World War II Honoree

Carl R. Classen

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

St. Louis, Missouri

Honored By

Daughter

SERVED ON THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS RANDOLPH, CV-15, AS AN M DIVISION OFFICER. U.S. NAVY SERVICE DATES: DECEMBER 1942 TO FEBRUARY 1946. SIGNIFICANT AWARDS: AMERICAN THEATER MEDAL; ASIATIC PACIFIC CAMPAIGN MEDAL W/3 STARS; PHILIPPINE LIBERATION RIBBON; WWII VICTORY MEDAL; NAVY OCCUPATION SERVICE MEDAL. SEPT. 24, 1943 ATTAINED ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEGREE. OCT. 29, 1943 ORDERED BY THE NAVY TO MIDSHIPMAN'S SCHOOL AT THE PRAIRIE STATE, WHICH WAS THE OLD BATTLESHIP ILLINOIS DOCKED IN THE HUDSON RIVER, MANHATTAN ISLAND, NEW YORK. FEB. 24, 1944 COMMISSIONED ENSIGN USNR AND ORDERED TO THE PRE-COMMISSIONING CREW OF THE ESSEX-CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIER U.S.S, RANDOLPH CV-15, WHICH WAS UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT THE NEWPORT NEWS SHIPBUILDING AND DRY DOCK CO., NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA. OCT. 9, 1944 THE U.S.S. RANDOLPH CV-15 WAS COMMISSIONED AND BEGAN ITS WAR-TIME CRUISE. (CV-15: DISPLACEMENT 36,380 TONS; LENGTH 888’0”; BEAM 93’0”; EXTREME WIDTH 147'6”; DRAFT 28'7”; SPEED 32 K; CREW COMPLEMENT 3,448; CLASS LONG HULL ESSEX) THE SECOND RANDOLPH (CV-15) WAS LAID DOWN 10 MAY 1943 BY NEWPORT NEWS SHIPBUILDING AND DRY DOCK CO., NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA; LAUNCHED 28 JUNE 1944; SPONSORED BY MRS. GUY M. GILLETTE; AND COMMISSIONED 9 OCTOBER 1944, CAPT. FELIX BAKER IN COMMAND. FOLLOWING SHAKEDOWN OFF TRINIDAD, RANDOLPH GOT UNDERWAY FOR THE PANAMA CANAL AND THE PACIFIC. ON 31 DECEMBER SHE REACHED SAN FRANCISCO WHERE AIR GROUP 87 WAS DETACHED AND AIR GROUP 12 REPORTED ON BOARD FOR FOUR MONTHS DUTY. ON 20 JANUARY RANDOLPH DEPARTED SAN FRANCISCO FOR ULITHI WHENCE SHE SORTIED, 10 FEBRUARY, WITH TF 58. SHE LAUNCHED ATTACKS 16 AND 17 FEBRUARY AGAINST TOKYO AIRFIELDS AND THE TACHIKAWA ENGINE PLANT. THE FOLLOWING DAY SHE MADE A STRIKE ON THE ISLAND OF CHICHI JIMA. ON 20 FEBRUARY, SHE LAUNCHED THREE AERIAL SWEEPS IN SUPPORT OF GROUND FORCES INVADING IWO JIMA AND TWO AGAINST HAHA JIMA. DURING THE NEXT FOUR DAYS FURTHER STRIKES HIT IWO JIMA AND COMBAT AIR PATROLS WERE FLOWN ALMOST CONTINUOUSLY. THREE SWEEPS AGAINST AIRFIELDS IN THE TOKYO AREA AND ONE AGAINST HACHIJO JIMA FOLLOWED ON 25 FEBRUARY BEFORE THE CARRIER RETURNED TO ULITHI. RIDING AT ANCHOR AT ULITHI ON 11 MARCH, A KAMIKAZE “FRANCES” TWIN¬-ENGINE BOMBER HIT RANDOLPH ON THE STARBOARD SIDE AFT JUST BELOW THE FLIGHT DECK, KILLING 25 MEN AND WOUNDING 106. REPAIRED AT ULITHI, RANDOLPH JOINED THE OKINAWA TASK FORCE 7 APRIL. COMBAT AIR PATROLS WERE FLOWN DAILY UNTIL 14 APRIL WHEN STRIKES WERE SENT AGAINST OKINAWA, IE SHIMA, AND KAKEROMA ISLAND. THE FOLLOWING DAY AN AIR- SUPPORT MISSION OF FIGHTERS, BOMBERS, AND TORPEDO PLANES HIT OKINAWA AND A FIGHTER SWEEP STRUCK AN AIRFIELD IN SOUTHERN KYUSHA. UNDER DAILY AIR ATTACH FROM 17 APRIL ON, RANDOLPH CONTINUED TO SEND HER AIRCRAFT ON CAP AND SUPPORT MISSIONS THROUGHOUT THE MONTH. DURING MAY PLANES FROM THE CARRIERS HIT THE RYUKUS AND SOUTHERN JAPAN, KIKAI-AMAMI ISLAND NAVAL BASE AND AIR FIELDS, AND KYUSHU AIRFIELDS. BECOMING FLAGSHIP TF 58 ON 15 MAY RANDOLPH CONTINUED HER SUPPORT OF THE OCCUPATION OF OKINAWA SHIMA UNTIL 29 MAY, WHEN SHE RETIRED VIA GUAM TO THE PHILIPPINES. ON HER NEXT WAR CRUISE, AS A PART OF ADMIRAL HALSEY'S FAMED THIRD FLEET, RANDOLPH MADE A SERIES OF STRIKES UP AND DOWN THE JAPANESE HOME ISLANDS. WITH AIR GROUP 16, REPLACING AIR GROUP 12, THE SHIP LAUNCHED EIGHT RAIDS ON 10 JULY AGAINST AIRFIELDS IN THE TOKYO AREA, PRINCIPALLY THOSE ON THE PENINSULA EAST OF TOKYO BAY. ON THE 14TH, HER PLANES STRUCK THE AIRFIELDS AND SHIPPING IN AND NEAR TSUGARU STRAIT. IN THIS ATTACK TWO OF THE IMPORTANT HONSHU-HOKKAIDO TRAIN FERRIES WERE SUNK AND THREE WERE DAMAGED. ATTACKS ON THE JAPANESE HOME ISLANDS CONTINUED TOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS, AND, ON 18 JULY, THE NAGATO, LYING CAMOUFLAGED ALONGSIDE A PIER AT THE YOKOSUKA NAOMI BASE, WAS BOMBED. MOVING SOUTHWEST, RANDOLPH AND OTHER CARRIERS WERE OFF THE COAST OF SHIKOKU, 24 JULY, FOR AN ANTI-SHIPPING SWEEP OF THE INLAND SEA, DURING WHICH THE CARRIER BATTLESHIP HYUGA WAS HEAVILY DAMAGED, AND AIRFIELDS AND INDUSTRIAL INSTALLATIONS ON KYUSHU, HONSHU, AND SHIKOKU WERE HIT HARD. RANDOLPH’S PILOTS ESTIMATED THAT, FROM 10 JULY TO 25 JULY THEY HAD DESTROYED 25 TO 30 SHIPS, RANGING IN SIZE FROM SMALL LUGGERS TO A 6,000-TON FREIGHTER, AND HAD DAMAGED 35 TO 40 OTHERS. RANDOLPH’S STRIKES CONTINUED RIGHT UP TO THE MORNING OF THE 15 AUGUST SURRENDER, WHEN HER PLANES HIT KISARAZU AIRFIELD AND SURROUNDING INSTALLATIONS. FOLLOWING THE END OF THE WAR, RANDOLPH HEADED HOME. TRANSITING THE PANAMA CANAL IN LATE SEPTEMBER, SHE ARRIVED AT NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 15 OCTOBER, 1945. RANDOLPH EARNED THREE BATTLE STARS FOR WORLD WAR II SERVICE. OCT. 15, 1945 TO FEB. 16, 1946 THE RANDOLPH DOCKED AT BALTIMORE, MARY-LAND FOR VETERANS DAY CELEBRATIONS. THE PUBLIC WAS WELCOMED ABOARD TO VISIT THE SHIP. THE SHIP’S COMPANY MARCHED IN A PARADE THROUGH THE CITY. LATER THE SHIP CARRIED 5,000 ITALIAN WAR PRISONERS TO NAPLES, ITALY AND BROUGHT BACK 10,000 SOLDIERS TO NEW YORK. I THEN HAD A 30-DAY LEAVE. FEB. 16, 1946 SEPARATED FROM SERVICE AT THE GREAT LAKES NAVAL STATION, ILLINOIS AS A LT. (J.G.). LENGTH OF SERVICE 3 YEARS, 2 MONTHS AND 9 DAYS. THE SHIP'S ENGINEERING DEPT. THE SHIP’S COMPANY PERSONNEL AND THE AIR GROUP WERE UNDER ENTIRELY SEPARATE COMMANDS. THERE WERE ABOUT 500 COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND ENLISTED PERSONNEL IN THE ENGINEERING DEPT. AS A MEMBER OF THE SHIP'S COMPANY AND BEING AN ENGINEERING OFFICER I WAS IN THE SHIP’S ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT WHICH CONSISTED OF FOUR DIVISIONS, A, E, B, AND M. THOSE DIVISIONS HAD THE FOLLOWING RESPONSIBILITIES: • A DIVISION -- THE AUXILIARY DIVISION-MACHINE SHOP; THE WATER SUPPLY MADE BY EVAPORATION AND CONDENSING SEA WATER; THE COLD STORAGE COMPARTMENT FOR FOOD. • E DIVISION -- THE ELECTRICAL DIVISION. OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE ELECTRIC GENERATORS AND POWER AND LIGHT DISTRIBUTION THROUGHOUT THE SHIP; AN ELECTRICAL-REPAIR SHOP. • B DIVISION – THE BOILER DIVISION. THERE WERE EIGHT BOILERS – TWO IN EACH OF FOUR BOILER ROOMS THAT GENERATED 7500 F, 550 IB., SUPERHEATED STEAM FOR THE MAIN ENGINES; THE LOADING-STORAGE-USAGE OF 1,900,000 GALLONS OF FUEL OIL. • M DIVISION -- THE MAIN ENGINE DIVISION, WHICH OPERATED AND MAINTAINED THE MAIN ENGINES. THERE WERE FOUR MAIN ENGINES, TWO IN EACH OF TWO ENGINE ROOMS. EACH ENGINE POWERED A PROPELLER, FOUR PROPELLERS IN ALL. EACH MAIN ENGINE WAS A 50,000-HORSEPOWER ENGINE. EACH ENGINE CONSISTED OF A HIGH-PRESSURE, HIGH-SPEED STEAM TURBINE WHICH EXHAUSTED INTO A LOW-SPEED TURBINE. EACH TURBINE WAS CONNECTED TO A REDUCTION-GEAR UNIT WHICH THEN TURNED A PROPELLER SHAFT. AS AN M DIVISION OFFICER, I WAS A QUALIFIED WATCH OFFICER WHEN THE SHIP WAS UNDER WAY (MOVING) WITH FULL AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE EIGHT BOILERS AND FOUR MAIN ENGINES. MY STATION WAS AT THE MAIN CONTROLS LOCATED IN THE NO. 1 ENGINE ROOM.