Oriskany (CVA 34) - Naval Cruise Book

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Peru, every souvenir shop owner could now retire as a mil- lionaire. ,, ,, . !fZ,.. gf On September 15, Oriskany ,fly 9'-xt 4 .V v I x left San Diego, headed for two x f fl. weeks training in Hawaii, and then to Korea. fi , . Q - ,a', Operating as a unit of l , f 15 United Nations Task Force 77 is bitgt ' I off the Eastern coast of Korea, Oriskany participated in the blockade of the North Korean coast and her planes systemati- cally pounded enemy supply build-ups and wiped out manu- facturing and railroad centers along with giving front-line troops close ground support. Under Captain Courtney Shands, the ship launched 7001 sorties during 111 flyable days. Of these, over 5000 were offen- sive combat missions over the heart of enemy-held territory. ug ,VS . The statistics suggest the scope of Oriskanyis contribution-her planes dropped 4,600 tons of bombs and expended over a million rounds of ammunition. During the cruise the old expression give them everything but the kitchen sink was getting on some of the pilots' nerves. So one morning a Douglas dive bomber took off with a Zinc tub strapped to its belly. The deadly sink was dropped with a splat into an enemy position at the front, and thus Oriskany insured that we had given them everything. On 17 November, an alert radar operator in the ship's combat information center detected bogies or unidentified aircraft. Sending four Panther jets up to investigate the bogies turned into MIG 15 jet aircraft. The ensuing dogfight high in the sky, gave Oriskany another first. This action was believed to be the first multi-jet aerial dogfight in Navy history. A month later the pilots briefed President-elect Eisenhower on the fight. On March 6, 1953, an Oriskany Corsair was returning from a strike mission over Korea. As the plane landed, a bomb dislodged from the wing, bounced twice across the flight deck and exploded. Two men were killed, fifteen wounded. One of the dead was a Photographer whose job was to photograph unusual landing incidents. As the bomb dislodged, he bravely started his camera. The salvaged film revealed he held the camera while it recorded the bomb's path and even the ex- plosion in which he died. On March 6, 1953, Oriskany Corsairs were allowed to pick their own objectives. They chose the famous Hamhung Highway Bridge. Despite its invulnerability and heavy anti-aircraft defense, the pilots demolished it. They also struck Heartbreak Ridge and other hated targets. On May 2, 1953, the ship departed Yokosuka and arrived in San Diego, May 18. After operating off California during the summer of 1953, Oriskany began its second cruise to the Far East on September 14. The Korean War had come to a halt and there was time to