Re: “The History of Naval Aviation Timeline” To Whom it May Concern: When I discovered through the website of a fellow retired Naval Aviator (www.neptunuslex.com) that your organization had posted a timeline covering the 100 years of naval aviation, with great anticipation I immediately jumped over to see for myself — and frankly, was sorely…
1050L 24 Oct 1944. USS St. Lo (CVE-63) is under heavy air attack. After successfully fending off the superior surface force of VADM Takeo Kurita’s Center Force, “Taffy 3†is now defending against a surprise air attack that has lasted some 40 minutes already. One of the features of this attack is the use of…
“Whenever the Enterprise roams in the traditional freedom of the seas, she is the sovereign of the United States, a mighty symbol of our determination to preserve liberty and justice and a clear sign of our nation’s ability to do so.†– ADM Arleigh Burke, 24 Sept 1960 This Friday (24 Sept) marks the 50th…
Ah, Aviation Working Greens – my absolute favorite day-to-day uniform to wear during Norfolk winters and guaranteed way to get a non-aviator’s head to explode in the pre-Lehman years. Lots of mythology and conjecture as to how we came to acquire (a) the green uniform and (b) the accompanying brown shoes, so maybe this will…
There is a large, international organization that features the slogan “To be one, ask one” and that is our purpose here today. The Tailhook Association and Association of Naval Aviation are two organizations focused on the unique aspect and specific and general needs of carrier (viz. “tailhook”) and naval aviation. Both do heavy lifting inside…
…though you might need a little more exotic kit than walking shoes and sunscreen to visit. (full story here) For those of short memory, the story of the USS Macon and her brood was the subject of an earlier Flightdeck Friday: “Gasbags and Hookers”
17 Jan 1930.  USS Lexington (CV-2) completed a 30-day period in which she furnished electricity to the city of Tacoma, Wash., in an emergency arising from a failure of the city’s power supply. The electricity supplied by the carrier totalled 4,251,160 kilowatt-hours. From Historylink.org: In the 1920s, Tacoma received most of its electrical energy from…
Written narratives and biographies are important and a primary research source. However, when one has the opportunity to listen to a narrative, especially of one who was there and played a key role in a major event – that is even better. Courtesy friend and contributor to this blog, LCDR George Walsh, USN-Ret, himself a…
It’s time to return some sanity to the way ships are named. Why? Because the silliness is upon us once again: 111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. CON. RES. 83 Expressing the sense of Congress that a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the Navy, either the aircraft carrier designated as CVN-79 or the aircraft carrier designated as…
20 July 1969 102:42:08 Duke: Roger. Copy. (Pause) Eagle, Houston. You’re Go for landing. Over. 102:42:13 Armstrong (on-board): Okay. 3000 at 70. 102:42:17 Aldrin: Roger. Understand. Go for landing. 3000 feet. 102:42:19 Duke: Copy. 102:42:19 Aldrin: Program Alarm. (Pause) 1201 102:42:24 Armstrong: 1201. (Pause) (On-board) Okay, 2000 at 50. 102:42:25 Duke: Roger. 1201 alarm. (Pause)…
