Our Navy Magazine - 1 August 1944 - The Rough Riders

Vol. XXXIX, No. 5

In This Issue - From The Publisher

Our cover is definitely at odds with the title of the lead story which it is supposed to illustrate. This stretch of serene sea with the portion of a DEs bridge gives no indication of the actions of a destroyer escort once the sea kicks up a big—and in the Atlantic it seldom does anything else.

The DE crewmen have made no claim to riding the roughest thing afloat. They are satisfied that their craft does nothing more than roll thirty degrees, pitch, twist, jump, lurch, careen, and stand on its head. If the PCs and SCs introduce gyrations above and beyond that—then solicitations are in order. But that the little DEs are hell-riding, tough, and efficient, nobody will deny. They and their crews opened a "Second Front" long before D-day in Normandy.

They stepped into the full fury of the U-boat war, a war that involved several hundred thousand men, and that was as important to the outcome of the main issue as any campaign or drive on land. Of course they were not alone in this campaign.

There were the Baby Flattops, long range bombers, and large destroyers fighting with them. But the DEs can take a large measure of the credit for halting the dreadful carnage being wrought by the U-boat, and of turning the destruction in the other direction. That campaigning has been won. Steve Thompson, New York reporter, takes you aboard one of these DEs in "The Rough Riders."

Jay W. Hedden knows his way around when it comes to writing fiction. He can put words on paper and has a professional polish that does him great credit. His first story appeared in O. N. back in November, 1941, a three part serial called "Death Keeps a Notebook."

Once on the beam with murder, he followed with a couple of other "whodunnits." Then the pattern is clear. We heard nothing from him from 1942 until now—and it can be presumed the war has kept him pretty busy. At least he has climbed up the ladder from SF3c to SF1c, the rate he holds today.

He joined the Navy in 1939, and in the peaceful years before the war was intent on making a career of writing. His present effort, "My Heart Tells Me," shows that even war has not entirely sidetracked his ambition. His yarn on page 8 is a believable and smooth piece of writing. Hedden should go places.

On page 12 we have given a brief account of today's Pacific war, which is the concern of the most powerful Naval unit in the history of sea warfare—Task Force 58. Unfortunately, security demands that most of the facts in connection with this huge armada must be hidden until the dap fleet is brought to bay and defeated. That event does not appear too far off.

Table of Contents : * THE LOG *

• The Rough Riders : The Bucking Little DEs Drove the U-Boat from the Convoy Routes
  By Stephen G. Thompson
• My Heart Tells Me: He Was In Love With A Girl Who Had More Lovers Than Stars In The Sky
  By Jay W. Hedden, Illustrated by Howard T. Knapp
• Interlude At Tufula Cove
  By Hugh G. Oliver
• Task Force 58 : The Most Powerful Naval Unit In The History Of The Sea Rules The Pacific
• Salty Rhymes
• Letter for a Pal
  By Ervin L. Steeley
• Yankee Doodle Drummer Boy : George Washington's Drum Goes Back To War With A 1944 Bluejacket
  By Edward Pinkowski
• Weather In Invasions : There is No Guesswork By The Weatherman Today
• In The Wake Of Invasion : Three Images From The War
• Last of the Seabees : A CB Misses Too Many Transports -- Result, A Fantasy
  By George Monroe Myers
• Tough Little Tug Boat : The USS Choctaw Proves That War Is Not Always Fought With Bombs And Guns
  By John B. Penfold
• Foreign Naval News
  By Walton L. Robinson
• USS Nevada
  By Richard Shafter
• What's in a Name?
• Round Up of the War
  By Fletcher Pratt
• Naval Cancels and Cachets
  By Marshall R. Hall
• Salt Shakers
  By Walt Munson
• Bulletin Board of Naval Interest
  • Launchings
  • P. O. Ratings To Be Temporary
  • Ship Losses
  • WAVE's Bill Favorably Reported
  • Warrants To Be Promoted En Bloc
  • Eligibility For Area Ribbons
  • Navy Medicos Stop Epidemic
  • Brazilian Troups Soon To Go Overseas
  • New Germ Killer
  • Battle Dress Replacements
  • Too Many SMITHs
  • New Undersea Camera
  • Competitors Wanted
  • Things the Third Reich Germans Don't Understand
  • Sailor Sees Invasion
  • Pistol-Shot Gun .45 Cal.
  • Not A Bad Idea
  • Athlete Becomes An Ace
• Awards, Commendations and Promotions
  • Ship Named For Navy Hero : USS Muir, DE - Lt. Kenneth Muir
  • Letters Of Commendation
  • Navy And Marine Corps Medals
  • More Letters Of Commendation
  • Medal Of Honor To Lt. Nathan G. Gordon
  • CSp Robert Halperin Wins Navy Cross
  • Silver Stars Awarded
  • Air Medal To Cmdr. William A. Moffett, Jr.
  • Distinguished Flying Cross Awards
• Personnel Information
  • Official Casualty List (From May 1 to May 31, 1944) - Listed by State
  • Family Inquest : Next Of Kin Requests Your Help
  • Contacting Shipmates
  • Books In Review
    • Primer of Navigation, Second Edition, by George W. Mixter
    • Then There Was One by Eugene Burns
    • Sailor's Star by Fanny Heaslip Lea
    • Fathoms Deep by Michael Dawson
    • Stick and Rudder by Wolfgang Langewiesche
• 20 Months At Hard Labor : The 120th Seabees Return To The States
• Calling All Solomon Islands Chess Players
  by Emmet Maum
• Navy Soil Engineers
• The Last of LST 348
• Your Beauty Parade
  • Alabama's Ramona Vincent
  • Wyoming's Shirley Ellbogan
  • California's June Nunn
  • Kansas's Virginia Baker
• Notes of Interest
• Sparks from the Sports Wheel
  By Harry Dwyer
• Lay Aft on the Fantail
• Traditions of the Navy
• The Skipper and the Boot

All photographs are Official Navy Photos unless otherwise identified.

Published the 1st and 15th of each month by OUR NAVY, INC., Owen Watson, president; Paul R. Watson, Gem Mgr. Office of publication, Editorial and Executive offices, 1 Hanson Place, Brooklyn, N. Y.

EDITOR : Bruce Baylor

ASST. EDITOR : R. C. Fay

ASSOCIATE EDITORS: C. M. Hatcher, John B. Penfold

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER : C. J. Lund

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

• A. R. Bosworth
• Walt Munson
• Walton Robinson
• Lillian Thomas
• Harry Dwyer
• Ernest G. Vetter
• Cedric W. Windas
• Manning Hall

I Hanson Place, Brooklyn, New York

Entered as second class matter September 28, 1943, at the post office at Brooklyn, New York, under the act of March 3, 1878, with an additional entry at Philadelphia, Penna. Single espies 15 cents.

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Assertions or opinions of contributors are those of the individual and do not reflect the official views of the Navy Department or the Government. Entire contents copyrighted 1944 by OUR NAVY, INC.

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