launching and hoisting of boats.
    • 1st Deck Division
    • 2nd Deck Division
    • 3rd Deck Division
    • 4th Deck Division
  • Engineering Department: Responsible for the operation, care and maintenance of the vessel’s main propulsion plant, auxiliary machinery, and piping systems; for the control of damage; for the operation and maintenance of electric power generators and distribution systems; for repairs to ship’s hull and for repairs to material and equipment of other departments which were beyond the capacity of other departments.
    • A Division: Fresh water, air conditioning, steering gear, repaired winches for the cargo booms, repaired and maintained the motors on all of the boats on board. A Divsion personnel were also on all the boats when they were operating, in landing operations, and on liberty and mail runs in port.
    • B Division: Boiler Room, steam generation and fuel oil for boilers
    • E Division: Electrical Equipment, lighting, electric motors
    • M Division: Ship’s propulsion and steam electrical generators
    • R Division: Damage Control, Welding and woodworking. pipe fitting and plumbing
  • Medical Department: Responsible for maintaining the health of the personnel of the command, making inspections incident thereto and advising the Commanding Officer with respect to hygiene and sanitation affecting the command. They also supervised the ship’s training program in health, and first aid, and during general quarter or other emergencies in care for the sick and injured
    • H Division
  • Navigation Department: Responsible for the safe navigation and piloting of the ship. They also planned and directed the training of deck watch officers and maintained all navigation equipment and the spaces where such equipment was located.
    • N Division
  • Operations Department: Responsible for the collection, evaluation, and dissemination of combat, tactical, and operational information. In addition they obtained clearances and operating area assignments incident to the movements and operations of the ship.
    • OS Division
    • OR Division
    • OI Division
    • X Division
  • Supply Department: Responsible for procuring, receiving, storing, issuing, shipping, transferring, selling, accounting for, and maintaining all stores and equipment of the command. They also administered the ship’s operating allotment and coordinated the preparation and subdivision of departmental operating budgets.
      • S Division
      • S-5 Division

 Sources: 1964 WEST PAC Cruise Book and Steve Straka

“A” Division – Repair & Maintenance (Landing Craft, etc.) circa 1962-64

Photographs of the Calvert’s “A” Division areas and crew.

Steve Straka (MM2, “A” Division, 1962-1965) provided these photographs from his time aboard the Calvert during the 1962 and 1964 WEST PAC deployments. Steve explains:

“A Division was part of the engineering, fresh water, air cond. steering gear, we repaired the winches for the cargo booms, and most important of all, we repaired and maintained the motors on all of the boats on board.  We also were on all the boats when they were operating, landing operations, liberty and mail runs in port.  I was in charge of the evaporators and air cond.”

Click on a picture to open a full resolution copy in a new window.

Straka_APA-32_A-Division-01-8-2-2011_012 Straka_APA-32_A-Division-03-PICT0093-8-2-2011_012 Straka_APA-32_A-Division-05-PICT0094 Straka_APA-32_A-Division-04-PICT0005 Straka_APA-32_A-Division-02-8-2-2011_PICT0250 Straka_APA-32_A-Division-06-PICT0365 Straka_APA-32_A-Division-07-PICT0426 Straka_APA-32_A-Division-8-2-2011_PICT0095 Straka_APA-32_A-Division-PICT0251 Straka_APA-32_A-Division-8-2-2011_0093 Straka_APA-32_A-Division-8-2-2011_010 Straka_APA-32_A-Division-PICT0366 Straka_APA-32_A-Division-PICT0109 Straka_APA-32_A-Division-PICT0107 Straka_APA-32_A-Division-PICT0103 Straka_APA-32_A-Division-8-2-2011_PICT0174 Straka_APA-32_A-Division-PICT0106 Straka_APA-32_A-Division-PICT0105

How The U.S.S. Calvert First Crossed The Line – November 15, 1943

The Crossing the Line ceremony was (and still is) held anytime a ship crosses the Equator. In the case of the Calvert, the ship crossed both the Equator (Shellback ceremony) and the International Dateline (Golden Dragon ceremony) on November 15th, 1943 while en route to Makin Island to participate in the Gilberts Campaign. This was the Calvert’s first crossing and was cause for a monumental ceremony, even in the midst of her voyage to her first invasion in the Pacific and under threat from enemy planes and submarines.

The “How The U.S.S. Calvert First Crossed The Line (.pdf document) document was produced onboard the ship with a hand-drawn cover. My grandfather, Sterling Funck, received this original copy of the document with his participation in the Crossing the Line ceremony .

CoverPageFront-vg

The written document itself was compiled by Lt. (jg) Abe Weinberg, ship’s secretary and War Correspondent Harold P. Smith of the Chicago Tribune. These soldiers were members of the US Army’s 165th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division.

The cover (left) of the booklet was designed by Private Peter Metzger of Fresno California, assisted by Sergeants John  Gonzales and Joseph Martel of New York City.

 

 

 

Here are several additional photographs and certificates from my grandfather’s collection:

USS Calvert 1943-Nov-15 - CrossingThe Line Ceremony - 01 Funck, Sterling - After Crossing The Line - Large USSCalvert-1943-ShellbackCert-02-SterilingFunc USSCalvert-1943-ShellbackCert-01-SterlingFunck USSCalvert-1943-GoldenDragonCert-SterlingFunck

 BLANK LINE ……….

The following hand-drawn chart shows the fleet’s position at the time of the crossing. This diagram was sketched by Walter “Fred” Cox while he was on duty as a radarman at the time of the crossing and the ceremony.

1943-11-15 - Northern Task Group Invasion Fleet crossing the line - by Fred Cox