Sometimes a word or two triggers a memory and today was no exception. Below is an event that happened in 1967.
‘Old Sea Story’
Starting in the late 1960's the super supply ships were introduced to the fleet. We used to have supplies passed on the overhead lines from the supply ships to the aircraft carriers, but the newer supply ships had a huge helicopter pad on the fantail so while they passed supplies on the overhead lines two heavy lift helicopters would pass pallets of supplies from the supply ship to the carrier’s flight deck. It was an awesome ballet.
There are few tasks more accurately choreographed than underway replenishments. The ships have to maintain precise course and speed; if they don't maintain their course it's crash, bam, boom. We were coming home from the Gulf of Tonkin off of Vietnam in 1967. The Kitty Hawk was traversing from Japan to San Diego via the northern route and as we passed by Alaska we began refueling from a tanker in rough seas. This was only the second time in 8 months that the ship was rocking (the other was during a typhoon.) I was in the squadron avionics shop on the third deck (just below the flight deck) when the collision alarm went off. I braced for contact as the alarm continued to sound. After several minutes I began to think there was just an electrical problem causing the alarm to go off when a boson came over the 1MC (public address system) alerting all hands to brace for collision. It was cold and rainy on deck but I went out to see what was happening. The tanker had pushed off course in the rough seas for just a moment and it took the next several minutes for the two ships to collide. They cut the fuel lines and tried to maneuver away but the two behemoths couldn't get out of each other's way soon enough. The mast on the oiler hit our flight deck and swept a 40,000 pound F-4 Phantom jet off into the sea like a fly swatter takes a fly from the kitchen wall. The oiler limped away with its mast dangling and its fuel hoses all cut off.
There are few tasks more accurately choreographed than underway replenishments. The ships have to maintain precise course and speed; if they don't maintain their course it's crash, bam, boom. We were coming home from the Gulf of Tonkin off of Vietnam in 1967. The Kitty Hawk was traversing from Japan to San Diego via the northern route and as we passed by Alaska we began refueling from a tanker in rough seas. This was only the second time in 8 months that the ship was rocking (the other was during a typhoon.) I was in the squadron avionics shop on the third deck (just below the flight deck) when the collision alarm went off. I braced for contact as the alarm continued to sound. After several minutes I began to think there was just an electrical problem causing the alarm to go off when a boson came over the 1MC (public address system) alerting all hands to brace for collision. It was cold and rainy on deck but I went out to see what was happening. The tanker had pushed off course in the rough seas for just a moment and it took the next several minutes for the two ships to collide. They cut the fuel lines and tried to maneuver away but the two behemoths couldn't get out of each other's way soon enough. The mast on the oiler hit our flight deck and swept a 40,000 pound F-4 Phantom jet off into the sea like a fly swatter takes a fly from the kitchen wall. The oiler limped away with its mast dangling and its fuel hoses all cut off.
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