Mustang50 said:Great shots! I can't believe that the helmets and flight deck uniforms are the same type we wore in 1971. When I was in the Top Gun School was in the training squadron at Mirimar. Enlisted men went through their program before being assigned to fleet squadrons.
The cranials we had for the flight were probably FROM 1971 judging by how beat-up they were! A few guys with us were former pilots so they just brought their own helmets.
KyAllroad said:Way back at the dawn of the supercarrier era the big one was the Forrestal. My dad was aboard her for most of 65-66 and assigned to fixing Phantoms. Apparently they were just figuring out some crucial details about landing big heavy planes on a carrier, such as the fact that arresting cables need to have a service life. Apparently he witnessed one snap (there is a terrifying amount of energy released when this happens). After that they threw them away after 100 arrests.
For sure. they now have a padeye at each end to make them quicker/easier to swap out after the requisite number of traps.
To age myself as well, when I was a kid my dad was the SupShip in charg of Saratoga's major overhaul at Philly Naval Shipyard. Saratoga was same class as Forrestal. I've been aboard most of the Navy's carriers and other big ships over the years, but never to sea. And they weren't doing fixed-wing flight ops the week we were out, except for the C-2 we flew in on. Just helo ops, so didn't get to see the real fun stuff unfortunately.
In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :
I've been out of NNSY for 29 years now. Yikes!
I imagine they stowed the jeeps while out to sea, back then. But drove 'em while in the yard, back then.
There was a tv show in '88 (fiction) about a carrier. One young seaman is brought aboard for his first duty, and imeatiatly gets lost from his Ford Econobox. Spends several days (over several episodes ) lost and wandering around. Every time he gets someone to stop long enough to explain; something happens where they have to go, and he's lost again!!! Silly, but funny!
Brings back some memories. I am a recently retired engineer who worked for the Navy for 30+ years, and I've spent a few weeks at a time on carriers to do avionics test bench work; I enjoyed it because I wasn't there for six months or more like everybody else!
Kendall Frederick said:Brings back some memories. I am a recently retired engineer who worked for the Navy for 30+ years, and I've spent a few weeks at a time on carriers to do avionics test bench work; I enjoyed it because I wasn't there for six months or more like everybody else!
Yeah, a week aboard was about right for me lol....
Can relate. Spent 4 years on the USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN-71 from 1987 to 1991. Spent 98.7% of the time in the bottom running two nuclear power plants. The remaining time was sleeping and occasionally visiting the Crows Nest to get some natural light (about every 3 months). I'd forget to go see the sun for montsh at a time, which is funny because they qualified me to do submarine duty but I said I wanted to be able to see daylight occasionally...
Of course that time-frame included Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Provide Comfort. I think this was on our way back through the Suez Canal. Fun fact, I learned it is much narrower than the Ohio River.
It seems like they keep moving the islands farther and farther aft.
Jerry said:
Can relate. Spent 4 years on the USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN-71 from 1987 to 1991. Spent 98.7% of the time in the bottom running two nuclear power plants. The remaining time was sleeping and occasionally visiting the Crows Nest to get some natural light (about every 3 months). I'd forget to go see the sun for montsh at a time, which is funny because they qualified me to do submarine duty but I said I wanted to be able to see daylight occasionally...
Of course that time-frame included Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Provide Comfort. I think this was on our way back through the Suez Canal. Fun fact, I learned it is much narrower than the Ohio River.
Great pics! And my department head (the one with the Top Gun patch) may very well have been on TR when you were. I'm almost certain he was on there during Desert Shield / Storm (or maybe it was the Vinson). He was the guy who took some of the well-known photos of the burning oil rigs. Not sure if this is one, but he has a bunch similar to it. IIRC he was
Spent four years on the USS Kennedy myself, back 1981-1985. Noisy things, carriers.
Just paid a visit to the USS Midway (now a museum) in San Diego. My wife's father was an original "plank owner" on that ship, sailing on its maiden voyage in 1945 (as a 17-year old). Kind of cool to visit the pace her father was at the end of WW II with our son, who is the same age now as her father was then...
foxtrapper said:Spent four years on the USS Kennedy myself, back 1981-1985. Noisy things, carriers.
My stateroom was directly under the #3 cat, so all night I had a steam line blasting, a rattling vent in the next compartment, banging on the deck above, a hydraulic line fire response, and other fun stuff. First night was the worst sleep i've ever had. By night 3 I was sleeping with earplugs, a beanie, and a hoodie and it was tolerable haha.....
nlevine said:Just paid a visit to the USS Midway (now a museum) in San Diego. My wife's father was an original "plank owner" on that ship, sailing on its maiden voyage in 1945 (as a 17-year old). Kind of cool to visit the pace her father was at the end of WW II with our son, who is the same age now as her father was then...
I remember as a kid living in Subic Bay, Midway used to pull into port there regularly out at Cubi Point
Absolutely awesome thread! Thanks to everyone who's posted, Irish44j in particular for starting the thread, and most especially to everyone who has served.
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