Carriers

The loss of four large attack carriers, including Kaga at Midway, was a crucial setback for Japan and contributed significantly to Japan’s ultimate defeat.

Hundreds of miles off Midway Atoll, nearly halfway between the US and Japan, a research vessel is launching underwater robots miles into the abyss to look for warships from the famed Battle of Midway.

According to The Washington Post, weeks of grid searches around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands have already led the crew of the Petrel to one sunken warship, the Japanese ship the Kaga. This week, the crew is deploying equipment to investigate what could be another.

Historians consider the Battle of Midway an essential victory for the U.S. and a key turning point in WWII.

“We read about the battles, we know what happened. But when you see these wrecks on the bottom of the ocean and everything, you kind of get a feel for what the real price is for war,” saidnFrank Thompson, a historian with the Naval History and Heritage Command innWashington, D.C., who is on onboard the Petrel. “You see the damage these things took, and it’s humbling to watch some of the videos of these vessels because they’re war graves.”

Until now, only one of the seven ships that went down in the June 1942 air and sea battle — five Japanese vessels and two American — had been located.

The expedition is an effort started by thenlate Paul Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft. For years, the crewnof the 250-foot (76-meter) Petrel has worked with the U.S. Navy and othernofficials around the world to find and document sunken ships. It is illegal to otherwise disturb the underwater U.S. military gravesites, and their exactncoordinates are kept secret.

Kaga was an aircraft carrier built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and was named after the former Kaga Province in present-day Ishikawa Prefecture. 

Kaga’s aircraft first supported Japanese troops in China during the Shanghai Incident of 1932 and participated in the Second Sino-Japanese War in the late 1930s. With other carriers, she took part in the Pearl Harbor raid in December 1941 and the invasion of Rabaul in the Southwest Pacific in January 1942. The following month her aircraft participated in a combined carrier airstrike on Darwin, Australia, helping secure the conquest of the Dutch East Indies by Japanese forces. She missed the Indian Ocean raid in April as she had to return to Japan for repairs after hitting a reef in February.

Following repairs, Kaga rejoined the 1st Air Fleet for the Battle of Midway in June 1942. After bombarding American forces on Midway Atoll, Kaga and three other IJN carriers (the Akagi, Soryu, and Hiryu which along the Japanese cruiser Mikuma are still unaccounted for) were attacked by American aircraft from Midway, and the carriers Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown. Dive bombers from Enterprise severely damaged Kaga; when it became obvious she could not be saved, she was scuttled by Japanese destroyers to prevent her from falling into enemy hands. The loss of four large attack carriers, including Kaga at Midway, was a crucial setback for Japan and contributed significantly to Japan’s ultimate defeat. In 1999, debris from Kaga including a large section of the hull was located on the ocean floor at a depth in excess of 5,000 meters (16,404 ft); 350 miles (560 km) northwest of Midway Island.

The Petrel crew hopes to find and surveynall the wreckage from the entire battle, an effort that could add new detailsnabout Midway to history books.

Earlier this year, they discovered the USSnHornet aircraft carrier, that helped win the Battle of Midway but sank in the Battle of Santa Cruz near the Solomon Islands less than five months later. More than 100 crew members died.

“On the occasion of the discovery of the Kaga, we send our thoughts and prayers to our trusted and valued friends in Japan. The terrible price of war in the Pacific was felt by all our navies. From that painful lesson, we have become the closest of allies and friends committed to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific,” stated Rear Adm. Brian P. Fort, Commander, Naval Forces Japan.

Photo by U.S. Navy

In a Tweet, personnel on the ship said of the clip: ‘Disclaimer: this video has been slowed down; F-35B moves significantly faster in real time!!’ 

Released on Oct. 16, 2019, on the HMS Queen Elizabeth Twitter account, the cool slow-motion video in this post features the exciting moment a British F-35B Lightning II stealth fighter jet took off from HMS Queen Elizabeth’s flight deck for the first time.

The aircraft was Flown by Lt Cdr Matt Fooks-Bale, Royal Navy (RN).

In a Tweet, personnel on the ship said of the clip: ‘Disclaimer: this video has been slowed down; F-35 moves significantly faster in real time!!’ 

As we have already reported on Oct. 14 for the first time Royal Navy & RAF pilots have landed UK F-35 Lightning jets on HMS Queen Elizabeth to commence trials over the coming weeks.

These trials are aimed at testing the aircraft and personnel to ensure the aircraft are compatible with the carrier.

The tests involve mission planning, armingnthe aircraft using the ship’s Highly Automated Weapon Handling System, flying missionsnand debriefing on completion.

HMS Queen Elizabeth is the largest and most powerful vessel ever constructed for the Royal Navy. This awe-inspiring warship is capable of carrying up to 40 aircraft.

As well as state-of-the-art weaponry andncommunications systems, HMS Queen Elizabeth boasts five gyms, a chapel, and a medical center.

The flight deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth comes in at an enormous four acres and will be used to launch the new F-35nJoint Strike Fighter stealth jet. Four fighter jets can be moved from the hangar to the flight deck in just one minute.

The ship’s two propellers weigh 33 tonnes each. The powerplant behind them generates enough power to run 1000 family cars.

HMS Queen Elizabeth is an investment in Britain’s security, prosperity, and place in the world. She will provide anconspicuous presence on the global stage, sending a clear message ofnreassurance to UK’s allies, and of defiance to those who would do the countrynharm.

As well as being a powerful deterrent andnsymbol of British influence, HMS Queen Elizabeth will replace HMS Ocean as the Royal Navy’s Fleet Flagship. As the Fleet’s principalship, she will carrynsenior naval staff, receive foreign dignitaries, and act as a command and control center for the entire Royal Navy.

The UK will declare Initial Operating Capability for Carrier Strike by the end of 2020. The first operational deployment for HMS Queen Elizabeth 617 Squadron and a squadron of US Marine Corps Lightning jets is due to take place in 2021.

Photo by RAF RN / HMS Queen Elizabeth

The first operational deployment for HMS Queen Elizabeth 617 Squadron and a squadron of US Marine Corps F-35 Lightning jets is due to take place in 2021.

For the first time, Royal Navy & RAF pilots have landed UK F-35 Lightning jets on HMS Queen Elizabeth to commence trials over the coming weeks.

The F-35 Lightning jets are embarking in the 65,000-tonne carrier to conduct operational trials off the East Coast of the USA.

This follows successful developmentalntrials last year with US Lightning jets, where forces conducted 500 takeoffsnand landings over their 11-week period at sea.  

According to the RAF news release, these trials are aimed at ‘end-to-end’ testing of the aircraft and personnel to ensure the aircraft are compatible with the carrier.  The tests involve mission planning, arming the aircraft using the ship’s Highly Automated Weapon Handling System, flying missions, and debriefing on completion.

The landings on HMS Queen Elizabeth arenpart of the ‘WESTLANT 19’ Carrier Strike Group deployment. Once fully operational, the UK Carrier Strike Group will be a formidable force around the world, using a number of platforms to work alongside the country’s allies.

During this time, the aircraft carrier will be escorted by Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon, submarine hunter HMSnNorthumberland, tanker RFA Tideforce and Merlins from 814, 820, and 845 NavalnAir Squadrons, Wildcats from 815 Squadron and Royal Marines from LimanCompany, 42 Commando.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace also added:n“The bringing together of the UK Lightnings on the first in class HMS QueennElizabeth paves the way for the world’s most up to date, fully integratedncarrier force.”

The Lightning aircraft operates with ancutting-edge design. It is the first jet to combine radar-evading stealthntechnology with supersonic speed, as well as the ability to land vertically. Given its ability to conduct missions both from land and sea, the jets act as anformidable spine to the ‘carrier strike’ capability. The UK currently owns 18naircraft, with an additional order placed for 30 jets.

First, to land on board, Wing CommandernAdam Curd, Royal Air Force, said: “This is the first time I have landed onboardnan aircraft carrier – for it to be HMS Queen Elizabeth, and in an aircraft asnamazing as a UK Lightning, is quite something.”

Wing Commander Adam Curd, Royal Air Force, added: “This is a proud moment not only for me but the wider team that has brought us to this milestone for maritime aviation and UK Defence”.

The trials will be led by the joint RoyalnNavy – Royal Air Force 17 Test and Evaluation Squadron from the Air WarfarenCentre. The Squadron will be operating alongside personnel and aircraft from the UK Lightning Force, based out of RAF Marham.

Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff for Aviation and Carrier Strike, Rear Admiral Martin Connell, Royal Navy, said:

“Embarking UK Lightning jets on HMS QueennElizabeth for the very first time is a major milestone for Royal Navy and RoyalnAir Force aviation and for our development of the 5th generation Carrier StrikenGroup capability.

“Once again, the support from our US Navy and US Marine Corps colleagues in the United States has been incredible and undoubtedly helped bring us to this moment: making maritime aviation history”.

Air Officer Commanding Number 1 Group, Air Vice-Marshal Harvey Smyth, Royal Air Force, added: “Bringing our own Lightning onboard HMS Queen Elizabeth for the first time gives us the opportunity to conduct critical operational testing. With the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force operating so closely together, these are incredibly exciting times for embarked Combat Air.”

The UK will declare Initial Operating Capability for Carrier Strike by the end of 2020. The first operational deployment for HMS Queen Elizabeth 617 Squadron and a squadron of US Marine Corps Lightning jets is due to take place in 2021.

Commander of the Strike Group, CommodorenMike Utley, Royal Navy said: “Getting to this point of embarking UK Lightningnjets into our British-built carrier has been a significant joint undertaking by industry and military – both ours and those from the United States.

“We will take the jets from the successful developmental phase we achieved last year through to a more operational footing, so we are confident that the jets, the carrier, and our destroyers and frigates will function seamlessly together.”

Photo by Crown Copyright

The ongoing maintenance backlog in the East Coast’s aircraft carrier fleet leaves the Navy with no ready aircraft carrier available to sub in for USS Harry S. Truman, if needed.

On Sep. 12, 2019 surface escorts from the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (CSG) left their homeports to kick off an overseas deployment.

The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) did not.

After the carrier was sidelined at the end of August with a malfunction in the ship’s electrical distribution system, engineers continue to assess the problem. “The aircraft carrier’s repairs are progressing, and all efforts are being made to deploy the carrier and air wing as soon as possible,” according to a Navy statement to USNI News.

In the meantime, the surface ships in the strike group are forming their own surface action group (SAG) and deploying with neither the carrier nor the air wing.

Norfolk-based USS Forrest Sherman (DDG-98) and Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG-60) will join ArleighnBurke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Lassen (DDG-82) and USS Farragut (DDG-99) which departed Mayport, Fla.

The SAG will be led by the DestroyernSquadron (DESRON) 28 and her staff, along with elements of the carrier strike group staff. To make up for capabilities typically found on the carrier particularlynin the areas of maintenance and technical support, the SAG staff brought innabout 15 additional personnel, 2nd Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis toldnUSNI News.

The SAG will also take with it a detachment of MH-60R helicopters from Helicopter Maritime Squadron (HSM) 72 out of Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Fla.

“This group is going to deploy more than likely to multiple regions, and they are going with a much higher-end capability, with helicopter detachments with significant anti-submarine warfare capability, significant air defense capability, as well as strike warfare capability,” Lewis said. “So really a full-up group, minus the carrier and the air wing. But full-up, very capable group is going off to do the nation’s bidding in this great power competition.”

According to Lewis, this is the first time anSAG has deployed from the East Coast since 2006. He added that it was an unusual and unfortunate situation to send a SAG in lieu of a full carrier strike group.

“The situation with Truman frankly is unfortunate; obviously we’re working really hard to fix it and we will fix it, but it’s unfortunate – nobody wanted that to happen certainly. But we’re going to make this into what it really is, which is, we’ve still got a massive capability that’s going forward on time, and that will be even more amplified when Truman comes out.”

Having a carrier strike group deploy without an aircraft carrier is a largely unprecedented move by the service. There are several past instances where a carrier was stuck in maintenance or otherwise unable to deploy on time, and another carrier in the fleet was able to swap in and take its place.  For instance, when USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) didn’t leave the yard on time for its 2015 deployment, Truman went in its place.

However, the ongoing maintenance backlog in the East Coast’s aircraft carrier fleet leaves the Navy with no ready aircraft carrier available to sub in for Truman, if needed.

The one example of a CSG sending its escorts out ahead of the carrier occurred with the Nimitz CSG in 2013. USS Nimitz (CVN-68) had an emergent maintenance issue arise in November 2012, so its destroyers deployed in January 2013 and the carrier was in maintenance until March, rejoining the DDGs that were operating as a SAG in the Pacific.

Lewis said the carrier brings the deterrent effect, but the cruiser and destroyers bring the most in-demand naval capabilities.

“If you look at the missions that are in demand by naval forces, by high-end naval forces, much of them can be classified in the maritime security operations, anti-surface warfare and anti-submarine warfare.

“There’s no question that not having the aircraft carrier, does detract from the symbolism and the deterrent effect, no question. The aircraft carrier is a behemoth beast with an amazing capability that, shows up off your shores, and if you’re not our friend you become our friend quickly if you know what’s good for you. There’s no question that that effect is lost with smaller ships, but these ships are really really capable,” he continued.

As for the fate of the carrier, Lewis said engineers are beginning repairs and continuing to assess the full damage to the electrical system.

“They’re in the process of repairs and identifying all the root causes that they can at this point,” he said. “We fully intend to deploy the aircraft carrier at a later time. We obviously can’t talk about that timeframe right now and what it’s going to be right now, but we’re pressing forward with that and it will deploy and rejoin the group at some point. So it goes to the dynamic capability of maritime forces.”

Asked for a ballpark of how much longer the repair would take, Lewis, said, “I can’t say because I don’t know.”

Even without the carrier and air wing, “we have an important mission ahead,” Capt. Jennifer Couture, the commodore of Destroyer Squadron 28, said. “SAG operations allow the Commander tremendous flexibility and responsiveness in the types of missions that can be conducted, and geographic reach into varied and diverse areas. The SAG ships are ready and able to support a variety of exercises and missions with our partners and allies in support of maritime stability and security around the globe.”

Photo by U.S. Navy

“Everybody was lucky. We didn’t sink, no one got burned. We even managed to kick out the ‘enemy’ for a long time,” Vladimir Evseenko, K-314 Captain.

In March 1984 USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) Carrier Strike Group (CSG), with more than 80 aircraft and eight escort ships, entered the Sea of Japan to take part in a joint U.S.-Korean exercise codenamed Team Spirit-84.

Such a powerful CSG not far from the Soviet Far East could not go unnoticed by the Soviet Pacific Fleet the Victor-Class nuclear submarine K-314 was ordered to follow the aircraft carrier.

On Mar. 14, Kitty Hawk was located by K-314. The Soviet submarine began the chase of the US Navy aircraft carrier which soon discovered that it was followed by K-314 and did what it could to break away from the Soviet submarine.

According to Russia Beyond, this cat-and-mouse game continued for a week, until something unexpected happened.

On Mar. 20, K-314 rose to a depth of just 10 meters after having lost track of USS Kitty Hawk due to bad weather.

Captain VladimirnEvseenko discovered that the entire USS Kitty Hawk CSG was only 4 to 5nkilometers away through the periscope. More alarmingly still, the Americans and K-314 were heading towards each other at full throttle.

Evseenko gave an immediate order to submerge, but it was too late. K-314 and USS Kitty Hawk collided.

“The first thought was that the conning tower had been destroyed and the submarine’s body was cut to pieces,” Evseenkonrecalled. “We checked the periscope and antennas – they were in order. No leaks were reported, and the mechanisms were ok. Then suddenly another strike! On the starboard side! We checked again – everything was in order…. We were trying to figure out what happened. It became clear that an aircraft carrier had rammed us. The second strike hit the propeller. The first one, most likely, bent the stabilator…”

The only option for K-314 was to surface and show themselves to the Americans. As its sailors were waiting for emergency tow ships, the Soviet submarine immediately received a visit from several U.S. Navy aircraft which inspected K-314 from above.

“We immediately launched two helicopters to see if we could render any assistance to them but the Soviet sub appeared to have suffered no extensive damage,” said Kitty Hawk’s commander, Captain David N. Rogers.

K-314’s propeller was heavily damaged as a result of the collision. Kitty Hawk instead had a huge hole in its bow, causing several thousand tons of jet fuel to leak into the sea; by sheer miracle, it did not explode.

Luckily, nor did the nuclear weapons on board the Soviet and American vessels detonate.

Close escorted by a US Navy frigate for part of the route, the Soviet Submarine was towed to the nearest Soviet naval base.

For USS Kitty Hawk, exercise Team Spirit was over: the aircraft carrier made its way to the port of Subic Bay for repair.

The Americans blamed the Soviet submarine captain for the incident, and the Soviet Naval command concurred. VladimirnEvseenko was suspended from the post of captain and continued his service on land.

Evseenko could not agree with such a verdict, since the incident had caused no loss of life or the submarine itself: “Everybody was lucky. We didn’t sink, no one got burned.”

“We even managed to kick out the ‘enemy’ for a long time,” he pointed out.

Photo by U.S. Navy

The latest Aircraft Recovery Bulletin by the U.S. Navy enables propeller aircraft: C-2A Greyhound, E-2C Hawkeye, and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, and jet aircraft: F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and E/A-18G Growler to perform flight operations aboard USS Gerald R. Ford.

The latest Aircraft Recovery Bulletin (ARB) by the U.S. Navy has cleared the Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) system to recover all existing fixed-wing aircraft operating aboard its aircraft carriers.

The ARBs enable propeller aircraft: C-2A Greyhound, E-2C Hawkeye, and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, and jet aircraft: F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and E/A-18G Growler to perform flight operations aboard USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78).

“The entire team did a tremendous job accelerating the schedule and working through challenges,” said Capt. Ken Sterbenz, program manager for the Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment program office (PMA-251). “This achievement is another significant step toward ensuring the system can support the ship’s full airwing.”

ARBs are official Navy instructional documents identifying the weights and engaging speeds authorized for shipboard arrestments of specific aircraft, along with other pertinent information.

“Release of the ARBs signifies ‘Naval Air Systems Command’s stamp of approval’ for the AAG system to safely recover these type/model/series aircraft aboard the Navy’s newest class of aircraft carriers,” said Jeff Mclean, deputy program manager for AAG System Design and Development.

The team, in collaboration with prime contractor General Atomics, continues to execute the requisite SystemnDevelopment and Demonstration testing at the land-based test sites located atnJoint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey.

Mclean added, that comprehensive testing of new systems like AAG is critical, and not only ensures the technology meets Navy requirements but also ensures it is operationally safe for use in the fleet.

Prior to Props and Jets ARB generation, the team conducted more than 2,500 dead-load arrestments at the Jet Car Track Site (JCTS) and 1,420 manned aircraft arrestments at the Runway Arrested Landing Site.

“The pace of system testing was consistently demanding and required numerous team members to perform their duties in difficult conditions and in all types of weather in order to meet critical program milestones leading up to these ARB releases,” said Mclean.

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) is the lead ship in the Ford-class of an aircraft carrier, the Navy’s first new class of aircraft carriers in more than 40 years. The AAG system is designed to arrest a greater range of aircraft, reduce the fatigue impact load to the aircraft, and provide higher safety margins while reducing manpower and maintenance. AAG is one of more than 20 new systems incorporated into the Gerald R. Ford-class design, giving it the warfighting capability essential for air dominance in the 21st century, including the flexibility and resilience to rapidly adapt to emerging threats, and the cost-effectiveness to support overall Navy shipbuilding priorities.

Photo by U.S. Navy

As the F-4B’s own electrical systems took over, causing a power surge, there was a tremor beneath the left wing and a single Zuni flashed across the Forrestal deck and severed an ordnance man’s arm…

Fires on overcrowded aircraft carriers are every crew’s nightmare. Several of these accidents took place during the Vietnam War. The first to hit TF 77 was started in a magnesium flare locker aboard Oriskany (CV-34) in October 1966, killing 25 pilots and 19 sailors and taking the carrier out of the war for nine months. Of all the lethal ordnance aboard carriers, the Zuni rocket was involved in the most disastrous onboard fires. One of these occurred aboard Coral Sea (CV-43) on Oct. 18, 1967, when nine sailors were burned after a Zuni ignited during a test on deck. Crewmen near an F-8 Crusader onboard Hancock (CV-19) had also been badly burned when a Zuni misfired earlier that same year.

However, nothing compared with the fire onboard Forrestal (CV-59) that almost destroyed the ship on Jul. 29, 1967 — only its fifth day on the line in the Gulf of Tonkin. As explained by Peter E. Davies in his book US Navy F-4 Phantom II Units of the Vietnam War 1964-68, VF-11 F-4B BuNo 153061 AA 110 was one of three loaded with six LAU-10/A Zuni pods on TERs rather than the 2.75-in rockets that the pilots had expected. The aircraft had flown an 0700 hrs mission earlier that day and returned with a hung Mk 82 bomb, so loading LAU-10/As was seen as a time-saver in order to meet the aeroplane’s 1100 hrs launch deadline.

Another shortcut unofficially employed by Forrestal’s deck crew was to attach the ‘pigtail’ electrical connection between the TER and the rocket launcher receptacle while aircraft were still ‘spotted’ in their pre-taxi positions on deck. The official instruction was that this last-minute connection should be plugged in ‘just before takeoff’, which most assumed to imply ‘on the catapult’ in order to prevent the possibility of inadvertent rocket launching at other aircraft on deck rather than out to sea. The system’s other safety backup was a ‘TER pin’ that was placed in a receptacle on the rocket-firing intervalometer mechanism, blocking the current from reaching the Zuni and firing it off. TERnpins were supposed to remain in place until seconds before launch, but to save further time in the frantic launch schedule of an Alpha package these pins were being removed earlier while the aircraft was still being pre-flighted. Sadly, deck crewmen were apparently unaware that both these safety measures, each one supervised by different personnel, were being overridden together. They also had little experience with a TER electrical system, which included a switch that was vulnerable to electrical surges.

Lt Cdr James E Bangert, a pilot of F-4B BuNo 153061 and squadron safety officer, was unaware of the two conflicting shortcuts, although he had been disquieted to learn that weapons were being armed early to hasten the launch sequences. As he pre-flighted his F-4B a crewman checked all the armament circuits and found no stray voltages, so he plugged in the Zunis’ pigtails. Bangert fired up his starboard J79 and signaled to crewmen to disconnect the yellow external power cart used to provide power for the start procedure in the absence of an internal battery. As the F-4B’s own electrical systems took over, causing a power surge, there was a tremor beneath the left wing and a single Zuni flashed across the deck and severed an ordnance man’s arm. It then impacted the external fuel tank of an A-4E Skyhawk (Lt Cdr Fred White’s AA 405 of VA-46) in the row opposite the line of F-4Bs. Although it did not explode, the rocket cut into the fuel tank, spraying fuel all over the flight deck. The A-4E, and those of Lt Cdr John McCain and Lt(jg) David Dollarhide, were instantly engulfed in flames as the fuel was ignited by jet engine exhausts.

There was a possibility that the burgeoning fire could have been contained by Forrestal’s vigilant fire crews, but far worse destruction was to follow as two 1000-lb M65 bombs fell from the wing pylons of the A-4Es. The shortage of new, low-drag Mk 83 bombs at the time had forced the ship’s commanding officer, Capt John Beling, to accept delivery of 16 World War 2-vintage M65s from Subic Bay, where they had been subjected to open-air storage in jungle conditions. His initial reaction had been to refuse the bombs, and many of the ship’s ordnance men also threatened to boycott the corroded weapons, some of which had been stored since 1953. They were known to be much more heat-sensitive than Mk-series ordnance and susceptible to shock detonation, while their explosive power was actually increased by chemical degeneration during storage.

The suspect bombs were uploaded for the day’s strike as early as possible, partly to get them off the ship. When the fire began they started to detonate within 1.5 minutes, rather than allowing a ten-minute window for the firefighters to tackle the blaze as the thicker-skinned Mk 83s would have done. Massive holes were blown through the carrier’s flight deck and blazing fuel cascaded into the lower decks. In all, nine bombs cooked off, and when the fire was eventually defeated after 12 hours 134 men had been killed and many more injured. Forrestal’s CVW-1 lost 21 airplanes, including seven F-4Bs, and a further 34 aircraft sustained serious damage. CVA-59 returned to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for an extensive rebuild that cost more then $72m. It was replaced in TF 77 by fellow Atlantic Fleet carrier America.

US Navy F-4 Phantom II Units of the Vietnam War 1964-68 is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by U.S. Navy

40,000 pounds of Rhino with motors screaming at full power was yanked down the 300 feet of catapult in a violent acceleration from zero to 170 miles per hour in just two seconds…

Francesco “Paco” Chierici is a former U.S. Naval Aviator with 3,000 flying hours and produced the award-winning naval aviation documentary Speed and Angels. The following story contains excerpts from his first book Lions in the Sky.

Her breathing quickened as she heard Slammer’s voice answer, “Copy Boss. Romans this is Paddles, your signal, Charley. The deck is steady, the wind is twenty-five knots, slightly axial. Come on down!” he barked like a game show host. Charley was the code for “time to land,” so this was it. Showtime.

She glanced around the pattern to check the interval on the plane in front of her and her right hand wandered to the hook handle yet again. A feeling of heightened calm settled over her as she blew out a big breath. Dingle piped up,“Alright, let’s do this thing. Anything you need from the back, you just ask, girl. Okay?”

“Okay,” she responded, flicking their intercom system to HOT so they could communicate without fumbling for the switch.

She concentrated on maintaining position behind the Rhino ahead; she was third in the Gladiator sequence. As she turned toward the stern end of the ship she leveled her wings, exiting the holding pattern. She glanced over her left shoulder as the Reagan receded, loathe to lose sight of the haze gray ship. At five miles astern she dipped the nose and swooped in a gentle descending 180-degree turn. She leveled off at 800 feet pointed at the ship, the foamy wake just under her left shoulder. She glanced at her speed in the Heads-Up-Display, confirming 350 knots. Peeking out she spotted a plane a mile ahead, another in the break and another already on downwind. She could hear the amplified sound of her own breathing through the intercom now and a part of her cracked up thinking she sounded like Darth Vader after he’d run some wind sprints.

“Use the force,” she whispered to herself.

“What’d you say?” Dingle asked.

“Nothing buddy.” Her body was practically humming now, every nerve end crackling with high voltage, her brain the calm in the middle of the storm. This was where she wanted to be, right here, right now. A few heartbeats later she was flying over the ship, offset a bit to the right, still at 800 feet. She glanced down and saw the first Rhino smack onto the flight deck.

Dingle said, “Looks like Dusty just trapped. Two-wire.” She scanned the horizon again for her interval and spotted it, probably Pig or Moto, just rolling out on downwind. As the ship passed behind her she turned to face the Heads-Up-Display, making sure she kept the proper heading and altitude as she counted off the seconds in her head. At fifteen she simultaneously said, “Here we go!”, rolled the big fighter onto its left wingtip, smoothly pulled the throttles to idle, thumbed out the speed brakes, and pulled back on the stick. After 90 degrees of turn, the speed dropped to 250 knots and she slapped the gear handle down and thumbed in the speed brakes. She glanced at the gear indicators confirming they were indeed three-down-and-locked as the big flaps and slats programmed themselves down to increase lift as her speed decreased. She leveled off at 600 feet on downwind, about a mile abeam the ship. The power came up and she felt the plane settle into the familiar approach attitude. So far, so good: gear down, flaps down, hook down, on speed.

They flew down the length of the ship a mile away, from bow to stern on downwind at 600 feet above the rolling waves. She noted the moment her wingtip passed the stern and forced her eyes back inside the cockpit to focus on the approach turn. The muscle memory kicked in and she set the wings at 27 degrees while adjusting her power to hold the initial descent rate of 100 feet per minute. From the corner of her eye the massive gray hulk of steel begged for her attention, but she forced herself to stay on the instruments, now going to 200 feet-per-minute, still on speed, still 27 degrees of bank. With 90 degrees to go she hit 450 feet above the ocean and looked out to crosscheck her progress. Her heart skipped a beat; the Reagan looked impossibly close. But she reminded herself the sight picture would change as the ship churned away from her and the wind pushed the plane further aft. “Stay on target,” she whispered as she forced her eyes back into the cockpit.

“Four-fifty at the ninety. Lookin’ good Quick,” Dingle said in his most soothing voice.

She cracked the throttles back a hair, increasing the descent rate to 500 feet-per-minute. A moment later she sensed the wake passing under.

“Three-seventy-five crossing the wake. Perfect,” Dingle reported.

She peeked out at the ship, analyzing how the turn was progressing as she scanned the centerline markings on the flight deck. She eased her wings a bit to prevent an angling approach and as they left the wake behind she began her transition to the outside scan. The ball was, miraculously, smack dab in the center! She took a breath and transmitted, “Two-zero-seven, Rhino ball, seven points five.”

As she eased her wings to level, Slammer’s voice answered immediately, “Roger ball.” Now the inside instruments were dropped completely and she began the mantra of the outside scan: Meatball, Lineup, Angle-of-Attack. For the next fifteen seconds, nothing else mattered in her world. Despite that, curious and rebellious parts of her brain were sending interesting distractions that she struggled to filter out. She noticed a plane launching in a cloud of steam from the bow catapult. The jet in front of her was still not fully clear of the landing area and the arresting cable was dragging back, rushing to recoil to a ready position tautly strung across the landing area. She could hear her breath. She thought of Darth Vader. She thought of her dad. Meatball, Lineup, Angle-of-Attack. The plane was clear, the wire was taut. She stared at the meatball, daring it to move. Both hands were in constant micromotion, the right moving the stick forward and aft, left and right, never stopping, always correcting, and the left gently coordinating the two throttles with the movement of the stick—a hair of power off, a hair back on, the undulating whine of the engines synchronous with the motion of her arm. She sensed the steel beneath her as the gray mass of the USS Reagan filled her periphery. No more Vader in her ears; she was holding her breath. Still, she fought the entropy of the ball, a million adjustments as it tried its damnedest to squirm from the center. Meatball, meatball, meatball, SMASH!

As it is supposed to, the collision of her wheels on the deck caught her by surprise. Her head snapped forward with the impact of the landing and she reflexively jammed both throttles to the stops. A nanosecond later she was thrown against her shoulder harness with the violence of a NASCAR pileup asher hook snagged a wire. The momentum of her 40,000-pound plane traveling at 155 miles per hour combined with the 28,000 pounds of thrust blowing from the motors did pitch battle against the massive hydraulic arresting gear pistons metering the cables at a harshly decreasing rate, relentlessly reigning in the plane trying so hard to fly away. She went from flying to stopped in 300 feet; 155 miles per hour to zero in two furious seconds. She was paralyzed for a moment, dazed and surprised by the sudden lack of need for aerial corrections, feeling like most of her brain had blown through her helmet and continued into the sea ahead.

Suddenly the voice of god burned through the haze. “We’ve got you Two-Zero-Seven. Power back.” The Air Boss’ admonition clicked everything into place. She sheepishly brought her throttles back to idle as she looked out the right side of her cockpit. Jumping up and down in frustration at her delay, the young Yellow Shirt was emphatically waving his hands, signaling her to keep her feet off the brakes. She nodded and felt a jerk as the wire tugged her back. The Yellow Shirt immediately motioned the thumb of his right hand into the palm of his left, signaling her to raise her hook. She shook her head like a dog to clear it as she struggled to remember where the damn hook handle she had already touched five million times was located.

The next sound injected a fresh jolt of adrenaline through her system—Moto’s voice, sounding a little higher pitched than normal. “Two-One-Two, Rhino ball, six-point six.” She needed to get her shit together and clear the landing area in ten seconds or they would have to wave Moto off.

“Roger ball” she heard Slammer answer over the radio. She flicked the hook handle up and looked back at the Yellow Shirt. He was giving her urgent taxi directions, commanding her to add power and make the right turn from the landing area.

As she goosed the throttles Dingle piped up, “Don’t forget the wings, Quick.”
“Shit,” she swore loudly over the intercom, forgetting the HOT mic was on, as she fumbled for the flap handle. The Yellow Shirt kicked one of his legs a couple of times exhorting her with pantomime to hurry up. As she finally cleared the landing area he motioned her to slow down, then he gave her the wing fold signal. She nodded and flipped the handle, glancing out the right side to see the wingtip coming up. Beyond that, she took in Moto’s Rhino about to land just behind her.

She returned her attention to the Yellow Shirt who guided her into another right turn, now pointing aft, and waved her on to the next Yellow Shirt, a diminutive girl who looked small enough to be blown away by a summer breeze, much less focused streams of hot jet exhaust. She nodded as the screaming roar of another jet in the wires blasted through her helmet. “Sounds like Mototrapped,” she said to Dingle.

“Yes, Ma’am. I’m lookin’ right at him. He’s caught a three-wire, just like us.”

“Atta boy,” she whispered before she blew out another big breath. She followed the direction of the young woman on the flight deck who motioned her to turn right one more time so that she now faced the landing area from the shadow of the massive ship’s superstructure behind her. The Yellow Shirt signaled her to set her parking brake and then handed her off to a Brown Shirt, one of the plane captains. “Looks like they’re going to top us off before we get shot again,” she told Dingle as more Brown Shirts scurried over with massive chains to tie her plane to the deck. Moments later a team of Purple Shirts ran over carrying a huge black fueling hose. She watched them disappear beneath the wing and for the first time, she was able to catch her breath.

Another plane howled in the wires a few feet from her. She’d lost track of who it might be, probably Bud and Luvma. “Hey, you got a second to talk?”Dingle asked tentatively.

“Yeah, what’s up?” she answered, wondering what could be wrong.

His voice exploded in her headset. “That was fucking AWESOME! Oh my Jesus that was the coolest thing I’ve ever done. Let’s do it again! And again!” he screamed in her ear.

She grinned behind her oxygen mask and nodded while she watched the Purple Shirts carry the fueling hose away. “I’ll be here all day and night. Don’t forget to tip your bartenders and waitresses.” She looked down at her hands and noticed them shaking so fast they were vibrating, not because of fear but because her body was hopped up with enough adrenaline to light up a city. You couldn’t ask for a better high than this. Her plane captain popped out from under the wing giving her a thumbs up. She glanced at her fuel gauge and told Dingle, “We’re all set. Call the Boss and let him know we’re good to go.”

“Boss, two-oh-seven is up and ready,” she heard Dingle transmit. A minute later a Yellow Shirt approached and signaled the plane captain to remove her tie-downs. Before there was a chance to contemplate, she was moving again. When she came to a stop she was parked behind the massive metal plates protecting her from the blast of the plane on the bow catapult. She and Dingle were just in front of the ship’s island, four stories below the massive glass-enclosed bridge. She felt self-conscious, sure the captain was perched in his big chair staring down at her, frowning like a test monitor concerned she wasn’t taking the task seriously, having altogether too much fun. She heard another roar of engines followed by a thud rippling up from the deck through her plane. The blast deflectors dropped flush with the deck and she saw the Rhino that had just launched climbing up to pattern altitude.

“You think the trap was fun, buddy, this is going to kick you in the ass,” she told Dingle as she taxied forward slowly, her feet dancing on the rudder pedals in response to the steering directions from the Yellow Shirt. As her plane inched toward the catapult track, a team of maintainers materialized out of the ragged tufts of whipping steam, ducking under the wings and intakes, tugging and banging at panels, checking for any mechanical defects. On the signal from the Yellow Shirt, she lowered the launch bar on the nose gear and felt it snuggle up to the shuttle on the catapult track, the piece of equipment that would slingshot her from the deck once the full force of the pent-up steam was applied. The Yellow Shirt was positioned about thirty feet to her left, standing rigidly upright with his forward arm pointing stiffly toward the bow and his other arm cocked skyward at a ninety-degree angle. She recognized the move as the signal that the plane was now under tension, the steam building in the big reservoirs below the deck for the imminent launch. She slid both throttles up to the stops and the big plane bucked and heaved unnaturally, blasting away with its massive engines but unable to move. She looked inside her cockpit, scanning the engine instruments for any anomalies, wiped her control stick in a full sweep to ensure the flight controls were free and kicked the rudder pedals left and right. Everything looked good.

“You ready?” she asked Dingle.

“Hell yeah!” he replied. She grinned inside her mask as she turned her head to the Catapult Officer who was watching her expectantly. She snapped a crisp salute, signifying she was ready for launch. Her right hand slid off the stick to grasp a handle about eye level on the canopy. The F-18 computers didn’t appreciate any pilot interference during the catapult stroke; any input would cause havoc so she literally had to hang on to the handle until the wheels left the deck. She leaned her head back against the ejection seat and peeked out the corner of her eye at the Catapult Officer as he returned her salute. He then lunged forward onto one knee with an arm outstretched toward the bow and touched his fingers to the deck.

“Put your head back,” she reminded Dingle as she tensed, waiting for the shot. They were a rock in a sling pulled back so far the rubber bands were humming.

“What?” he answered as the steam hit the shuttle. 40,000 pounds of Rhino with motors screaming at full power was yanked down the 300 feet of catapult in a violent acceleration from zero to 170 miles per hour in just two seconds, pushing her body back against the seat with the force of a moon launch. If his head wasn’t back before, it sure was now.

As the acceleration hit her chest she opened her mouth and let the crush of Gs push out a scream of exultation for the length of the stroke. She imagined the letter strailing away behind her, tumbling in her exhaust, “YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!”

Photo by U.S. Navy

USS Gerald Ford elevators have suffered reliability issues due largely to software problems. To date, only two of the elevators meet Navy standards.

Unforeseen problems in repairing USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) will push delivery of the carrier back to the fleet by three months, into October, Navy officials told a House Armed Services Committee panel on Mar. 26, 2019.

The initial 12-month post-shakedown availability (PSA) was designed to fix any problems that arose during the carrier’s first at-sea period when the crew works the ship hard to help identify any problems in construction, as well as to tackle any work that the Navy and shipbuilder agreed to bump from the construction period to PSA. The carrier had planned to conduct a one-year PSA, then work up with its crew and deploy in 2021.

The new delay is due to more time needed to repair Ford’s nuclear propulsion system and Advanced Weapons Elevators, Navy acquisition chief James Geurts told the HASC’s seapower and projection forces subcommittee.

“All three of those causal factors – making the adjustments to the nuclear power plant that we noted during sea trials, fitting in all of the post-shakedown availability workload,s and finishing up the elevators – they’re all trending about the same time,” he told the committee. “So, October right now is our best estimate. The fleet has been notified of that. They’re working that into their train-up cycle afterward.”

Problems with the elevators are well-known. The Ford class was designed to increase the aircraft sortie generation rate by 25 to 30 percent over the previous Nimitz-class of nuclear aircraft carriers, and Ford’s 11 weapons elevators were key to that effort.

However, the elevators have suffered reliability issues due largely to software problems, USNI News understands. To date, only two of the elevators meet Navy standards. The second elevator was delivered earlier this month.

Problems with the propulsion system are less understood publicly. The problem isn’t resident in the two nuclear reactors aboard but rather the ship’s main turbines generators that are driven by the steam the reactors produce.

Sources familiar with the extent of the repairs have told USNI News two of the main turbine generators needed unanticipated and extensive overhauls. As Geurts told Congress, the ship’s company discovered the problem during sea trials.

In May, Ford returned to port early after it suffered an engineering casualty during an underway ahead of the PSA.

“The ship experienced a propulsion system issue associated with a recent design change, requiring a return to homeport for adjustments before resuming at sea testing,” Colleen O’Rourke, spokeswoman for Naval Sea Systems Command, told Navy Times at the time.

The Gerald R. Ford class is the future aircraft carrier replacement class for Enterprise and Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. The Gerald R. Ford class will be the premier forward asset for crisis response and early decisive striking power in a major combat operation. Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers and carrier strike groups will provide the core capabilities of forwarding presence, deterrence, sea control, power projection, maritime security, and humanitarian assistance. The class brings improved warfighting capability, quality of life improvements for our Sailors, and reduced total ownership costs.

Improvements aboard Ford will be carried forward to the next two carriers of the FORD Class: John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) and Enterprise (CVN 80). Each ship in the new class will save nearly $4 billion in total ownership costs during its 50-year service life, compared to the Nimitz-class.

U.S. Navy photo by Erik Hildebrandt/Released