Wasp (CVS 18) - Naval Cruise Book

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ol-L. . ,sf , 'bv' J A, Hurricane Ethel, 14 September 1964 Transit to Eastlant

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marine threat and the means at his disposal to nullify it. The newsmen also saw ASW in action asthey watched flight opera- tions and toured many spaces in the 40,000-ton carrier. Flight operations began early today and continued ata heavy pace as Task Force 402 primed for the final time before the ex- pected onslaught of enemy submarines tomorrow. l9 - 20 September As dusk settled over TF 402, Wasp refueled one of her small boys the USS Cecil. The interval separating the two ships was lit only by the glow of red darken ship lights. Continuous air operations filled the blackness with the roar of mighty engines, the whistle of wind over floredmetol surfaces, and the snap of hydraulic cotapults. A small volcanic eruption near Iceland colored the horizon a fiery scarlet, drawing nu- merous spectators. In the early morning, Vice Admiral Master' son, Commander of Striking Fleet Atlantic, flew aboard Wasp lor a press conference, Shortly thereafter, the three Task Groups rendelvoused lar refueling and replenishment. Con- currently, the screening destroyers began a synthetic reor- ganization ol the protective barrier around the Force, giving the larger ships a flexible and less vulnerable protective screen. Following the press conference, Sea King helicopters of HS-ll transferred 45 newsmen tothe USS Independence to continue their orientation within the NATO Force. The Soviet ship, Aldon, put in an appearance early in the day, remaining in the general vicinity ofTF 402for some time. The ship is an ATR, an ocean-going tug, of a common type in Russian use. 20 - 2l September Two Soviet destroyers made an appearance in the near vicinity of the Task Force as the day turned from black to bright blue, and continued to tag along as TF 402 went about its task of hunting the beast of the sea, the enemy subma- rine. One of the Russian destroyers, ofthe Kotlin Class, fol- lowed closely by the USS Cecil, DD 835, actually entered the screen and passed close aboard the Wasp. Later, two Badgers, twin-iet Soviet medium range bombers, flying over the Independence escorted by American carrier based jet air- craft, were intercepted and photographed by LCDR Jackson, in one of Wasp's VAH 33 single-engine prop-driven Skyraid- ers. One of these Badgers later approached to within l0 ts' tg, ,flaw

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