Aviation
Historical Chronology
Aviation
Historical ChronologyTHE SEVENTIES
Naval aviation began its seventh decade with the United States
heavily embroiled in the Vietnam War; 1980 ended with carriers
Eisenhower and Ranger deployed in the Indian Ocean. The country
had no sooner ended its long military involvement in Vietnam than
it faced a growing crisis in the Middle East, a crisis that reached
hostile proportions late in 1979 when Iranian hoodlums captured
the United States embassy in their capital city.
Throughout the seventies, the American public became increasingly
aware of the country's critical dependence upon oil from foreign
sources. During this time, an acute consciousness of the United
States' position as a two-ocean nation re-emphasized the reliance
upon the U.S. Navy to keep sea lanes open and commerce moving
unhampered.
For nearly ten years, the burden of the Navy's air action fell
upon the carriers and aircraft of the Seventh Fleet. To meet this
responsibility, Naval air relied on established weapons and material
and introduced new ones. The Walleye, a television-guided glide
bomb designed to home automatically on target, was tested successfully
in combat. Helicopters flexed their muscle in a combat role and
served also as aerial tanks and flying freight trains. Land-based
patrol aircraft, in Operation Market Time, scoured the coastline
of South Vietnam to search out enemy infiltrating vessels and
locate surface forces for interception. In 1972, Operations Linebacker
I and II waged heavy interdiction and bombing campaigns against
North Vietnam. Aircraft of the Seventh Fleet performed the most
extensive aerial mining operation in history, blockading the enemy's
main avenues of supply. An uneasy truce finally resulted in the
United States disengaging itself from Vietnam in 1973. Two years
later, Naval aviation was called upon to assist in the evacuation
of refugees fleeing the North Vietnamese takeover of South Vietnam.
In 1979, Naval air power helped rescue thousands of Indochinese
who took to the high seas in poor vessels to escape mounting tyranny
in their homelands.
Against the unrelenting need for vigilance was pitted a declining
material inventory and difficulty in retaining experienced personnel.
Much of the 1970's can hardly be called bountiful for Naval aviation.
As the surplus of equipment left over from Vietnam eroded through
constant use, money for replenishment was not abundant. The high
inflation rate that beset the world's industrial nations plagued
defense budgets and drove downward the purchasing power of military
salaries. Nevertheless, Naval aviation continued to make headway
in the areas of research and development.
Early in the 1970's, the Navy introduced the F-14 Tomcat, and
the Marine Corps accepted the AV-8 V/STOL Harrier. At the end
of the decade, a new fighter/attack aircraft, the F/A-18 Hornet,
was undergoing flight trials. The submarine threat was confronted
by the addition to the fleet of the light airborne multipurpose
system (LAMPS) which combined shipboard electronics with the SH-2D
helicopter. As 1980 drew to a close, the latest LAMPS version
was under test in a new Navy airframe, the SH-60B Seahawk. Also
at decade's end, the Navy's latest heavy-lift helicopter, the
CH-53E, was ready for acceptance by a Marine Corps squadron. Airframes
were not the only items which saw advance. The fields of electronics,
missiles, and crew systems also benefitted from improvements.
Finally it should be mentioned that during the seventies two nuclear
supercarriers, Nimitz and Eisenhower were commissioned; a third,
Carl Vinson was launched.
As Naval aviation began its eighth decade, there was no serious
reason to doubt that its good record of achievement would endure.
Aircraft, integrated with the fleet, would continue to provide
the United States with the strongest naval power on earth.
JANUARY
15--Bennington, Valley Forge, and Tallahatchie County were decommissioned.
As a part of the continuing ship reduction program, this was followed
by the decommissioning of Princeton on 13 February, Hornet on
26 June, and Yorktown on 27 June. Earmarked in 1970 for decommissioning
in 1971 were Bon Homme Richard and Shangri-La.
31--Midway was recommissioned following a four-year conversion-modernization
at the San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard. Other ship developments
that followed were the commissioning of Inchon (LPH 12) on 20
June, completing Ticonderoga's conversion from CVA to CVS-14 in
May, and laying the keel of Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVAN 69) on
15 August.
FEBRUARY
10--As part of the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam, two Marine squadrons,
VMFA-542 and VMA-223, returned to Marine Corps Air Station El
Toro, California. The same month, VMA-211 and MAG-12 were reassigned
to Japan. In September, VMFA-122, VMFA-314 and VMA(AW)-242, as
well as two aviation support units, H&MS-13 and MABS-13, returned
to the U.S. On 13 October, the last Marines left Chu Lai, a base
from which they had been operating since 1965.
MARCH
16--The crash of an EC-121 reconnaissance plane took the lives
of 23 Navymen passengers at Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam.
28--The first North Vietnamese MiG kill, since the 1 November
1968 bombing halt, occurred when Lieutenant Jerome E. Beaulier
and Lieutenant (jg) Stephen J. Barkley in an F-4 Phantom II of
VF-142 off Constellation shot down a MiG-21 while escorting an
unarmed Navy reconnaissance plane on a mission near Thanh Hoa,
North Vietnam.
APRIL
1--Two Reserve Carrier Air Wings, CVWR-20 and CVWR-30, were established
followed by CVSGR-70 and CVSGR-80 on 1 May. This was a continuation
of a program initiated in July 1968 to give Naval Air Reserve
squadrons an improved combat readiness. The reorganization placed
all carrier-type squadrons in two reserve carrier air wings and
two carrier ASW groups. Twelve VP and 3 VR squadrons joined the
carrier squadrons under the control of Commander Naval Air Reserve
Force.
10--The A-4M Skyhawk made its first flight at the McDonnell Douglas
plant at Palmdale, California. This aircraft was equipped with
a high power engine (nearly 50 percent more thrust than that of
the A-4A (A4D-1) of 1954) and brake parachute; these features
make it particularly adaptable for operations from short airfields
in forward areas.
17--Apollo 13 Astronauts Capt. James A . Lovell, USN, John L.
Swigert, Jr., ex-USAF, and Fred W. Haise, Jr., ex-USMCR, were
recovered by HS-4 off Iwo Jima after their abortive moon flight.
MAY
2--Twenty-six persons were rescued by a VC-8 helicopter from a
Dutch Antillean Airlines DC-9 ditched in the Caribbean. The helicopter
was piloted by Lieutenant Commander James E. Rylee and Lieutenant
(jg) Donald Hartman; crewmen were ADC William Brazzell and AD
Calvin Lindley.
9--Approximately 30 U.S. Navy craft, helicopters and OV-10 Bronco
aircraft participated with the combined South Vietnamese/U.S.
Riverine Force in operations into the "Mekong River Corridor"
to neutralize sanctuary bases in that area. This followed the
initial series of strikes by combined U.S.-RVN ground forces against
enemy sanctuaries in Cambodia during the first week of May.
31--Following Peru's earthquake which took 50,000 lives, injured
100,000 and made 800,000 homeless, the men of Guam and HMM-365
provided victims with over 200 tons of relief supplies and transported
over 1,000 evacuees and medical patients on 800 mercy flights.
Before Guam left the Peruvian coast on 21 June, her crewmen spent
2 days in Lima at the invitation of a grateful Peruvian government.
JUNE
1--Carrier Air Wings-4 and -12 were disestablished, followed by
the disestablishment of CVSG-51 on 30 June.
9--Sikorsky pilot James R. Wright and copilot Colonel Henry Hart,
USMC, flying a Marine Corps CH-53D, established a New York to
Washington record for helicopters of 156.43 m.p.h. with an elapsed
time of one hour, 18 minutes and 41.4 seconds from downtown to
downtown. The following day they established a New York to Boston
record for helicopters of 162.72 miles per hour with a city to
city time of one hour, nine minutes, 23.9 seconds.
30--As a result of reductions in force levels, personnel on duty
in the naval aeronautical organization at the end of the fiscal
year, in round numbers, included a grand total of 162,600 with
25,900 officers of whom 14,500 were heavier-than-air pilots. Enlisted
men numbered 135,900 of whom 22 were pilots. Respective figures
for Marine Aviation were: 72,000; 9,900; 5,700; 62,000, and 4.
JULY
1--The Naval Air Systems Command Liaison Office, Dayton, Ohio,
was disestablished. This marked the end of an office that had
its beginning in October 1920 when the Navy detailed an aviation
officer to McCook Field to observe and report on experimental
work.
17--The P-3C began deployed operations as VP-49 took over patrol
responsibilities at Keflavik, Iceland. This ASW aircraft, which
was described in an unveiling ceremony 14 months earlier as "two
or three times as effective as anything we now have," features
the latest antisubmarine warfare equipment including directional
sonobuoys, a high capacity computer and related displays.
SEPTEMBER
8--The Department of Defense modified its basic space policy (established
in March 1961) by providing that functional responsibilities of
the services would be considered in assigning programs for development
and acquisition of space systems. In addition, the Director of
Defense, Research and Engineering would assure that specific space
programs administered by one service would be broad enough to
meet the related needs of other services.
25--A Condor, television-guided air-to-surface missile, was launched
by an A-6A at a standoff distance from its target. The aircraft
was 56 miles from the target when the missile made a direct impact.
The test was conducted at the Naval Weapons Center, China Lake.
25--As a result of the Jordanian crisis, caused by Palestinian
commando attempts to unseat the monarchy in Amman, John F. Kennedy
joined Saratoga and Independence in the Mediterranean, followed
by seven other U.S. Navy ships, including Guam on 27 September.
This strengthened the Sixth Fleet to some 55 ships which served
as a standby force in case U.S. military protection was needed
for the evacuation of Americans and as a counterbalance to the
Soviet Union's Mediterranean fleet.
OCTOBER
25--Navymen and Marines completed 4 days of assistance and relief
to thousands of Filipinos left homeless, hungry and injured by
Typhoon Joan which had struck southern Luzon and Catanduanes Island
in the Republic of the Philippines, leaving 600 dead and 80,000
without shelter. Over 300 tons of rice, flour, blankets and fuel
were air-lifted by HMM-164, while galleymen aboard Okinawa worked
round-the-clock baking over 5,000 loaves of bread and, inland,
medics groped by flashlight to aid the injured.
29--Following the ravages of Typhoon Kate and flood waters that
inundated some 140 square miles of Vietnam south of Da Nang, the
helicopter forces of 1st Marine Aircraft Wing performed rescue
and relief operations for over 9,000 South Vietnamese. Initial
rescue operations began when MAG-16 evacuated some 900 people
the first day during floods termed the worst since 1964.
NOVEMBER
21--Navy planes dropped flares along the coast of North Vietnam
to divert attention from an Army-Air Force Search and Rescue team
which searched a vacated prisoner-of-war compound at Son Tay,
20 miles west of Hanoi.
21-22--In response to attacks on unarmed U.S. reconnaissance aircraft,
200 U.S. aircraft conducted protective reaction air strikes against
North Vietnamese missile and antiaircraft sites south of the 19th
parallel. The strike forces included Marine Corps aircraft and
Navy aircraft from Hancock, Ranger, and
Oriskany.
24--The Senate Preparedness Investigating Subcommittee completed
a 3-day "Investigation into Electronic Battlefield Program,"
which dealt with the development and use of sensor surveillance
to locate hostile forces in South Vietnam and thus take the night
away from the enemy. As representatives of the Services and OSD
explained to the committee, the program had its beginnings in
1966 when the Navy sought to adapt the air-dropped radio sonobuoy
to ground use by replacing the hydrophone with a microphone. In
the initial phase, the project was called ALARS (for Air Launched
Acoustical Reconnaissance) which was a part of the TRIM (Trail
Road Interdiction Mission) Project. In August 1966, a scientific
study group proposed a broader air-supported barrier system and
in September the Secretary of Defense established the Defense
Communications Planning Group to implement the concept and later
expanded the mission to cover a variety of tactical applications
with a variety of sensors. Although the air-supported sensor responsibility
was eventually assigned to the Air Force (under the code name
Igloo White), the initial combat mission was carried out from
November 1967 to June 1968 by a newly established Navy Squadron,
VO-67 equipped with 12 OP-2E aircraft.
24--A T-2C modified by North American Rockwell to a super-critical
wing configuration was test flown by North American test pilot,
Edward A. Gillespie at Columbus, Ohio. The supercritical wing,
based upon theoretical development by Dr. Richard Whitcomb of
NASA, promises to delay the onset of transonic shock separation,
buffeting, and other undesirable aerodynamic phenomena and thus
to give greater flexibility with aircraft intended for operation
in the sonic speed regimen.
25--The Chief of Naval Material established a Navy Space Project
Office with responsibility for the integration and coordination
of space activities within the purview of the Naval Material Command
and with responsibility for management of designated space projects.
DECEMBER
21--The F-14A aircraft, piloted by Grumman test pilots Robert
Smyth and William Miller, made its first flight at Grumman's Calverton,
Long Island Plant.
JANUARY
1--Task Force 77 (TF-77), the Attack Carrier Striking Force Seventh
Fleet, continued operations off Vietnam on Yankee Station, the
"on line" area in the Gulf of Tonkin, with missions
consisting of interdiction of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos, air
support for allied ground forces in South Vietnam (SVN), photographic
reconnaissance, combat air patrols and electronic warfare. On
station at the beginning of the year were Hancock and Ranger.
6--The Marine Corps/Navy's first AV-8 Harrier was accepted by
Major General Homer S. Hill, USMC, at Dunsfold, England. The Harrier
was the first vertical take-off and landing (V/STOL) fixed-wing
aircraft ever accepted for use as a combat aircraft by U.S. armed
forces.
19--Enterprise completed sea trials with her newly designed nuclear
reactor cores which contained enough energy to power her for the
next ten years.
22--The Navy's most advanced antisubmarine warfare aircraft, the
land-based P-3C Orion, established a world record in the heavyweight
turboprop class for long distance flight. The production model
aircraft, piloted by Commander Donald H. Lilienthal with a crew
of eight, set the record with a flight of 6,857 statute miles
over the official great circle route from NAS Atsugi, Japan to
NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. The flight, which topped the Soviet
Union's IL-18 turboprop record of 4,761 miles set in 1967, lasted
15 hours, 21 minutes. In order to avoid Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula,
the Lilienthal flight actually covered 7,010 miles.
26--The AV-8A, Harrier, arrived at the Naval Air Test Center for
commencement of Board of Inspection and Survey trials.
27--A P-3C at the Naval Air Test Center with Commander D.H. Lilienthal
as Plane Commander established a world speed record for its class
of 501.44 mph over the 15 to 25 km course.
27--The Naval Air Systems Command expedited procurement of the
TCW-33P VWS (Ventilated Wet Suit) to permit its issuance to VS
and VP Squadrons during the winter of 1971-1972. The evaluation
of 3,100 ventilated wet suits had begun in 1969 and enthusiastic
acceptance by flight crews led to the decision that the suits
should be procured for early issue rather than phased in as stocks
of the Mk. 5 anti-exposure suit were depleted.
29--The Navy's newest carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft,
the sophisticated EA-6B Prowler, entered service with VAQ-129
at NAS Whidbey Island. The Prowler, a derivative of the two-place
A-6 Intruder, was lengthened to accommodate a fourplace cockpit
and replaced the A-3 Skywarrior. VAH-10, redesignated VAQ-129
in 1970, became the replacement training squadron when it commenced
instructing aircrew and ground support replacement personnel for
all the Navy's Prowler squadrons.
31--Alternating on Yankee Station, Hancock, Ranger and Kitty Hawk
flew a total of 3,214 sorties during the month, of which 3,128
delivered ordnance in Laos. A-6 and A-7 aircraft were particularly
effective in attacking truck traffic, the enemy having put a seasonally
high number of trucks on the road, averaging close to 1,000 per
day.
FEBRUARY
4--A P-3C, at the Naval Air lest Center, with Commander D.H. Lilienthal
Plane Commander, set a world record for its class of 45,018.2
feet altitude in horizontal flight.
5--The Navy announced the first successful test-firing of a Condor
air-to-surface missile armed with a live warhead. The missile,
which was fired from an A-6 Intruder jet aircraft and guided by
television, scored a direct hit on a target ship, which was out
of sight from the launching aircraft.
8--Commander D.H. Lilienthal and crew in their P-3C completed
the assault on world records for unlimited weight turboprop planes
establishing an altitude record of 46,214.5 feet, and time-to-climb
records of 3,000 meters in two minutes 51.7 seconds; 6,000 meters
in five minutes 46.3 seconds; 9,000 meters in ten minutes 26.1
seconds; and 12,000 meters in 19 minutes 42.2 seconds.
17--The Weapons Systems Explosive Safety Review Board approved
service use of the pyrotechnic seeding device, WMU-1/B. This unit,
consisting of a silver iodide (catalyst) generator, became the
first weather modification unit released for production and general
use by the Navy. Later that year this device was used over the
island of Okinawa to enhance rainfall and thus replenish the island's
water reserves.
24--The Navy disclosed that an electronic eavesdropper, developed
at the Naval Air Development Center, had been used in Southeast
Asia since June 1967. Called the "Acoubuoy", it was
dropped along trails and broadcasted passing sounds to aircraft
up to 20 miles away.
28--In Vietnam during the month, two carriers remained on station
throughout the period as strike sorties rose to an average of
122 per day because of an increase by 40 percent over January
of enemy truck movements, averaging more than 1,400 a day. A program
was extended to A-7 aircraft night all-weather seeding missions
theretofore flown exclusively by the A-6. The computer release
of flares over targeted road segments was followed by visual delivery
of seeds which allowed the enemy minimal chances of spotting the
emplaced mine fields.
MARCH
9--Construction began on the joint U.S./British naval air and
radio communications station located on the Indian Ocean atoll
of Diego Garcia. Later in the month, Naval Mobile Construction
Battalion 40, supported by US surface vessels, commenced the major
construction effort.
10--On Yankee Station, Ranger and Kitty Hawk set a record 233
strike sorties for one day and went on during the ensuing six
day period to mark up a strike effectiveness record that exceeded
record performances by TF-77 during the previous three-year period.
16--The first SH-2D Lamps (Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System)
helicopter test flight took place at Kaman's Bloomfield, Connecticut
Facility. This flight followed testing aboard Sims to determine
deck strength for helicopter operations. It was announced later
in the month that 115 H-2 helicopters would be committed to the
Lamps program. The Lamps system was configured to extend range
of ASW and ASMD on destroyers, frigates, and destroyer escorts
as an airborne extension of the ships own detection system.
29--The first active AIM-9G missile was launched from an NUH-2H
helicopter by the Weapons System Test Division of NATC.
31--In Vietnam, strike sorties launched by the carriers serving
on Yankee station during the month totalled 4,535 of which 4,479
were sorties delivering ordnance. These figures were up by 1,074
and 1,065, respectively, over the previous month. Over 680 seed
and interdiction package missions were flown during the month
with unknown results. Approximately 75 percent of the interdiction
packages, however, obtained one or more road cuts while implanting
seeds.
APRIL
1--HM-12, the Navy's first helicopter squadron devoted exclusively
to mine countermeasures was established at NAS Norfolk. The mission
of HM-12 was to remove/eliminate enemy mines from sealanes and
amphibious operating areas. To accomplish this task HM-12 helicopters
towed specially designed mechanical magnetic and acoustic minesweeping
equipment which would activate the enemy mines, thereby eliminating
them as a threat to future operations in the area. HM-12 employed
CH-53A Sea Stallions until they received the Sikorsky RH-53D built
specifically for mine countermeasures.
5--Modernization of the Naval Air Reserve continued when the first
A-7 Corsair II's were received by VA-303 at NAS Alameda. The first
reserve squadron to operate the modern jet, VA-303 received its
full complement of 12 aircraft by the end of June. Less than four
months later, VA-303 made the initial reserve A-7 squadron deployment,
marking the first extended deployment of a reserve squadron on
other than annual active duty training.
16--The A-4M Skyhawk entered squadron service with VMA-324 and
VMA-331 at MCAS Beaufort, S.C. The most advanced in the A-4 series,
the aircraft featured a new self contained starter, carried twice
as much 20mm ammunition, and had 20 percent more thrust (11,200
pounds). The new model Skyhawk, the seventh major version, was
developed specifically for the Marine Corps and was capable of
delivering all air-to-ground weapons in the naval inventory.
16--VMA-513 at MCAS Beaufort, S.C. took delivery of three AV-8A
Harrier aircraft, thereby becoming the first operational high
performance V/STOL squadron in the United States.
30--In Vietnam during the month, the three carriers assigned to
TF-77--Ranger, Kitty Hawk, and Hancock--provided a constant two
carrier posture on Yankee station. Hours of employment remained
unchanged with one carrier on daylight hours and one on the noon
to midnight schedule. Strike emphasis was placed on the interdiction
of major Laos entry corridors to SVN. Strike sorties delivering
ordnance totalled 3,648. Fifteen strike sorties were flown into
North Vietnam (NVN) during the month.
MAY
1--A board to study and make recommendations on Aeronautical Engineering
Duty Personnel Policies, which had been appointed the preceding
December 14 with Rear Admiral D. K. Weitzenfeld as senior Member,
submitted its report. The board reported that the AED "community"
was at full strength and had an excellent base of aspirants from
which to select new applicants. A number of recommendations were
made to further the careers of Aeronautical Engineering Duty Officers
and their use by the Navy. The more significant recommendations
included achieving "a limited joining with the AMD (152)
group in recognition of a common purpose in support of naval aviation,"
and identifying billets which could be filled by either Aeronautical
Engineering Duty or Aeronautical Maintenance Duty Officers.
18--In Vietnam, Midway, after relieving Hancock on 10 May, commenced
single carrier operations on Yankee Station until the end of the
month. This had not been in effect since January, when Kitty Hawk
served a two-week "on station" tour alone. During the
one-carrier operations, Ranger and Kitty Hawk were away for upkeep
periods in Japan.
21--Technical evaluation of a new fire control system with a helmet-mounted
sight was begun at the Naval Air Test Center.
28--The Secretary of Defense announced measures to strengthen
the Sixth Fleet. He said that fleet readiness was to be improved
by the almost continuous presence of a helicopter carrier, and
by a substantial increase in the hours flown by maritime air patrols
and the ship-operating days of sea patrols. This followed an earlier
announcement by the Pentagon on 24 May that the Sixth Fleet would
be strengthened in response to the growing Soviet naval power.
31--As in previous months in Vietnam, strike emphasis was placed
on the interdiction of Laos entry and throughout corridors to
SVN. Southern Laos routes leading to Cambodia also received increased
emphasis during the month. Although weather cancellations remained
at a comparatively low level, conservation of strike sorties was
still accomplished by limiting carrier sorties to 60-70 per day,
resulting in a total of 2,645 sorties that delivered ordnance.
Two protective reaction strikes were carried out in NVN during
the month. NVN surface-to-air missile (SAM) coverage south of
20_ N continued at a high level. The increased SAM threat required
additional aircraft in support of strike and recce flights.
JUNE
28--A proposal by the Naval Training Command Board to consolidate
all naval training was approved. The board had convened under
the direction of the CNO on 8 February. Training had been under
review since WW-II by official study groups and boards, the first
being the Hopwood Board in 1955 which recommended that training
be divorced from the Bureau of Naval Personnel. Major recommendations
of the Naval Training Command Board established a single training
command, Chief of Naval Training, with headquarters at Pensacola,
Florida. Chief of Naval Technical Training was established at
Memphis, Tennessee. Education and programs which had been under
the Chief of Naval Personnel, were placed under the new command
of Director of Naval Education and Training. Three former air
training staffs were consolidated into a single staff with eight
training wings to be located at major pilot training bases. Public
announcement of the new single training command was made on 21
July and became effective on 1 August.
29--Light gull gray, Federal Standard Color No. 36440, applied
to carrier aircraft was replaced with glossy light gull gray Federal
Standard Color No. 16440. This change was directed by MIL-C-18263F(AS)
of this date.
30--During June in Vietnam, the realignment of carriers continued
as Midway departed Yankee Station on 5 June, relieved by Kitty
Hawk, and Oriskany commenced strike operations on 16 June. A total
of 14 two-carrier days and 16 single-carrier days during the month
resulted in a monthly strike sortie count of 2,431. The Navy's
strike sortie count for Fiscal Year 1971 thus came to 32,230 sorties,
172 under the annual ceiling. June strike operations were under
the influence of the southwest monsoons with attendant clouds
and rain.
JULY
7--The last active duty A-1 Skyraider, an NA-1E, was retired.
The aircraft, which had been assigned to the Naval Air Test Center
and was used in many test programs there, including slow speed
and ordnance release, was turned over to the Confederate Air Force,
Harlingen, Texas for museum display.
13--The Deputy Secretary of Defense, David Packard, issued a new
directive defining policy for acquisition of major defense systems.
Basically, Mr. Packard sought to return authority to the military
departments subject to approval by the Secretary of Defense at
key points in the development acquisition process. Among the various
points of the policy were increased emphasis upon the project
manager (called program manager in the DoD directive), reiteration
of the importance of maintaining a strong technology base, and
the definition of the entire development-acquisition process as
three distinct phases: (1) program initiation, (2) full-scale
development, and (3) production/deployment. The new directive
emphasized the importance of making accurate cost predictions
and realistic schedule forecasts and of relating the military
benefits anticipated from a new technology to the cost of the
technology. To reduce the magnitude of risk, prototyping was to
be part of the advanced development effort; operational suitability
of a system was to be tested and evaluated before it was committed
to large scale production--thus the popular description of the
policy as "fly before buy."
24--CVSGR-80 began ASW operations from Ticonderoga. It was the
first time in naval history that the Naval Air Reserve had demonstrated
the capability for immediate employment of Fleet-size wings and
groups, fully manned, properly equipped, and operationally ready
to perform all phases of carrier operations.
26--The Apollo 15 spacecraft was launched from the Kennedy Space
Center for a lunar mission. On 30 July the lunar module Falcon
commanded by David R. Scott, USAF with James B. Irwin, USAF, a
Naval Academy graduate, class of 1951, separated from the command
ship, Endeavor, with Alfred M. Worden, USAF, and landed on the
moon in the Hadley-Apennine area. The crew accumulated 66 hours,
55 minutes on the moon's surface before they departed on 2 August.
Five days later, on 7 August Okinawa, primary recovery ship for
Task Force 130, accomplished the recovery of the Apollo 15 crew,
after splashdown in the Pacific. The mission was the first of
three moon flights geared directly to scientific investigation
and achieved far more than all the previous lunar missions combined.
28--HC-7 was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation, the second
Navy helicopter squadron to receive the citation for duty in Vietnam.
The other helo squadron to win the award was HA(L)-3. Operating
from ships at sea on Yankee Station, HC-7 SAR detachments were
credited with rescuing 76 U.S. aviators from Vietnam waters. During
the early stages of the conflict, the squadron had made several
overland rescues in NVN under intense enemy fire.
30--In Vietnam, with Oriskany, Midway and Enterprise serving intermittently
on station, a total of 22 two-carrier days and nine single-carrier
days resulted in a strike sortie count of 2,001 sorties. Strike
operations during the month of July were disrupted when the carriers
on station evaded three different typhoons--Harriet, Kim and Jean.
A slight increase in SVN strike sorties occurred during the month.
These were mainly visual strikes against enemy troop positions
and in support of U.S. helicopter operations.
30--The Navy accepted the first operational BQM-34E Firebee II
aerial jet target. The Firebee II had been developed by Ryan Aeronautical
Company under contract to the Naval Air Systems Command and was
designed to maneuver at greater speeds and altitudes than the
standard Firebee target previously in use. Jet-powered, the remote-controlled
target system was rated at Mach 1.5, offering sub and supersonic
mission capabilities.
AUGUST
3--Pilots of VMA-142, 131 and 133 began qualification landings
in A-4L's aboard the Independence. During a three-day period,
four active-duty and 20 reserve pilots operated aboard the carrier.
This was the first time that Marine Air Reserve squadrons qualified
in carrier duty.
26--VAW-124 flew the carrier-based early warning E-2B nonstop
across the Atlantic. The Hawkeye left NAS Norfolk, flew over Newfoundland
and Lajes, Azores to reach America which was deployed to the Sixth
Fleet in the Mediterranean.
31--During August in Vietnam, dual carrier operations were conducted
only during the first week and on the 16th, with Enterprise filling
in the remainder of the month alone on station. Thus, a total
of eight dual and 23 single-carrier days represented a near reversal
of July's carrier mix, producing a strike sortie count for the
month of 1,915.
SEPTEMBER
30--In Vietnam, single carrier operations on Yankee Station were
conducted throughout the month, except for one two-carrier day.
The schedule had Enterprise flying the first four days, Oriskany
the middle of the month and Midway completing the last four days.
The single carrier posture, combined with the low intended sortie
rate, produced 1,243 strike sorties during the month. Oriskany
flyers participated in a joint USAF/USN protective reaction strike
in southern NVN on 21 September.
OCTOBER
5--HC-4 at NAS Lakehurst accepted its first SH-2D Lamps helicopter,
making it the first fleet operating unit to use the new Lamps
configured Seasprite. One week later at NAS Imperial Beach, HC-5
became the first west coast based helicopter squadron to receive
the new Seasprite.
8--About one hundred officers and men of the Mobile Mine Countermeasure
Command and four CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters, were air lifted
from Norfolk, Virginia, and Charleston, South Carolina, to the
Sixth Fleet at Souda Bay, Crete by C-5's of the 437th Military
Airlift Wing in a demonstration of the world-wide quick reaction
mine countermeasures capability.
10--A detachment of four CH-53A's from HM-12 recorded the first
overseas deployment of the new helicopter. The detachment began
sweeping operations, after being airlifted by C-5A Galaxies from
Charleston, South Carolina, to Souda Bay, Crete. From 2 to 7 November,
the squadron participated in the first integration of airborne
minesweeping operations into an amphibious assault exercise. The
operations were conducted from Coronado.
29--HS-15, the first sea control ship squadron, was established
at NAS Lakehurst. The squadron was devised tactically to protect
convoys and vessels not operating with or within the protective
range of carriers. Tests along these lines were subsequently conducted
aboard the Guam utilizing the SH-3H Sea King helicopters of HS-15
and Marine Corps AV-8A Harriers of VMA-513. Tests included V/STOL
and helo compatibility, anti-snooper and anti-surface tactics,
bow and cross axial landings, night operations and shipboard control
of airborne intercepts.
31--On Yankee Station during the month, single carrier operations
were conducted except for the last day. Midway completed her final
line period 10 October, with Enterprise taking over the next day
for the remainder of the month. Oriskany joined the last day,
and together the three carriers recorded a total of 1,024 ordnance-delivering
strike sorties, 30 of them in SVN,the remainder in Laos. The air
warfare posture in NVN was altered 20 October through the deployment
of six MiG aircraft south of 20_N--two each at Vinh, Quan Lang
and Bai Thuong.
NOVEMBER
8--The jet-powered S-3A, Navy's newest antisubmarine warfare aircraft,
made its official roll-out at Lockheed-California Company's Burbank
facility. Christened the Viking, the aircraft was designed to
replace the aging S-2 Tracker.
17--The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense reported
that the Navy had been designated the lead service in making aircraft
ready for use in Project Grass Catcher--the interception of drug
smugglers. During January and February 1972, four OV-10s were
loaned to the Bureau of Customs.
30--Preliminary evaluation of the F-14A was conducted at Grumman's
Calverton facility by a team from NATC Patuxent River, Maryland.
The Tomcat was designed for all fighter missions, including air-to-air
combat and Fleet defense.
30--Alternating on Yankee Station during the month, Oriskany,
Constellation and Enterprise provided 22 dual carrier days on
the line, delivering 1,766 ordnance-bearing strike sorties, twelve
and nine of them into NVN and SVN, respectively. Two reconnaissance
missions were flown during the month, with the airfield at Vinh
the mission assignment. Escort aircraft on both missions expended
ordnance in a protective reaction role against firing anti-aircraft
artillery sites near the field. Other protective reaction strikes
were executed.
DECEMBER
2--NAF Cam Ranh Bay was disestablished and Patrol Squadron detachments
which had routinely rotated at NAF Cam Ranh Bay were deployed
to NAS Cubi Point. At Cam Ranh Bay the Patrol Squadrons were part
of the Vietnam Air Patrol Unit under the operational control of
Commander Fleet Air Wing 8 or 10. Operational tasking could also
come from Commander Task Force 77 on Yankee Station or Commander
Seventh Fleet. The Patrol Squadrons worked closely with Commander
Vietnam Coastal Surveillance Force. Their missions were to provide
air patrol coverage for SVN along her coast line to detect any
infiltration of NVN trawlers taking men and supplies into SVN.
These missions were known as Market Time patrols. Patrol Squadrons
also provided aerial reconnaissance and ASW patrols for naval
forces operating from Yankee Station and other areas of the Gulf
of Tonkin and the South China Sea.
2--Commander George White, at the Naval Air Test Center, became
the first Navy test pilot to fly the F-14A Tomcat. By the end
of 1971, nine of the aircraft were assigned to various flight
test programs. Purchase plans had called for an eventual total
of 313 aircraft--301 for operations and 12 for research and development.
8--Amphibious Group Alpha, formed around Tripoli, was directed
to move from Okinawa to the vicinity of Singapore in anticipation
of a possible Indian Ocean deployment. This followed indications
by the head of the UN relief mission in Dacca, East Pakistan/Bangladesh
that as a result of the Indo-Pakistani war, which began on 3 December,
evacuation of foreign civilians by means of carrier-based helicopters
might be required.
8--The Commander-in-Chief Pacific Fleet confirmed a requirement
previously enunciated by Commander Naval Air Force Pacific Fleet
for a system of video coverage of the entire launch and recovery
sequence of carrier operations.
10--Enterprise and other units from Yankee Station formed Task
Force 74 and departed Vietnamese waters for the Indian Ocean.
On 12 December the Royal Air Force evacuated Western nationals
from East Pakistan/Bangladesh, thereby eliminating the requirement
for an American evacuation operation. Task Force 74 entered the
Indian Ocean on 15 December, as a show of force in connection
with the Indo-Pakistani war.
12--Air Development Squadron Four reported on an extensive series
of evaluations of the helmet mounted sight, of Visual Target Acquisition
System, in the F-4 that had commenced in 1969. While the report
cited a number of shortcomings, it concluded that the helmet sight
was superior to operational equipment used by fighter pilots in
air-to-air combat.
15--VMA(AW)-224, part of Carrier Air Wing 15 on board Coral Sea,
arrived on Yankee Station. VMA(AW)-224 was the first Marine Corps
squadron to fly combat missions into NVN from a carrier operating
on Yankee Station.
31--During 1971 HAL-3, nicknamed the "Seawolves," the
only light attack helicopter squadron in the Navy, flew 34,746
hours in squadron aircraft in support of their mission to provide
quick reaction armed helicopter close air support for all naval
forces and SVN forces operating in the southern part of SVN. During
their flights in 1971, HAL-3 expended 16,939,268 rounds of 7.62
mm ammunition; 96,696 2.75 inch rockets; 32,313 .40 mm grenade
rounds; and 2,414,096 rounds of .50 cal. machine gun ammunition
in carrying out their assigned missions. HAL-3 lost six aircraft
during 1971.
31--Constellation and Enterprise operated on Yankee Station together
during the month until 10 December when the latter was unexpectedly
directed to transit to the Indian Ocean where she operated as
flagship for the newly formed TF-74 for the possible evacuation
of U.S. citizens from East Pakistan in connection with the Indian-Pakistani
war. Constellation's tour was extended to the end of the month
due to the new contingency operations. Coral Sea came on the line
15 December. A total of 2,462 ordnance delivery strike sorties
were flown during the month. The number of surface-to-air missile
firing incidents increased and the bold excursions by MiG aircraft
into Laos prompted both the USAF and USN to develop new tactics,
combining efforts, to suppress the MiG threat. A major protective
reaction strike effort by both USAF and USN commenced 26 December
and terminated 30 December. In this period, TF-77 flew 423 strike
sorties employing all-weather A-6A systems backed up by A-7Es
as pathfinders, with Dong Hoi, Quang Khe and Vinh the major targets
assigned to the Navy. During the month, the Laser Guided Bomb
(LGB) was introduced by squadrons aboard Constellation. Initially,
16 trial LGB drops were road cuts, with subsequent targets antiaircraft
artillery sites. In the coming year, LGBs were to be used effectively
against heretofore seemingly indestructible targets in NVN, such
as heavy steel bridge structures built into solid rock.
JANUARY
1--The U.S. Commander-in-Chief, Pacific area of responsibility
was shifted westward to include the Indian Ocean and the Persian
Gulf. U.S. naval communications, refueling and logistical airstrip
facilities continued under construction on the island of Diego
Garcia to assist in covering the new area of responsibility for
the U.S. Navy.
6--Training Air Wing Five was established at Whiting Field, Florida.
The new wing was composed of Naval Air Stations Whiting and Ellyson
Fields; VT-2, 3, and 6; and HT-8. This was the first training
wing established under the reorganization of the Naval Air Training
Command. The wing was established to coordinate and supervise
training activities that previously had been the responsibility
of each station and squadron.
18--Enterprise joined Constellation on Yankee Station following
her tour in the Indian Ocean in December 1971, where she had shown
force and flag in connection with the Indo-Pakistani war and the
buildup of Soviet naval forces off the Indian subcontinent.
18--Guam began the first in a series of tests to analyze the sea
control ship concept (SCS). The SCS was a concept in which a shipboard
platform would have a smaller complement of aircraft than the
large carriers (CVA) and would maintain control of sea lines/lanes
in low threat areas of the world. The SCS ship was designed to
carry the VSTOL aircraft as well as helicopters. The mission functions
were to provide protection of underway replenishment groups, mercantile
convoys, amphibious assault forces and task groups with no aircraft
carrier in company.
19--Lieutenants Randall Cunningham and William Driscoll in an
F-4 of VF-96 off Constellation shot down a MiG-21, the first enemy
aircraft downed since 28 March 1970, when Lieutenants Jerome Beaulier
and Steven Barkley in an F-4 of VF-142 off Constellation downed
a MiG-21. The 19 January action occurred during a protective reaction
strike in response to earlier AAA and SAM firings from the area
which had menaced an RA-5C reconnaissance plane and its escorts.
This accounted for the Navy's 33rd MiG shot down in the Vietnam
war since the first on 17 June 1965, downed by Commanders Louis
Page and John Smith in an F-4 of VF-21 off Midway.
21--The S-3A Viking, the Navy's newest ASW aircraft, conducted
its maiden test flight from Lockheed's Palmdale, California facility.
The S-3A Viking met the Navy's requirements for a 400 knot plus
aircraft and a 2,000 mile range subhunter to replace the aging
S-2 Tracker. The S-3A, while about the same size as the S-2, had
twice the speed and range of the Tracker. It had been equipped
with the latest sensor and weapon systems and could cover nearly
three times the area of the S-2 Tracker.
31--In Vietnam, with only light ground action, limited troop contacts
and the withdrawal of U.S. ground troops continuing during the
month, the level of air operations also remained low, a situation
which continued generally throughout the first three months of
the year. During January, a total of only eight Navy tactical
air attack sorties were flown in South Vietnam (SVN). In North
Vietnam (NVN), there was very little attack effort except for
some protective reaction strikes. Coral Sea, Constellation and
Enterprise served intermittently on Yankee Station during the
month.
FEBRUARY
11--The Navy announced that as a result of the shift from conventional
to jet aircraft, the Aviation Machinist's Mate Class B school
on reciprocating engines, located at the Naval Air Technical Training
Command, NAS Memphis, was closing.
11--The Navy announced that the development and installation of
mufflers on engine test cells at Naval Air Rework Facility, Alameda
had eliminated 85 percent of the audible noise in testing jet
engines for the A-3.
29--During the month, naval air attack sorties in SVN had risen
to 733 compared to eight during January. The increase was due
to the preemptive operations by allied forces in preparation for
an expected large-scale enemy offensive during Tet which did not
materialize. Constellation, Coral Sea and Hancock served overlapping
tours on Yankee Station, assuring two to three carriers on station
at a time during most of the month.
MARCH
10--There were limited attack strikes into NVN, however, the protective
reaction strikes increased significantly. During the period 5
January through March 10 there were 90 protective reaction strikes
by USN and USAF aircraft against surface-to-air missile and antiaircraft
artillery installations, compared to 108 such raids during the
entire year of 1971.
16--HAL-3, the only armed UH-1 Navy helicopter squadron to serve
in Vietnam, was disestablished. HAL-3 and VAL-4 were the only
Navy air units to be stationed in-country. HAL-3 provided valuable
gunship support for Navy and Army riverine operations in the Mekong
Delta from 1967 to their disestablishment. During this time HAL-3
pioneered various tactics in support of patrol boats and shore
installations. They operated from various bases in the Mekong
Delta and from specially equipped Patrol Craft Tenders (AGP) (former
LSTs).
23--VMA-513 completed the Harrier DoD Sortie Rate validation and
demonstrated the capability of the AV-8A to respond rapidly and
repeatedly to requests for close air support while operating from
austere forward bases. During the ten-day test, the squadron flew
376 sorties with a complement of six aircraft.
24--A QF-4B target aircraft, which the Naval Air Development Center
had converted from a combat configuration into a maneuvering target,
was delivered to the Naval Missile Center for test. The QF-4B
will fulfill the requirement for a full-size, high-altitude, supersonic,
maneuvering aerial target that is capable of flying at altitudes
in excess of 50,000 feet and at airspeeds exceeding twice the
speed of sound.
29--The BQM-34E, supersonic Firebee II, was utilized by the Atlantic
Fleet Range Weapons for the first time in missile defense exercises
with Wainwright. The target was launched from a DP-2E at an altitude
of 20,000 feet and accelerated to Mach 1.52 while testing the
ship's ability to withstand penetration of high altitude, high
speed enemy craft.
29--Due to the fleet requirements for qualified aircrew personnel,
the Naval Air Technical Training Unit's Photographer's Mate Class
"A" School initiated flight training again as part of
the course. The flight training requirements for the Photographer's
Mate Class "A" School had been dropped 16 years earlier.
30--Naval Air attack sorties in SVN had dropped from 733 in February
to 113 during March. On 23 March the U.S. canceled further peace
negotiations in Paris because of a lack of progress in the talks.
This was followed by the North Vietnamese invasion of SVN. This
"Easter or Spring Offensive" was the result of the long
buildup and infiltration of NVN forces during previous months
and presaged some of the most intense fighting of the entire war.
The NVN invasion prompted increased air operations by the carriers
in support of South Vietnamese and U.S. forces. The carriers on
Yankee Station when NVN invaded on 30 March were Hancock and Coral
Sea. During the month four carriers had rotated on Yankee Station;
they were Constellation, Kitty Hawk, Coral Sea and Hancock.
APRIL
1--VAL-4, the last Navy combat force in Vietnam, was withdrawn.
VAL-4 flew the OV-10 Bronco and its mission had been to provide
quick reaction and close support for river patrol boats and the
mobile riverine forces in South Vietnam.
5--Operation Freedom Train involved Navy tactical air sorties
against military and logistic targets in the southern part of
NVN which were involved in the invasion of SVN. The operating
area in NVN was initially limited to between 17_ and 19_N parallel.
However, special strikes were authorized against targets above
the l9th parallel on various occasions. The magnitude of the NVN
offensive indicated that an extended logistics network and increased
resupply routes would be required to sustain ground operations
by NVN in their invasion of SVN. Most target and geographical
restrictions that were placed in effect since October 1968 concerning
the bombing in NVN were gradually lifted and the list of authorized
targets expanded. Strikes in NVN were against vehicle targets,
lines of communication targets (roads, waterways, bridges, railroad
bridges and railroad tracks), supply targets, air defense targets
and industrial/power targets. Aircraft involved in Freedom Train
operations were from Hancock, Coral Sea, Kitty Hawk and Constellation.
By the end of April operations were permitted in NVN throughout
the region below 20_ 25' N and many special strikes above the
20th parallel had also been authorized.
6--Heavy air raids were conducted against NVN, the first since
October 1968 when a halt was called on heavy raids. Since the
bombing halt in October 1968 the U.S. air effort had been concentrated
on interdicting men and supplies moving along the routes into
SVN. Except for protective reaction strikes and a five-day operation
at the end of 1971, called Proud Deep, very few heavy attack missions
had been flown into NVN. The U.S. heavy reactionary raids were
prompted by a massive invasion of SVN by six North Vietnamese
divisions, which, by 6 April, involved 12 of North Vietnam's 13
divisions. The objectives of these heavy raids were (1) destruction
of all NVN aggression-supporting resources, (2) harassment and
disruption of enemy military operations, and (3) reduction and
impediment of movements of men and materials through southern
NVN.
6--Elements of two Phantom II Marine squadrons, VMFA-115 and VMFA-232,
flew into Da Nang from Iwakuni, Japan, as part of the reinforcing
effort in support of SVN troops, particularly around Quangtri.
VMFA-212 arrived from Kaneohe, Hawaii on 14 April. Targets for
Marine sorties were enemy tanks, trucks and troops, giving SVN
forces a chance to regroup and reestablish a line of defense north
and west of Hue.
6--The Navy's new air superiority fighter, the F-14 Tomcat, arrived
at Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River. The swing-wing, twin-engine
Grumman aircraft arrived for a series of catapult launches, Automatic
Carrier Landing System checks, airspeed system calibrations and
weight and balance checks to determine its suitability for naval
operations.
7--During the week ending 7 April, the Navy flew 680 sorties in
SVN to counter the NVN troop concentrations, their equipment flow
and to support the SVN forces with close air support, direct air
support and interdiction missions. This was more than five times
the number of sorties the Navy flew for the entire month of March.
11--The Harpoon anti-ship missile underwent its first drop test
at the Naval Missile Center, Point Mugu. The missile, developed
by McDonnell Douglas Corporation, was dropped from 20,000 feet
altitude by a P-3 Orion operated by the Missile Center. The Harpoon
was designed to be launched from aircraft or ships from a stand-off
range against enemy ship targets.
12--The new P-3C Acoustic Sensor Operator Trainer (Device 14B44)
was made available for training aircrew personnel at Fleet Aviation
Specialized Operational Training Group, Pacific Detachment. It
was designed to train aircrewmen in the operation of sensor stations
on the P-3C Orion aircraft. The simulator can duplicate the real
world conditions of underwater acoustical data and also simulate
the detection, classification and localization procedures of the
AQA-7 Jezebel system on board the P-3C Orion.
14--In the week ended, the Navy averaged 191 sorties per day in
SVN, a 97 percent increase over the previous week. Sorties concentrated
west and north of Quangtri City with interdiction and direct air
support flown in the area. Carriers on Yankee Station were Constellation,
Hancock, Coral Sea, and Kitty Hawk.
16--Apollo 16 spacecraft was successfully launched from Cape Kennedy
Space Center for a Lunar Highlands Investigation. The astronaut
team was composed of John W. Young, Charles M. Duke and Thomas
K. Mattingly. Astronauts Young and Duke, the Navy members of the
Apollo 16 crew, landed on the moon four days later to conduct
scientific research.
16--Aircraft from Coral Sea, Kitty Hawk and Constellation flew
57 sorties in the Haiphong area in support of U.S. Air Force B-52
strikes on the Haiphong petroleum products storage area. This
operation was known as Freedom Porch.
25-30--An example of Naval Air action against enemy positions
inside central and south SVN during NVN's spring offensive occurred
the last six days of April as Hancock's VA-55, -164 and -211,
struck enemy held territory around Kontum and Pleiku and Constellation's
VA-146, -147 and -165, hit areas around the besieged city of Anloc
in support of SVN troops, some only 40 miles outside the capital
of Saigon. Targets attacked included artillery fire bases, enemy
tanks, bunkers, troop positions, ammunition caches and gun emplacements.
27--HC-1, aboard the Ticonderoga, recovered the Apollo 16 spacecraft
after it had splashed down in the south Pacific.
28--The AIM-54A, Phoenix missile, was launched from an F-14 for
the first time. The aircraft was flying from Point Mugu.
30--Operations by Navy and Marine Corps aircraft had expanded
significantly throughout April. A total of 4,833 Navy sorties
in SVN and 1,250 sorties in NVN were flown during April. The Marine
Corps flew 537 sorties in SVN. The dramatic increase in Navy sorties
was supported by directing all four carriers operating in the
western Pacific to the support of operations in Vietnam. The Coral
Sea and Hancock were on Yankee Station when the North Vietnamese
spring offensive began. Kitty Hawk was ordered to Yankee Station
on 1 April and arrived on 3 April. Constellation was ordered to
Yankee Station on 2 April and arrived on the line 7 April. Between
8 and 30 April the Navy effort grew gradually from 240 sorties
a day to a peak of over 300, resulting in a monthly average of
270 sorties per day.
MAY
1--While flying weather was good for the first seven days of May,
the Navy averaged 97 attack sorties daily into NVN while flying
an average of 168 a day into SVN. The Navy's efforts at this time
were still concentrated in support of SVN forces attempting to
stem the NVN offensive, then a month old. SVN troops were retreating
toward Hue, Quangtri City had fallen 1 May and an attack against
Hue appeared imminent. The city of Anloc remained surrounded by
the NVN. The first week of May also witnessed NVN's newly deployed
combat support surface-to-air missiles, the SA-7 Grail infrared-seeker
missile.
4--The Navy's first night carrier landing trainer was unveiled
at NAS Lemoore. This trainer permitted pilots to simulate night
landing of the A-7E on carrier decks.
5--VP-9 aircraft departed NAS Moffett Field for NAS Cubi Point
to augment the VP units tasked with ocean surveillance air patrols
in relationship to the mining of NVN harbors and the corresponding
movement of Communist bloc ships.
6--In the second most active dog-fight day of the war, Navy flyers
shot down two MiG-17s and two MiG-21s. Scoring the kills were
flyers from VF-111 and VF-51 aboard Coral Sea and two planes from
VF-114 off Kitty Hawk.
8--For the first time in more than three weeks, U.S. forces attacked
in the vicinity of Hanoi, with Navy pilots flying 50 attack sorties.
Another 96 sorties were flown in southern NVN between the capital
and the DMZ, while 99 were directed against the enemy in SVN.
9--Operation Pocket Money, the mining campaign against principal
NVN ports, was launched. Early that morning, an EC-121 aircraft
took off from Danang airfield to provide support for the mining
operation. A short time later, Kitty Hawk launched 17
ordnance-delivering sorties against the Nam Dinh railroad siding
as a diversionary air tactic. Poor weather, however, forced the
planes to divert to secondary targets at Thanh and Phu Qui which
were struck at 090840H and 090845H, Vietnam time, respectively.
Coral Sea launched three A-6A and six A-7E aircraft loaded with
mines and one EKA-3B in support of the mining operation directed
against the outer approaches to Haiphong Harbor. The mining aircraft
departed the vicinity of Coral Sea at 090840H in order to execute
the mining at precisely 090900H to coincide with the President's
public announcement in Washington that mines had been seeded.
The A-6 flight led by the CAG, Commander Roger Sheets, was composed
of USMC aircraft from VMA-224 and headed for the inner channel.
The A-7Es, led by Commander Len Giuliani and made up of aircraft
from VA-94 and VA-22, were designated to mine the outer segment
of the channel. Each aircraft carried four MK 52-2 mines. Captain
William Carr, USMC, the bombardier/navigator in the lead plane
established the critical attack azimuth and timed the mine releases.
The first mine was dropped at 090859H and the last of the field
of 36 mines at 090901H. Twelve mines were placed in the inner
segment and the remaining 24 in the outer segment. All MK 52-2
mines were set with 72-hour arming delays, thus permitting merchant
ships time for departure or a change in destination consistent
with the President's public warning. It was the beginning of a
mining campaign that planted over 11,000 MK 36 type destructor
and 108 special MK 52-2 mines over the next eight months. It is
considered to have played a significant role in bringing about
an eventual peace arrangement, particularly since it so hampered
the enemy's ability to continue receiving war supplies.
10--Operation Linebacker I, the heavy strike of targets in most
of NVN, evolved and lasted until restrictions on operations above
20_ N were imposed 22 October. The operation was an outgrowth
of Freedom Train and the President's mining declaration which
also stated that the U.S. would make a maximum effort to interdict
the flow of supplies in NVN. On this first day of Linebacker I,
the Navy shifted its attacks from targets in southern NVN to the
coastal region embracing Haiphong north to the Chinese border.
In all, 173 attack sorties were flown in this region this day,
although another 62 were directed into SVN in continuing support
of allied forces there.
JANUARY
1--A major reorganization in naval reserve affairs got under way
as a result of the announcement two days earlier by the Secretary
of the Navy that the Naval Surface and Air Reserve Commands would
be consolidated into a single command located in New Orleans.
8--Representatives of the U.S. and Greek navies signed an accord
in Athens formally granting the U.S. Sixth Fleet home-port facilities
in the Athens vicinity. Under the arrangement, one of the Sixth
Fleet's two carrier task forces in the Mediterranean Sea would
be stationed in the Athens area.
12--VF-161, flying off Midway, shot down a NVN MiG-17, the last
enemy "kill" of the war, making a total of 57 MiGs shot
down by
Navy and Marine Corps pilots during the Vietnam conflict.
27--The Vietnam cease-fire, announced four days earlier, came
into effect and the carriers Oriskany, America, Enterprise and
Ranger, on Yankee Station, cancelled all combat sorties into North
and South Vietnam. During the Vietnam conflict, which dates U.S.
involvement starting in 1961 and ends on 27 January 1973, the
Navy lost 526 fixed-wing aircraft and 13 helicopters to hostile
action. The Marine Corps lost 193 fixed-wing aircraft and 270
helicopters to enemy action during the same period. Operation
Homecoming, the repatriation of U.S. POWs between 27 January and
1 April, began and NVN and the Viet Cong released 591 POWs. Of
the 591 POWs released during Operation Homecoming, there were
566 military personnel and 145 were Navy personnel. Naval Aviation
personnel accounted for 144 of the 145 Navy personnel.
27--Task Force 78 was formed to conduct minesweeping operations
in North Vietnamese waters under the code name Operation Endsweep.
It consisted of surface minesweeping elements and an Air Mobile
Mine Countermeasures Command. The latter was made up of HM-12,
HMH-463 and HMM-165, organized into units Alpha through Delta,
an airborne mine countermeasures planning element, command and
control element, an aircraft element and a material element.
28--Aircraft from Enterprise and Ranger flew 81 combat sorties
on the first day of the Vietnam cease-fire against lines-ofcommunication
targets in Laos. The corridor for overflights was between Hue
and Danang in SVN. These combat support sorties were flown in
support of the Laotian government which had requested this assistance
and it had no relationship with the cease-fire in Vietnam.
FEBRUARY
1--The U.S. Third Fleet was reactivated at Pearl Harbor with the
merger of the First Fleet and Antisubmarine Warfare Forces, Pacific
Fleet. The change was made to reduce fleet staffs and achieve
economies while retaining control of operational units, including
some 100 ships and 60,000 men serving a 50-million-squaremile
area from the West Coast to beyond Midway Island.
3--Task Force 78 flagship, New Orleans with escort ships, began
a six day mine countermeasures exercise in Subic Bay in preparation
for scheduled Endsweep operations in NVN.
5--Commander Task Force 78 and other Navy mine demolition experts
met with North Vietnamese leaders in Haiphong to discuss Operation
Endsweep, the clearing of mines in NVN.
6--Surface minesweepers of Task Force 78 began preliminary sweeping
to prepare an anchorage in deep water off the approaches to Haiphong
Harbor. Ships of the force included New Orleans and Inchon. The
ocean anchorage would be used by command and supply ships of the
U.S. Navy in on-scene support of minesweeping of NVN harbors,
coastal and inland waterways. During the operation Task Force
78 ships were joined by Tripoli.
6--The Naval Air Systems Command established a policy that new
avionics equipment generally be designed for automatic troubleshooting
with the general purpose Versatile Avionics Shop Test (VAST) computerized
equipment. This policy significantly improves the maintenance
of avionics equipment through use of the VAST system which was
designed with the capability to test the majority of avionics
within the naval aviation inventory.
11--Aircraft from the carriers Constellation and Oriskany operating
on Yankee Station, the location of which was changed to a position
off the coast of the northern part of South Vietnam, flew strikes
against targets in southern Laos. Combat sorties from carriers
on Yankee Station against targets in Laos had continued since
the cease-fire in Vietnam.
14--The Pentagon announced a step-up of U.S. air strikes in Laos
to 380 daily, an increase of 100. Aircraft from Oriskany and Enterprise
flew about 160 of these sorties into Laos on this date.
25--Planes from Ranger and Oriskany flew combat support missions
over Cambodia. The combat support sorties were flown in support
of the government of Cambodia at its request.
27--Airborne mine countermeasures began off Haiphong during Operation
Endsweep. This was a "first" in mine warfare as airborne
minesweeping had never been done with "live" mines.
A CH-53 Sea Stallion from HM-12 made two sweeps in the Haiphong
shipping channel. All operations were abruptly halted and minesweeping
task force moved to sea as the President called for "clarification
. . . on a most urgent basis" of Hanoi's delay in releasing
American POWs.
MARCH
4--The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam resumed and the
naval minesweeping force returned to its position off Haiphong.
Minesweeping operations continued in and around Haiphong and the
harbor was reopened after being closed for ten months because
of the U.S. naval mining which began in May 1972. In addition,
the carrier America was ordered to depart the Far East for the
U.S. This was the initial move in reducing the number of carriers
serving in South East Asia from six to three by mid-June 1973.
21--VXN-8 returned to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, from Project
Magnet deployment to the Southern Hemisphere under the direction
of the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office. During the deployment,
two flights were made around the world within the Southern Hemisphere,
and an over-the-South-Pole flight by an RP-3D on 4 March as a
first for that type aircraft.
29--The remaining U.S. combat forces left South Vietnam and the
United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, was disbanded,
officially ending U.S. military involvement in South Vietnam.
The last phase of Operation Homecoming was concluded when the
final group of 148 American POWs were released by Hanoi. This
brought a total of 591 POWs released, and of that total, 566 of
them were U.S. military personnel with 144 being naval pilots
and aircrewmen.
29-31--Forrestal led two other Sixth Fleet ships into Tunisian
waters where Sea King helicopters from the carrier evacuated some
200 persons and airlifted four tons of relief supplies to flood
victims in Tunisia.
APRIL
1--Two new air wings were established as the final phase of the
reorganization of the AirLant community, completing the functional
wing concept: Air Antisubmarine Wing One with VSs 22, 24, 27,
30, 31 and 32 and Helicopter Antisubmarine Wing One with HSs 1,
3, 5, 7 and 11.
13--The Secretary of the Navy announced that an agreement with
the United Kingdom had been signed providing for an eight-month
joint study of an advanced V/STOL Harrier involving participation
by Rolls-Royce, Hawker Siddeley, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft
and McDonnell Douglas. The overall aim was to determine the feasibility
of joint development of an advanced concept V/STOL incorporating
a Pegasus 15 engine and an advanced wing.
16--The Cruise Missile Project Office was established in the Naval
Air Systems Command with responsibility to develop both tactical
and strategic versions of the Cruise Missile.
30--The last Marine NAP (enlisted Naval Aviation Pilot) retired.
He was Master Gunnery Sergeant Patrick J. O'Neil who began his
active duty during WW-II and completed over 30 years of active
duty.
MAY
3-9--Fighting broke out between Lebanese army units and Palestinian
guerrillas in Lebanon. Martial law was declared. Among U.S. forces
in the Mediterranean, carriers Kennedy and Forrestal were alerted
for possible contingencies. A cease-fire agreement between Lebanese
and Palestinian negotiators stabilized the situation.
8--In a ceremony at the Douglas Aircraft Division, Long Beach,
the first McDonnell Douglas C-9B Skytrain jet transports were
accepted by the Navy and delivered to Fleet Tactical Support Squadrons
One and Thirty. A commercial version of the DC-9, the C-9B has
a maximum 32,444 pound payload range of 1,150 statute miles with
a ferry range of about 3,400 miles. It accommodates 107 passengers
five-abreast.
18--A four-day trial of a prototype glide slope indicator was
completed aboard Truxtun. The indicator, developed by the Naval
Air Engineering Center, consisted of a hydraulically stabilized
Fresnel lens. It was one of several steps taken to achieve an
all weather capability with LAMPS helicopters.
25--The first production RH-53D Sea Stallion, especially configured
for the airborne mine countermeasures mission, arrived at the
Naval Air Test Center for weapons system trials. Navy preliminary
evaluation and the initial phase of the Board of Inspection and
Survey trials had begun at Sikorsky Aircraft Division on 15 May.
25--Skylab II, carrying a three-man, all-Navy crew of Captain
Charles Conrad, Commander Joseph Kerwin, MC, and Commander Paul
Weitz, rendezvoused with the earth-orbiting Skylab I workshop.
Among the crew's first tasks was repairing the Skylab I meteoroid
shield and solar array system which had been damaged during launch.
The crew boarded the workshop, made repairs, conducted medical
experiments and studied solar astronomy and earth resources for
28 days before returning to earth on 22 June.
JUNE
7--The Deputy Secretary of Defense directed the Navy to produce
preliminary plans for a $250 million prototype development plan
for a jet fighter aircraft costing less than the F-14 Tomcat missile-armed
fighter.
13--The National Aeronautics Association presented the Robert
J. Collier Trophy for 1972 jointly to the Navy's Task Force 77
and to the Seventh and Eighth Air Forces for their "demonstrated
expert and precisely integrated use of advance aerospace technology"
in Operation Linebacker II, the 11-day air campaign in December
1972 that "led to the return of the U.S. prisoners of war."
22--The all-Navy crew of Skylab II astronauts was recovered after
their 28-day mission in space by HC-1 and flown aboard Ticon-
deroga.
30--FAW-1 and FAW-2 were redesignated Patrol Wings 1 and 2. This
was the end of the use of the FAW (Fleet Air Wing) designation
and beginning of the Patrol Wing designation which had been used
prior to World War II.
JULY
27--Operation Endsweep was officially closed and Task Force 78
was disbanded. During the six months of its existence, the airborne
element had made 3,554 sweeping runs totalling 1,134.7 sweeping
hours in 623 sorties; the surface elements had made 208 sweeping
runs of 308.8 hours. The aviation material casualties were three
helicopters lost in operational accidents. Mine Logistics Carrier
Station operations in the Gulf of Tonkin were conducted by Enterprise,
Oriskany, Ranger, and Coral Sea at various periods and their respective
aircraft flew support sorties for Operation Endsweep.
28--Skylab III commanded by Captain Alan Bean, USN in company
with civilian doctor Owen Garriott and Major Jack Lousma, USMC,
was launched into space.
31--HSL-33, the Navy's first squadron dedicated solely to providing
Light Airborne Multi-Purpose Systems detachments for LAMPS-configured
ships of the Pacific Fleet, was established at NAS Imperial Beach,
California.
AUGUST
15--After intensive bombing for more than six months, the U.S.
ended its combat involvement in Cambodia, as voted by Congress
on 30 June. Aircraft from the carriers Ranger and Oriskany had
conducted combat sorties in Cambodia during February. After March
1973, carriers on Yankee Station conducted carrier air patrols,
electronic intelligence patrols, surface, subsurface, surveillance
coordinator patrols, training, tanker, communications relay and
reconnaissance sorties.
16--The F-14's quick reaction, dogfight capability was demonstrated
at the Pacific Missile Range when, from a distance of less than
a mile, the aircraft shot down a maneuvering QT-33 target drone
with a Sparrow III missile.
29--HM-12 received the first RH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters.
The RH-53Ds were especially configured for minesweeping operations.
SEPTEMBER
6--A BQM-34E Firebee II target drone, equipped with a wing of
graphite-epoxy composite, was successfully test flown at the Point
Mugu Sea Test Range reaching a speed of Mach 1.6 at 40,000 feet
and a maximum acceleration of six Gs. The graphite-epoxy composite
promises to save 40 percent of the weight of metal counterparts
in various aeronautical applications. The test wing was designed
and fabricated by the Naval Air Development Center.
7--The Navy announced that the Blue Angels flight demonstration
team planned to switch to the slower, smaller and less expensive
A-4F Skyhawks rather than continue to use the F-4J Phantoms they
had been flying since 1969.
25--The three astronauts of Skylab III made a successful splashdown
in the Pacific, ending a record 59-day, 24-million-mile flight.
They were recovered by Helicopter Combat Support Squadron One
and flown aboard New Orleans. During Skylab III, CAPT Alan L.
Bean, USN, Commander of Skylab III, set a new record for the most
time in space, eclipsing Navy CAPT Charles Conrad's record of
49 days, three hours, and 37 minutes.
OCTOBER
1--The formal Board of Inspection and Survey service acceptance
trials of the S-3A began at the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent
River. The tests were to utilize seven S-3A aircraft during a
four-month period, including weapons system checkouts, carrier
suitability, flying qualities and performance, and propulsion
and airframe evaluation.
5--Midway with embarked CVW-5 put into Yokosuka, Japan, marking
the first home-porting of a complete carrier task group in a Japanese
port as a result of the accord arrived at on 31 August 1972, between
the U.S. and Japan. In addition to the morale factor of dependents
housed at a foreign port, the development had strategic significance
because it facilitated continuous positioning of three carriers
in the Far East at a time when the economic situation demanded
the reduction of carriers in the fleet.
8-13--Task Force 60.1 with Independence; Task Force 60.2 with
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Task Force 61/62 with Guadalcanal were
alerted for possible evacuation contingencies in the Middle East.
Kennedy, in the Atlantic, was directed to a holding area off Gibraltar.
9--The Pentagon announced that Guadalcanal, an amphibious assault
ship with U.S. Marines aboard, was operating in the eastern Mediterranean
Sea as part of the Sixth Fleet. Other elements of the fleet were
moving toward Crete, including the carriers Independence and Franklin
D. Roosevelt, on alert as a result of the 1973 Yom Kippur war
between Arab and Israeli forces.
19-24--Some 50 A-4 aircraft were flown from the U.S. to supply
Israel, staging through the Azores and the Franklin D. Roosevelt
which was located south of Sicily. When necessary, the Kennedy,
off Gibraltar and Independence, off Crete, also provided assistance.
On the 24th, Iwo Jima entered the Mediterranean with reinforcing
Marines.
27--Due to the situation in the Middle East, the U.S. government
ordered a worldwide "precautionary alert" of its military
forces. Possible unilateral intervention by the Soviet Union was
feared. By 28 October, three U.S. aircraft carriers and two amphibious
assault carriers were off Crete.
29--The Defense Department announced that a naval task force centering
around the carrier Hancock and with her escort ships, had been
ordered to the Indian Ocean. This was prompted by the Middle East
war and the consequent Arab oil embargo and was the beginning
of a series of four task groups deployed into the Indian Ocean
in 1974 to focus on such areas as the entrance to the Persian
Gulf and the entrance to the Red Sea.
NOVEMBER
16--Skylab IV, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Gerald P. Carr,
USMC, and with a crew consisting of Lieutenant Colonel William
R. Pogue, USAF, and Edward G. Gibson, civilian, was launched at
the Kennedy Space Center. The scheduled 56-day "open-ended"
space flight had among its aims, study of the Comet Kohoutek,
earth resources, and the sun.
21--In the first test of its full arsenal of Phoenix missiles,
an F-14 operating over the Pacific Missile Sea Test Range fired
six Phoenix missiles and guided them simultaneously at six separate
targets 50 miles away, obtaining four direct hits.
DECEMBER
1--The Blue Angels became the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron
(Blue Angels) and was designated a shore activity located at NAS
Pensacola.
7--The Tarawa, first of a new class of amphibious assault ships,
was launched at Pascagoula, Mississippi.
17--Iwo Jima departed Tunisia after three days of flood relief
assistance by her helicopters which conducted refugee rescue,
equipment deliveries and other flood associated missions.
20--Two women physicians, Lieutenants Jane 0. McWilliams and Victoria
M. Voge, graduated from the Naval Flight Surgeon Training Program,
to become the first women naval flight surgeons.
20--The Naval Air Engineering Center was officially relocated
from Philadelphia to NAS Lakehurst and authority and responsibility
for the air station was reassigned to the Chief of Naval Material
to be exercised through the Naval Air Systems Command. Subsequently,
on 8 Jan 1974, the Air Station was placed under the Naval Air
Engineering Center. Thereby, the basic organization arrangements
involved in relocation of the Naval Air Engineering Center from
League Island, Philadelphia to NAS Lakehurst were completed although
the physical transfer would be phased over much of 1974. The relocation
was part of the Shore Establishment Realignment announced by the
Secretary of Defense in March of 1973. Thus, an affiliation between
Naval Aviation and the League Island site at Philadelphia, which
began with the establishment of the Naval Aircraft Factory in
1917, was terminated except for a few residual aviation oriented
functions.
31--Ellyson Field, NAS Pensacola, Florida, officially became Naval
Education and Training Program Development Center to administer
the Navy's enlisted advancement system, including the development
of advancement and special examinations as well as administering
and conducting various courses, studies and training programs.
JANUARY
18--The Secretary officially named the Navy's fourth nuclear-powered
carrier the Carl Vinson. The name was chosen in honor of Carl
Vinson's contributions to the national defense during his fifty
years in the House of Representatives.
FEBRUARY
4--TF-9J Cougars, made their final flights. These last flights
were made with VT-4 students aboard the John F. Kennedy.
5--The Naval Aerospace Institute at Pensacola, Florida announced
that the re-patriated Navy and Marine Corps prisoners-of-war from
Vietnam were scheduled to come to Pensacola for periodic checks
of their physical and mental status.
8--Skylab IV astronauts Lieutenant Colonel Gerald P. Carr, USMC,
who was commander of the mission, Dr. Edward Gibson, and Lieutenant
Colonel William Pogue, USAF, landed in the Pacific after a record-setting
84 days in space. They were recovered by HC-1 which flew them
aboard New Orleans. This event marked the thirty-second astronaut
retrieval by Naval aviators since the space program began in 1961.
20--The S-3A Viking ASW aircraft was officially introduced in
the Navy in ceremonies at NAS North Island. VS-41 accepted the
first aircraft. The Viking, a highly-advanced, carrier-qualified
jet aircraft, was designed to replace the older, propeller-driven
S-2 Tracker which had been the Navy's primary carrier-based submarine
hunter for over twenty years.
22--Lieutenant (jg) Barbara Ann Allen became the Navy's first
designated female aviator when she received her Gold Wings in
a ceremony at NAS Corpus Christi.
MARCH
1--Sikorsky's triple-turbine helicopter, the YCH-53E, largest
and most powerful helicopter in the western world, made its first
flight. The CH-53E was a growth version of the CH-53 which had
been in Navy service since 1965.
1--The John F. Kennedy commenced a year-long overhaul at Norfolk
Naval Shipyard to be converted to handle the new CV concept and
to operate the new F-14 Tomcat fighter as well as the S-3A Viking.
15--The Intrepid was decommissioned and placed in the reserve
fleet after thirty years of service to the Navy. Since her commissioning
on 16 August 1943 the Intrepid had seen duty as a CV, CVA, and
CVS. During World War Il her air groups shot down 266 enemy planes,
destroyed 298 more on the ground and damaged 178 others.
18--The first operational F-14 Tomcat fighter aircraft made its
maiden landings and takeoffs from the Enterprise. The operations
were conducted by VF-1 and VF-2 of Attack Carrier Air Wing FOURTEEN.
22--Rear Admiral Brian McCauley arrived in Cairo, Egypt with a
small military planning staff to help plan the clearing of the
Suez Canal of unexploded ordnance. The United States, Egypt, France,
and the United Kingdom were involved in the project known as Nimbus
Star.
APRIL
2--The last C-54 Skymaster in the Navy's flying inventory was
retired to storage. The twenty-nine year-old C-54Q saw its last
service with the Naval Test Pilot School, NAS Patuxent River.
The Skymaster, Bureau Number 56501, had flown almost 15,000 hours
with more than 2,500,000 nautical miles since its acceptance on
24 March 1945.
11--At the Naval Missile Center, Point Mugu, the P-3 Orion fired
its first Harpoon missile. The aircraft involved was a P-3A; the
missile scored a direct hit on a remote-controlled Septar target
boat.
14--The Navy donated the ASW carrier Yorktown to Charleston, South
Carolina for the city's National Naval Museum. The "Fighting
Lady" had spent twenty-five years with the Pacific Fleet
before being transferred to the Atlantic in 1969. She was decommissioned
27 June 1970.
22--A twelve-plane detachment of RH-53D Sea Stallions from NAS
Norfolk's HM-12 began minesweeping the Suez Canal as part of Project
NIMBUS STAR.
JUNE
4--The Naval Air Systems Command established an Aircraft Survivability/Vulnerability
branch. This office was created in response to the need for a
thoroughly coordinated Navy technical program addressing this
problem.
JULY
5--Two Marine Corps aviators, Major John H. Pierson and his co-pilot,
Major David Shore, flew an OV-1OA Bronco 4,480 kilometers from
NAS Whidbey Island to Homestead AFB, Florida. This flight set
a new world record for distance in a straight line by a Class
C-1-F, Group II aircraft. The National Aeronautics Association
sanctioned the record.
22--As a result of the conflict between Turkish and Greek Cypriot
forces on Cyprus, the United States Ambassador to Cyprus, Roger
Davies, requested the evacuation of U.S. citizens. In a joint
Navy/Marine Corps effort, HMM-162 from the Sixth Fleet-Helicopter
Carrier Inchon evacuated 466 people, 384 of them U.S. citizens,
in only five hours. Other ships were involved, and the Forrestal
provided cover for the operation.
AUGUST
5--The world's largest unmanned balloon was successfully launched
from Fort Churchill at Manitoba, Canada. The flight was sponsored
by the Office of Naval Research and NASA's Office of Space Science.
The facilities of the Navy's Skyhook program were used for the
launch. The entire flight train--balloon, an 800-pound instrument
package, and a parachute--lifted to an altitude of 155,000 feet.
As the balloon rose to float altitude it assumed a fully inflated
form of 512 feet in diameter with a volume of 50.3 million cubic
feet. The balloon traveled 500 miles west and was tracked by Project
Skyhook's DC-3.
9--The Navy announced the first acceptance by a fleet squadron
of an EC-130 Hercules TACAMO aircraft. VQ-4 was the squadron
receiving.
10--Sikorsky's YCH-53E, Number 1, flew in a hover at a gross weight
of 71,700 pounds. It carried an external load of 17.8 tons and
hovered at a wheel height of fifty feet. This was the heaviest
gross weight ever flown--and the heaviest payload ever lifted--by
a helicopter in the western world.
24--Navy and Marine Corps helicopters completed six days of disaster
flood relief work in central Luzon. Aircraft from NAS Cubi Point,
the San Jose, the Tripoli, and Clark AFB provided airlift of emergency
food supplies.
28--The Chief of Naval Operations released a formal VFAX operational
requirement directing Naval Air Systems Command to perform industrial
solicitation and full-scale development. The VFAX concept was
by this time under management by NAVAlR's PMA-265. The aircraft
that finally emerged from the VFAX concept was the McDonnell Douglas
F/A-18 Hornet.
SEPTEMBER
14--Approval for Service Use was issued to the SEU-3/A Lightweight
Ejection Seat manufactured by the Stencel Aero Engineering Company
primarily for the AV-8A Harrier.
17--Enterprise sailed from San Francisco with VF-1 and VF-2 aboard.
This event marked the initial deployment of the Grumman F-14 Tomcat,
the Navy's newest fighter.
17--The prototype LAMPS MK-III H-2/SR helicopter was delivered
to the Kaman Aerospace Corporation for flight certification tests.
Prior to this delivery, Naval Air Development Center engineers
completed extensive design modifications which were required to
incorporate the LAMPS MK-III developmental avionics package.
OCTOBER
2--The Joint Logistics Commanders signed an agreement making Dupont's
HT-4 the standard fabric for all flight suits.
NOVEMBER
19--The Central Treaty Organization exercise Midlink 74 got underway
as the largest naval exercise ever held in the Arabian Sea. Participating
were forces from the United States, United Kingdom, Iran, Pakistan,
and Turkey. Constellation was included in an eight-ship force
from the United States.
DECEMBER
2--The Navy's Advanced Low Volume Ramjet (ALVRJ) successfully
completed its first free flight at the Pacific Missile Range at
Point Mugu. The ALVRJ was a unique propulsion system designed
for high performance missiles. It was developed for Naval Air
Systems Command by LTV.
JANUARY
3--The Association of Naval Aviation was formally founded "to
stimulate and extend appreciation of Naval Aviation . . . past,
present and future." The non-profit organization became open
to any officer, enlisted person or civilian who contributed to,
or was interested in, United States Naval Aviation.
17--The first production model of Lockheed's updated P-3C Orion
was delivered to VX-1, the Navy's antisubmarine warfare evaluation
squadron at NAS Patuxent River. New avionics and software included
a versatile computer language, the Omega worldwide navigation
system, increased sound-processing sensitivity, a tactical display
scope, improved magnetic tape transport, and a seven-fold increase
in computer memory capacity from 65,000 to 458,000 words.
21--Saratoga, along with three other surface vessels, was released
from response contingency off Cyprus. Saratoga had been maintaining
a response alert to possibly assist in the evacuation of American
citizens from the strife-torn island.
28--Approval for Service Use was given to the AIM-54 Phoenix missile.
FEBRUARY
9--Enterprise responded to calls for disaster relief from the
island nation of Mauritius which was struck on February 6th by
Typhoon Cervaise. Arriving at Port Louis on the 12th, carrier
personnel spent more than ten thousand man-hours rendering such
assistance as restoring water, power and telephone systems, clearing
roads and debris, and providing helicopter, medical, food and
potable water support to the stricken area.
15--The Sikorsky YCH-53E transport helicopter completed Navy Preliminary
Evaluation conducted by the Naval Air Test Center and HMX-1.
MARCH
2--Approval for Service Use was given to the F-14A Tomcat and
the Phoenix Missile system.
17--Approval for Service Use was given to the S-3A Viking.
18--The Naval Air Systems Command established an Assistant Commander
for Test and Evaluation and assigned to him the functions involving
management of T & E and its facilities. This important organizational
development had its direct origins in a SECDEF decision of the
mid-1960's which stressed the need for adequate T & E data
to provide a basis for determining whether new equipment was sufficiently
developed to warrant procurement for service use. In a much more
historic sense, the establishment of the Assistant Commander for
Test and Evaluation was part of Naval aviation's long-standing
commitment to a consolidation of T & E. This commitment resulted,
as early as 1942, in the creation of NAS Patuxent River as a facility
for testing experimental airplanes, equipment, and material.
23--Hancock, en route from Subic Bay as relief for Enterprise,
loaded HMH-463 at Pearl Harbor for transport to the southwest
Pacific. The unit would support operations in case evacuations
of American and other nationals became necessary from areas of
the Indochinese peninsula. Meanwhile, North Vietnamese forces
continued their advance southward and were poised to cut off the
entire northern quarter of the Republic of Vietnam some 300 miles
north of Saigon.
APRIL
1--Eugene Taylor "Smokey" Rhoads, Chief Aviation Pilot,
USN, died at the Veterans Hospital, San Diego, California. Rhoads
was a member of the flight crew that made the first Trans-Atlantic
flight in May 1919 on the NC-4.
12--Operation Eagle Pull was activated for Cambodia. Twelve CH-53
Sea Stallions of HMH-462 evacuated 287 persons from Phnom Penh
to Okinawa. Among those evacuated were U.S. Ambassador John Gunther
Dean and Cambodian President Saukhm Khoy, as well as newspapermen
and other foreign nationals. Upon completion of the evacuation,
helicopters of HMH-463, from Hancock, retrieved the elements of
the 31st Marine Amphibious Unit which had established the perimeter
from which the evacuees had been rescued.
13--The Naval Aviation Museum was dedicated at Pensacola, Florida.
All funds for construction of the 68,000 square-foot structure
had been donated privately. The building was presented to the
Navy by the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation Inc. It replaced
the small temporary museum set up in 1962. Among the 72 vintage
aircraft at the museum, a feature attraction was the original
NC-4, the first aeroplane to fly the Atlantic Ocean. Plans, and
an on-going drive for privately donated funds, called for continued
expansion of the new museum through three more stages to reach
eventually 260,000 square feet of floor space.
19--The carriers Midway, Coral Sea, Hancock, Enterprise, and Okinawa
responded to possible evacuation contingencies by deploying to
waters off Vietnam as North Vietnam overran two-thirds of South
Vietnam and pronounced the carriers' presence a brazen challenge
and a violation of the 1973 Paris Peace Accords.
29--In a period of three hours, Operation Frequent Wind was carried
out by U.S. Naval and Marine Corps helicopters from the Seventh
Fleet. Frequent Wind involved the evacuation of American citizens
from the capital of South Vietnam under heavy attack from the
invading forces of North Vietnam. The military situation around
Saigon and its Tan Son Nhut airport made evacuation by helicopter
the only way out. President Ford ordered the evacuation when Viet
Cong shelling forced the suspension of normal transport aircraft
use at Tan Son Nhut. With fighter cover provided by carrier aircraft,
the helicopters landed on Saigon rooftops and at Tan Son Nhut
to evacuate the Americans. The airport became the main helicopter
landing zone; it was defended by Marines from the 9th Amphibious
Brigade flown in for that purpose. All but a handful of the 900
Americans in Saigon were evacuated. The last helicopter lifted
off the roof of the United States Embassy at 7:52 PM carrying
Marine security guards.
30--Weather Reconnaissance Squadron Four, the Hurricane Hunters,
was disestablished. Established 15 November 1952 as VJ-2 and redesignated
VW-4 in 1953, it was the Navy's last squadron specifically detailed
for hurricane reconnaissance. During its more than 30 years of
service, VW-4 made major contribution to meteorological science,
oceanographic research, the National Weather Service, and the
Naval Weather Service Command.
MAY
2--Midway off-loaded at Utapao, Thailand, over 40 USAF helicopters
used in South Vietnam evacuation operations. At the same time,
carrier personnel assisted in the recovery and on-loading from
the Utapao Airport over 95 South Vietnamese Air Force craft, including
F-5 fighters and A-37 light bombers, which had been flown into
Utapao when South Vietnam fell to the Communists. The aircraft
were transported to Guam.
2--Development of a new carrier-based fighter by the McDonnell
Douglas and the Northrop aircraft corporations was announced by
the Naval Air Systems Command. To be designed for speeds in excess
of 1.5 Mach, a combat ceiling in excess of 45,000 feet and a radius
of action of more than 400 nautical miles, development is to emphasize
improved maneuvering performance, reliability, and maintainability.
5--The first training class for a new type of physician, the Aviation
Medical Officer (AMO), began at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute,
Pensacola, Florida. The program was initiated because of the acute
shortage of flight surgeons. The AMOs were not scheduled to undergo
flight training nor be assigned duty involving flying; instead,
they were to augment the efforts of flight surgeons where aeromedical
workloads were heavy, performing flight physicals and providing
routine medical care.
12-14--Coral Sea participated with other Naval, Marine and USAF
forces in the recovery of the American merchantship SS Mayaguez
and her 39 crewmen, illegally seized on 12 May in international
waters by a Cambodian gunboat controlled by the Communist Khmer
Rouge. Protective air strikes were flown from the carrier against
Cambodian mainland naval and air installations as USAF helicopters
with 288 Marines from Battalion Landing Teams 2 and 9 were launched
from Utapao, Thailand, to rescue the crew and secure the merchantman.
Eighteen Marines, Airmen and Navy Corpsmen were lost in action.
Alerted for response, but not utilized before the release of the
commandeered ship and crew on the 14th, were Hancock operating
as an LPH platform, and Okinawa.
JULY
1--All U.S. naval gunfire training activities at the Puerto Rican
island of Culebra were terminated through a joint Washington-San
Juan agreement, ending a controversy that had dragged on for years.
The announcement indicated that air-to-ground weapons training
at Culebra Cays would continue for a limited time only because
of previously scheduled training activities.
1--The aircraft carrier designation CVA was replaced with CV.
This change was made to improve the accuracy of designations in
modern warfare. By removing the letter A, which stood for attack,
the new designation CV could serve a multipurpose air, surface,
and ASW role, depending on the type of aircraft carried.
24--Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron Six (HS-6) operating off
New Orleans recovered the Apollo spacecraft and astronauts Thomas
Stafford, Vance Brand and Donald Slayton. This splashdown marked
the end of the Apollo-Soyuz mission, the first joint U.S.-Russian
space effort, and the end of the Apollo Program. It was also the
final planned at-sea recovery.
28--The U.S. Senate cleared the way for construction at Diego
Garcia by voting to expand the U.S. support facility on the Indian
Ocean island. It ended a long dispute over construction at the
installation, permitting the Navy to begin an $18.1 million expansion
to include aircraft runway extension, petroleum-oillubricants
storage areas, a pier and additional power plant facilities.
29--The Navy created the lighter-than-air project office at the
Naval Air Development Center. The purpose of this office was to
enhance expertise in lighter-than-air technology within the Navy.
AUGUST
1--A KA-3B Skywarrior, attached to VAQ-208, completed the longest
non-stop flight ever made by a carrier-based tactical jet aircraft.
The flight originated at the Naval Station, Rota, Spain and ended
at NAS Alameda, California. It covered a distance of 6,100 miles
and lasted 13 hours.
2--The Commandant of the Marine Corps announced that the twelve
Marine Corps fighter/attack squadrons would remain an all F-4
Phantom force until their replacement by F-18 aircraft beginning
in the early 1980s. The Marine Corps was originally scheduled
to be equipped with four squadrons of the F-14 Tomcats. The four
squadrons of Tomcats originally planned for the Marines would
be used to transition four Navy fighter squadrons from Phantoms
to F-14, thus retaining the authorized eighteen-squadron Navy
force for overall air defense.
14--The newly-commissioned Nimitz completed refresher training
at Guantanamo Bay before beginning her cruise with a nuclear task
force to North European waters. The world's largest ship at the
time, Nimitz had an overall length of 1,092 feet, an extreme breadth
of 292 feet, a flight deck area of four and a half acres, and
displaced 95,000 tons with a combat load. The Navy's second nuclear
carrier, Nimitz was named in honor of the World War II hero and
former Chief of Naval Operations, Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz.
SEPTEMBER
26--The Chief of Naval Operations approved the popular name Tomahawk
for the Navy's Sea Launched Cruise Missile (SLCM).
OCTOBER
3--Marine Aerial Refueler/Transport Squadron 352 (VMGR-352) took
delivery of the first KC-130R Hercules refueler/transport.
22--The Chief of Naval Operations and Defense Systems Acquisition
Review Council initiated new policies on development and operational
test and evaluation functions along with weapon system acquisition.
24--The Navy reported that a new method of conducting Shrike pilot
training programs had been developed. This method consisted of
captive flight firings linked to a communications pod and was
performed at the Air Combat Maneuvering Range at Yuma, Arizona.
The new method could be adopted to all versions of the A-4 Skyhawk,
A-6 Intruder and A-7 Corsair aircraft.
27--Inchon and five surface vessels served as a contingency evacuation
force, with Kennedy in support, as U.S. citizens were advised
to evacuate their dependents from Lebanon due to prolonged government
instability and increased armed skirmishing among political factions
in the country.
NOVEMBER
1--Effective this date, the Naval Aerospace Recovery Facility
at NAF El Centro was disestablished and the mission statement
of the National Parachute Test Range, also at El Centro, was modified
to absorb its function. The Naval Air Facility was assigned to
the CNO for command and support.
25--The first launch in the XJ521 Program took place at Point
Mugu. The XJ521 was an air-to-air medium range missile resulting
from modifications by the United Kingdom to the American Sparrow
AIM-7E-2. The missiles were fired from an FA-5 aircraft at QT-33
targets.
DECEMBER
6--H-46 Sea Knight helicopters from NAS Whidbey Island began search
and rescue operations in the northwestern Washington state areas
flooded by heavy rains. Four days of this humanitarian work saw
a total of 113 people evacuated after being stranded by the flood
waters.
8--The first production prototype of Sikorsky's three-engine,
multi-mission CH-53E transport helicopter made its first flight
at the company's Connecticut plant. The flight of about 30 minutes,
consisted of low-altitude hovering and limited maneuvering.
JANUARY
28--The Navy awarded a contract for an initial funding of $16
million to the McDonnell Douglas Corporation to begin full-scale
development of the new F-18 Air Combat Fighter.
FEBRUARY
11--The first Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM) Guidance Test
Vehicle was flown using a modified Navy Firebee drone. TERCOM
was then used in the Tomahawk Cruise Missile.
18--The night attack weapons system, a modified air-to-surface
Maverick missile designed to enhance the performance of night
tactical and strike aircraft, scored a direct hit on a moving
M-48 tank during a test conducted at the Naval Weapons Center,
China Lake.
MARCH
2--Two VS-22 Lockheed S-3A Viking aircraft landed aboard the Saratoga,
off the coast of Italy, completing the first Atlantic
crossing by the S-3A Vikings. The S-3A Vikings departed NAS Cecil
Field and made stops at NAS Bermuda, NAS Lajes and NS Rota before
landing on Saratoga. Their flight across the Atlantic proved that
rapid augmentation of S-3A Viking carrier antisubmarine assets
was possible from long distances.
MAY
20--Bell Helicopter's AH-1T made its first flight. The following
week the AH-1T flew to 120 KIAS and did mild sideslips, climbs
and descents.
26--A contract for a new Navy multi-engine aircraft trainer, to
be designated T-44A was awarded to Beech Aircraft. The aircraft
will replace the TS-2A.
28--Helicopter crews from HS-4 aboard Ranger; detachments from
HC-3 on Camden, Mars (AFS 1) and White Plains; and helicopters
from NAS Cubi Point assisted in the Philippine disaster relief
effort in the flood ravaged areas of Central Luzon. Over 1,900
people were evacuated; more than 370,000 pounds of disaster relief
supplies and 9,340 gallons of fuel were provided by Navy and Air
Force helicopters.
29--Tarawa was commissioned at Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of
Litton Industries in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Tarawa was the first
of five in a class of amphibious assault ships to join the fleet.
JUNE
5--The Navy launched the first fully-guided Tomahawk Cruise Missile
over the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The missile
was airborne for 61 minutes after it was released from the wing
of a Pacific Missile Test Center A-6 Intruder aircraft at an altitude
of 11,500 feet. This was the first in a series of flights intended
to test the functional operation of the test vehicle's capability
to perform navigation, guidance updates, and low-terrain following
maneuvers. It was also the first test flight using a turbofan
engine. Previous tests had utilized the turbojet engine.
6--An A-6 Intruder successfully test fired the tactical version
of the Tomahawk cruise missile using the Terrain Contour Matching
Navigation System. The Tomahawk was designed as a long-range weapons
system with strategic and tactical application. It can be launched
from tactical and strategic aircraft, surface ships, submarines
and land platforms.
24--The Navy accepted its first T-34C Mentor Aircraft. The new
aircraft will replace the aging T-34B and T-28B/C used in primary
and basic flight training. It will be the first training command
aircraft to have maintenance and supply support provided by
civilian contractors.
24--The Navy's Air-Launched Low Volume Ramjet (ALVRJ) set a new
distance record traveling over 100 nautical miles at sustained
speeds of over 1,700 miles per hour. This was the fifth flight
for the ramjet at the Navy's Pacific Missile Test Center at Point
Mugu, California.
30--A new eight-inch laser-guided projectile, developed jointly
by the Navy and Marine Corps was fired successfully from the new
major caliber light weight gun mounted in Hull (DD-945).
30--A Naval Aviator tradition came to an end when brown shoes
were stricken from the officers' and chiefs' uniforms. The tradition
initially distinguished the Brown Shoe Navy of the aviators from
the black shoes of the surface officers.
JULY
1--The Navy's Sea-Air Operations Gallery, part of the new National
Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, was opened
to the public. The Sea-Air Operations Gallery presented a "you
are there" mock-up of an aircraft carrier's hanger deck,
bridge and preflight operations room. Audio/visual presentations
of take-offs and landings from a carrier were presented in the
bridge areas. The hanger deck included Navy aircraft past and
present. Famous events in Naval Aviation History were depicted
throughout the gallery.
6--Coral Sea was presented the Meritorious Unit Commendation for
her actions during the Mayaguez crisis in May 1975. Coral Sea
played a major role in the return of SS Mayaguez after Cambodian
gunboats had seized the merchant ship on the high seas off the
coast of Cambodia. Coral Sea provided air support to the landing
of Marines at Koh Tang Island as CVW-15 conducted strikes on specified
military targets.
9--The CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter's effectiveness and life were
extended with the delivery of the first two CH-46E prototypes.
The major modifications to the CH-46E helicopters were new T-58-GE-16
engines, an Omega-Doppler navigation system, new crashworthy pilot
and copilot seats, a combat crashworthy fuel system, a new rescue
hoist and an infrared suppressor for engine exhaust.
12--Ranger and her escort ships of Task Force 77.7 entered the
Indian Ocean and were assigned to operate off the coast of Kenya
in response to a threat of military action in Kenya by Ugandian
forces. A VP-17 P-3 aircraft visiting Nairobi and a U.S. Middle
East Force ship visiting Mombassa further demonstrated U.S. friendly
ties and support for Kenya during her crisis with Uganda.
12--The Navy phased out the last C-117 (Douglas DC-3), perhaps
the most famous transport plane of all time. The last C-117 was
flown from Pensacola to Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona,
the boneyard for obsolete military aircraft.
27--America and other elements of Task Force 61, with Nimitz standing
by, supported the evacuation of 160 Americans and 148 other nationals
from Beirut, Lebanon. The amphibious transport ship Coronado removed
the evacuees from Lebanon and arrived in Athens on 29 July. During
January through July 1976 the contingency evacuation force for
the "Lebanon Civil-war Crisis" involved, at different
intervals, the support of America, Nimitz, Iwo Jima, Independence,
Guadalcanal and Saratoga.
27--The first phase of a program to develop the AV-8B Harrier,
a version of the current AV-8A with improved payload and range
was approved by the Department of Defense.
AUGUST
13--An HU-16 Albatross, the Navy's last operational seaplane made
its final water landing in Pensacola Bay. After two touch-and-go
landings the aircraft was flown to Sherman Field where it was
turned over to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida.
20--Ainsworth (FF 1090) became the first ship to receive installation
of a production version of the Harpoon Command and Launch Missile
System.
21--A Navy task force headed by Midway made a show of force off
the coast of Korea in response to an unprovoked attack on two
U.S. Army officers who were killed by North Korean guards on 18
August. Midway's response was in support of a U.S. demonstration
of military concern vis-a-vis North Korea.
29--The Navy's last S-2 Tracker aircraft, operating with VS-37,
was withdrawn from active service. Many of the pilots who flew
the Tracker credit it with being the Navy's most versatile airplane
of its era. The S-2 entered service with VS-26 in February 1954
and provided the Navy with 22 years of active service.
SEPTEMBER
15--Test Flights began on the east coast air combat maneuvering
range (ACMR) under construction off the coast of Cape Hatteras,
North Carolina. This follow-on system to the Navy ACMR at Yuma,
Arizona, will provide air combat training for east coast squadrons.
17--The new space shuttle program was unveiled by NASA. Of the
28 astronauts in the space program 12 had either a Navy or Marine
Corps aviator background.
29--The Navy's Ship-Deployable, Tactical, Airborne Remotely-Piloted
Vehicle (RPV) (STAR) achieved the first automatically closed-loop
recovery of a RPV into a net-encapsuled arresting assembly. The
test occurred at the National Parachute Test Range, El Centro,
California.
30--Oriskany, the last of the Essex-class attack carriers, was
decommissioned at San Francisco and placed in the mothball fleet.
Oriskany saw extensive action in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.
OCTOBER
6--VMA-231, embarked in Franklin D. Roosevelt, was en route to
the Mediterranean Sea for a Sixth Fleet deployment. VMA-231 was
equipped with the AV-8 Harrier and this was the first overseas
operational commitment on a carrier for the AV-8 aircraft.
NOVEMBER
5--The latest model of the Sea Cobra helicopter, the AH-1T, was
turned over to the Marine Corps from Bell Helicopter Textron for
further testing. The new version offers an improved payload of
4,392 pounds over the previous payload of 2,739 pounds.
13--The first at-sea firing tests of the SM-2 (extended range)
guided missile from Wainwright (CG 28) were completed, using modified
TERRIER fire control system to control the missile flight, Wainwright's
test capped a highly successful five-year program with observers
reporting excellent accuracy.
DECEMBER
1--Naval Air Facility, China Lake, California was disestablished
after more than 30 years, as a separate command, and became part
of the Naval Weapons Center.
1--NAAS Saufley Field was disestablished. The closing of the basic
tactical and combat flying base brought to an end one of the early
fields used in association with the training of Naval Aviators
at NAS Pensacola. The primary training installation was opened
for flight purposes in 1940 and named after Naval Aviator #14,
who was killed while on a record endurance flight on 9 June 1916
after being in the air eight hours and 51 minutes. Saufley Field
was initially used by aviation students practicing landings and
takeoffs away from the normal flight pattern at NAS Pensacola.
Established as NAAS Saufley Field in 1943, aviation students in
basic training received instructional courses in ground training,
formation flying, and cross-country flying employing the SNJ Texan
and T-28 aircraft.
JANUARY
6--The first F404 development engine was tested successfully at
the General Electric plant in Lynn, Massachusetts approximately
a month ahead of schedule.
13--NAS Jacksonville announced the two AV-8A Harrier aircraft
had made a bow on approach and landing aboard Franklin D. Roosevelt.
This may have been the first time in Naval aviation history that
a fixed-wing aircraft made a bow on, downwind landing aboard a
carrier at sea. This landing, with jets facing aft, demonstrated
that V/STOL aircraft could be landed aboard a carrier without
many of the conditions necessary for fixed-wing, non-V/STOL aircraft.
14--For the first time, an all-nuclear-powered task group was
operating in both deployed fleets. The Seventh Fleet task group
was composed of Enterprise and her nuclear-powered escort ships,
while the Sixth Fleet task group had Nimitz with her nuclearpowered
escort ships.
31--The TA-7C, a two-seat Corsair II converted from an earlier
model and designated a combat crew and instrument trainer, was
delivered to the Navy for use at NAS Cecil Field and NAS Lemoore.
Replacement pilots for the light attack squadrons flying A-7s
will train in the TA-7Cs.
FEBRUARY
27--Enterprise and her escort ships were directed to operate off
the east African coast in response to public derogatory remarks
against the U.S. by the President of Uganda and his order that
all Americans in Uganda meet with him.
MARCH
1--The Naval Air Rework Facility (NARF) and Naval Air Station
(NAS) at Lakehurst, New Jersey were disestablished and the mission
of the Naval Air Engineering Center (NAEC) was modified to absorb
their functions.
1--The Navy's new F/A-18 fighter/attack was assigned the name
Hornet, a name often used for Navy ships-of-the-line. The plane
was scheduled for fleet delivery in the early 1980s and will replace
the F-4 Phantom II and the A-7 Corsair II.
24--Initial service acceptance trials for the CH-53E Super Stallion
were completed at NATC. The growth version of the CH-53E has three
turbine engines instead of two. The Super Stallion carries mission
loads of 16 tons compared to nine tons for the CH-53D. It has
seven rotor blades instead of six and can accommodate 56 troops.
25--The Naval Air Systems Command announced that its Advanced
Concepts Division, and the Naval Air Development Center, were
testing a lighter-than-air craft known as Aerocrane. This project
represented the first government-sponsored study of lighter-than-air
flight in several years.
APRIL
5--The Navy took delivery of the new T-44A trainer at NAS Corpus
Christi. The Beech aircraft signals a significant modernization
trend in the Navy's flight program. The T-44A will eventually
replace the TS-2A Tracker, flown by training squadrons since the
early 1960s.
8--The Navy's first E-2C ARPS (Automatic Radar Processing System)
aircraft joined the fleet at NAS Norfolk when assigned to Carrier
Airborne Early Warning Squadron 121 (VAW-121). The third of its
type produced, and the first to be operational with a Navy squadron.
The ARPS aircraft was designed to improve the radar capability
in its mission of airborne early warning. VAW-121 was scheduled
to receive three additional ARPS aircraft this year, making it
the first ARPS squadron.
12--An operational requirement was established for night vision
capability in U.S. Marine Corps transport helicopters.
21--Franklin D. Roosevelt, the first carrier to launch a jet plane,
21 July 1946, returned to the U.S. from its last overseas deployment
prior to her decommissioning on 1 October 1977.
JUNE
22--The new OV-1OD Bronco series, undergoing test and evaluation
at NATC's Strike Aircraft Test Directorate, Patuxent River, was
equipped with a night vision sensor which allowed the two-man
crew to pinpoint targets in the dark. Called FLIR, for Forward
Looking Infrared Radar, the sensor could detect the thermal radiation
from all objects in its field of view, including individual soldiers.
While primarily designed to provide a "night eyes" capability,
FLIR also offered various degrees of vision through camouflage,
dust, smoke, haze and light fog. It was also to be used for navigation,
terrain avoidance, terrain surveillance, target detection, target
recognition, target tracking, gun laying and as a landing aid.
JULY
13--An F-4J Phantom II landed for the first time using the microwave
landing system (MLS) at the FAA Test Facility at Atlantic City,
New Jersey. A pilot from the Naval Air Test Center was at the
controls. The MLS was designed to reach out electronically and
catch the target aircraft and fly it to a safe landing without
the aircraft's pilot touching the craft's controls.
23--Rear Admiral Alan B. Shepard, Jr., was inducted into the Aviation
Hall of Fame. He was cited for outstanding contributions to aviation
as a Naval Aviator, instructor and test pilot, and his contributions
to space technology. He was the first American launched into space
and the fifth to walk on the moon.
AUGUST
11--The first CH-46E Sea Knight with newly developed fiberglass
rotor blades was flown by Marine Corps helicopter pilots. The
helicopter was the first of 400 to be retrofitted with new rotor
blades which were less susceptible to corrosion and fatigue damage.
26--The Navy unveiled its new XFV-12A vertical/short takeoff and
landing research aircraft at the Rockwell International facility
in Columbus, Ohio. The XFV-12A, a single engine, single seat,
thrust-augmented wing prototype high-performance fighter aircraft
was designed to operate from small ships.
29--The first production model of the P-3C Orion update II arrived
at NATC for technical evaluation. It incorporated the latest in
avionics and weapons systems, including a turret-mounted infrared
detection device to drop out of the nose to identify targets day
or night. The aircraft also had the Harpoon air-to-surface missile
system.
SEPTEMBER
1--The LAMPS (light airborne multi-purpose system) MK III helicopter
contractors were selected by the Navy. Sikorsky Aircraft Division
was selected to build the helicopter and General Electric's aircraft
engine group was selected to provide the engines. The LAMPS helicopter
was intended to carry a crew of three, fly 170 miles an hour and
operate at altitudes up to 10,000 feet.
30--The Joint Cruise Missile Project Office was established in
the Naval Material Command with the Navy and Air Force sharing
responsibility for developing a cruise missile. The Cruise Missile
Project Office had been a project of the Naval Air Systems Command.
OCTOBER
1--The Naval Aviation Logistics Center became fully operational
at Patuxent River, Maryland. The new center was responsible for
the implementation, coordination and management of Navy-wide depot-level
aviation maintenance programs.
31--The Department of Defense directed a significant relocation
of the essential mission of the National Parachute Test Range
at El Centro, California. The Range had been responsible for RDT&E
for parachute systems and for providing common airfield support
to aviation units. With today's change, the RDT&E mission
was moved to the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake, California.
The airfield support mission remained at El Centro with the existing
Naval Air Facility there.
NOVEMBER
14--The Chief of Naval Air Training formally accepted the T-34C
aircraft manufactured by Beech Aircraft Corporation. The T-34C,
a turboprop, two-place trainer, was to replace the T-34B and T-28
training aircraft.
FEBRUARY
2--The Tomahawk cruise missile was successfully launched from
the submarine Barb and flew a fully guided land attack test flight
that terminated at Edwards AFB, California. This was the first
launch of the Tomahawk from a submarine.
9--The first satellite of the new Navy Fleet Satellite Communications
System was launched. This system satisfies the need for worldwide
tactical command control and communications for the entire fleet.
16--Eleven of the 35 astronaut candidates selected to participate
in NASA's space shuttle program were Navy personnel. Eight of
the Navy selectees were in the pilot training program and the
other three were trained as mission specialists.
27--A contract for the CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter was awarded
to Sikorsky Aircraft to begin full scale production. The CH-53E
provided the Navy and Marine Corps with a heavy-lift helicopter.
It lifts twice as much as the earlier D model.
28--The Department of Defense authorized fullscale development
of the Sikorsky Aircraft's SH-60B LAMPS MK III helicopter. The
aircraft was designed primarily for antisubmarine and antiship
missions and to be deployed aboard frigates, destroyers and cruisers.
MARCH
17--NASA selected four two-man crews for early orbital flights
of the space shuttle. CAPT John W. Young, USN, was selected as
commander and Commander Robert L. Crippen, USN, as pilot for the
first scheduled orbital test. Colonel Joe H. Engle, USAF, and
Commander Richard H. Truly, USN, were selected as the backup crew.
Also included in the first group of two-man crews was Lieutenant
Colonel Jack R. Lousma, USMC.
APRIL
10--The first TA-7C attack trainer arrived at NATC Patuxent River
for Board of Inspection and Survey trials. The TA-7C was designed
to provide a position for the instructor in the aircraft, as well
as the student, thus providing a more efficient method of instruction
while reducing fuel consumption about one-half. The new two-seater
will also reduce the number of aircraft required for transition
training.
14--The first of 12 C-2A Greyhounds rolled off the service life
extension program (SLEP) line at NARF North Island. SLEP adds
between seven and ten years of service to the carrier-on-board-delivery
aircraft. There was no other aircraft in the Navy's inventory
which could carry as many supplies and personnel to a carrier
at sea.
JUNE
9--Rear Admiral William L. Harris, NWC Commander, accepted the
Daedalian Weapons Systems Award in San Antonio, Texas, on behalf
of the Naval Weapons Center (NWC) and the Naval Air Systems Command
(NAVAIR). The Order of Daedalians, a national fraternity of military
pilots, selected NWC and NAVAIR as co-winners of the 1978 award
in recognition of the success of these two Navy commands in working
together as a team in the development and improvement of a family
of heat-seeking guided missiles known as Sidewinder. The Daedalian
Weapons System Award and accompanying perpetual trophy was presented
annually by the Order of Daedalians to the individual, group or
organization, military or civilian, judged to have developed the
most outstanding weapon system. The recipient was selected from
nominations submitted by the Departments of the Army, Navy, and
the Air Force on a rotating basis.
JULY
8--The Naval Air Test and Evaluation Museum at NAS Patuxent River
opened its doors to the public for the first time. Its premier
exhibition depicted the full scope of test and evaluation in Naval
Aviation. The displays were varied, showing the many different
types of aircraft which have passed through the Patuxent River
test facility over the years.
21--The final flight of the service acceptance trials for the
AH-1T Cobra helicopter gunship was made at Naval Air Test Center,
Patuxent River. The helo carried an increase of more than 200
percent in its armament payload and was designed to fly farther
and fight longer and harder over a target than previous models
of the Cobra.
22--Captain Holden C. Richardson was inducted into the National
Aviation Hall of Fame at Dayton, Ohio. Naval Aviator number thirteen,
Captain Richardson was the first Naval aviation engineering officer
to be so honored.
AUGUST
2-3--The mock-up of the SH-60B ASW helicopter was put through
shipboard compatibility trials aboard Arthur W. Radford. Earlier
trials were conducted July 25-26 aboard Oliver Hazard Perry. The
SH-60B was being developed by Sikorsky Aircraft.
3--The Naval Air Systems Command reported a major advance in the
technology of escape systems. During the summer, the Naval Weapons
Center at China Lake successfully tested a vertical-seeking ejection
seat. While carrying a dummy crew member, the seat was fired downward
from a suspended test module. It traveled downward less than 45
feet before reversing direction and traveling upward; it then
parachuted safely to the ground. These tests demonstrated that
the vertical-seeking seat would make it possible to safely eject
upside down, within 50 feet of the surface, thus greatly increasing
the safety envelope of ejection seats.
SEPTEMBER
14--A Navy technical evaluation was completed on the CH-53E Super
Stallion helicopter to determine if performance had been altered
by changes made since the initial trials conducted by the Board
of Inspection and Survey. The Super Stallion successfully completed
the 60-hour test program.
15--The test-bed P-3C Orion was delivered to the Naval Air Development
Center for the Update III program. The aircraft featured an advanced
signal processor developed by IBM which provided a four-fold improvement
in isolating sounds of submerged targets from ocean background
noise. Lockheed California Company was the prime contractor of
the P-3C and had been involved with its development over the past
17 years.
NOVEMBER
9--The U.S. Marine Corps' newest light attack aircraft, the AV-8B,
flew for the first time at McDonnell Douglas Corporation in St.
Louis. The AV-8B Harrier had more than double the payload and
radius of its predecessor, the AV-8A.
18--The Navy's new strike fighter, the F/A-18 Hornet, made its
first flight at McDonnell Douglas Corporation in St. Louis. The
Hornet was designed for a combat radius of more than 550 miles
and a ferry range of more than 2,000 miles.
DECEMBER
18--The Commander, Naval Air Systems Command formally established
the undergraduate Jet Pilot Training System (VTXTS) Project. This
Project was designed to provide Naval aviation with an integrated
training program consisting of aircraft, simulators, academics,
and training management. VTXTS was aimed at the intermediate and
advanced jet training levels.
27--Constellation and her escort ships were directed to the vicinity
of Singapore in response to the internal crisis in Iran and because
of vital U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf area. On 2 January
1979, the President directed Constellation and her escort ships
to remain on station in the South China Sea and not enter the
Indian Ocean.
JANUARY
2--Task Group 77.7 composed of Constellation and her escort ships
were directed to remain on station in the South China Sea in preparation
for possible operations in the Indian Ocean due to the internal
crisis in Iran.
16--The first F/A-18 Hornet arrived at NATC Patuxent River for
evaluation trials. Testing during the year included refueling
in- flight, land-based catapult launchings and arrested landings,
speed tests and at-sea carrier takeoffs and traps aboard America.
24--Vice President Walter P. Mondale presented Lieutenant Colonel
Herbert Fix with the Harmon International Aviation Trophy. Colonel
Fix received the award for his role as Commanding Officer of USMC
Helicopter Squadron HMH-463 during the evacuations of Phnom Penh
and Saigon in 1975. The citation praised Colonel Fix for carrying
out his missions "without casualties among the aircrews of
16 rotary wing aircraft in HMH-463, although the operations took
place under combat conditions involving anti-aircraft fire, machine
gun and small arms fire, and in part at night with few navigational
aids." Colonel Fix was the first U.S. Marine Corps pilot
to receive the Harmon Trophy. At the time of the award, he was
Project Manager for the H-1/H-3 Helicopters Project Office at
the Naval Air Systems Command.
25--The Navy's YAV-8B, the Harrier prototype built by McDonnell
Douglas, arrived at the Naval Air Test Center to test its aerodynamic
improvements not found in the AV-8A.
28--Constellation and her escort ships were released from contingency
operations in the South China Sea. The contingency operations
had been issued in response to the internal crisis in Iran. The
crisis abated when the Shah of Iran departed for exile on 16 January.
Due to the uneasy situation in Iran all U.S. government dependents
and non-essential American citizens were ordered to evacuate the
country on 30 January.
FEBRUARY
9--The Secretary of the Navy announced that the helicopter portion
of the Navy's LAMPS MK III was to be known officially as the Seahawk.
Designated SH-60B, the Sikorsky helicopter took its name from
the Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk which was a catapult launched, non-carrier,
ASW float plane of late World War II.
14--The Tomahawk missile was launched from nuclear powered attack
submarine Guitarro (SSN 665) off the California coast. This successful
test was the first of three submarine launches and flight tests
of the Tomahawk conducted between February and June which demonstrated
the missile's over-the-horizon capability to search for, locate,
and conduct simulated attacks on a target ship at sea.
27--The Navy took delivery of the last A-4 Skyhawk from the McDonnell
Douglas Corporation, setting a record for the longest production
run for any U.S. military aircraft. Built as an attack bomber
and as a two-place trainer, the A-4 had been in continuous production
for 26 years. The final Skyhawk off the production line was an
A-4M attack bomber built for operation by the Marine Corps. It
was the 2960th Skyhawk manufactured by McDonnell Douglas and was
delivered to VMA-331.
MARCH
7--Constellation and her escort ships were ordered to the Gulf
of Aden in response to the conflict between North and South Yemen.
The Gulf of Aden and the Persian Gulf were considered vital waterways
for the passage of petroleum products to the U.S. and her allies.
11--A P-3B Orion from NATC Patuxent River flew the first transoceanic
flight guided by NavStar, the space-based radio navigation system.
The six-hour flight was from NAS Barbers Point to NAS Moffett
Field. The NavStar system comprised 24 satellites in earth orbit
providing radio navigational information.
20--The last variant of the P-2 Neptune rolled off the production
line at ceremonies in Japan. This was the longest production run
of any aircraft type in history, 34 years from the first model
which was built in 1945 in Burbank, California by the Lockheed
Corporation. The P-2 was the mainstay of the U.S. Navy's ASW patrol
fleet during the 1950s and early 1960s until it was replaced by
the P-3 Orion.
26--The AV-8A Harrier was used at NATC Patuxent River to test
a new ski jump ramp developed by the British to cut down the takeoff
distance for the Harrier. The new ski jump ramp was designed with
a 12-degree angle of elevation and was 130 feet long. The total
takeoff distance for a Harrier using the new ramp was 230 feet
compared with the 930-foot runway necessary for a Harrier to make
a no-catapult, flat-surface launch. NATC Patuxent River was evaluating
the ramp for possible use in the fleet.
APRIL
16--Midway relieved Constellation as the Indian Ocean contingency
carrier. Midway and her escort ships continued a significant American
naval presence in the oil-producing region of the Arabian Sea
and Persian Gulf.
21--The Navy's Supersonic Tactical Missile (STM) test vehicle
made its first flight at the Pacific Missile Test Center. This
advanced integral rocket/ramjet test vehicle was developed by
Vought. It is described as a major step toward development of
a new generation of high performance, air-to-surface tactical
standoff missiles.
23--In a ceremony at NAS Norfolk, Vice Admiral Forrest S. Petersen
transferred ownership of the last Kawanishi H8K2 flying boat to
the Japanese Museum of Maritime Science. Code named Emily by the
allies during World War II, the big craft was brought to the United
States by the Navy late in 1945 to undergo tests at Patuxent River.
When the tests were completed, the Emily was stored at Norfolk
and outlasted all its sister aircraft. In July 1979, the Museum
of Maritime Science transported the Emily to Tokyo.
30--A RH-53D Sea Stallion from HM-12 set a new nonstop, transcontinental
flight by flying from Norfolk, Virginia, to San Diego, California.
The helicopter flew 2,077-nm in 18.5 hours, air refueling from
an Air National Guard HC-130 Hercules. The flight demonstrated
the long-range, quick-response capability of the RH-53D helicopter
and was commanded by Lieutenant Rodney M. Davis.
MAY
22--The first of two McDonnell Douglas AV-8C Harriers arrived
at NATC, Patuxent River for service acceptance trials. Improvements
built into this aircraft over the AV-8A include a new UHF radio,
a chaff and flare dispensing system, lift improvement devices,
a radar warning system and secure voice equipment.
30--Midway and her escort ships were released from contingency
operations in the Arabian Sea and departed for the Pacific.
JUNE
12--The Deputy Secretary of Defense approved the mission element
need statement for the Undergraduate Jet Flight Training System
known as VTXTS. This system represented a major step toward meeting
the continuing requirement to provide undergraduate pilot training
for student naval aviators and transition students of the U.S.
Navy and Marine Corps.
20--Lieutenant Dona Spruill became the first Navy woman pilot
to carrier qualify in a fixed-wing aircraft. Lieutenant Spruill
piloted a C-1A Trader to an arrested landing aboard Independence.
JULY
1--With the disestablishment of U.S. Army Executive Flight Detachment,
USMC Helicopter Squadron ONE (HMX-1) became the single source
of helicopter support for the White House.
17--Saipan was operating off the coast of Nicaragua for possible
evacuation of American diplomats and others due to the turmoil
surrounding the fall of that government.
18--VP-23, flying the P-3C Orion, fired the new Harpoon missile.
VP-23 was the first operational fleet patrol squadron to receive,
fire and make an operational deployment with the Harpoon missile.
19--The President announced he had instructed the U.S. Seventh
Fleet to aid the Vietnamese "boat people" and assist
them to safety. U.S. naval aviation and surface units of the Seventh
Fleet stepped up patrolling, assistance and rescue efforts in
support of the Vietnamese "boat people".
21--Neil A. Armstrong, a Navy pilot during the Korean War, was
inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio. He served
as an experimental test pilot for the National Advisory Committee
for Aeronautics (NACA) and flew a variety of high speed aircraft
including the X-15. Later, after being selected as an Astronaut
by the NASA, he served as Command Pilot of the Gemini 8 mission,
during which he participated in the first docking of a spacecraft.
His most notable achievement came as Commander of the Apollo 11
Lunar Landing Mission when he became the first man to step upon
the moon.
24--The Bell XV-15 successfully converted in flight from the helicopter
mode to the fixed-wing mode. The XV-15 flight test program was
founded as a joint U.S. Navy/NASA/Army research effort to evaluate
the tilt rotor concept.
27--The Navy's newest turbo-jet-powered aerial target, the Northrop
BQM-74C, successfully completed its first flight over the Pacific
Missile Test Center, California. The 33 minute flight also marked
the first airborne launch of the BQM-74C when the target was launched
from under the wing of an A-6 Intruder. Following completion of
the flight, the BQM-74C was safely landed at sea, retrieved, and
returned to Point Mugu for inspection, refurbishment, and eventual
reuse. The BQM-74C is the only target in the world using a Digital
Avionics Processor which allows it to provide realistic low cost
anti-ship cruise missile simulation in training.
AUGUST
17--A ceremony at NAS Brunswick marked the introduction of the
Harpoon anti-ship missile into operational service as an air-launched
weapon. VP-23 was the first squadron to be thus equipped.
30--The first prototype of the Navy's SH-60B Seahawk helicopter
was unveiled at the Sikorsky Aircraft Division at Stratford, Connecticut.
The SH-60B was designed to operate from destroyers, frigates and
cruisers in performing its role in the LAMPS mission which was
detecting, classifying, locating and destroying hostile submarines
and surface vessels over extended ranges. Secondary missions for
the helicopter included search and rescue, medical evacuation
and general fleet support. The SH-60B was officially dubbed the
Seahawk in February 1979.
30--A U.S. Navy CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter of VR-24 lifted
a 12-foot bronze statue of the Madonna and Child to the top of
Mt. Tiberius on Capri, Italy, to replace one which had been destroyed
by lightning. The statue was too large to be transported overland.
SEPTEMBER
15--The first UC-12B for the Navy arrived at NATC Patuxent River
for Preliminary Evaluation tests. The UC-12B is the military version
of the Beechcraft Super King Air 200 which was purchased by the
Navy to replace aging reciprocating engine aircraft and supplement
the Navy's transport inventory. The UC-12B was designed to carry
8 to 12 passengers. It had a maximum cruise speed of 300 mph and
a range up to 1,760 miles. The aircraft could operate from short,
grass runways and fly at 31,000 feet. It had advanced solid state
avionics which could automatically navigate the plane through
bad weather conditions. The UC-12B had been designed for reliability,
maintainability and low cost of operation, with a configuration
which lent itself to a variety of transport, training and utility
missions.
18--The Circulation Control Rotor (CCR) made its first flight
using the airframe and propulsion system from an HH-2D helicopter.
This CCR was initiated by the Navy as an advanced rotor system
with improved performance, reduced maintenance requirements, and
reduced vibration levels from extant rotor systems.
28--RVAH-7 was disestablished. Reconnaissance Attack Squadron
Seven was the last unit of its kind left in the Navy. With its
disestablishment it closed the history on the last RA-5C Vigilante
squadron in the Navy. The Vigilante had provided 15 years of tactical
support to the fleet as a photographic reconnaissance plane and
had served valiantly in Vietnam with her integrated intelligence
sensors and photographic equipment. Some
of the RA-5C Vigilantes were planned for use as drones.
OCTOBER
1-8--The AV-8C Harrier shipboard trials were conducted aboard
Saipan. Testing consisted of 33 flights involving short take-offs,
vertical take-offs and vertical landings by the AV-8C.
11--Nassau and other amphibious ships headed for Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, in a show of force ordered by the President in response
to maneuvers by a Russian combat brigade in Cuba. On 17 October
1,800 Marines landed in Guantanamo Bay as a demonstration of naval
power in the wake of the Soviet refusal to withdraw the Russian
combat brigade in Cuba.
14--The A-6E Target Recognition Attack Multisensor (TRAM) aircraft
was introduced into the fleet, at NAS Oceana. The A-6E TRAM provided
the United States Navy with the finest all-weather attack system
in the world.
28--Kitty Hawk and her escort ships were directed to operate south
of the Korean peninsula in response to the assassination of South
Korean President Park on 26 October.
30--The F/A-18 Hornet made its first landing at sea aboard America
for five days of sea trials. A total of 32 catapult and arrested
landings were completed.
NOVEMBER
4--One Naval aviator and 14 Marines were among the more than sixty
Americans taken hostage when the United States embassy in Tehran,
Iran, was seized by a mob of Iranian hoodlums. Spokesmen for the
mob demanded that the United States return to Iran the deposed
Shah who was in a New York hospital at the time.
18--Midway and her escort ships, which had been operating in the
Indian Ocean, arrived in the northern part of the Arabian Sea
in connection with the continuing hostage crisis in Iran.
20--The last RA-5C Vigilante in the Navy departed NAS Key West
on her final flight. The RA-5C was one of the Navy's finest and
only all-weather carrier based reconnaissance aircraft. With this
final flight, the entire reconnaissance inventory of 156 Vigilante
aircraft was phased out.
21--Kitty Hawk and her escort ships were directed to sail to the
Indian Ocean to join Midway and her escort ships which were operating
in the northern Arabian Sea. The two carrier forces provided the
U.S. with attack aircraft, the A-6 and A-7 and fighter aircraft,
the F-4 and the modern F-14, which could respond to a variety
of situations if called upon during the Iranian hostage crisis.
DECEMBER
3--Kitty Hawk and her escort ships arrived on station in the northern
Arabian Sea for contingency operations during the Iranian hostage
crisis. This was the first time, since WW-II, that the U.S. Navy
had two carrier task forces in the Indian Ocean in response to
a crisis situation.
12--The development program for the LAMPS MK III SH-60B Seahawk
helicopter reached a major milestone when the aircraft completed
its first flight at the Sikorsky test facility in West Palm Beach,
Florida.
17--The first two-seater F/A-18 Hornet arrived at NATC Patuxent
River for armament and stores separation testing. During 1979
NATC had conducted 416 flights in the F/A-18 for a total of 555
hours testing the new fighter/attack plane. On 12 December NATC
completed a successful live firing of a Sidewinder missile from
the F/A-18.
21--The Defense Department announced a three-ship nuclear-powered
carrier battle group from the Sixth Fleet would deploy to the
Indian Ocean to relieve the Seventh Fleet carrier battle group
led by Kitty Hawk. The Sixth Fleet carrier battle group consisted
of the nuclear-powered Nimitz and her nuclear-powered escort ships.
24--A massive Soviet airlift of 5,000 Russian airborne troops
and equipment into the Afghanistan capital of Kabul was conducted.
The U.S. protested the large influx of Soviet troops which the
Soviet Union claimed were at the request of the Afghanistan government.
On 27 December a Soviet-backed coup installed a new President
in Afghanistan. The two carrier task forces consisting of Midway
and Kitty Hawk continued contingency operations in the northern
Arabian Sea.
31--During 1979, Navy carrier forces responded to five crisis
situations around the world. The following carriers responded
for contingency operations: Constellation responded to the crisis
which involved North and South Yemen; Saipan responded during
the Nicaraguan turmoil; Nassau was involved in the response to
Russian combat troops in Cuba; Kitty Hawk responded to the alert
in Korea; and Midway and Kitty Hawk conducted contingency operations
during the Iranian hostage crisis.
31--U.S. Navy surface and aviation forces of the Seventh Fleet
continued their patrols and rescue assistance efforts connected
with the Vietnamese boat people following the President's order
in July. During the last six months of 1979, Navy ships embarked
over 800 Vietnamese refugees. Vietnamese refugees picked up by
merchant vessels with the aid of P-3 patrol aircraft totaled over
1,000.
JANUARY
1--Midway and Kitty Hawk continued on contingency operations in
the Arabian Sea in response to 53 Americans held hostage at the
American Embassy in Teheran, Iran, since 4 November 1979.
1--VP-23 deployed from Keflavik, Iceland, to Diego Garcia and
made its first operational flight out of the Indian Ocean base
within ten days after receiving orders, thereby demonstrating
its rapid deployment capability.
2--A detachment of P-3B Orions of VP-10, deployed at Rota, Spain,
flew photo reconnaissance missions to locate areas damaged in
the earthquake which struck the Azores the day before, killing
some 50 persons and injuring another 500.
4--Nimitz rendezvoused with her nuclearpowered escort ships in
the Mediterranean and headed to the Indian Ocean via Africa's
Cape of Good Hope to relieve Kitty Hawk which was on contingency
duty. This left Forrestal the only carrier with the Sixth Fleet
in the Med.
4--The first TA-7C Corsair II assigned to Pacific Missile Test
Center, Point Mugu was test flown.
7--Reconnaissance Attack Wing One was disestablished. The wing
had consisted of nine fleet squadrons, one training squadron and
a support command which had provided tactical reconnaissance for
Navy carrier deployments. The phaseout coincided with the final
retirement from the fleet of all RA-5C Vigilantes.
22--Nimitz and her escort ships joined Midway and the Kitty Hawk
and their escort ships on station in the Arabian Sea. The following
day Kitty Hawk departed for Subic Bay, Philippines, having spent
64 days in operations connected with the Iranian crisis.
FEBRUARY
5--Coral Sea relieved Midway which had been on contingency operations
in the Arabian Sea since the Iranian hostage crisis broke out
in November 1979.
29--VMO-1 began flying the new OV-1OD Bronco observation plane
at New River, North Carolina. The D version, manufactured by Rockwell
International, has the forward looking infrared (FLIR) and laser
rangefinder designator systems. The new systems enabled the pilot
to locate his target at night or in bad weather and then pinpoint
the exact range and location with a laser beam. An automatic video
tracker computer system locks on to a moving target with information
provided by the infrared system. The TV-like video display gives
the pilot and observer a computer-assisted sighting capability.
Conventional improvements included the uprated T-76 turboprop
engine, larger fiberglass propellers and an increased fuel capacity.
MARCH
1--It was reported that the CNO had proposed to the Secretary
of Defense a plan to reactivate the Essex-class carrier Oriskany
and several other major moth-balled ships to help fulfill the
Navy's missions in the Indian Ocean and other areas.
6--Nassau began a month-long cruise to the Caribbean to demonstrate
U.S. capability to defend the Panama Canal in accordance with
the 1979 treaty with Panama. Nassau had a 400-man Marine detachment,
CH-46 Sea Knight and CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters and AV-8A
Harriers on board.
APRIL
16--Eisenhower and her nuclear-powered escort ships departed East
Coast ports en route to the Indian Ocean to relieve Nimitz task
force. This was the second all nuclear-powered task force to head
for the Indian Ocean since the beginning of the Iranian hostage
crisis. Two days later, Constellation with her escort ships departed
Subic Bay Philippines, steaming to the Indian Ocean to relieve
Coral Sea task group.
24--Eight RH-53D Sea Stallions operating from Nimitz in the Arabian
Sea took part in a joint task force operation to rescue the American
hostages in Tehran, Iran. The mission was later aborted at a desert
refueling site. Subsequently, one of the helicopters collided
with a C-130 Hercules aircraft resulting in the loss of eight
lives. All other personnel were evacuated on the remaining C-130s.
30--Constellation and her task group relieved Coral Sea and her
escort ships. Coral Sea had been on station for 89 days in connection
with the Iranian crisis.
MAY
5--Saipan and other Navy ships provided humanitarian search and
rescue support operations for the vast sealift of Cuban refugees
heading for the U.S. through the Florida Straits. The Navy ships
had been diverted from the annual combined training exercise Solid
Shield to undertake the mission.
8--Arriving in the Arabian Sea from the U.S., via the Cape of
Good Hope, Eisenhower conducted turnover with Nimitz, which had
been involved in Iranian contingency operations for 115 consecutive
days.
26--The President embarked on Nimitz off Norfolk, Virginia, thanked
the men of Nimitz and her escort ships for their sacrifice during
an extended nine-month deployment to the Mediterranean and the
Indian Ocean. Nimitz had spent 144 straight days at sea in connection
with the Iranian hostage crisis.
27--Coral Sea was diverted to standby duty south of Cheju-Do Islands
in the Sea of Japan in response to conditions of civil unrest
in the Republic of Korea. She was relieved by Midway three days
later.
31--P-3 Orions from various patrol squadrons of Task Force 72,
Patrol and Reconnaissance Force, Seventh Fleet, continued their
search, begun last year, for refugees in the South China Sea and
Gulf of Thailand. These aircraft had investigated more than 15,000
radar contacts and dropped radio transmitters and/or refugee survival
packs to people in distress. To this date, over 2,500 refugees
have been rescued through efforts by all elements of the Navy.
JUNE
3--The first AGM-65E laser Maverick missile was fired at Eglin
AFB, Florida, from a Marine Corps A-4M Skyhawk. The missile was
the laser-guided version of the USAF's air-to-ground Maverick
with a heavier warhead. It was being developed by Hughes Aircraft
Company for use by the USMC in close-air support of combat troops.
15--A loading demonstration of the F/A-18 Hornet was held at NATC
Patuxent River. The aircraft showed off some of its weapons capabilities,
among them the 20mm Vulcan cannon, AIM-7F advanced Sparrow, AIM-9L
Sidewinder, flare dispensers, rocket launchers, advanced fuel-air
explosives, and a Rockeye and other bombs. Hornet weaponry also
included Walleye, Maverick, Harpoon and Harm missiles, and laser-guided
bombs.
23--The Navy granted Approval for Service Use (ASU) for two advanced
sonobuoys. The AN/SSQ-2 Directional Command Active Sonobuoy System
(DICASS) and the AN/SSQ-77 Vertical Line Array DIFAR(VLAD) represent
the first major improvements in the sonobuoy field since the AN/SSQ-53
DIFAR was introduced in 1968. These sonobuoys reinforce their
article's unique position as the vital link between the search
aircraft and "enemy in liquid space". They provide a
three-to-five fold improvement over existing active and passive
airborne sensors.
JULY
8--The Navy terminated its support operations at Key West for
the Cuban refugees. Eleven Navy ships as well as P-3 Orion patrol
aircraft assisted the unofficial freedom flotilla which involved
civilian boats crossing the Florida Straits to transfer Cuban
refugees to the U.S. Over 115,500 had arrived from Mariel, Cuba,
since the freedom flotilla began.
10--The names of 12 men were selected by the CNO for enshrining
in the Naval Aviation Hall of Honor at the Naval Aviation Museum
in Pensacola. In order of their selection they were: Admiral John
H. Towers, Eugene B. Ely, Lieutenant Colonel Alfred A. Cunningham,
Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, Jr., Commander Theodore G. Ellyson,
Glenn H. Curtiss, Vice Admiral Patrick N.L. Bellinger, Rear Admiral
William Adger Moffett, Rear Admiral Albert C. Read, Lieutenant
Commander Godfrey deC. Chevalier, Captain Holden C. Richardson
and Warrant Officer Floyd Bennett.
18--Charles "Pete" Conrad, former Navy pilot and NASA
astronaut, became the twelfth former Naval Aviator to be enshrined
in Dayton's prestigious Aviation Hall of Fame.
30--An automatic parachute release system developed by Vought
Corporation was designed to save the lives of pilots who eject
from their aircraft under adverse conditions. The new system,
developed with U.S. Navy funding, was called SEAPAC, for Sea Activated
Parachute Automatic Crew Release. It had seawater activated switches
which automatically released the parachute harness when a pilot
entered the water.
31--A T-2C Buckeye was successfully launched from a fixed-angle,
three-degree ski jump at Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River,
Maryland. This launch was the first part of feasibility demonstrations
to evaluate the use of ramps for takeoffs by conventional, as
opposed to V/STOL aircraft.
31--A Limited Duty Officer aviator program for second class, first
class and chief petty officers, paygrades E-5 through E-7, was
established, with the first 35 enlisted personnel selected and
scheduled to report to NAS Pensacola in April 1981. After completing
aviation officer indoctrination, primary flight and maritime (prop)
training, the new officers were assigned to an initial three-year
tour as primary flight instructors. Major objectives of the program
were to improve utilization and retention of aviators, provide
further upward mobility for enlisted personnel, improve the flight
instructor program and provide for replacement of aviators in
selected shipboard billets.
AUGUST
17--Midway relieved Constellation to begin another Indian Ocean
deployment and complement Eisenhower task group still on contingency
duty in the Arabian Sea.
SEPTEMBER
22--Eisenhower and Midway continued contingency operations in
the northern Arabian Sea as war erupted between Iraq and Iran.
OCTOBER
12--Ships of the Amphibious Force, Sixth Fleet, including Guadalcanal,
began assisting the victims of the massive earthquake which devastated
the Algerian city of Al Asnam. The ships took up positions 20-25
miles offshore to render helicopter support in the disaster relief
efforts.
NOVEMBER
6--Ranger and accompanying ships of her task group relieved the
Midway in the northern Arabian Sea. Midway thus completed its
second Indian Ocean deployment in connection with the Iranian
crisis, for a total of 157 days "on the line".
11--For the first time, the LAMPS SH-60B Seahawk worked with the
Recovery Assist, Securing and Traversing (RAST) system aboard
a ship underway. The guided-missile frigate Mclnerney (FFG 8)
conducted the shipboard aspect of the exercise which included
mainly electronic communications and not an actual landing. This
test was conducted from the Bath Ironworks and Yard at Bath, Maine.
13--VFA-125, the Navy's first F/A-18 Hornet squadron, was established
at NAS Lemoore, California. The new squadron will train Navy and
Marine Corps personnel to fly and maintain the new fighter-attack
aircraft.
22--Aircraft carrier suitability tests of the Tomahawk II medium
range air-to-surface missile were completed.
25--RH-53D Sea Stallions from VR-24, together with units of the
U.S. Army and Air Force, began disaster relief assistance to victims
of the devastating earthquake at Avellino, Italy, on November
23, which killed over 3,000 persons and made many more homeless.
Commander Fleet Air, Mediterranean, headquartered at Naples, was
director of U.S. Military support efforts.
DECEMBER
8--Independence and her escort ships relieved Eisenhower and her
task force which had been involved in Iranian contingency operations
since 8 May. Eisenhower returned to Norfolk, Virginia on 22 December,
after a 251-day deployment, the longest underway deployment for
a Navy ship since World War II. She had been underway for 152
continuous days.
31--Carrier operations during 1980 in connection with the Iranian
crisis consisted of 10 tours by eight attack carriers (two with
two tours each) in the Indian Ocean/Arabian Sea. The carriers
accumulated a grand total of 723 days on station. Those with over
100 contingency days on station during the year included Eisenhower,
whose two tours totaled 199 days; Midway, with two tours representing
118 days; Constellation with 110 days and Nimitz with 108 days.
Other carriers involved in contingency operations in the Indian
Ocean were Coral Sea, Ranger, Independence and Kitty Hawk.
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Historical Center home page30 June 1997