Ticonderoga Apollo Recovery (CVS 14) - Naval Cruise Book

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23, 24 Aprll Sunday, 23 April 1972 saw TICONDEROGA and her crew observing a day of holiday routine, a day of much needed rest after an extremely busy 18 hour-a-day work week. ' It was on this day that the happy crew enjoyed a barbeque, unfortunately, the barbeque couldn't be held on the flight deck as planned because of some unscheduled rain showers. The problem was ,solved immediately in typical TICO can-do tradition-the barbeque went on as planned, steaks, hamburgers, hotdogs and all the trimmings were enjoyed by all in what was probably the first barbeque SlMEX to be held aboard this proud ship.

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and a Boxing Smoker. , ,........- ,X:,'Q..,, AX X' 1, .f X X. J I ,X15 ,X ',.,Qff:, ei.. Q1,zsQ,,X-lift'-Q' X ' wine ,Xwgw'1:gg,f':wmX ' flliiffwrifwXvvmswpf wtf' M 't d ' Y' 'W ' , X, ,V M e w JV ' kg Wi W we:-.fz.m41na . way,-fa,,f.laX1.Xrf:-rgimne ma,-lfhgffiaiwif , A MM ,-.,,A,,W.. v,.,.,.,,-1F.9M1W..,,29 XX,. , ,.X,mf gg.-9' , u:,'.n.1:,,w,,.,,.e.-.Hv,,...,.Xw-gn.: ma.. ,:+,n.'- .:w,4, min...3,,,rgf.3.,.yywbw-an1,2 vp' Xxifwmfi - sew ,f?YQf'LU -aX,J,X!Xl5-:iff ,,X.,1Xfu.X.w-tw, ep-u.v.f,-u,X:,,i. w-- J... ,.,Z.,X-.-'r-M-Q i -4-, .1awf:X-.V-w-Arn,-, -an-rafidzv, . 1,1 , X Q Xw.imfw.:.X,'-, .1 V X , ,fain,wwff1Hwiflrfqs-L1-arX:vZ,r+ye:f'-X.Jarzii?',w-.tfvzftw . i. , . ',,ff,.X, 1: X ...-..........,,........2 The afternoon of 16' April 1972 saw a highly successful boxing smoker sponsored by TICONDEROGA's Special Services. The Smoker was well attended at ringside, and NBC telecasted the event on TYKO-TV. Bill Lindsay of NBC radio and Dick O'Brien of CBS-TV provided color commentary, while Marine First Sergeant Dolan called the action. The event was so professionally executed that one would have thought he was watching a professional boxing match at Madison Square Garden on television, if he knew that he wasn't some 2,500 miles south of Hawaii on that day. ' All the contestants put forth fine individual performances, and the sportsmanship was outstanding. These men exhibited the high calibre of character it takes to serve our Nation in these troubled times. They can be justly proud of serving their country on TICONDEROGA and for providing their many shipmates good entertainment during that break from the long hours at Work.

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Though TICONDEROGA had enough fuel and food to last for a long time, nothing could be left to chance. So, on Z4 April, three days before astronauts Young, Mattingly, and Duke were due to splash down, TICO rendezvoused with another member of the Pacific Recovery Force, USS PONCHATOULA KAO-1481, for an underway replenishment. PCNCHATOULA was commissioned 12 January 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 1966-1967 deployment to the Western Pacific, PONCHATOULA set a 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 that deployment. Over 700,000 gallons of black oil were fed to the Big T , enough to easily see her through to San Diego. ln addition to the fuel, a new set of movies was hauled aboard. To top off the whole sunny affair, the COMNAVAIRPAC Band was on hand to celebrate PONCHATOULPUS renderings with a few musical renderings of their own. PONCHATOULA served the Pacific Recovery Forces as the Primary Logistic Support Unit. Holiday Routine, and thenUNREP M -mf Q.-,f . , -