[rgreen4]

The top aircraft in the photo of the two P-3's is a U.S. Navy aircraft, the lower one is a Japanese Maritime Self Defence force aircraft (note the meatball on the side). The P-3 is land based, and I flew the S-2 which is carrier based. Here are some samples:
This aircraft has been cleaned up after it's Anti-sub days are over. The area behind the engine fairings has been closed in and the bottom radar dome has been removed. But the 10 Million candle power searchlight is still there. (Controls are probably gone however.)



In the below photo, an S-2 is waiting it's turn on the catapault (cat) while a C-1 takes the cat shot. The C-1 was a passenger version which could carry 9 passengers to and from the carrier. Note that the rears of the engine nacelles on the C-1 are closed, while those on the S-2's are open, each could carry up to 16 sonobuoy's used to detect and localize submarines.

!http://forums.pcworld.com/legacyimages/
1!

Here is an S-2 coming in for a landing on a carrier and has just hooked the wire (note the horizonal smudge between the landing gear as the wire is moving.



Here is a photo of the USS Yorktown CVS-10, taken in June, 1969. Note the S-2 lined up on the two sides up front, and the E-1 radar aircraft in the middle. The S-2 and E-1 had 72' wingspans, but when the wings were folded, the two 24' panels on the S-2 went over the top, while those on the E-1 had to fold along the side. From the date of the photo, I should be on there somewhere, as I did not leave the squadron (VS-24) until two months later to go to the Philippines.



Later, after being transferred to NAS Cubi Pt in the Philippines, I flew the HU-16 Albatross initially, and later after receiving the first US-2B (utility conversion of older S-2's that had retired from ASW work after being replaced by the S-2E version I flew.

[coastie65]

We went over to that Island while at Pearl, it seems as if i remember a big Bullseye target painted on a rock or something. When we sailed for Subic, they sent out a plane towing a target for some practice as well. We used to grab some of the expended powder cartridges and cut them about 3" above the bottom and make ash trays. That brass cleaned up really well and they looked good. I had collected some brass from the .50's, .30's, M16's, M-1 Garand and .45's. One of each, but none from the 5" ( except for the ashtrays) as they were too big. The .30's were one on each bridge wing. The .50's were mounted along the 01 and main decks. We also had three torpedos as well as hedge hogs and a 81mm over 60mm mortar. I wouldn't have trusted the torpedos as i heard that someone or someones had drained the alcohol ( Known as Pink Lady or just plain Torpedo Juice) in the guidance system for Happy Hour. I don't know if there was any truth in it, but knowing that crew, I wouldn't put it past some of those guys. :D Being an Engineer, I didn't have any training with the 5" or Hedge Hogs, but for everything else, I got my share of time on them as did everyone else. As for standing on the deck of a ship and hitting some thing in the water, it can be a bit frustrating I guess, but having spent a lot of time on my Grandmother's farm in the Country with guns, I never really had much problem with hitting something, moving or otherwise. I remember a 4 day ride along I did on a Swift Boat. As it turned out we headed into a "Free Fire" zone. This was essentially a "Hot" area as no civilians were supposed to be in the area and were warned to stay out. We were at the mouth of a River and were getting ready to go up river when we spotted someone on the Beach. One of the guys said " Our friend is back". It turned out that they had picked this guy up on multiple occasions at the same place and turned him over to the ARVN guys. They would question him and turn him loose and he would invaribly find his way back there. When he saw us, he took off for the tree line. The OIC, a LtJg, told the guy on the 50's to open fire and got him before he got to cover. We decded to look around to see what was so fascinating about the area. We eased up to the beach, and 6 of us went went ashore to look around ( yeah, they let me tag along). We didn't really see much until one guy, who had gone further in,shouted. We went to where he was at and there was a huge cache of stuff in carefully camoflaged buildings ( huts actually). We left two bwhind and went back to the boat. They guided us and we opened up with the mortars and blew everything up. I made the comment that it seemed it would be easier to just plant charges, they said they everybody has to have their fun and it was good practice. I figured this Swift Boat stuff wasn't so bad, course that illusion didn't last long. We ended up in 6 fire fights in 4 days. On the other occasion that I did a ride along, I ended up costing the Gov't some money. We were up in a pretty close area, as the banks were only about 20' off each side. We heard something in the undergrowth and I spotted the bushes moving. We watched this for a bit, and we couldn't figure out what it was. Everybody was expecting all heck to break out at any moment. The CO finally ordered a couple of short M16 bursts which we did. We heard a thump of sorts and a sort of crash in the undergrowth. As it turned out it was some farmer's Water Buffalo we had shot. The Gov't. had to make restitution to the farmer for that. Two ride alongs on the PCF's made me appreciate the Airconditioned living quarters on the ship as well as the three hot meals a day and the "SEA Showers".

[rgreen4]

Air Conditioning! You had Air Conditioning on your ship?
On the USS Randoph, Senior Officer country had A/C, (definitely not the JO Bunk Room), the Wardroom, the Ready Rooms and of course the Chiefs Mess. All but the latter was courtesy of Uncle Sam, the Chiefs scrounged up their own of course. Of course the JO Bunkroom wasn't too bad on a Med cruise across the North Atlantic in the late fall, but that South American cruise in August was a bear.

[coastie65]

Yep. Prior to the deployment, they installed these huge Carrier Units in all the living spaces through out the ship. You didn't think we were going to spend 6 months online in an oven did you? :D It was bad eneough down in B-2 Engineroom ( After Engineroom, Port Shaft) where I worked as we had the boilers in there as well two main engines, two generators, and the Evaporator. B-1 Engineroom ( Forward Engine room, Starboard Shaft ) only had two main engines as far as i can remember. It was good to get out of there after 12-18 hours and into a cool environment.

[rgreen4]

No, I am glad for you. It also shows the priorities, although the handwritting was on the walls for ASW, they kept it covered up. If you look at the de-commissionings from '69 to '78, all the stand alone CVS's and in fact all but four Carriers prior to the USS Forrestal were gone. The four were the two Midway class attack carriers and one Essex class attack carrier as well as the USS Lexington, the training carrier.

[coastie65]

You had that picture of the Yorktown and you mentioned the Lexington. As I recall, both played Timex during WWII ( Took a licking and kept on ticking). The ship I was on was commissioned in Washington ( Bremerton ? Although I'm thinking it was above Everette at shipyard up towards Bellingham) in 1943 as the USS Halfmoon AVP 26. She was decommissioned in San Diego in 1946 ( I think ) and eventually went to the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard recommissioned her in 1948 as the USCGC Halfmoon WAVP 378. ( It was eventually changed to WHEC, High Endurance Cutter). The High Endurance just mean't we could stay at Sea for an extended period of time and receive supplies by way of Underway Replenishment. Originally, the Halfmoon was supposed to be a PT Boat Tender, but it was changed to Small Sea Plane Tender. She was a "BAY Class" ship, 311', and named after Halfmoon Bay Calf. One 5" mount was removed from the 01 deck forward of the bridge. Hedge Hogs were added as well as the over under mortar. The crane for lifting sea planes was removed from the fantail. The superstructure was reconfigured and a Weather Balloon shed was added at the after end of the 01 deck. She was Decommissioned in July '69 and sold told a company in Italy as scrap. The Halfmoon saw duty all over the Pacific with the Navy during WWII, and Korea and Vietnam with the Coast Guard. She received a Navy Expeditionary Medal for something in '66 ( I think, may have been '64) while in Coast Guard Service as well as a Navy Unit Commendation Award for her service in Vietnam. The Navy Expeditionary Medal, I believe, had something to do with either Cuba or the Dominican Republic. ASW was still an on going thing at that time due to the Cold War and we were well equipped. The 327's had Depth Charge racks on each side of the fantail although no Depth Charges. My Dad was an AD ( Aviation Machinist Mate) and primarily worked on sea plane engines. He made Chief at a young age and had wings, so I guess he flew check flights after maintainance was completed. My brother went the same way only worked on jet engines. He went to test cell school in Pensacola, and was eventually a plane captain. He did admit to losing one plane due to an engine failure ( F-14). At least you had some leg room on the flat tops, not so much on the thing I was on. One memory I have is catching wind of the aroma coming down from the Officer's mess. My stomach would be dancinga jig in anticipation until I hit the chow line and realized that it wasn't us that was getting what I was smelling. Our Cooks weren't very inventive or flexible when it came to cooking. It got so bad that the Supply Officer would check to see how much was being thrown out. I eventually heard that the Officers had to pay for their meals, unlike the enlisted. The had a bunch of Filipino Stewards that did the cooking and such up there in "Officer's Country". If I could have gotten the meals they were getting in the Wardroom, I think I would have paid for them too. :D .

[Adama]

Thanks RGreen, those are great pictures. You have such a great way to tell a story, it's always interesting to read them.

[rgreen4]

When aboard Officers were required to "join the Mess". The Navy funded the enlisted mess based upon the number aboard ship. Officer normally received ration funds, which if I recall was $47 a month in the laste '60's. However, when aboard ship and living in the BOQ this was re-directed to the Officers Mess. Officers has the option of spending more out of their pockets, and my recollection is that aboard the Randolph it was about $12-$15 a month more. On most cruises, this was not a factor, because they were only a month or so. Occasionally we took longer cruises, the three month Med cruise in the fall of '67, we left two weeks after I reported to the Squadron, and the two month South American cruise.
The Randolph was a happy ship, but when she was decommissioned and the Yorktown came around in the spring of '69, she was anything but. They tried to mix the crew, 1/3 old Yorktown crew (West Coast sailors), 1/3 old Randolph crew (East Coast sailors) and 1/3 new crew (caught in the middle). The one photo, showing the Yorktown on 1 June 1969, may have been on our shakedown cruise to Gitmo.
For those who have never been in the East Coast Navy during that time, each ship after re-fitting, yard work or major shift in crewing was required to go on a shake down and evaluation trip to Gitmo. The evaluation team was there, and they came aboard and ran all kinds of drills. One famous story was that the first Guided Missile Cruiser went to Gitmo. The first morning a 14' outboard boat approached the Cruiser. As it got closer there was a box strapped on the bow of the small boat with the work BOMB stenciled on it. The largest weapons that they could bring to bear were the Marine sentries M-1's. Since the defense failure was not a crew failure, it was not counted against the crew, but noted in the report. Subsequently larger weapons were mounted.
Here are the battle ribbons for the Yorktown:

[mjd420nova]

Coastie: Sounds like you had lots of the medium power stuff. We had the big gun, the sea sparrow two, and the four fifty calibers, two forward on the 01 and two aft near the small hanger. We were primarily ASW, an SQS-26 sonar and a towed array. We also had a prairie masker and could tow a noise maker. The torpedos were the mark 46 and mark 48 ascap. We also had the ASROC(square barrell) that could launch a torpedo or depth charge up to fourty miles away and were nuclear capable. Just between you and me, fourty miles isn't quite far enough from ground zero to suit me but they had a salt water washdown system to flood the topside with running water before any launch. We did carry a small helo but used it mostly to play mailman when deployed. Most of our below decks spaces weren't air conditioned but the electronics rates had numerous spaces that had loads of equipment that had to be kept cold. The ET gang had an office that was adjacent to the radar transmitter room and all we had to do was keep the door open and it stayed 68 degrees, it was also next to a sonar ewuipment space which was pretty chilly too. I was a crypto tech besides the normal radio and navigation equipment we maintained and the radio shack was nice but the transmitter room was downright cold. They kept the radio transmitter room at a chilly 52 degrees and it paid off when we got to combat when all the stuff was in use and the temps might rise to 70 degrees and everything you touched was HOT. I used to sleep there when not working or on duty. I was resposible for three rooms that had the ECM active stuff in them, one on each side on the 01 level and another on the top of the mast at the 06 level. It was located between the twin exhaust stacks and it was near 130 degrees in the mast until you got in the room and then it was a nice 70 degrees. It had its own AC and outside exhaust vent. On one deployment we stopped in Kaoshung, Tiawan. They had any record albums by any artist for 25 cents. They were very cheap copies and no copyright was paid. We scrubbed them up with hand soap and a brush, tracked them with a 6 gram cartridge, then recorded them with a diamond saphire needle at a quater gram tracking. When we finished there were junk so we used to take them out to the fantail at sea and use them for small arms practice, kind of like skeet shooting.

[rgreen4]

An update on one of my photos previously posted. The one of the S-2 flying with the blue trim. I had noted that it had been cleaned up after it's ASW days were over. In fact it looked remarkably clean. The original S-2's were designated S-2F-1, and originally had a small bulbous housing on top which I believe contained a radio antenna. When these aircraft were cleaned up by removing the drop down radome, the MAD boom and covering the hole in the bottom and the sonobuoy tubes, they were called slicks. If you look closely, you can see the bottom circular patch covering the radome hole.

!http://forums.pcworld.com/legacyimages/
1!

The Bureau No. is 136404, (seen on the tail) and the call sign is JE404 (combination of tail identifier and nose number). This aircraft in 1974 was a US-2B (or as we called it a used-to-be) assigned to VC2 at NAS Cecil Field in Jacksonville, Fl. The three levels of clean-up were to 1) remove the ASW electronics, paint the tail, outer sections of the wings and nose orange, designate it as a TS-2A and send it to the training command. I did advanced flight training at NAS Corpus Christi in them. They had 4 seats, nomal compliment in the early stages was an Instructor Pilot and two students, or in advanced stages two students. 2) The next level was to remove the ASW electronics, maybe the MAD boom and clean it up, paint it two tone gray and designate it as a US-2A, and send it to some shore station. It als had four seats. 3) the upper most level was to remove the MAD boom, radome, upper antenna housing and turn it into a US-2B. They also removed the internal equipment racks and installed three or four additional seats so that it could carry 7 or 8 people, two of which were facing backwards. The covering of the radome hole and sonobuoy tubes made them faster which is why we called them slicks. Some had additional fuel tanks installed in the torpedo bay (non-droppable) and really had some legs. The standard configuation could easily make 6 plus hours of flight time, the slick could go over 7 if you watched your settings.

This particular aircraft was spotted in 1995 in Tulsa, Ks with a civilian 'N' number meaning it now had civilian registration.

[coastie65]

Check this out www.geocities.com/Pentagon/8917/index.html
[http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/43/4326.htm] Some how they missed the Navy Expeditionary Medal as I know it was awarded in '62 ( 5 Years before my time). I found these while messing around.

These are the First five ships of the newly formed CG Ron 3 in Subic Bay. We were the inboardmost ship, right next to the USS Jason which was a Destroyer Tender. When we left the ship, we had to go up to the 01 deck to cross instead of the normal Quarterdeck on the main deck. You almost needed GPS to get from the ship to the dock and back. coastie

[Tech4me]

Coastie. I was about 10 when Half Moon left VN.

I used to hang out the VungTau Bay ( About 150Kms from Saigon) with the Big ships coming in and out......We caught alot of Jumbo shrimps just off the dock.

It was war every where but now and then we enjoyed every minute of the peace time whenever we can.

It was the ROUGH journey for me to get here. (On a boat too...but very litle)

Every time when I meet a VN vet I always want to shake their hands and thank them for all their helps..

[coastie65]

Hey tech, We didn't know about the Shrimp while we there. If we had, you can bet we would have figured a way to haul some aboard :D . A lot of people had a hard journey out of there for sure. Unfortunately, I suspect more than a few were lost at sea trying to get out. I had a barber who was from Vietnam and she would close the shop for a month in the Summer and go back to vist her brothers and sisters who were left behind in Saigon ( I refuse to call it Ho Chi Minh City). We trained a lot of Vietnamese Navy personnel on board our ship as two of the ships that went over with us, was turned over to the South Vietnamese Navy. I do remember thinking how VungTau would be a nice place to just kick back and relax if it was under different circumstances. I'm not sure, but I think the French used it for a resort of sorts at one time. There are two Vietnamese restuarants in the area that I visit on a regular basis. The food is fantastic and most of all it is always a lot of fun to spend time there. Now I'm going to thinking about all the shrimp I missed out on. :D coastie

[Tech4me]

Coastie. Yup,,,,,You missed out jumbo shrimps for sure.....They are so Yummmmmy...fresh out off the water..(Darn...I'm drooling..LOL).

My friends went back there to visit and told me VungTau is even more beautiful than before.....Has alot of tourist now.

I did not know You were there in Viet Nam.......Did you engage in the fight right at Tet (New year of 1968) in Saigon ?

We got stuck in VungTau for 2 weeks before we could get back home.Thanks god ..Our house was OK.

So.....Can I shake your hands....and Thank you SIR.

[coastie65]

Thank You. We were there to help a people preserve their way of life and freedom from Communist rule. There were Forces from South Korea, Australia amd other places as well. We were only in VungTau for about 6 Hours or so, but it left a lasting memory. As for the '68 Tet offensive, we had just gotten home when that broke out. I remember things got a bit tense as we followed it on the News, as it didn't look good for awhile. Afterwards, we were thinking that maybe we had turned the corner in the war. I'm not surprised that VungTau has become a Tourist Resort as it is perfect for that. There are several of us here that saw duty in Vietnam. I believe mjd is one of them. I don't know about about rgreen, but he was in the area (Philippines) for sure. We did engage in a lot of Gunfire Support missions using the 5" mount. The 50 caliber machine guns got a work out as well. I did my share of boardings and inspections. It was when I asked to do a ride along on a Navy PCF ( Swiftboat), that things got a bit dicey. I am happy that you and your family made it out and you are doing well my friend. Looking back, i wouldn't have traded that time for anything. coastie

[coastie65]

Thought I'd share a couple of photos in Vietnam. This was in Subic Bay. The ships were moored in order of the Captain's Senority. We had the Senior Captain so were moored next to the USS Jason. Here we were Unreping ( Underway replenishment) with the USS Castor. This is way we got groceries, fuel, mail, ammunition, and even new personnel.

We were taking on Munitions here.

This was a Gunfire Support Mission in Song Ong Doc Province.

These were South Vietnamese Navy boats that were taking on fuel.

[mjd420nova]

Coastie: I was glad that I missed out on the biggest battles that happened. I had a pretty simple job in country for six months. We had a group of eight Seal qualified but not certified guys, 4 enginemen and 4 electronics techs. We operated four seventeen foot fiberglass boats witha tri V flare hull and a Borg-Warner jet drive. The enginemen maintained the hardware, usually a 327 or 350 engine and a two stage jet pump for propulsion. We had a compound at the mouth of the Mekong Delta and escorted ships up river to Bein Loc. The ET's ran the boats by remote control from a bunker made of inch and half thick steel with veiwing slits. The trip was 18 miles and we ran the boats at 70 MPH back and forth ahead of the lead supply ship, looking for mines. Once at Bein Loc, we got on the boats and headed back down river as fast as we could make them go. I prefered the 327 as it could get almost 7,200 RPM and that would give us 105 mph and we needed that speed as we always took small arms fire going up and we always took some going back but we had no protection then. Make yourself flat, try to remember where you took the rounds and try to make all the corners at speed but keep as far away from the bank as possible. The worst part was the rain, it never seemed to stop the whole time I was there. I had one long period where my feet were soaking wet for 103 days straight. I thought I was going to grow gills and flippers.

[Tech4me]

Coastie . WOW You still have those pictures. They must bring you back all memories. After I saw your pics...I looked for mine but could not find them only this left. The sail you see on the boat....I sewed it by hand ( Not bad ....Ha..?) ...The sail pole was actually the steering and I took the command from captain,If he says LEFT...I have to move RIGHT(Just slide on the top of the roof).We drifted for three week...out side South Thailand,

and were rescued by the "FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY OF INTERNATIONAL" AKUNA.

!http://forums.pcworld.com/legacyimages/
1!

[Tech4me]

Hi MJd. Yes...when It rains.......It just... won't stop.......Thats why we call it the RAINING season. Not bad in SaiGon though.

Thank you MJ..for all you have done for Us.

[rgreen4]

T4m - thank you for sharing that with us. Sometimes, we become so complacent that we forget the trial and tribulations that others have gone through to get here. In our political discussions about involvement in other areas, our leaders sometimes also forget that Freedom is not Free.

While I never spent and real time in Vietnam, I did spend 14 months in the Philippines and about a month in Japan at one point. In the Philippines, once you got away from Olongopo, the people were very wonderful and very artistic. Japan was an experience I will never forget, I have never seen large cities as clean as Japan. While all cultures have their con artists and opportunists, they are the minority, but do seem to collect around military bases, that's true here as well as in other countries.

I have a very good friend who retired from the Air Force after 28 years as a Navy Corpsman and then AF Med Tech who spent two tours in Vietnam. He could walk freely in the villages around their compound while no one else could (I'm not sure where they were, but they were in a very bad area). The CO of the detachment once asked why he would be welcomed into the village when no one else would be. It was simple, he treated them with respect and gave them medical care. In return, he was treated with respect.

Unfortunately, not all legal immigrants who come to this country are treated with respect. We do need to keep one thing in mind. Almost everyone here is a descendant of immigrants. Even most of the Native American population descends from those who migrated here from somewhere else.

As for the rainy season - yes - once it starts it doesn't stop for about three months. The average rainfall for the Subic Bay area was 140 inches a year. I think 139.5" of that fell in the three month rainy season. When I got there, the BOQ rooms were not Air Conditioned. My first stop was to see the Chief Steward to arrange for permission to install a window unit, the next stop was the Exchange and one 5,000 BTU 115 A/C.

The circuits were arranged so that two rooms were on one circuit, and if one room had an A/C the "suite mate" could not have one. The two rooms also shared the shower and pot. Each room had their own sink. That was the second one of those A/C units I bought, the first was at NAS Whiting Field near Milton, Fl while in flight training. The Pensacola area can be brutal in the summer. When I left for Corpus Christi, I left it behind. In Corpus, another Ensign and I shared a two bedroom duplex apartment off base. It was actually very nice and not too far from the base. It was furnished except for utensils and plates in the kitchen. It was also my first experience with a heat pump rather than A/C and separate heat.

We went to a dime store (do they still have them?) and each purchased a plate, bowl, fork, knife and spoon. I think we may have purchased something to boil water in also. We ate a lot of TV dinners, and McDonald's wasn't too far away. I still have the fork, knife and spoon, using them for camping up until recent years. (Plastic has taken over). We only had one covered parking spot, we flipped for it and I lost. That was OK, because there was enough room for me to park my TR-4A at the end of the drive against the fence out of everyone's way. Anyway, I spent about every second or third weekend in Houston with my family.