Ticonderoga Apollo Recovery (CVS 14) - Naval Cruise Book

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7' 263 2 Eibfli' f . , D ,.qmffgef5.. I . . . for an h1 stor IC O .. ,, N. a ,X 'm,2,.,, L ,H ,.fx' 71 r' W 0' h l 115206 WA' r 9, 232125, -K C are N av f, i 5 , y :ht -1 ., v,J Ef 10' A se tease 5 ??'.o. Q, scifi'-JO Yesfirlf 5AN4y g h t ... , yy x'A A zo of .110 i 150' if rss- g 'W n rendezvous. TICONDEROGA departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii once again, only this time, it was for the real thing. Heading south, she would go a maximum distance of 2,520 miles from Hawaii, all the way to latitude 20-30S and longitude 167-00W. TICONDEROGA traveled this great distance south to be ready for a possible early abort in the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission. TlCO's team would have been ready if this had occured, for all the way from Hawaii it had been practice, practice, practice every other day. The in-between days were filled with solving problems encountered and preparing for the next day's SIM EX. While operating this far south, VR-30, with their COD aircraft, flew many logistics flights to and from American Samoa. Aside from important NASA equipment and personnel, their most enjoyed cargo was 'the many letters received from loved ones over 4,500 miles away-San Diego. i After the astronauts were safely on their way to the Moon, TICONDEROGAE crew turned her to a north by northeasterly course to rendezvous with the USS PONCHATOULA KAO-1485 for a much needed UNREP. It was during this traverse that the recovery team aboard TICO learned that the three astronauts would be coming back from the moon one day earlier than planned. This would move the recovery location approximately 360 miles south of the originally planned recovery area. TICONDEROGA took this change of plan in stride, for she and her crew were ready for any contingency that could arise.

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V Training begins. . . Headlng South. . . ' I S a . af MMM iw' During the training periods the Apollo 16 recovery team conducted many exercises commonly called SlMEXes for simulated exercises. These exercises were conducted with the initial objective of familiarizing everyone with his part, smoothing the rough edges, adding necessary phases or eliminating unneeded areas. There were many briefings and de-briefings, for everything had to be perfectg no stone was to be left uriturned. Everyone was in one the show-TICQNDEROGA and her crew, NASA, CTF-130, HC-1, UDT-12, VR-30, VAW-111 and the Press. A e Now was the time, for soon we would be heading south for the final and only test of our untiring efforts.

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The Apollo 1 6 Mission: The Apollo 16 spacecraft was launched April 16, 1972, from the NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, Florida by a Saturn V launch vehicle. The prime crew consisted of Navy Captain John W. Young, spacecraft commander, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Charles M. Duke, Jr., lunar module pilotg and Navy Lieutenant Commander Thomas K. Mattingly, ll, command module pilot. Objectives of the mission, as outlined by NASA, were to land men on the lunar surface, to inspect, survey and sample lunar surface material in an area north of the crater Descartes, to deploy and activate the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package fALSEPj-the fourth of its kindg to further develop man's capability to work in the lunar environment, and to obtain further mapping of the Moon via photography from the command module. Following ascent, the spacecraft reached Earth Parking Orbit QEPOJ and remained in orbit for two revolutions prior to Translunar Injection KTLIJ. Next, the command and service module QCSMJ docked with the lunar module QLMJ and the spacecraft coasted to the Moon. ln orbit around t-he Moon the LM separated from the CSM and astronauts Young and Duke descended to the lunar surface. Stay time on the lunar surface was 73 hours. The ascent stage of the LM then lifted the astronauts back into a lunar orbit where the LM and CSM docked. The LM was jettisoned and Transearth Injection KTED followed. just prior to re-entry of the Earth's atmosphere, the service module was jettisoned, and the astronauts in the command module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, 178 nautical miles South of Christmas Island. Recovery forces for Apollo 16 were stationed in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. CTF 130 lManned Spacecraft Recovery Force, Pacificl forces were stationed in the Pacific, with USS TICONDEROGA, seven helicopters, two E-1B aircraft, three Air Force HC-130 aircraft and over 2,000 personnel taking part. Atlantic forces comprised of ships, aircraft, and many personnel were positioned for possible contingency landings and recoveries. Other forces, primarily of the Air Force Aero-space Rescue and Recovery Service, were on alert around the world for contingency recovery support.