New Orleans (LPH 11) - Naval Cruise Book

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APCDLLO 14 BAR-B'Q ire y,5 l 'Xl I The barbeque held on the flight deck provided a welcome break between , r SllVlEXes and was one of the highlights of the cruise NEWT i X ' PICAYU E By Bill Coulter of The Houston Post Aboard this prime recovery ship a happy crew enjoyed a Cajun style barbeque Sunday. A sight on the flight deck was crew members and officers wolfing down huge amounts of steaks, ham- burgers, hotdogs and all the trimmings. The barbeque which had been planned days before, was made happier by the successful liftoff of astronauts Alan Shepard, Ed Mitchell and Stuart Roosa. The New Orleans, third ship to bear the name of that Southern city, slowed to a crawl as crewmen went through the mess line on the flight deck and bathed in the sun. A Earlier the ship had moved into position where she could recover the astronauts should they abort their mission. When the astronauts lifted off at ll:O3 AM, ship's time, the crewmen aboard New Orleans had been silent. There was no rousing cheer, but many kept their fingers crossed as an added boost. The ship will steam north back toward Samoa, crossing possible abort points along the way. On Saturday she will pick up some dignitaries and then race south again to be in the scheduled splashdown area February 9th, ,

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U REP l, After topping off New Orleans in fuel oil and providing her with fresh provisions, Ponchatoula pulls away to a predesignated northwest sector of the splashdown area in order to be in position to pick up the astronauts in the event of an error in their re-entry. Though the New Grleans had enough fuel and food to last severalmonths nothing could be left to chance. So, on February 7th, two days before astro- nauts Shepard, Roosa and Mitchell were due to splash down, New Orleans rendezvoused with another member of the Pacific Recovery Force, USS Poncha- toula lAO-l48l for an underway replenishment. Ponchatoula was commissioned on january l2, 1956 at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. As with all Navy oilers, she is named after a river, the Ponchatoula River, which flows through Tongipahoa Parish in Louisiana. During a i966-i967 deployment to the Western Pacific, Ponchatoula seta new Pacific Fleet record by bringing 503 ships alongside, and refueling 464. During the following cruise, which ended in june 1968, she established another record, when she pumped over 74 million gallons of petroleum products to customer ships during the deployment. Watches as New Organs approaches Pon- Ponchatoula served the Pacific Recovery Forces as the Primary Logistic chatoula for an underway replenishment. Support Unit. CBS producer lack Kelly lstanding at leftl, Ponchatoula is serenaded by Chief Ball ldirectingl and the Naval Air Forces Pacific Band. 1