John F Kennedy (CV 67) - Naval Cruise Book

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Upon returning from the Mediterranean and standing down during December, KENNEDY began making final preparations for her very first major overhaul to commence on 1 March. In between upkeep periods during January and February the ship also made trips out to the Virginia Capes OP area to conduct fleet carrier qualification. 1 March found KENNEDY at berth 42-43 Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia for the beginning of a nine month major overhaul. The really big jobs were started even before arriving in the shipyard. Before KENNEDY was moored at NNSY she made a stop enroute to have her number one aircraft elevator removed by NNSY ' s hammerhead crane. Changes to the elevator was only one of the areas that would be effected by the changes brought on in preparing KENNEDY to receive the Navy ' s newest fighter, the F-14 Tomcat and the Navy ' s newest anti-submarine warfare platform, the S-3A Viking. The imminent arrival of these two aircraft was to cause many areas of the ship to receive a new look. The Tactical Support Center, whose purpose would be to support the new S-3A and the SH-3 helo was designed as a modul in-, and post- flight planning, support and analysis. The Satellite Read-Out Equipment that was installed was the first system of its kind to be permanently installed on any carrier. The Versatile Avionics Shop Test facility was added to hangar bay one and the flight deck jet blast deflectors were modified to accommodate both the F-14 and the S-3A. In October, VADM Michaelis, COMNAVAIRLANT presented KENNEDY with her third consecutive Battle ' E ' , along with Departmental Awards and the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Award. The end of October brought the winding down of many yard jobs and ship began to prepare to get underway once more. On 26 November the ship left the shipyard and Portsmouth to moor at Pier 12. Then on 1 December 1974 CVA-67 was redesignated CV-67, a near totally new combat system ready to be tested by refresher training in Guantanamo Bay.

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1973 was to prove to be another challenging year for the men on board KENNEDY. It began with the completion of the Restricted Availability which had started in November. Included In the shipyard work package was the installation of the EA-6B modification. The completion of the RAV was immediately followed by an INSURV inspection. The Operational Readiness Exercise conducted in February brought to KENNEDY the highest mark yet given to a CV-type ship in damage control. During the month of April, the new walk-in Ship ' s Store was opened, providing a large selection of luxury and necessity items for the crew. KENNEDY ' S orders to deploy to the Western Pacific In March had been rescinded and on 16 April the ship was underway from Pier 12. On 25 April, at Rota, Spain, KENNEDY relieved USS INTREPID (CVS-II) and joined the Sixth Fleet for the commencement of her fourth Mediterranean cruise. This deployment brought KENNEDY back to many ports that were now beginning to become familiar to the newest of the American carriers. Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca, Spain, both well loved Spanish ports by Sixth Fleet sailors, and Formia, Gaeta and Livorno, Italy, rarely visited by the large CV ' s. While In Cannes, France KENNEDY lost her 301 ton starboard anchor along with 180 fathoms of chain In 44 fathoms of water. On the 8th of June, with the assistance of the USS OPPORTUNE (ARS-41) we recovered the anchor. During the evolution the Special Sea and Anchor detail was set for 22i 2 hours. On 24 September KENNEDY became the first carrier to pass the CINCLANTFLT Propulsion Examining Board on its first attempt. Having been relieved on 22 September by USS ROOSEVELT (CVA-42) KENNEDY transited the English Channel and joined NATO forces to participate In Swift Move. On 10 October KENNEDY made here first visit to Edinburgh, Scotland. During the brief stay, the crew enjoyed the gracious hospitality of the Scottish people and celebrated the Navy ' s 198th birthday with special general visiting fes tivities. No stranger to the Middle East situation or to operational extensions, KENNEDY was none the less momentarily disheartened when on 25 October she was ordered to rejoin with units of the Sixth Fleet and proceed to the Eastern Med, but, as they had done in the past, the ship and her crew reached down Inside for that little bit extra. KENNEDY was to remain at sea for 50 consecutive days during her ' second Med cruise of this deployment before returning to Pier 12 on 1 December.

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- rf- r -i. ' L Having just completed a nine month overhaul, KENNEDY spent the first six months of 1975 preparing for a seven month deployment to the f lediterranean Sea. Refresher training periods were used to hone those skills which had gone unused during the yard period, but would be essential while deployed. During this time the call of This is a drill, this is a drill became a familiar sound to everyone on board. The training was invaluable since the majority of the crew was inexperienced as a result of a large personnel turnover during the overhaul. On 22 February while operating off of Jacksonville, Florida, KENNEDY recovered the S-21 Viking making the first carrier landing of a fleet-assigned S-3A. March held Type Training 1 and 2 in store and April brought participation in Exercise Agate Punch, a major amphibious exercise conducted off North Carolina. During this exercise KENNEDY put her new designation as a CV to the test as she operated continuously for 253 hours in an air, surface and sub-surface threat environment. In order to remove any remaining question as to her readiness, KENNEDY completed TYT 4 training in fvlay and received an overall grade of excellent on her ORE. She then fully participated in Exercise Solid Shield, a joint Army. Navy, Air Force and f arine Corp exercise similar to Agate Punch. KENNEDY ' S fifth Mediterranean deployment com- menced on 28 June as she departed Pier 12. The highlight of the Atlantic transit came when two Soviet TU-95 Bear D aircraft overflew the ship. The Bears were detected by AW-125 ' s E-2C and intercepted and escorted by A-7 ' s until they departed the area. Tragedy struck at 2159 local time on 22 November when the USS BELKNAP (CG-26) collided with KENNEDY during night flight operations When General Quarters was finally secured, KENNEDY men found that they had lost one of their shipmates to smoke inhalation - the BELKNAP was to count six lives lost from among her crew! Although KENNEDY spent both Christmas and New Year ' s in Barcelona, there wasn ' t an opportunity to let up, for the two holidays were broken by a three day at sea period.