Hancock (CVA 19) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 7 text:

The ship's departure date was eventually pushed back from February to May, and allowed the crew a much more leisurely pace in their preparation for deployment. A hurried but effective yard period, that had included a dry docking, was completed in January and Hancock was trying out her sea-legs again later that month. Keeping to her original schedule, the carrier twice headed south along the California coast to San Diego to conduct Refresher Training and undergo Operational Readiness Inspection at the hands of the Fleet Training Group there. But in the interim between February and May, Hancock left San Francisco Bay several times to qualify new carrier pilots and conduct airoperations with the help of her Air Wing, CVW-21. Yet in the midst of all the upcoming activity rumors began to arise, and persist, that the upcoming cruise would be the ship's last. There had been no definite word, just a collection of bits of information that Navymen everywhere take such delight in tying together and expounding upon. Still, the potential for an upcoming decommissioning seemed a possibility. And, as Hancock headed out to sea on that Tuesday morning in May for her first peace-time cruise in eight years, that thought was in the back of everyone's mind. W 9 But for a time it was forgotten as the charisma of Hawaii loomed ahead. A' quick transit made those days a reality, but their enjoyment was replaced all too soon with a leisurely and nearly mail-less trip to the Philippines and Subic Bay. Southeast Asia hostilities still required Hancock's presence if not participation. Then, on August 1, Vice Admiral R. B. Baldwin came out to the line to visit the Carrier and announced that this will probably be Hancock's last cruise. The statement resurrected all the now-old rumors, gave them credence, and began a fresh discussion among the crew about the ship's future. Finally, early in October, Captain Ryan officially announced that Hancock was to be deactivated beginning June 1, 1974, and that the present deployment would be Hancock's last. This book, then, is an attempt to capture and chronicle the events, the people, and the places that made up the beginning of Hancock's final chapter. It would be unfitting, in such a book, not to spend a few brief moments in retrospect on the past events, people, and places that helped carved Hancock's place in naval history. She was born to conflict in 1944 and retired to peace in 1974. Wasn't that her purpose? But, as Christmas neared and the cruise drew to a close, word came that Hancock might yet make still another cruise in 1974. Hanna Returns to Sea Those Who Command Her .... .---- P age 4 The Captain The Executive Officer Her Change of Command, June 16, 1973 The Admirals and Staff Her Beginning ............ . . .... Page 18 April 15, 1944 Her Departure ......... .... P age 32 May 8, 1973 V Yankee Station Revisited .......... I ....... Page 40 June 24, 1973 The Beginning of Her Six Line Periods All Hands ......... . ................... Page 54 Her Indian Ocean Transit ...... . . . Page 84 Her Ports-of-Call .............. . ......... Page 88 Hawaii: May 12-14 ' Subic Bay: May 26-and many days thereafter Yokuska: August 14-23 Hong Kong: . October 12-20 Her Crew ...................... .... P age 112 Her Air Wing, CVW-21 ......... .... P age 264 Her Journey Ends ........ .... P age 328 A Welcome Home

Page 6 text:

....,' :..-.J L.nrni.1.!.t'J04v1 JKIKAWAII ul :rwvvll 1 s ' . V 1 ' ' - . . I' . . .. f ' . ., X WA V - V K A V I . V V V 'v L ' W '7U 'i:V'f, L3:lu-' 'H f ' ,,'i'fT'7'l?'i'1,,,':f a-...M 2...-nw- 'final-4' g . ,. . , .- --L , . .- - , . . , . f , .- --A H W W., . r, A ., aaa.-. -..,-..-,...a.H - Ea.1 f'-wifmigJ?'L.':-Aagsuela Aga:-: -. -' - . .,.u.r.-.:-.Q..,a, ....--,,f. - -fn ---- f- M' USS Hancock's 1 973 Western Pacific Deployment Records will show that it was in the morning, at' 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday,May 8, l973,when mooring lines holding USS Hancock to the pier at Alameda Naval Air Station dropped away and the carrier eased out into San Francisco Bay to begin another deployment of the Western Pacific. The day had come clear and sunny to the Bay Area, but the records won't show that. Neither will they show the sadness of separation or anticipation of adventure that always accompanies such departures, nor the attention focused on the future of the 29-year-old warship. . Hancock returned on October 3, 1972, from her seventh combat deployment to Vietnam, It had been a long deployment with many days spent on the line and it appeared as if the attack carrier would have to return quickly to the conflict. A short five-month turn-around period was scheduled and a February departure date planned. But events in Paris intervened. The meetings there between Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho held the attention of the world as the two negotiatars' argued, boycotted and struggled their way toward an agreement that brought an almost-peace to Vietnam onslanuary 27, 1973, and allowed the U.S. to withdraw from the fighting. Peace had an almost immediate effect on Hancock's schedule. I i i F L 4

Page 8 text:

1 K .i, w , wa -f ,ni-+-1 - '-