United States Navy (USN)

[Karl Welteke]

United States Navy (USN)

I start this thread because the USN has become part of my life. I served in the USN as an enlisted man a little over 30 years and it was mostly in the Pacific. I took many pictures but only few were put into albums to be presentable so far. This project is not a priority job, so it will grow slowly.

Everyone can contribute with other USN stories.

There are very few places in the Pacific that has not been touched by the USN and I have been at some of those places. The USN and Pacific history cannot be separated.

I will start with my diving training in 1963. I served my first hitch in the USN from Oct.1960 to July 1964 on the USS Belle Grove LSD-2 (Landing Ship Dock). This tour made me a sailor and many experiences on this ship will be with me forever. At those times the ship rated two divers but didn’t have any. An enterprising young Petty Officer 2nd Class (PO2) asked the ship to send him and me to the 2nd Class Diver School in San Diego, the ship agreed and sent us.

The PO2 was Damage Control Man 2nd Class Petty Officer (DC2) and I, a junior Petty Officer 3rd Class (Boatswains Mate, BM3) will be forever grateful that DC2 Auman asked me. It started an interesting Navy Diver Career for me, thank you PO2 Auman!

I established this webpage with 22 images in my Philippine-Sailor web page, this is the URL:

philippine-sailor.net/2017/12/03/navy-diver-school-second-class-san-diego-1963/

In this forum presentation I chose 7 images:




Za460. Navy Diver Second Class students are lined-up for the morning swim, 1963.
Every school day, in the Navy Diver School, Second Class, San Diego 1963; we either run or swam for physical training. This was on the Naval Station San Diego, 32nd Street. The first uncovered head is my buddy DC2 Auman, we were sent here from the USS Belle Grove LSD-2 from Long Beach CA.





Za459. Navy Diver Second Class students at their morning swim, 1963.
Every school day, in the Navy Diver School, Second Class, San Diego 1963; we either run or swam for physical training. This was on the Naval Station San Diego, 32nd Street. Look at all those LSTs still in commission. There were 3 Amphibious Squadrons in San Diego. My buddy and I were from Amphibious Squadron 7 in Long Beach CA.




Za812. Class 6-63 Navy Diver School, Second Class, San Diego, the training tank, diver is getting dressed.





Za544. MK 5 Diving Dress Diving Training
Class 6-63 Navy Diver School, Second Class, San Diego 1963 MK 5 Diving Dress Diving Training from the Diving School Barge; the helmet is coming down.






Za461. Navy MK5 Hard Head Diver at the Navy Diver School, Second Class, San Diego 1963.
From one end of the Navy Diver School barge we trained in the use of the Surfaced Supplied Diver Equipment, such as this Hard Head and the Jack Brown Diving Mask and had to pass accomplishing work projects under the water.





Zc148. Navy Diver School, Second Class, San Diego 1963; the diving school had a diving boat we used to do our SCUBA open sea dives, offshore from Point Loma in San Diego, that is me as a student.





Zc151. Navy Diver School, Second Class, San Diego 1963; we are doing open sea dives, offshore from Point Loma in San Diego. A SCUBA team enters the water, always as a two man team. We hold our mask and bottle from not losing the mask and the tank not hitting your head.

[Karl Welteke]

USS Belle Grove LSD-2 OPS and Ports 1960-64.

This is a slice of life of a Navy ship, between 1960-64, including my life.

Album description, 31 images.

Hi everyone, shipmates and friends of the USS Belle Grove LSD-2 and all other friends and mates. She was my first ship, served from Oct. 1960 to July 1964. I wanted to be a Boatswains Mate and the ship send me to Assault Boat Coxswains School in Jan 1961 and I’m one of the few who never went mess cooking (separate duty in the galley, 3 month long, helping preparing food and cleaning the Mess Decks). Left the ship and Navy as a BM2 DV2; took a bus to Norfolk and reenlisted, because I wanted an East Coast ship and tour. In 1991 I left the Navy for good as a BMCM and Diver and settled down in Olongapo where I still live today. That is one reason I never was able to join our reunions. Over the years I took and collected many pictures of our great ship. I posted them into a Photobucket account and that is not the best picture sharing outfit but I’m stuck with them. Here is just an album about the ship of operations or in port, some of the pictures, I shot some of the images and others are from the Operation Department. This is the URL: app.photobucket.com/u/PI-Sailor/a/84237d78-f71a-4161-8e36-579b154e408c There are different ways to watch the album but they don’t show the image descriptions. So I will start different albums in my Facebook account and share them with descriptions. Here is the first album: USS Belle Grove LSD-2 OPS and Ports 1960-64: www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10222500747261143&type=3

Our Logo was: “The Two Can Do”

Here are some other memories:

In 1961 we went all the way to Okinawa for the 1st Laos crisis with Marines and 11 ships. Made two memorable WESTPAC (Western Pacific) Cruises. Went thru the Panama Canal for the 1962 Cuba Missile Crisis, about 30 ships with a lot of Marines. Liked my Ship’s Bosun, Ens. (Ensign, ex Boatswains Mate) Zaruba, he was tough and strict. He helped me become a Boatswains Mate. One time he mustered all of us Boatswains Mates on the Flight Deck and said. As we are entering Hong Kong, we Petty Officers did not have Liberty, we will stay on board, because we did not get enough work out of the men. As the ship was going up-river to Bangkok 1963 for the 2nd Laos Crisis, I was rigging the gangway over the side, The Bosun saw me and restricted me from going on Liberty in Bangkok, I had no lifejacket on when rigging the gangway over the side as we were steaming up-river. I became a diver on board that ship and that gave me a whole new Career.

We had a well liked black First Class Petty Officer on board, he was a Stewards Mate and had served a long time on board ship, and his name was Miles. When he transferred to shore duty, the ships company manned the rail, came Topside and wished him Farewell. The First Class Petty Officers Piped him Over the Side and the Captain had his boat, the Gig, take him ashore.

Here are 9 sample images.



U867. FB OPS 10. USS Belle Grove LSD-2, 1960-64. 2nd segment with 8 images. Highline, ship to ship transfer while steaming, a patient is going; we take good care of this one.



U868. FB OPS 17. USS Belle Grove LSD-2, 1960-64. 3rd segment with 8 images. My boat engineer, I met him again ones, so he must have stayed at least more than one hitch (enlistment). Look at all the crew watching us.



U869. FB OPS 20. USS Belle Grove LSD-2, 1960-64. 3rd segment with 8 images. This is in Japan near an USMC Base, those tanks are waiting for transportation to get on board our ship.



U870. FB OPS 25. USS Belle Grove LSD-2, 1960-64. 4th & last segment with 9 images. In Washington State, Fort Lewis, operating with the US Army 1963. A memorable trip, I got a helicopter ride to the Fort Lewis Base in order to get my finger prints and police clearance to become an US Citizen.



U871. FB OPS 26. USS Belle Grove LSD-2, 1960-64. 4th & last segment with 9 images. LVTs, Landing Vehicle Track, the Marines are coming or was the US Army? I remember having to go down there with a crew and re-chain a tank that got lose in the Well Deck. The ship had to break out off our ships squadron formation to steady the ship so we could do our job safely down there, they did not want us to get smashed-up between the tanks (Panzers).



U872. FB OPS 27. USS Belle Grove LSD-2, 1960-64. 4th & last segment with 9 images. Man the Helo Detail, that was another job a Boatswains Mate had to do and indeed I did it.



U873. FB OPS 29. USS Belle Grove LSD-2, 1960-64. 4th & last segment with 9 images. An ex Navy LSD ship got turned over to Formosa, we helped. It was another memorable moment for me. I had only 8 years of basic German education (Volksschule, People’s School, 8 years only). I was stunned that many of my Deck Hand shipmates with 12 years of high school education did not know what and where Formosa was. At that time it was National China and when our Amphibious Squadron sailed thru the Formosa Straits, we steamed in Battle Condition III, one third of the crew at Battle Station. President Carter started the US Policy “No more active duty personal or units to Taiwan”; will President Biden price the loss of Taiwan into his next US Defense Decision when the Red China Communist Party starts trouble? They are hinting it now!



U874. FB OPS 30. USS Belle Grove LSD-2, 1960-64. 4th & last segment with 9 images. Yea, those Pers-Insp, Liberty after? They were a pain in the neck; stateside we had personnel inspection every Saturday for the 2 of 3 sections on duty on board. Then there was the weekly material inspection, which meant another day clean-up the day before. Another pain in the neck, it took many man hours away from us doing our jobs.



U875. FB OPS 31. USS Belle Grove LSD-2, 1960-64. 4th & last segment with 9 images. Amphibious Operations, our bread and butter, I liked them, and then we were doing our jobs. Left is anther LSD, in our squadron we had the USS Carter Hall LSD-3 and USS Cabildo LSD-16, I think. We had also APAs (personnel) USS Bayfield APA-33 was our Flagship, AKAs (Cargo), APD was a Tin Can Ship to send in UDT or other combat troops. Let’s not forget the LSTs. Later in my Naval Career the Hull Designations got changed to LPA, LKA etc.

[Karl Welteke]

Navy Tidbits #1

Portholes on Navy Warships.

My friends, the Army Lt. Chester K. Britt Research Team, doing research came across these pictures and information, and shared it with me.



Zf495. USS NORTH CAROLINA BB-55 was launched June 13, 1941 She was the first major combatant ship without portholes in the hull. CURRENT LOCATION: west bank of Cape Fear River, Wilmington, North Carolina. Here is an interesting link from the National Park Service, click here: www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/butowsky1/northcarolina.htm




Zf496. This date, 1941 6 12, the BEAVER CITY NB TIMES reports about the first battleship commissioned since 1923 at Brooklyn Navy Yard and that it was built without portholes.

In their research, the wife of the person, subject of their book, Grace Britt was evacuated from the Philippines on May 5, 1941, on the Army Personnel Transport Ship, USAT Republic and arrived at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on June 11, 1941. She probably saw the USS North Carolina there.



Zf497. This is a picture of the German Pocket Battleship Scheer. At about this same time on 1941 6 14 the INDIANAPOLIS IN STAR wrote about combat action with a German Pocket Battle. The researcher noted the rows of portholes in Nazi pocket battleship, the Admiral Scheer. The 3 German pocket battleships were built between 1929 to 1936.



Zf498. USS Belle Grove LSD-2 in Japan between 1962 and 1964. This was my first ship 1960 to 1964, the best one as far as memories go. I became a sailor on this ship. Notice the few portholes we had, they all went to berthing spaces and are for ventilation. When we went on a 6 month WESTPAC cruise (Western Pacific) the Long Beach Navy Yard installed air-condition in our spaces but they were removed upon our return.
This picture shows my boat engineer of my LCVP boat. It looks like the whole ship’s crew was keeping an eye on us. We were loading Marines at this beach for amphibious operation or training. In later years I returned as a Navy diver on diving ships and cleared WWII air field matting which were used to land the Marine occupation troops here in 1945. Those steel matting interfered with Japanese fishing operations later.

The Army Lt. Chester K. Britt Research Team finished their book, it is titled:
Relentless Hope: A True Story of War and Survival, by David L. Britt

The Army Lt. Chester K. Britt book Team Members are:
First are Dave Britt, LTC USAF (Ret), son of Chester K Britt, Vickie Graham CMSGT USAF (Ret), and John Duresky. They all graduated from Logan High School in La Crosse, Wisconsin in 1967, and are doing it as a team. Chester Britt graduated from Logan in 1933 and his mother Grace in 1934. Dave wrote most of the manuscript, John editing what he wrote and doing most of the research, and Vickie is the final editor with about 20 years of professional writing in her resume, largely with Airman Magazine.

[Karl Welteke]

USS Kitty Hawk today started her final voyage from Bremerton to a scrap yard in Texas.

This is reported in Facebook, here is the URL, click here:

Zf499. This is an USS Kitty Hawk image in the Naval Institute Facebook page of Jan. 16 this year (2022). The picture prescription says this:
USS Kitty Hawk today started her final voyage from Bremerton to a scrap yard in Texas, 16th Jan. 2022. Built for $264 million in 1961 ($2.5 billion in 2021), the Kitty Hawk was sold to the scrap company for the bargain price of 1 cent. For another penny, the company also got USS John F. Kennedy.

[fortman]

Thanks Karl. Very interesting.

fortman

[Karl Welteke]

If there is Navy there are boats!




Zf509. The Subic Bay Naval Station Boat #1, it was provided by William Cooper in the Facebook Group “I remember Subic Naval Station”, click here:
www.facebook.com/groups/subicnavalbase

That is a The Landing Craft Personnel (Large) or LCP (L) and was used extensively in the Second World War. My first ship, the USS Belle Grove LSD-2 had only three boats. The lifeboat and a LCVP and I was the coxswain to these two boats. The LCPL was our Gig, the Captains Boat; another Boatswains Mate was assigned to it. This LCPL, our gig, was used as a control boat for the landing waves in amphibious operations.

[Karl Welteke]

Olongapo prewar Naval Yard

Presented here are two aerial views of the former Olongapo Naval Yard, pre war, and about the same area which had become the Ship Repair Facility (SRF) post war, and is now an industrial maritime facility in the present Subic Bay Freeport Zone (SBFZ).



Zf530. This older pre WWII picture of the Olongapo Naval Yard I received earlier (but I don’t remember from who or where from) and it was mirror type reversed and I had to learn how to flip it. Thank you friend, whoever sent this image to me!



Zf531. This SBFZ Rivera & Alava Wharf area picture is a screen shot from Google Earth, covering about the same area and a view with the same angle. A very interesting view of the area, pre war and post war, notice all the Olongapo residential homes which are gone now, off- Base or now off SBFZ.

You also can find this picture in my web page with other Subic Bay Pre WWII images, this is the URL:
philippine-sailor.net/2018/08/27/subic-bay-pre-wwii/

Late note from Karl: David Lessard said this re possible landfill with all that watery land around: Look at the bottom left corner at the small mountain there. Some of my WWII era old Filipino friends told me they removed that for fill and what remains is a lagoon.

I, Karl, added this: David Lessard Thanks David, I missed that hill. That is the first picture ever I saw with that hill in it. Thanks a lot! I heard that story many times also.

That lagoon still exists and in 1976 it was beautified by the Navy and was called the Bicentennial Lagoon and Park.

Then after the turnover of the Subic Base Naval Base to the Philippine Authorities, the people of Olongapo, under the leadership of Richard Gordon, built a beautiful Memorial to honor all the thousands of volunteers (all the names are inscribed) that helped preserve the turned over Subic Bay facilities and made it what it is today, the successful Subic Bay Freeport Zone (SBFZ)

[Karl Welteke]

Naval Station of Olongapo totally wrecked, recovering

These two very interesting images of the former Naval Station of Olongapo in 1945, during WWII, were sent to me by a well known Historian of the Philippines, Professor RICARDO T. JOSE. The pictures, the first one shot on the 3rd Feb.1945 is amazing clear, it shows the heart of the former Navy Yard and it really got destroyed. The next picture was shot on the 11th April 1945, the time between the two pictures is only about 68 days and the Seabees have been busy. A new pier has been built, perhaps some of the destroyed building were able to be salvaged and have new roofs now, It looks like some of the roads are asphalted but a lot material is sitting around in the open.

These two pictures are available in high resolution in this Flickr album:

www.flickr.com/photos/44567569@N00/albums/72177720296153480




Zf572. The Navy Yard in the former Naval Station of Olongapo in 1945. The picture is dated 3rd Feb. 1945; the picture was shared by Professor RICARDO T. JOSE. This is the heart of the former Navy Yard and it is totally destroyed.



Zf573. This is the description of the previous image # Zf572, the Navy Yard in the former Naval Station of Olongapo in 1945.



Zf574. The Navy Yard in the former Naval Station of Olongapo in 1945, dated 11th April 1945. Olongapo was liberated I on the 31st of Jan. 1945. The Seabees have been busy; A new pier has been built, perhaps some of the destroyed building were able to be salvaged and have new roofs now, It looks like some of the roads are asphalted but a lot material is sitting around in the open. The picture was shared by Professor RICARDO T. JOSE.



Zf575. This is the description of the previous image # Zf574, the Navy Yard in the former Naval Station of Olongapo in 1945.

[Karl Welteke]

Puget Sound Navy Museum



Zf651. Shipyard Diver Williams in DD1, early 1900s from the Puget Sound Navy Museum

Puget Sound Navy Museum

www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/psnm/explore/collections/photography.html

Picture URL

www.flickr.com/photos/pugetsoundnavymuseum/6186918914/in/album-72157627636508537/

[Karl Welteke]

DO YOU STILL WANT TO JOIN THE Navy???

From: via Facebook World War Pictures


Peter DeForest

USS Benham DD-796 and USS Smalley DD-565 perform UNREP and transfer operations with an Escort Carrier somewhere in the Pacific - Mid 1945

This is the URL, click here:
www.facebook.com/groups/195467287583906/posts/1354158545048102

Yes, that is the way it was. I was a 30 year man, 13 years at sea and 4 years in Viet Nam. I liked it!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Zf815. 01 USS Benham DD-796 performs UNREP and transfer operations with a Carrier somewhere in the Pacific - Mid 1945. This is LIFE Magazine Archives – George Silk Photographer picture, captured from Peter DeForest’s Facebook page.

LIFE Magazine Archives - George Silk Photographer




Zf816. 02 USS Benham DD-796 performs UNREP and transfer operations with a Carrier somewhere in the Pacific - Mid 1945. This is LIFE Magazine Archives – George Silk Photographer picture, captured from Peter DeForest’s Facebook page.




Zf817. 03 USS Benham DD-796 performs UNREP and transfer operations with a Carrier somewhere in the Pacific - Mid 1945. This is LIFE Magazine Archives – George Silk Photographer picture, captured from Peter DeForest’s Facebook page.




Zf818. 04 USS Benham DD-796 performs UNREP and transfer operations with a Carrier somewhere in the Pacific - Mid 1945. This is LIFE Magazine Archives – George Silk Photographer picture, captured from Peter DeForest’s Facebook page.



Zf819. 05 USS Benham DD-796 pulls away from a Carrier somewhere in the Pacific - Mid 1945. This is LIFE Magazine Archives – George Silk Photographer picture, captured from Peter DeForest’s Facebook page.



Zf820. 06 USS Smalley DD-565 performs UNREP and transfer operations with a Carrier somewhere in the Pacific - Mid 1945. This is LIFE Magazine Archives – George Silk Photographer picture, captured from Peter DeForest’s Facebook page.




Zf821. 07 USS Smalley DD-565 performs UNREP and transfer operations with a Carrier somewhere in the Pacific - Mid 1945. This is LIFE Magazine Archives – George Silk Photographer picture, captured from Peter DeForest’s Facebook page.



Zf822. 08 USS Smalley DD-565 performs UNREP and transfer operations with a Carrier somewhere in the Pacific - Mid 1945. This is LIFE Magazine Archives – George Silk Photographer picture, captured from Peter DeForest’s Facebook page.



Zf823. 09 USS Smalley DD-565 performs UNREP and transfer operations with a Carrier somewhere in the Pacific - Mid 1945. This is LIFE Magazine Archives – George Silk Photographer picture, captured from Peter DeForest’s Facebook page.



Zf824. 10 USS Smalley DD-565 performs UNREP and transfer operations with a Carrier somewhere in the Pacific - Mid 1945. This is LIFE Magazine Archives – George Silk Photographer picture, captured from Peter DeForest’s Facebook page.



Zf825. 11 USS Smalley DD-565 performs UNREP and personnel transfer operations with a Carrier somewhere in the Pacific - Mid 1945. This is LIFE Magazine Archives – George Silk Photographer picture, captured from Peter DeForest’s Facebook page.



Zf826. 12 USS Smalley DD-565 performs UNREP and transfer operations with a Carrier somewhere in the Pacific - Mid 1945. This is LIFE Magazine Archives – George Silk Photographer picture, captured from Peter DeForest’s Facebook page.



Zf827. 13 USS Smalley DD-565 performs UNREP and transfer operations with a Carrier somewhere in the Pacific - Mid 1945 . This is LIFE Magazine Archives – George Silk Photographer picture, captured from Peter DeForest’s Facebook page.



Zf828. 14 USS Smalley DD-565 pulls away from a Carrier somewhere in the Pacific - Mid 1945. This is LIFE Magazine Archives – George Silk Photographer picture, captured from Peter DeForest’s Facebook page.


LIFE Magazine Archives - George Silk Photographer