John F Kennedy (CV 67) - Naval Cruise Book

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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.

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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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While on her transit home KENNEDY was again visited by a flight of two Soviet TU-95 Bear reconnaissance aircraft. Our E-2C ' s maintained contact while our F-14 ' s flew the intercept and escort missions this time. Upon arrival at Pier 12, KENNEDY began preliminary work for the approaching yard period. On 19 February KENNEDY transited the Elizabeth River to Pier 5 Norfolk Naval Shipyard for a three month Ship ' s Restricted Availability. During the SRA, KENNEDY was the first carrier to receive the Interim Tactical Flag Command Center and the Compartmented Mode Processing System equipment. The completion of the shipyard availability brought refresher training once more, and during Type Training 1 KENNEDY steamed in company with HMS ARK ROYAL. Then as the end of July neared KENNEDY conducted TYT 2 in the Roosevelt Roads OP area. Prior to TYT 3 and the final exam - the Operational Readiness Examination, KENNEDY ' S crew spent five days of liberty in Mayport and Jacksonville, Florida. On 28 and 29 July the CINCLANTFLT Propulsion Examining Board (PEB) conducted an Operational Propulsion Plant Examination (OPPE) as the ship departed Mayport for TYT 3. KENNEDY ' S success marked the first time in over two years that an aircraft carrier had passed all phases of an OPPE. Additionally, the ship marked its 100,000th aircraft recovery on 12 August. On 2 September KENNEDY was underway for a North Atlantic deployment to participate in Exercises Joint Effort, Teamwork ' 76 and Bonded Item. Throughout the NATO exercises Soviet interest was substantial. TU-95 Bear aircraft reconnoitered the KENNEDY and other task force units on five different occasions. On September 14, an F-14A was lost over the side during flight operations in 315 fathoms of water. The aircraft ' s crew ejected safely. The subsequent deep water recovery lasted for weeks under hazardous weather conditions and the aircraft ' s remains were returned to Norfolk. Later, on that same night of Sept. 14, at 2336 local time KENNEDY and the USS BORDELON (DD-881) collided while conducting refueling operations. Six members of BORDELON ' s crew were injured, two of them were evacuated to KENNEDY for emergency treatment. Upon returning to Pier 12 on 10 November, KENNEDY closed out the remainder of the year effecting repairs and making preparations for the upcoming Mediterranean deployment.