U.S.S. Philippine Sea CV 47 1949

N.P.: [United States Navy], 1949. First Edition. Soft cover. Good. Oblong quarto stapled, soft cover. 32 pages. Illustrated with black and white photographs. A few scuffs to the paper upper right edge. Light creases to the covers. The blurb on the verso of the front cover reads "This booklet gives a sketch of the life and work of the ship's company of the U.S.S. Philippine Sea CV 47 and of Carrier Air Group One during a training cruise in the Caribbean area in the fall of 1949." Some of the pages have light pencil commentary from one of the crew officers. Four of the pages inside have light pencil commentary from an unknown Officer that went by the initials "py". The first comment regards Captain R. R. Waller, USN Commanding Officer - "The best Captain I've ever had the pleasure to serve with - py." The second page of comments is found on the Memorial Service of LTJG C. M. Hicks, of VA-14v - "Hicks sat in the chair on my left at the meal table. He was a laughing, joking, devel-may-not-care type who left a wife and child behind when his engine failed at take off- py." The third page with a note concerns "Mount 54." Py states, "I was safety observer for this mount. Made sure they were shooting the target and not the tow plane. I was proud altho I had nothing to with their accuracy. - py". The last page of comments by the crew member is on the fire room page. Py states, "It's not a fire room. It's an engine room. It's where I stand watches as officer of the watch. Chief Berry (located on the photograph) has stood many watches with me as Chief in charge of No. 1 engine room. When on watch I supervise also 7 other other major engineering spaces and each has a Chief -in- charge. Sometimes I wish you could see me in operation such as lighting off the plant an prior to getting underway. Would have a better idea of the kind of officer I am - py."

From wikipedia:

USS Philippine Sea (CV/CVA/CVS-47, AVT-11) was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers of the United States Navy, and the first ship to be named for the Battle of the Philippine Sea. She was launched on 5 September 1945, after the end of World War II, and sponsored by the wife of the Governor of Kentucky. During her career, Philippine Sea served first in the Atlantic Ocean and saw several deployments to the Mediterranean Sea as well as a trip to Antarctica as a part of Operation Highjump. Sent to the Korean Peninsula at the outbreak of the Korean War, she sent aircraft in support of United Nations ground troops, first during the Battle of Pusan Perimeter and then during the Inchon Landings and the Second Battle of Seoul. She subsequently supported UN troops during the surprise Chinese attack and the Chosin Reservoir Campaign. Philippine Sea saw three tours to Korea during the war, receiving nine battle stars for her service. For the remainder of her service, she operated primarily out of San Diego and San Francisco, seeing several deployments to the Far East and being redesignated an anti-submarine warfare carrier. She was decommissioned on 28 December 1958 and sold for scrap in 1970.