my service on the "Connie"
I recall working the flight deck of the old Gal, and seeing the waves of jets returning from their missions both during the day and night time ops. The most nostalgic memory is of the A-1 skyraiders (spads) that were onboard for the 1966 deployment to the Tonkin. They would return with bullet holes in the wings and the sounds of the powerful 12 cylinder prop along with the backfire through the exhaust and the accompanying spitfire during the night ops.They were later transferred to the RVAF!I…
Read more…
Comments
Served in Constellation for a whopping 5 months while waiting for a school. Worked in 1 AMR and 4MMR for GQ. running the SSTG's. Met her in the yards in Bremerton and brought her south to San Diego, going through OPPE and carrier quals.
I was on the Connie from early 1972 until Jan 1975. We did a couple deployments to the Tonkin Gulf (Yankee Station for the most part) and a trip to Pakistan. I helped put together the two cruisebooks.
Looking for cruise books from years 1965,1966 1968 if you have any my e-mail address is gaway111@gmail.com
Paul, Yes you do l, you do qualify shipmate.
Richard, 74 is when I joined the Navy My first ship was the USS Alamo LSD-33 and when they decommissioned it, they sold the ship to a government in South America and when it had a main space fire, the crew jumped overboard and it sunk.
Well, now it's a home for wayward fish
Was aboard 72- 74, OC Division
I only did a 30 day shake out cruise after the '82 cruise, but I was on the Connie so I qualify as a shipmate.
Hi Dalton
Ya that was one wicked cruise... I remember it most because when I got back that year I was Married, and wondering if I was going to have to set another date
hahahah... Maybe I'm nuts, but I would love to go back to sea one more time as long as I can pick the ship........ hahahahahah
Jerry - yes I remember that long stint setting off the coast of Saudi Arabia very well. It was while our embassy people were being held hostage in Iran. We had offloaded most of our perishable stores in PI, in preparation for going home. But the word came through ordering us to head for the Arabian Sea ASAP. Very slim pickings - food wise. We left the PI dragging two screws, but we made our operational commitment. We took a large number of Filipino yard workers with us, to work on putting the engineering plant back together while we set at anchorage off of Saudi Arabia. I saw a big sand storm out there - thirty miles at sea. Brought back memories for me of growing up in west Texas. It took about three weeks for them to get a stores ship out there to replenish our refrigerated/frozen stores. With the heat and the reduced calorie intake, I lost over twenty pounds just during those last two or three months of that cruise.
Hi Michael, Ya David mentioned he did that. He worked up in Fire Control, He's my Brother. and He lives in Iowa now Did he ever tell you that our Great, Great Grandfather was the one who invented the Ballard Block Rifle?
He may not have come to think about it, We discovered this on Ancestry.com Dad even went to the plant where they made them. Sold them to the Calvary during the Civil War
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
of 5 Next