Moving Metal

AEROSPACE ENGINEER AT SEA I n July 1944, America was slowly pushing back the Japanese in fierce combat in the Pacific. Victory was not yet assured, and U.S. soldiers, airmen, Marines, and sailors were enduring terrible casualties. The Pacific War was largely a naval war, and the U.S. Navy desperately needed more sailors and officers to man its vast fleet of warships and auxiliary vessels—particularly men with engineering degrees and technical expertise.

It was at this time that the young aerospace engineer Bill Gimbel resigned fromDouglas Aircraft Company and joined the U.S. Naval Reserves. Following officer training in Hollywood, Florida, he was commissioned as an ensign and assigned to the light aircraft carrier USS Monterey, CVL-26. The Monterey —“Monty,” as she was affectionately called—carried forty-five aircraft and was crewed by a complement of 1,569 officers and men, including Lieutenant Gerald R. Ford, gunnery division officer, assistant navigator, and future president of the United States. Gimbel boarded Monty for the first time in July 1945, just as the U.S. Navy was launching its final air strikes against the Japanese home islands. He served as a Combat Information Center officer on the Monty for the next nine months, and was subsequently promoted to Lieutenant (Junior Grade). In June 1946, he was honorably discharged and resumed his career as an engineer at Northrop Aircraft Company. Gimbel’s superior, Commander D.C. Goodman, wrote to him that “you met the high standards of the naval service and assisted materially in bringing our mission to a successful conclusion.” Gimbel remained proud of both the Monty and his shipmates for the rest of his life.

Bill Gimbel in Waikiki, June 1945.

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