Essex (CVS 9) - Naval Cruise Book

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W, VAW 33 DET 45 CENTURION CLUB Front row, I-r: LTJG P. W. Shoemaker 8. D. W. Hoelting, AT2. Back row: LTJG P. L. Dooley, LT G. P. Hodges, LT T. L. Olson idoublel LTJG C. G. Wilburn. l '

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I - cw -rw fri v 0 f ..:s 1. ,.,..x-.Q.1wa.ia:..,..1 ..-.., . ..Mt....g.,...f:g' s.sa.z:-.u... VAW-33 Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron THIRTY-THREE, De- tachment FORTY-FIVE, the present AD5W Skyraider unit aboard the Essex, is only one of many AEWXASW detachments to serve the Essex during the past ten years. In past years the Essex Early Warning detachments were furnished by VC-12 and VAW-12. At the beginning of 1958, Detachment-45 - from VAW-12 at Quonset Point- participated in the Essex Med cruise with the mission of AEW, the Guppy provided air control services for AD-6, AD5N, and F2H type aircraft. During the Med cruise, which included the Essex assistance in the Lebanon Crisis, the 0- in-C of Det-45 was LCDR W. S. D'EPAGNIER. In 1959 the detach- ment O-in-C was LCDR S. D. MARVIN, and after the Essex was con- verted from a CVA to a CVS in the spring of 1960, LCDR. J. J. MUR- PHY became the O-in-C of the VAW-12 detachment. During this time LCDR. MURPHY made the 99,000th arrested landing aboard the Essex. On 8 July 1960 the detachment played an important part in the SAR services which the Essex provided in connection with the blimp disaster off Long Island Sound. With CAG-60, the team participated in the 1960 Midshipman Summer Cruise and then again deployed for a Med cruise and a visit to the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, at which time the Essex participated in joint ASW exercises with forces from the United Kingdom, Pakistan, and lraq. ln the fall of '60 the Det was very successful with the mission of S2F air control and the AD5W was instrumental in submarine detection. During this time, a detachment pilot made the Essex 100,000th arrested landing and another AD5W pilot became an Essex DOUBLE CENTURION. In the summer of '61, after the Essex Caribbean cruise of April, Det-45 was again aboard the Essex for the joint U.S.- Canadian exercises with the HMCS BONAVENTURE. LCDR. D. P. JONES became the Det O-in-C in June '61 and on 1 August 61 Detachment-45, along with all VAW-12 AD5W units, was trans- ferred to VAW-33. LT. G. P. HODGES, Jr., the present O-in-C of VAW-33, DET-45, took over the unit in October 1961. The fas- cinating 1961-62 Essex Good Will Cruise to the North Atlantic will stand as a landmark in the history of the long Iine of VAW Hdetachments forty-five which have served the Essex in recent years. 204

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