Being a Chief Petty Officer in charge of a number of blacks, he must have been a Commissary CPO, and his men, Mess attendants, most likely for the Wardroom officers with the Wardroom located on the deck just below the hanger deck, about midships.
How his men could have been lost immediately seems a mystery. They were well above the waterline, and the hanger deck should have been armored. Explosive flames should not have spread as all doors and hatched would have been secured.
Enlisted living quarters were situated on this same deck.
For him to escape, he would have to ascend to the hanger deck, which was an inferno, then head outboard to one of the outside sponson decks from where he most likely jumped overboard. Very doubtful that he would have ascended an additional couple of decks above to the flight deck. There were no outlets to the sea below the hanger deck.