Essex (CVS 9) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 145 text:

l Commander Thomas l'l. Griffin, USN C0fVllVlfAxNDlNG Ql:l:lCEl2 l-IS-9 l-lelicopTer AnTi-Submarine Squadron Nine is Essex' all weaTher helo squadron and is commanded by CDR. Thomas l-l. Griffin, USN, The beginning of This cruise was unevenTful wiTh The squadron providing a varieTy of services for The Taskforce buT afTer ioining The U.S. SixTh l:leeT aT GibralTar we seTTled down To our primary mission of deTecTing submarines. Ofher CVSfhelicopTer squadrons had operaTed wiTh The SixTh l:leeT before buf This was The firsf Time The Sl-l-3A Sea King had operaTed in European or Middle EasTern waTers. Combining hard work wiTh well earned liberTy, we deparTed Barcelona wiTh a record breaking lil mission ready aircrafT waifing To meeT any challenge. This ex- ceprional l0OCZ3 availabiliry represenTed The culminafion of many hours of hard work by all hands, many of whom volunTarily gave up Their off-duTy hours in an efforT To insure maximum availabiliry and performance. This hard work paid dividends when we ioined an aTTack carrier Task force and TransiTed The STraiTs of Sicily. AfTer a series of Top level conferences, we deparTed AugusTa Bay in an opposed sorTie and seT anoTher perform- ance record. The squadron as a Team wiTh oTher ASW uniTs successfully defended The deparTure of a maior porTion of The SixTh l:leeT by deTecTing and TheoreTic'ally desTroying Two aggressor submarines. We had an unprecedenfed l2 aircrafT airborne during This evoluTion. For our parT in These exercises, Admiral Gay senT The squadron a mes- sage of congraTulaTions for a iob well done. . AT Jidda, l-lS-9 flew aboard The American Ambassador To Saudi Arabia and 23 prominenT Saudi Arabian digni- Taries. In Karachi, we exchanged anTi-submarine warfare ideas wiTh The Royal Navy and The l3akisTan Navy. Also in Karachi, we applied special painT markings To Two of our helicopfers and They were used as RoTary Wing l3arges by Admiral Gay and oTher senior officers. As lafe as ll December, off Corsica, l-lS-9 demonsTraTed The poTenTial of Their aircrafT To a group of Germa n Air Force Officers. l-lelicopTer AnTi-Submarine Squadron Nine personnel can look back on This cruise wiTh pride in The knowledge ThaT Their iob was well done.

Page 144 text:

,,,.-W.........,.....v,,..11:ngz1 Now dear, wrire more offen. These p hone calls ore cosring C1 'rorrune Cdr. Rippey fighring The paper war 3 Cream cmd SUQOVI Si r?

Page 146 text:

Lcd , G, R. Stewart Lt. D.W. Mackey Lt. A. L. Edmondson Cdr A E Dorman ISEIRATIVE OFFICER LEGAL OFFICER SAFETY OFFICER EXECUTIVE OFFICER ADMIN I Cdr. C. N. Tilton Lt. V. Gordon LtIjgI. V. P. Fasano LtIjgJ. G. B. Hopkins PROSPECTIVE OPS. OFFICER PERSONNEL OFFICER PUBLIC INFORMATION EDUCATION OFFICER OFFICER ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT They OIvvOys SOIO IT IIOWS CIOWVI hill LtIjgI. R.F. Rogel Ltljgj. H.B. Hennessey ASST. ADMIN. OFFICER ASST. PERSONNEL OFFICER -7' Long. DKC J. Jeffcoat, ADR1 W. Meyers, AD1 'JW A, Senokossoif, HM1 K. Suiter, YN1 E, Brown C52 M- Gutierrez, ADRZ S. Davidson, A132 A. Davis, SD3