US Marine Corps - The Black Vault

134 Amphibians Came To Conquer
HIGH PRAISE FROM ABOVE
Before Captain Turner left the Naval War College, Rear Admiral
Edward C. Kalbfus and Rear Admiral Charles P. Snyder, the two Presidents
of the Naval War College under whom he had served, had written on his
fitness reports:
a superior officer in every respect . . . a keen analytical mind and in an
assiduous search for the truth . . . has made a substantial contribution to
the College . . . Widely read . . . an accomplished strategist and tactician.
TO THE ASTORIA
The 16 December 1933 copy of Plane Talk, the ship’s paper of the
Saratoga, printed Commander Turner’s picture and the “hearty congratula-
tions of the ship’s company on his selection to Captain. ” The lead article
was headlined “Astoria Launched Today. ”
Four years and nine months later, the AJtoria and Captain Turner got
together again.
The A~~oria (CA-34) was a 1(),0()0-ton heavy cruiser, carrying nine 8-inch
55-caliber guns in three turrets, and eight 5-inch 25-caliber guns in her
anti-aircraft battery. She was reasonably new, having been commissioned
in April 1934 and was currently assigned to Cruiser Division Six of
the Cruisers, Scouting Force. The Minttea~olis was the flagship of the divi-
sion. Rear Admiral Royal E. Ingersoll was the Division Commander, and
Rear Admiral Gilbert J. Rowcliff ( 1902) was Commander Cruisers, Scouting
Force.
I first met Kelly Turner a couple of hours after he reported on board. It
was Sunday. I was the Supply Duty Officer. He sent for me and asked if we
carried No Oxide in stock. (I was not the GSK pay cIerk. ) I told him I
would find out. I returned a half-hour later and informed him that we did
not, but that I had prepared a requisition for a supply to be delivered either at
Panama or Guantanamo, ports we were departing for the following day
(certainly soon afterwards). He signed the requisition. The next morning,
when the regular clerk returned and I told him about the Captain’s desires,
he informed me he had about five hundred pounds in stock, but carried under
a Navy stock number not its commercial name No Oxide. What to do? It
was 8:05, I went to the Captain’s cabin and asked his orderly if I might speak
to him. He was having breakfast. I was ushered into his cabin. ‘Captain,’ I
said, tremulously I fear, because his reputation had preceded him, ‘I’ve come
to tell you that you have the most stupid chief pay clerk in the Navy serving