Page 119 - Mastheads Jan-June 1945

U.S. Naval Training and Distribution Center

VOL. IV No. 9 TREASURE ISLAND, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. APRIL 14, 1945

Sonja Henie VITAL CARGO BORNE BY PLANES AT T .I. AIRPORT

Surprise Visitor
At T. I. Hospital Sky Freighters Get
Sonja Henie, lovely screen star Thorough Going-Over
and queen of the silver blades, paid
a visit to the wards of the Treasure At T. I. Air Facility
Island Hospital Wednesday after-
noon, April 11. Currently appearing Flying boats you see today at
in the new technicolor ioo-skating Treasure Island Airport were only
extravaganza "It's a Pleasure," a little while ago hauling "hot"
Miss Henie really made that title supplies to American troops and
a reality as she spent her time at ships battling in the furthest
the hospital talking and exchang- reaches of the Pacific.
ing those wonderful smiles with
Precious weeks are lopped off
lucky patients. ship schedules by the giant four-
engine Coronado seaplanes oper-
ated by VR-2, Alameda - based
Reservists O·ffered squadron of the Na val Air Trans-
port Service, whose major repair
General Line Course detachment is located at the Naval
Auxiliary Air Facility here.
Applications are desired from
Naval Reserve line officers, exclud- The freighters of the sky carry
ing aviators, for a postgraduate oversP-as vital supplies ranging
from blood plasma to airplane en-
general line course which will con-
vene at the Naval Academy, An- gines and flame-throwing attach-
napolis, August 7, the Navy De- ments for tanks. They transport a
partment announced this week. good share of the 1,000 pints of
whole blood delivered daily to Pa-
The course will last approxi-
mately 10 months and will include cific bases by NATS. Generally,
advanced instruction in navigation, personal mail is half the cargo.
seamanship, communications, ord- One reason VR-2's flying boats
come here is that they sometimes
nance, naval administration and
tactics. get banged up, jumping from rock
Applicants must possess the fol- to rock in the ocean: The other is
lowing qualifications: lieutenant that, to assure flights that are safe
and on schedule, they need a thor-
commanders, maximum age, 35
years; minimum sea duty, four ough overhauling after every 600
. years. Lieutenants, maximum age, hours in the air .
30 years; minimum sea duty, two Each plane repaired at the air
facility taxis from Alameda into
and one-half years. Lieutenants,
junior grade, maximum age, 28 the lagoon between Treasure and
Yerba Buena Islands. There it is
years, minimum sea duty, two
years. All sea duty as of July 1, secured to a buoy. Beaching gear
PLANE HOSPITAL-At Naval Auxiliary Air Facil- ular hangar space for big overhaul jobs. Lower left, is attached to the airship, which
1945.
ity here, planes of NATS squadron VR-2 undergo supervising repairs to engine of Coronado flying boat, is then drawn ashore by means of
Local reserve officers who are in- overhaul between runs to and from distant Pacific are (left to right) Lt. Commander J. H. Clark, of-
terested should contact their com- bases. Upper left, crew of aviation machinist's mates ficer in -charge of air facility, and_ Lt. C. R. Rocher, ·a rr:arine railway. Upon completion
manding officers, and forward let- repair plane engine in one of airport's many sh?ps. overhaul officer, who has worked with Navy planes of repairs, the procedure is reversed
ters of application through official Upper right, nose hangar protects plane_ engines for 17 years. Lower right, " prop''._is given final ch~ck and the plane returns to Alameda
from inclement Bay Area weather and provides plat- on balancing machine, under expert eye of Lt. (Jg)
channels. forms for men to work on, at same time saving reg- E. T. Owens, with 18 years in naval aviation. for a test flight.
Close to 600 men work around
the clock at the air facility. Mess
NO PASS REQUIRED CREWS BRAVE New Navy Carrier McGuigan Wins A.A.U. cooks grumble, for a large grave-
yarc: shift must be fed in the mid-
TO GO BEYOND ENEMY ATTACK Plane Packs National Diving Crown . dle of every night.
Rep.air personnel are experts in
FIFTY-MILE LIMIT ON DRY LAND Powerful Punch Treasure Island's own Csp(A) the Coronado plane, the type used
Frank McGuigan successfully in- by the . squadron. Most have had
Contrary to the accepted belief, Momentary diversion 1s furnish- The power-laden SB2C-4, the vaded the selected diving circles in ov,,;rseas duty with NATS, and were
Commander, TADCEN has issued ed inhabitants of Treasure Island Navy's newest carrier plane which the east by winning the National bi 01rght to Treasure Island under
no order to personnel of this com-
about three times a week with the participated in the recent raids on AAU three-meter springboard div- the Navy rotation program.
mand relative to permission being appearance of strange swift planes Tokyo; packs the biggest punch ing championship in New York.
required to proceed beyond the whic h d. ive ow, roarmg ommous y. ever carried by a sirigle-engined McGuigan, an athlete· of near It was on October 1, 1.944, that
·
1
1
·
fifty-mile limit from this station the VR-2 detachment took up oc-
. Next, gunfire bursts forth, and aircraft. In addition to the "more- perfect physical proportions, began cupancy at the Island airport,
while on liberty.
puffs of ·powder appear near the than-1000-pound" bomb load car- his aquatic career in San Francisco, previously tenanted by Pan Ameri-
It is pointed out that TADOEN
personnel -are_ not in violation of attacking planes. At this point, ried in the belly, as in predecessors when he won local and sectional can Ai'rways. It found the hangars
stripped bare of all equipment,
nearly everyone on the streets is · of this type, the new plane mounts • titles.
any station order when found outs
either standing stock-still or wan- ' 20 mm. cannon in each wing, · As an instructor -in Gym. No. :tools, and machinery. It had a
side the limit.
dering along with only an occasions carries . another _1000 pounds of ·two and a member of the Treasure tough flight schedule ,_ to_ "meet -
al glance at where they're ·'going, bombs in wing racks and shoots Island swimming team, Frank first missing one deadline could mean
KYSER'S COLLEGE so complete is their interest. : eight 5-inch rockets from similar gained prominence by annexing tl:J,e . the loss of· many live·s · in 'the Pa-
We investigated this phenome- · positions. Pacific Coast diving title. cific.
COMING APRIL 25 non the other day and uncovered _McGuigan is the 12th Naval VR-2 came through . . Hangars
some very revealing facts. We District champ, having edged his
Professor Kay Kyser will hold were modified. An immense amount
were surprised when we found the their purpose is to accustom the team mate and coaching aide, of machinery was ir{stalled. Up-to-
class Wednesday, April 25 at gunfire was coming from the mock- gunner to the noise of actual battle. Csp(A) Sanford. date metal and supply shops were
Theatre No. 3 when the "College up ship back of the .transportation Right out of the movies comes set up. Each month more and _ _more
of Musical Knowledge" is broad- pool, and that the "enemy" planes another device to promote realism pompletely overhauled flying boats
cast from Treasure Island. Sail-
ors, Waves and Marines who were- only some very friendly ones used · on the· mock-up. When a Keep the Blueiackets slipped back into the lagoon until,
from Alameda. But most surpris-
at the end of four mnnths, one
would like to participate in the ing of all was the announcement "dive-bombe'r" comes in, a prev- Coronado was ready t-o return to
broadcast as students should that the "gunfire" didn't come iously buried land-mine is set off, Overseas Posted With - 0 duty better than every seconcl day.
read the following instructions from guns at all, but was a se.ries creating the effect of a diz:ect hit.
carefully. An would-be students of carefully synchronized fireworks During one of j:.hese drills, the Newspaper Clippings Superintending transformation of
.. are asked to drop in at The charges . no more .. -dangerous than JTIOCk:UP _il!J a beehive .of activity. the airport was a staff of skilled
Masthead office before Saturday, the kind we on_ce used on July Orders a,re . ·barked over the ,ship's "Keep the mail moving to the technicians headed by Lt. Com-
April 21. Applicants will be in- Fourth: ·· ioudspeaker system, A starboard Pacific by sending clippings of mander J. H. Clark, officer in
terviewed and all applications parti~ular mterest instead of mail- charge. Commander Clark has the
These gun drills are· given per: gun crew finds out how efficiently
given consideration. Only a lim- ing complete copies of newspapers know-how-he served as assistant
sonnel about to _ join the fleet as it can. feed clips of · shells into its
. ited number may appear on· the or magazines." This is the request to the Fle~t~Aviation Officer with
part of their training. This is how weapon. Dummy "ashcans" fired
show, and we suggest y.ou get they work: of the Navy Department. AdmiraJf Chester W. Nimitz, and
from the port side fall with a
-
-
"'- here early in the week. The When the plane comes in, the thud on a row of _Navy mattresses. Officers in the Navy mail service was for 15.·mohths in command of
Masthead office is located on the point out that newspaper dippings the NATS unit at Pearl Harbor.
gunner gets it in the sights of h,is Signal flags·- flit -up and down the inserted in letters will reach the In 1944, VR-2 sky freighters
second deck of the Recreation empty gun and follows it in, mast.
building, room 129. Come on "firing" all the while. From an- men far sooner than papers or flew a distance greater than 350
students! This is your chance to Plainly, bluejackets shipping out magazines, · which travel by slow trips around the world, about one- ,
other part of the ship, the fireworks of Treasure Island receive some convoy. The newspapers are_ gener- third of the 28,572,000 miles cred-
study under the old professor
are set off one by one. Approxi- pretty thorough training before be- ally so old they are discarded upon ited to NATS' Pacific Wing dur-
. himself.
mating the report of a five-inch gun, ing confronted by the real thing. receipt. ing that year.