California (CGN 36) - Naval Cruise Book

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On The nighT of January I7, while enrouTe To ioin The Task Group, we received a DisTress SOS message from The Rescue CoordinaTing CenTer in Gibralfar, sTaTing ThaT a small Spanish merchanT ship was'sinking wiTh eighf men on board in The Algerian Sea abouT 90 miles from our posiTion. We immediaTely puT on Top speed and closed The disTress posiTion as only CALIEORNIA's propulsion pIanT can do. AbouT an hour before our arrival, The Rescue CenTer advised ThaT a closer merchanT Tanker had arrived on scene and helicopTers had rescued The survivors. We Then conTinued To loin The Task Group. CALIEORNIA was praised by Commander Task Eorce 60, Rear Admiral Carroll, for aIerT and rapid response. On The evening of I9 January a NIMITZ E-LI crashed inTo The sea afTer The piloT and co-piloT had eiecTed. CALIE- ORNIA responded immediaTeIy and rapidly goT inTo posiTion To make The recovery, arriving on sTaTion To assisT The NIMITZ helicopTers which were allowed To make The recovery. EorTunaTeIy The piloTs were safely reTrieved. CALIE- ORNIA's moTor whale boaT picked up much crash debris and The piloTs' rafTs, eiecTion seaTs, and oTher survival equip- menT. The crew's response To This emergency was ouTsTanding. Very early on The morning of 23 January a NIMITZ crew member was reporTed overboard. The man was sighTed in The waTer by our aIerT bridge waTch. CALIEORNIA was able To rescue The man in a few minuTes in exTremely foul weaTher, darkness, rain, wind, and high seas due To The heroic acTion of The moTor whale boaT crew: LCDR Joe Barker, ETMC Earl Burgess, BM2 Mark Gage, SN Maurice Campbell, ENEN Millsap, and HM3 Lawrence Holmes. The following Two messages were received The nexT day from Commanding Officer USS NIMITZ and Command- er Task Eorce 60 respecTively: YOUR ASSIST- ANCE IN RECOVERING NIMITZ CREWMAN UNDER EXTREMELY DIEEICULT NIGHT, HEAVY WEATHER CONDITIONS IS GREATLY APPRECIATED. THE ALERTNESS OE YOUR 21' BRIDGE TEAM AND THE SUPERB PEREOR- MANCE OE YOUR DECK DEPARTMENT ARE . WORTHY OE HIGHEST PRAISE. A PROEES- ' - I l SIONAL JOB BY A PROEESSIONAL SHIP. QUICK RESPONSE AND SUCCESSEUL RECOVERY OE NIMITZ MAN OVERBOARD DURING MID WATCH NOTED WITH GREAT PLEASURE. HIGH LEVEL OE READINESS MOST REASSURING. WELL DONE. RADM Carroll. Search and Rescue When you have been in The waTer alone for whaT seems an eTerniTy, and you are able To see a ship only every fourTh or fifTh wave, Then being uTTerIy alone becomes a very real and aImosT overwhelming burden. While in The waTer, The ship's swimmer overcomes This problem by concenTraTing on The Task aT hand-buT The man alone and cold, waiTing and hoping has no such escape from The reaIiTy of deaTh. -Ship's Swimmer