Coronado (LPD 11) - Naval Cruise Book

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WITH: COMMANDER J.H. BURPO USN A CHIEF STAFF OFFICER PHIBRON FOUR ALSO STARRING: COMMANDER T.J. LYNCH USN AS EXECUTIVE OFFICER 0 , M-nv. . ,.1,,..,,... ....,....,. ...,....... ,Q , I , . 1 'N f'---1--Maw., A,-Q, ,.,.,E.,,..,.-gh.. ,.........-..,. ..f,. . 4.2 f' ' ' ' F

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GUEST STARRING CAPTAIN G E LEBLANC USN AMPHIBIOUS SQUADRON FOUR i AS COMMANDER Captain LeBlanc commenced his naval career in the Naval Reserve in 1950. He was com- missioned an Ensign and designated a Naval Aviator in 1952 and spent his first four years of duty in fighter squadrons deployed to the Wes- tern Pacific. . Captain LeBlanc was assigned to the Naval Air Special Weapons Facility for the next three years where he flew in support of AEC research and development projects. He participated as a test ilot at Eniwetok Proving Grounds in 1958 and 1959 was assigned as a project pi lot to the Vx-5. In 1961 Captain LeBlanc served a two year tour on the Staff of COIVINAVAIRLANT. Captain LeBlanc spent the next six years in attack squadrons, deploying with SIXTH and SECOND Fleets, and with the SEVENTH Fleet. In 1969 he was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Naval O erations and in 1970 he returned to the West Clloast and command of VA-125. ln 1971 Ca tain LeBlanc served as Executive Officer of ugs America and in 1972 he at- tended ODU where he received a B .A. in Pol iti- cal Science. During the two years preceding his assignment as Commanding Officer, USS Coronado, he served again on the Staff of COlVl- NAVAIRLANT. Captain LeBlanc wears the Distinguished Fly- ing Cross with three stars, the Bronze Star medal with one star, the Air lVledal with two stars and strike fight numeral 7 and the Navy Commendation lVledal with two stars and the ' combat V , Captain LeBlanc is married to the Former lVlaxine Blanchett of Bay City, lVlichigan. They reside in Virginia Beach, VA. with theirfour children, Georges lll, Jacques, Claire, and Andre' .

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USN Productions spared no expense in building the largest floating soundstage ever created for a motion picture. The rep ica of the USS CORONADO CLPD-113 built for filming pur- poses was carefully researched and accurate in almost every detail. Like the original CORONADO, the floating studio created for this film has an overall length of 569 feet, an extreme width at the fl ight deck of 100 feet and at the beam of 84 feet. The ful ly loaded dis- Elacement Cweightl is 16,00 tons, drawing 21 feet, 6 inches at this loading. The twin tur- ine driven shafts each develop 12,000 horsepower ielding a speed of over 20 knots. The defensive armament, which original ly consisted ofgnur twin 3 inchf50 caliber anti-air- craft mounts , was , by necessity, reduced to two twin mounts to make room for two cinema- scope camera units. . The makers of The Coronado Story in their demand for realism were not satisfied until their CORONADC' performed the same mission as the original CORONADO, so in the film The Coronado Story you see the mock CORONADO combining the helicopter capability of the LSD and the troop carrying capability of the LPA. At the completion ofthe filming of The Coronado Story the set was turned over to another film company for the filming of their new thriller, The Poseidon Adventure ll, in which an entire Navy vessel is capsized by a tidal wave and no one notices. l l 'TTT' ' 1 'nf 4 . f. . 5 LQ I ,A x N... W