One day the data converter jumped 180 degrees out of kilter and Captain Law told me to have it fixed by morning. I worked all night long and couldn't find the problem, I think I must have checked every circuit a dozen times to no avail. When Becker, who lived in San Diego, came back from liberty around 7:00 AM I met him on the quarterdeck and begged for him to help me. "I don't work on sonar equipment" he informed me. I begged some more so we went down to the IC room where the data converter was located, he listened to all that I had done and checked. He then turned off the power, reached in the unit and rotated the compass indicator 180 degrees, turn the power back on and the unit was repaired. In less the five minutes he had soled a problem that I had worked all night on. He might not remember that, but I sure as heck do.
The Spangler was assigned to the Fleet Sonar School for several years starting in 1950. The Captains I had during that time I was on board were:
R. R. Carter, LCDR
J. G. Pollock, LCD
R. R. Law, LCDR
The info I sent you (Sonar Training School Handout , published in the Memorbilia Section of the website,) was taken from the actual sheet during Pollock's time as CO. It was the same sheet that Carter had except for the sonar gear. When the Spangler was first assigned to the sonar school she was equipped with a QGB(b) sonar stack, OKA range/range rate recorder, TRR range/rate recorder, QDA depth determining sonar and a Mk 1 Attack plotter. This equipment was located on the open bridge area in the asdic shack and it was quite cramped. (During the yard overhaul this area was enlarged and housed the AP, UQC, Mk 5 attack director plus electrical filing buttons for all ASW weapons.) We had a standard 13 depth charge pattern with hedgehogs that would only train 20 degrees and all ASW weapons were fired manually from their locations. The other change in the handout from Carter to Pollock was the cost for the officer students meals went from 50 cents to 75 cent per day.
The ship went in for yard duty at Hunters Point later that year and the Mk 5 ASW system was installed. Carter was still the CO after installation of the new ASW equipment and was the CO when the ship was awarded the Navy "E". Pollock who was Carter's XO became Captain after Carter left.
When the Mk 5 system was installed on the ship the Underwater Telephone UQC was also installed. The Spangler was the first surface ship on the west coast or maybe any coast to have this device. The UQC was installed on many submarines. One time during a "can we get you exercise" the Spangler was operating with two subs. They were chatting to each other and planning their moves as not to get sunk by the Spangler. We listened in. After the exercise was over Captain Law came in to the UBC from the open bridge, picked up the UQC mike and called the subs call name and stated, "this is June Moon Sugar, thanks for the drill" he then signed off without waiting for their, I'm sure surprised reply.
The Spangler went to Mare Island in 1951 to have another sonar control installed. During the Mk 5 conversion in 1950 the sonar control room had been relocated from the bridge to the IC room in what used to be their work shop/storage area Half of their work shop was assigned as the sonar control room. When the second sonar control was installed we took the rest of their workshop/storage room. With two sonar control we could now train twice as many students. Their was a switch in sonar control 1 which we could change which sonar control was engaged with the ASW system. These two systems had their own transmitter and scanning switch assembly with a common transducer.
At Mare Island a new deck gun fire control system was also installed with a new fire control station and mast for the antenna on the boat deck near the 40mm quad. What I thought were later photos that I have seen do not show the second mast. Was it removed?
To answer your question most all the students were enlisted men from the Sonar School. The officer students would spend their time on the bridge conning the ship during these training sessions.
Once some submarine officers seeing how the other half lived were having training and one junior officer who had the conn after the attack, and about to come about for the re-attack, asked the Captain, "which way do I turn skipper?" Captain Law informer this sub sailor that he was addressed as Captain. The submarine officer apologized by saying, "excuse me sir, I'm used to a submarine where we are all friends."
My boot camp book (Great Lakes 1948) didn't have much, if anything about my company 434 either. Maybe all those sharp marchers etc., were from Hollywood. The book is pretty tho.
About that QDA transducer. It would go from flat 0 degrees into the keel of the ship to 90 degrees perpendicular with the keel. You coud tell the angle of the transducer in sonar control by the dial on the QDA stack. When the ship went into dry dock I was always to have the QDA transducer at the zero degrees mark as not to damage it when the ship was supported in the dry dock. I don't recall exactly when but on one of our dry dock repairs I ensured the dial on the stack read zero. After after the water was pumped out of dry dock the word was passed for Ellis to report to the Captain who was on the dry dock. Thinking surely I had done something wonderful and Captain Law was going to reward me for a job well done I rushed to the area where the Captain was standing. He looked at me and then pointed to the QDA transducer which was at about 45 degrees and politely asked me what that was hanging down from his ship. The shear pin had stripped and the motors went and the indicators went but the transducer had not moved. I learned from that experience that electronics aren't always the answer and the next dry dock time I would go down to lower sound and make sure the mechanical angle indicator was indeed at zero. Captain Law later forgave me after we found the Submarine contact that had all the ships in the San Diego area on GQ was only kelp as first reported by the Spangler.