Essex (CVS 9) - Naval Cruise Book

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vf N VA-81's A4D's and personnel joined ESSEX for the first time in October 1961 as Detachment 45 and remained aboard for the entire deployment. ln doing so they gave the ship a unique status as the only CVAS in either fleet. If it was unusual for the ship it was a break from the normal routine for the pilots too, who are trained in light-attack tactics not for a fighter-inter- ceptor mission. During December the detachment got a different kind of break when it was off-loaded to operate temporarily from an R.A.F. base in England. Cold nights and hot toddy. The Navy hatches some strange combinations but of this one it can be said, we worked out and we worked out well. 0

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CDR S. P. HILLS Commanding Officer CDR GLENZER Executive Officer HS-9 Anti-Submarine Warfare is one of the major defenses of the United States. This defense becomes the responsibility of the U.S. Navy. The mission of HS-9 is the support of this responsibility. From the rolling decks of the OLDEST AND THE BOLDEST ASW is continued by the HS-9 Sea Griffins to whom profes- sionalism of mission is routine. The men and machines of HS-9 comprise a weapons system capable of submarine detection and destruction. The aircraft presently used is the HSS-1 helicopter which becomes such a weapon by virtue of the pilot, copilot and sonar men that operate it, maintain it, and sail with it. Although capable of independent detection and strike, maxi- mum effectiveness is achieved, as always, through teamwork with the other ASW squadrons aboard a CVS. A natural pride is fostered within the squadron because of its assignment with the MIGHTY ESSEX. Simultaneous with the commissioning of ESSEX as a CVS, HS-9 was adopted as the helo squadron capable of supporting her in a continual and already enviable record of can do. Enviable records are not foreign to HSf9. In 1960, the SEA GRIFFINS came away with the following awards: The Battle Readiness Excellence pennantp The Chief of Naval Operations Safety Award, The Admiral Isbell Trophy for Excellence in ASWQ The Commander Naval Air Force, Atlantic Fleet, Accident-Free Year Award, and the Admiral's Sports Trophy. Record collecting, however, is not the goal of HS-9. Rather, it is battle readiness at sea. And so for more than 102,000 miles, the SEA GRIFFINS have sailed with ESSEX. Under the inspiring leadership of Commander Stetson P. HILLS, the SEA GRIFFINS have already begun transitioning to the most advanced ASW helicopter weapons system in the world. Summation of HS-9 consists of record par excellence, activity continuous, and future one step ahead. 20