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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 2672
Location: New Jersey | Subject: Carrier
Watching Sunday & last nights showing of carrier, I came away with some very unfond memories of my days on the USS FDR CVA 42. Working under the watchful eyes of demonic Boatswain mates as an E2 direct from bootcamp, I was the lowest form of life (if it could be called that) on the foodchain, further below then the compartment cleaners. Good lord did I hate everything about that ship. Remember the first night of carrier where that CMC strutted around below decks flappin his gums at everyone who came into view? There were a 100 guys like him on CVA42. They were called MAA's E-5's mostly whose sole purpose in life was to harrass the living shyte out of the entire ships crew.....They were in training for CMC I guess, but they couldn't touch the aircrew, cause they were filthy dirty all the time because of they're job and worked harder then most. So they were, so it seemed, off limits to these purveyors of petty bulls**t.
So my heart goes out to these men & women living under a semi-tyranical buracracy. Who struggle with their lifes decision, their home sickness, their choice of jobs or lack there of.
Now, this rant is not meant to irk some of you guys who made the navy your lifes work, or who may have had a different experience. This is my experience as an E2, who, being exposed to navy life for the first time, was, to say the least, less than thrilled. It wasn't until I got to SS485 that my life changed for the best. When I talk about my 4 years in the navy, I tend to gloss over my carrier time with the remark, "it sucked" and dwell on my sub time.
Edited by Runner485 2008-04-30 5:57 AM
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WWII Sub Vet
Posts: 135
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Carriers were Chicken S**t even beck in WWll. They refused to let me on because I WASN'T WEARING REGULATION SOCKS.
Warshot |
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Old Salt
Posts: 489
Location: San Freakcisco CA area | Subject: RE: Carrier
I can't believe our newer kinder gentler Navy - if this show is truly representative, I'm glad my retirement was many years ago (28 to be exact). The first thing that hit me was several references to the NIMITZ being a "boat" -- I'm surprised someone didn't speak of "the pointy end" or somesuch.
It is hard to distinguish between someone hamming for the camera and a real presentation.
Lessee here, where was the free pay phone to home on USS Ustafish, anyway?
How about that gal with the booze - looked as if there was a grand jury in the goat locker and no Captain's Mast?? WTF?
Oh, well, an entirely new breed of seagoing sailor these days, right? Bless 'em all, I'm glad they are our there protecting our backsides, long hair and all.
Edited by SOB490 2008-04-30 8:09 AM
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1814
Location: Boydton, Virginia | Subject: RE: Carrier
What stuck in my craw was the little black girl that said that she couldn't see fighting for someone elses freedom when she didn't have any freedom herself!!!!
I agree that surface craft sucked. I was on a DL when I was non-rated, I remember having to clean heads as extra duty for having a sock or some other trivial "gear adrift" in the bearthing compartment. MAA's were the most hated rate on the ship. Real chicken s**t.
Then when I transferred to subs , you were judged by how well you did your job, not by chicken-s**t rules that made no sence.
Steamboat sends |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 566
Location: Inyokern, Ca. | Subject: RE: Carrier
We had an FTC (skimmer) cross-over to Subs in my last year onboard. (Actually we had two, but the other one learned to fit in and loved the new life. He eventually became COB.) Anyway the FTC continually groused about the way things were done on the boat. Often finishing his remarks with how things were done in the 'real Navy.' He started squeezing his way (egg-with-legs build) down the chow-line one evening and inspecting us. Commenting on uniforms and grooming. (We were only required to wear one piece of Navy garb and our TLD's. Several guys wore moccasins or colorful t-shirts underway and we were on an extended op at the time.) Another Chief politely asked him to join him 'down the passageway' and he started arguing loudly that "We needed an MAA onboard and he was willing to do it." Apparently after they got to the Goat locker and when the COB was briefed he explained some of the finer points of submarining to the FTC.
The FTC continually tried to skate on quals. He mistakingly came to me for his ventilation sig. after misunderstanding when my Chief told him to go to me to get 'prepped' for the sig. (I was the heavy as the senior AEF.) He asked for me to give him his check-out so I did, no harsher or easier than I ever gave. He was infuriated when I gave him look-ups (he was really light) and asked me to sign. I refused and made my mark next to the box explaining I would sign when he completed the LU's. He never came back for the sig and I found out later my Chief gave him the grape. When I left the boat he still had not qualified and was right near his one year mark.
BB
Edited by BlackBeard 2008-04-30 1:11 PM
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 715
Location: Conway, NH | Subject: RE: Carrier
My son was aboard the Nimitz in the ’95 –’96 period. He was in V1 Div; but was assigned to duties outside the division.
The phones are not free, I cannot, nor can my son, remember how much a call cost.
From reading posts on another Navy board, it seems that the morale aboard Nimitz was and is a problem.
The “Mast” she went through was to take some of the administrative burden from a Captains Mast. If you noticed, she was pleading guilty and the penalty was being recommended via the XO. I served with two chiefs who had been on carriers one a YN the other an HM. Both stated that Masts were held weekly (sometimes twice a week) lasting all afternoon. They even had people going to mast for being UA (not reporting to assigned work area) for days at a time while the ship was underway. The YN said it was not unusual to hold 25 and more masts a week. |
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Crew
Posts: 50
Location: Bremerton,Wa | Subject: RE: Carrier
When I graduated from FT"A" school as a second class I was assigned to the USS PHILIPPINE SEA(CVA 47).I spent one year,one month,one day and about fifteen hours on Phil Sea before going to SubScol and I hated every second aboard that ship.I was on two tin cans prior to FT"A" school and enjoyed the tin can life(didn't know any better until I reported on USS CARP(SS338) on 4 March 1955 and life really began for me.
Dirty Dave..SS 338,SS 563,SSBN(602),SSBN9643)(COB) |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 566
Location: Inyokern, Ca. | Subject: RE: Carrier
I was surprised a few years ago when talking to the junior airdales here that they normally go to XO's mast first, and if they accept his decision that's it. If they wish to fight it then it goes on to CO's mast.
BB |
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Old Salt
Posts: 431
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makes me glad I was in a different Navy in a different time |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 602
Location: Visalia, Ca. | Subject: RE: Carrier
BlackBeard - 2008-04-30 5:24 PM
I was surprised a few years ago when talking to the junior airdales here that they normally go to XO's mast first, and if they accept his decision that's it. If they wish to fight it then it goes on to CO's mast.
BB
I've heard of that on many large surface ships, where the XO and some of the Department Heads are full Commanders. We had a similar process at Service School Command, San Diego, when I was teaching EM & IC schools in the early '80s. The head of the Electrical Schools Department (BE/E, IC/EM, DP schools) was a full Commander, and had NJP authority. He/She (I had one of each during my tour) handled everything except drug busts and DUIs, which went straight to the Captain.
Within the Electrical Schools Division (IC 'A' school and the IC/EM 'C' schools) we tried to handle as much as we could at the Company Commander ('A' School) and Instructor/Chief level. Both Commanders gave us a lot of lee-way, and we did our best to issue appropriate discipline, not abusive punishment. But we did have some of the cleanest heads and shiniest decks in the buildings we occupied.
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 566
Location: Inyokern, Ca. | Subject: RE: Carrier
Donald L. Johnson - 2008-04-30 9:27 PM
I've heard of that on many large surface ships, where the XO and some of the Department Heads are full Commanders. We had a similar process at Service School Command, San Diego, when I was teaching EM & IC schools in the early '80s.
Hmmm... I missed you, went through BE/E and IC "A" school in late '78. Did Mike Rutkowski work there as a civvie contractor during your time? He was my Sea-Daddy on Gurnard in late 79-80, then left the Navy and worked over there at ServScol command for a couple years. Great guy.
BB
Edited by BlackBeard 2008-04-30 10:19 PM
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 781
Location: Port Orchard WA | Subject: RE: Carrier
Hey think about it a minute the crew is over 3400 people on Nimitz the XO (like all Navy Air) is an 18 month job because he relieves the CO half way through the 3 year tour same as in any squadron, so he is most likely a full Captain he has already served as a squadron CO and normally as the CO of some "deep draft" surface ship. So do the math 3000 (round the crew down) divided by ~ 150 (round the sub crew up) that is 20 means even the XO is responsible for ~ 20 Submarine Crews (when was the last time you saw the Squadron or Group CDR get invovled because of some E-3 on one of his boats drinking on liberty) In fact how many of you even made it to CO Mast for drinking to much, being late to muster etc (I can not even begin to count the times I have heard of the COB or your favorite Chief taking care of "minor indiscretions) I think they are actually doing things "old school" Just my opinion I did go to CO mast 2 times though (both ends of my time) and was taken to the woodshed by one or more of my chiefs a few times. |
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Senior Crew
Posts: 131
Location: Communist Humboldt County | Subject: RE: Carrier
A good friend will bail you out of Jail..... A SHIPMATE will be right beside you saying
DAMN That was Fun When Are We Doing It AGAIN! BUT Your Wives will be there to tell you both how stupid it was, all they way home
Stealing Bear's quote here I guess that was the way things were in 70 on Bonefish. Great skippers, great crew, everyone worked like hell when it was time to work, didn't have to be told to turn to to clean up ship because most kept their spaces relatively clean most of the time, Went aboard the Kitty Hawk to find a cousin one time. I didn't even get off the quarter deck and some CDR wrote 5 report chits on me so I just turned and left all the while someone yelling at me. Somehow the report chits made it back over to finger piers before I did and the DO tore up the report chits and told me not to play with the skimmers no mo. Even the morning I did the leap of death after they cast off #1 line and was maybe about 12' or so from the pier I hit the end of the pier doing max throttle and the topside gang basically caught me and held on so I wouldn't slide off the boat. Some were yelling don't do it and some were cheering me on but I ended up dry and onboard and nothing was ever said about that except maybe they didn't know if I am stupid by nature or do I really have to try hard. Oh I took heat for some of the dum stunts you bet. I was always first to be located in the upper midships hatch when loading stores. COB made sure of that at least for the first couple hours. I always scored near the top of my class in every school I was set to TAD, Got to trade with a couple guys who didn't or couldn't make the first part of the westpac or a spec-op, I have no complaints or regrets. I think the way you were treated was directly proportional with how you worked, how heavy you were on systems and how thick your skin was. That seemed to sum up the Bonefish/Wahoo and Grayback in the 70's. Rode a couple Nuc's for temp duty and I never really was there long enough to really fit in until if not needed else where I would volunteer to night bake and that normally would turn the crew around on my side. I give the submarine navy full credit as to what I am today, Guess thats why I'm gonna sell my body to a lampshade company when I die to pay for my creamation and scattering my ashes out at sea.
Thats my honest take of the way it was, , , ,,
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 602
Location: Visalia, Ca. | Subject: RE: Carrier
BlackBeard - 2008-04-30 8:18 PM
Donald L. Johnson - 2008-04-30 9:27 PM
I've heard of that on many large surface ships, where the XO and some of the Department Heads are full Commanders. We had a similar process at Service School Command, San Diego, when I was teaching EM & IC schools in the early '80s.
Hmmm... I missed you, went through BE/E and IC "A" school in late '78. Did Mike Rutkowski work there as a civvie contractor during your time? He was my Sea-Daddy on Gurnard in late 79-80, then left the Navy and worked over there at ServScol command for a couple years. Great guy.
BB
Yeah, I was there Feb '82-Feb '85.
You just made it out of IC school before they changed to computer-managed self-paced instruction, added a lot more digital electronics, and took out some of the cross-rate EM stuff in 1979. When Rickover got the word, he pulled all the nukes out of IC school and sent them to Great Lakes to be Electricians' Mates.
Didn't know Mike Rutkowski. Most of the "C" schools we taught were handled by the contract instructors, and most of those were either retired EM/IC chiefs or retired Coasties - no submariners in the group. I taught Propulsion Plant Alarm and Warning systems (based on the 1200-psi boiler plant on the Knox-class FFs) and AO-177-class Oiler Automated Propulsion Control Systems (Pre-Comm crews, including Chief Engineers, XOs and COs), and played Military Advisor to the civilian-taught classes. I also filled in on the "A"-school Alarm and Warning system labs. My dolphins got me a lot of funny looks from the surface guys, until I pointed out that we had a lot of the same stuff in our steamplant, just a different kind of water heater.
I think the most fun I had was running the AO-177 full-up trainer console for the pre-Comm crews, and puting problems in for the operators to deal with. We had a DEC PDP-11 driving the console, to simulate the propulsion plant, and we could simulate almost any casualty that could occur in the plant. Put the Chiefs on the Console & the Chief Eng or XO as EOOW, and let all hell break loose. Lots of fun, like that no-win trainer on Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Most of those guys would have been good nukes.
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1606
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Pretty scary thing a pilot trying to land an F-18 at night on a tossing sea. Watching that made me nervous after they showed some failed night landings. Especially the one pilot who thought he was going to crash into the back of his "boat" only to be saved at the last minute when the stern went down and the deck came up to catch him. ON a sepate note I worked at Northrop when we lost the contract for their YF-17 to the YF-16 and then when we partnered with Douglas on the F-18 sold to the Navy. As great a plane as they say it is, my personal opinion is that it has always looked less modern to me than the F-14 it replaced. I assume that besides the F-14 being old, the F-18 has much lower maintenance costs.
Edited by Gil 2008-05-02 8:15 AM
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Old Salt
Posts: 256
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The series actually does nothing to "help" the US Navy......That's what we get by letting civilians with their own axe to grind free access to a US warship......Someone in the Pentagon dropped the ball here.....you'd get 75% of the same type of comments in a big NYC apartment house in the low to middle rent districts.......Although the "series" was produced in 2005, as I'm led to believe, no one at the top end of chain of command must have really looked at it.....
I'd rather watch re-runs of Victory At Sea........
Tincanman  |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 781
Location: Port Orchard WA | Subject: RE: Carrier
Gil The F/A-18 was really designed to replace the A-7 and the original F/A-18 was a marginal replacement for the Corsair, biggest weakness was lack of legs (NO Fuel and High Burn Rate). It only became the rplacement for the Tomcat as part of a McNamara type mind set that started in early 90's That mindset cause a rethink of the Hornet which resulted in the Super Honets in particular F/A -18 E/F this rethink cause the cancellation of A-12 Avenger which was the replacement for A-6, it has also caused the cancellation of specific replacements for Prowler (now being replaced by a EF-18G Growler) and the Viking. The last I knew the Tomcat was taking 12 hours of Maintaince for every flight hour the Hornet because of simplier systems and pull and replace modules and so on it only take 4 for one |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1606
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Thanks BEAR!!! |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 602
Location: Visalia, Ca. | Subject: RE: Carrier
Bob Melley - 2008-05-02 6:21 AM
The series actually does nothing to "help" the US Navy......That's what we get by letting civilians with their own axe to grind free access to a US warship......Someone in the Pentagon dropped the ball here.....you'd get 75% of the same type of comments in a big NYC apartment house in the low to middle rent districts.......Although the "series" was produced in 2005, as I'm led to believe, no one at the top end of chain of command must have really looked at it.....
I'd rather watch re-runs of Victory At Sea........
Tincanman
Here's what the CNO had to say about the series "Carrier":
Subject: FlagSESWeb Mail - CARRIER
Beginning Sunday, April 27, PBS will air a reality-TV documentary
entitled "CARRIER", filmed while the production company was embarked
during the entire USS NIMITZ's 2005 deployment. The program will air
over five nights from Sunday, April 27, to Thursday, May 1, 2008,
9:00-11:00 p.m. ET. Ten hours of film will be aired, selected from
almost 2,000 hours that were shot over the course of a 6-month
deployment to CENTCOM. I have viewed the production and want to share
context and some thoughts with you.
While "Carrier" shows the outstanding work our young Sailors do every
day and the opportunities the Navy offers, it also shows Sailors making
mistakes in their personal and professional lives. The snapshot is frank
and may be somewhat disconcerting to some who came into the Navy some
time ago. However, that said, I believe it will also resonate with a
significant segment of our country, especially potential recruits and
young Sailors serving today.
1. What we did. We provided unprecedented access to our Sailors, and
this production tells their story in a very personal way. There is no
narrator - the stories are told by the Sailors themselves. You get
unvarnished views from junior personnel about their hopes, aspirations,
and challenges of life in the Navy aboard the carrier. We did not get
between the film crews and the Sailors.
2. What we got. The production highlights the racial, gender,
religious, and socio-economic diversity of our Navy. The hard work our
Sailors perform and the remarkable feat of forging thousands of
individuals on a carrier into a truly unique team really shines through.
Culling through hundreds of hours of video, the producers created a
10-hour reality-TV documentary that shows selected aspects of our
Sailors' personal and professional challenges. The cinematography is
very high quality and the visuals and music are sure to appeal to
younger audiences.
3. What we did not get. We did not get a Navy "commercial" in the
traditional sense. "CARRIER" is very different from the hardware
documentaries we have supported in the past. This program focuses on our
people and the reality-TV approach gives it a sense of authenticity and
credibility. Since we did not monitor the individual interviews and
ongoing production, the program contains material that does not always
and fully represent the discipline, values and mission of the U.S. Navy.
You will see some Sailors making personal and professional mistakes, and
expressing opinions that are different from the Navy's. However, the
production shows that these are the exception, not the norm, and that
leadership is engaged to shape lives and appropriate outcomes. There
are abundant examples of how the Navy changed Sailors' lives for the
better by giving them opportunities and a disciplined environment.
4. Why did we agree to the project? This production, although not an
all-inclusive picture of the Navy, will give potential recruits and
those who influence them a glimpse of what life is really like in the
Navy. We want the American people to know, understand and appreciate
the contribution our Sailors make each and every day while deployed
around the world. We also want them to know us, not as a monolithic
bureaucratic entity, but as a diverse organization of individual
Americans who have set aside the comforts of home and have put
themselves on the line to serve a greater cause. You already know how
inspiring our people are, but few in our Nation get to see our people in
an operational environment.
Some of you may be called upon to offer public comments about this film
to the media or to community groups. We will soon distribute PA
guidance to support your efforts and will be putting additional
information on www.navy.mil in the near future. If you need any
additional information, please contact CHINFO, RDML Frank Thorp.
Thank you for all that you do.
All the best,
Gary Roughead
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1247
Location: Rockingham Western Australia | Subject: RE: Carrier
Well having been through all that these kids were going through albeit on a much smaller scale (HMAS MELBOURNE CVS 21) and remembering some of the Clusters that I served with, some of the stupid things I did, some of the emotions insecurities and being plain scared of not fitting and most of all of not wanting to be there, I think the the show was excellent, I think that given the size of the crew and the complexity of the damn ship that some of you should maybe get your heads out of your arses and take second look.
In my opinion they all with few exceptions came over as very capable and dedicated people who were doing a very difficult job over an extended period of time tackling far more complex technology than us boneheads ever handled, in short I think maybe you should remember that maybe even you albeit you may think you were born qualified were once bonehead Seaman nothings that would have kept walking into walls and chasing parked cars if the Chief hadn't told you to stop.
My only question about the show is, what is that lunatic in Green doing sitting in the middle of the deck with the clipboard doing, counting planes, sketching?
MHO! |
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Senior Crew
Posts: 124
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I was on a carrier, the USS Saratoga, from 1973 to 1976.
When PBS started airing the series Carrier, I started watching parts of the series.
Carrier duty is unique from the rest of the Navy due to the size of the ship, the large number of crew, and the day to day mission.
Today's Navy is a totally different Navy from the Navy that I served in, just as, my Dad's Navy in 1942 - 1945 was totally different from mine.
If they had brought a film crew to the Saratoga in 1973, it would not have been pretty. That was a ship's company that had one messed up bunch of folks with lots of dope smoking, drug use and really rotten attitudes toward the Navy and utter contempt for anyone who wore a khaki uniform. There was a racial divide between the black and white crew members that still makes me uncomfortable to think about today.
After 2 1/2 years, I went to submarines to get away from the birdfarm. When the COB approached me about reenlisting, all I could think about was how bad the carrier sucked and I would not want to risk going back there.
From what I have seen today's Navy is better. The men and women who make up the crew and airwing seem to be better educated and highly motivated.
Serving with women on ships has to be much better than my time with a 100% all male crew. The living conditions seem to be a quantum leap ahead of the hot dank berthing areas and food so bad that I lost 10 lbs and never gained it back until after I left the ship.
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 3202
Location: Alexandria, Virginia | Subject: RE: Carrier
Back years ago, the brother of my college roomate commanded the USS CORAL SEA. He was in command when during a Med deployment, two naval aviators flying Coral Sea fighter aircraft shot down two Lybian planes sent to protect Gadaffi's "Line of Death". They smoked both of the two sonuvabitches at a distance so far away the poor idiots didn't know they had been targeted until they got a load of incoming missile. Ed, knew how much of my heart was in my love of the submarine force and got his brother to issue me a FOR FAMILY ONLY inhvitation. That's damn powerful juju for an ex-E-3 qualified man....I drove to Norfolk got a motel room...jumped in the rainlocker and drowned my fleas, sprinkled on a half gallon of foofoo...wrapped thirty strands of armpit hair around around a deodorant roller ball, scraped my face...;combed up, got into my "Sunday go to Meeting" duds and shoved off with my invitation...base entry pass,,,Pier One VIP parking pass. I was directed to a special parking area next to the forward brow to a parking place that had a sign with my name on it. A LtJG came up and signalled me to step out...shook my hand and said,"Mr. Armstrong welcome aboard." Then, I followed this guy, in his high collar whites up, up a ladder that had four landings on the way up...On the first landing I got another handshake and handed an engraved program held together with a little golden silk cord....At the quarterdeck the JG asked me if I had any questions. "Sure do...What's the tonnage of this baby?" There was some kind of surface craft wizard convention and a three striper emerged...came over to me, and asked me why in the hell I was interested in the displacement..."Sir, I'm an old qualified submariner and I just wanted to know what kind of credit a boat will get when they sunk this great big sonuvabitch." They failesd to see the humor in it. Carrier guys have no sense of humor. DEX |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 566
Location: Inyokern, Ca. | Subject: RE: Carrier
I hate to be a stick in the mud over a good sea story Dex, and you do - write so well... but. There are two incidents where two Libyan jets were shot down by the USN. They are referred to as Gulf of Sidra I and II. First was in 1981;
19 August 1981 US Navy F-14A Tomcats, of VF-41, flown by Henry Kleeman (RIO David Venlet) and Lawrence Muczynski (RIO James Anderson), flying from the USS Nimitz, each shot down a Libyan Su-22 Fitter over the Gulf of Sidra.
And the second was in 1989;
4 January 1989 US Navy F-14A Tomcats, of VF-32, flown by Joseph Connelly (RIO Leo Enwright) and Hermon Cook (RIO Steven Collins), flying from the USS John F. Kennedy, each shot down a Libyan MiG-23 Flogger over the Gulf of Sidra.
Lt. David Venlet (now Adm. Venlet of NAVAIR), one of the shooters in 1981, was our CO here and I was fortunate enough to get to talk to him several times at dinners (one which I catered), retirements and such. There is a large display at our local museum that describes and shows the dogfight and time-line with the cockpit recordings played over the display. It's in the Sidewinder exhibit room. They had to get within sidewinder range so the shots were actually pretty close.
Not sure which other incident might have been off the Coral Sea. (vice the Kennedy or the Nimitz.)
Sorry for the nit-pick, but I took my grandson (for the tenth or so time) to the museum this last weekend and we spent a while talking about both shootdowns (he liked the gun camera video) so it is fresh in my mind. And I figured you being the erudite and eloquent man that you are you would appreciate the correct gouge.
BB
Edited by BlackBeard 2008-05-08 10:07 PM
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 3202
Location: Alexandria, Virginia | Subject: RE: Carrier
Blackbeard...They had both aircraft sitting on the flight deck and the public were gathered around them....one had the tail painted like the3 flag of Texas. It was THE CORAL SEA and they did make the claim. I knew nothing about the incident...until told about it. If you are right, then the representatives of the ship both misrepresented the facts and were lying to the general public. I spoke to Ed, read him your post and he remembered it the same as me. His brother died in 2001 in a motorcycle accident during a cross country trip. DE#X |
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 3202
Location: Alexandria, Virginia | Subject: RE: Carrier
Blackbeard, Nancy, the ex-skipper's widow contacted his Exec who vaguely remembered something. He claimed that he recalls bringing back both aircraft but does not recall reason or circumstance. Both fighters were displayed on CORAL SEA. He says it might have had something to do with an International Naval Review. The aircraft were part of a SecNav publicity tour. He also recalled that when they arrived, the flight deck was covered with cars that had to be "untethered" (l am told that airdales could purchase automobiles in Europe and they would be allowed to have their new cars, lifted aboard ship and fastened to the flight deck to bring home.) So, according to Luke, they had to remove the cars to the hanger deck for storage and transport, so landings and takeoffs could be done in conjuction with trans-oceanic passaqge. Luke thinks the aircraft...both were what he called Hornet aircraft...were brought aboard aqt sea. After public display on CORAL SEA...the CDORAL SEA was sent to Charleswton and at sea both aircraft, he believes were dispatched to some air station in the Hampton Roads area. He said, "Don't bet your pension money on the accuracy of anything I say, but I do recall having those planes aboard but they weren't as big a deal to us as they obviously were to you." In truth, they were a simple fact that I remembered that had absolutely nothing to do with the story. I will admit that I was impessed with the tail of one fighter that was painted like the Texas flag. Now all that stuff about bringing back cars is most likely bulls**t. Not my bulls**t....Airdale officer bulls**t...DEX |
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Carrier
