Operation Hunter Killer - 1955 (民國44年) Fourth Far Eastern Cruise, USS Badoeng Strait (CVE-116)...The 1955 Cruise of the Bing Ding 極東巡航《Black Water Museum Collections | 黑水博物館館藏》
Our Ship
The mighty Bing Ding" as she is affectionately referred to by her crew members and other citizens is a "home — away from home" for over 1100 offi cers and men.
Our "home" was launched on February 15.1945 in Tacoma. Wash ington as the 14th of the 105 class escort carriers and was commissioned on November 14.1945. Her name Badoeng Strait, which most people find difficult to spell, was taken from the scene of a courageous battle waged by outnumbered Dutch and American warships in the Badoeng Strait which resulted in serious losses to a group of Japanese cruisers and transports. The strait lies just east of Java between the southeastern end of the island of Ball and the western coast of the small island of Nusa Besar. The Bing Ding has lived up to the traditions of her namesake in her brief 10 year life. Now on her fourth Far Eastern Cruise. the ship spent three previous tours of duty in the orient during the Korean conflict. The ship was one of the first to arrive on the Korean scene after the outbreak of hostilities. being ordered further West from Pearl Harbor during participation in a Midshipman summer cruise..
Since 1947. anti-submarine warfare has been the primary mission of the Bing Ding. Charged with the responsibility of "hunting and killing" enemy subs, the Bing Ding is an imm portant asset for the protection of any convey. Her normal complement of 18 ASW aircraft fly around-the-clock patrols. For the past year the ship has been engaged in extensive research with the twin-engine S27 Sentinels" and the H04S "Whirley-birds". She was the first escort carrier in the Pacific to launch and recover the new S27. and she made the first night landings of the 527 in the Navy. Whether Huk'n or steam'n the Bing Ding is a picture of teamwork. and exemplifies the confidence that has made in one of few escort carriers in the navy that will retain her CVE designation.
The ship's prestige is further enhanced by the outstanding list of flag officers and Commanding Officers that have called the Bing Ding home. Though the first ten years have been historic ones, the men and officers are working as a team to make a more glorious history in the second ten. To this team and to this effort. this book is respectfully dedicated—a picture history of our fourth Far Eastern Cruise as we continue in peace and treat of war to and she made the first night landings of the 527 in the Navy. Whether Huk'n or steam'n the Bing Ding is a picture of teamwork. and exemplifies the confidence that has made in one of few escort carriers in the navy that will retain her CVE designation. add yet another chapter to our American History.
They came from the sea
The submarine first became a major factor in naval warfare during World War I when Germany demonstrated its full potentialities. However, its advent at that time, marked by the wholesale sinkings of Allied shipping, was in reality the culmination of a long process of development.
Ancient history includes occasional records of attempts at underwater operation in warfare, but in none of these records is there a direct reference to the use of submersible apparatus of any kind. In 1580, a British Naval officer, William Bourne, designed an enclosed boat which could be submerged and rowed under the surface but it was never built. During the period up to the civil war many submarines of all types were patented and many were actually seaworthy and able to submerge for short periods of time. In the Revolutionary War, a submarine was first used as an offensive weapon in Naval warfare when the "Turtle ", a one man submersible invented by David Bushnell, attempted to sink a British man of war in New York Harbor; but its effectiveness was limited to forcing the ship to move to a new berth.
Lack of propulsion held the development of the submarine back until about 1900 when the Holland shipyard designed and built what proved to be the basic design of all future submarines. The vessel was propelled by steam while on the surface and by electricity when submerged.
At the end of the first three years of World War I it appeared that the Germans were winning the war with their U-Boat fleet. They were being built faster than they were being destroyed and allied shipping was bearing the brunt of their fury. One out of every four vessels that left the British Isles during April 1917 never returned. Not until the United States entered the war in April 1917 and after the convoy system was devised, did the tide of battle turn in favor of the Allies.
At the beginning of World War II, the Germans again took the initiative with her fleet of 60 U-Boats. British losses of warships and merchantmen were heavy and caused the United Kingdom to concentrate much of her war effort on the U-Boat menace. The Hunter/Killer Force, essentially as we know it today, was devised shortly after the United States entry into the conflict in 1941. At the same time, long range patrol planes from both continents patrolled all but the central portion of the Atlantic Ocean; and this is where the escort carrier and her destroyers waged the offensive battle that subdued the "wolfpack" and finally the U-Boat menace.
Since the war in the Pacific with the Japanese was primarily a Naval war, the submarine figured even more prominently in eventual history than it did in the Atlantic. Japan relied on her merchant fleet to provide the home islands with the necessary raw material needed to forge the weapons of war. It was on this fleet that submarines of the U.S. Navy concentrated their offensive might immediately after Pearl Harbor. Over half of the Japanese losses of Naval and Merchant Marines tonnage was accounted for by submarines, These lethal killers not only wrought havoc to the Japanese with their torpedoes and deck guns but also served as scouts for the fleet and as life guards for rescuing downed airmen. The latter proved especially effective during the closing days of the war when a U.S. submarine surfaced off the very coast of Japan to pickup an airman shot down in raids over the Japanese homeland. Ironically, the last major Japanese Naval vessel to be sunk in World War II was a Japanese submarine sunk by a U.S. submarine on August 14, 1945.
Today, with the advent of the Atomic Powered submarine and the first true submersible, we enter into a new and comparatively unexploited phase of underseas warfare. Our mission to combat the submarine menace by offensive action in the event of hostilities but primarily to preserve peace through preparedness. And so tomorrow......
Now in her bossom they rest
There you have it the 1955 Far East Cruise of the Bing Ding in words and pictures. The staff's goals have been to present to our families and friends an accurate account of the places we visited. our life aboard ship and the work and planning that comprise Hunter-Killer a operation. We hope the reader feels that these goals have been met. My personal thanks and gratitude are extended to those whose work and cooperation made this book possible. R.E. H.
