Yorktown Apollo Recovery (CVS 10) - Naval Cruise Book

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nf 2' i IV' ' Yorktown Practices Recovering -tg Q, A f, I J' V-Mx I . , N ,,,. 1 If in F A K N ' K' , A- Jer- ' gr- -. , ' A 'Af' K' D iw- , ,.,,, ii f' YQRMK K my - ,.,,f:,e'4'3'-n xx ,,., If l v 6v:'x4:: v X K f 4 .i K l QA ' ' ,sv-Q? ' Q-hx Q es I Q te- g. -I Ang' ff' 'll PRACTICE SESSIUN BEGINS'-The ship's Weapons Department pre- pares to put the NASA boiler- plate over the side, so the Apollo 8 recovery team can practice picking it up. 'kulrir' LOADING GEAR--Underwater Demo- lition Team I2 loads gear in HS-4 helicopter for a practice session of recovering the NASA boilerplate.

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1 - Fighting lady Arrives llt Pearl ANOTHER ACHIEVEMENT--The Fighting Lady steamed back into Pearl Harbor with the historic A ollo 8 ca sule onboard, addin another achievement to her own 25-year history. P P 9 R,,..,,e,y mm fo, PRIMARY LANDING AREA AND Apollo 8 Pickup RECOMMENDED RECOVERY FORCE DEPlOYNlENT Members of the Apollo 200 Shelicopter recoveryteam ilklqe-P A ,ir,-t4.fff -I ' 1 I that picked up astronauts Tfltjiilgi,lcffllleceljrei gilgQi4t.r:tnrAc 1 f 1- 1 Frank Borman,James Lo- 'APL-iirkikgreet-el-+ .eg eee-e tteteielll ir:?mt,lQeMERlFltEW l 1 vell, and William Anders 0 iw lljlfg lllglQ5g,l.QQQli efter there re-entry and j.?QiiiiggggrgQ- ' fe Llgiftt 7'dT3iiiI R' f+M'e 'l 99fl'wML Splashdown Were: .. : :::I2II ' E HS-4 Helo Crew-- cdr 'O -5 tl-,,-.,g,ff'fB53KrgUTg. g L,5'iQ4n, , , or ,,ff:,e54-,llt,-4l,l,j Donald S. Jones, pilotg 70 ' 'f ,Cr tt? ff L+'- '5-R-tf-ef'-'feet P' 'tee T 0+ ff----H-fe- 1 et Lcdr car-1J. Frank, Co- ef-sees 3- I ee., A at 'eitfy j- 1 A Q pace AWG Nervel Inwood Asettteissasn.t':t.t2e::1H eeeeeefetmme el and AW2Jemee B.Dereey, Yf.'QflT .-e?i'21E4Fi'f'lQigigggigii i lreizfigeej Ti- Q 'F' ' 1 ll A - SRS8 M- TWT Crewmen, 0 ' R' r':lg1rBERT vsuwos germs at 4- emetfgt - f P- -H f--ee ,A ' 0- P ' 2 UDT-12 Team---Ltjg 0 , f .Q it le, A W ei Q ' W Q Rl-C1'l3I'dJ. Flanagan, SFC P I j 1N L R Q i--Pj ' me el ' 'R R '--e tee-4-fm Donald L. Schwab, and A it A. j A, f'ffffQQffQ1 Ho 5l7Oo O 1700 o 150 Timetable Of Events For The Nlorniiiog Of The Apollo 8 Piciioup 0345'5 LaU-nched AP0110 3 0537--Sea a11ChO1' a1313a'CCh- 0605--Astronauts Borman, 1'e00V01'Y eirereft- ed te 0HDSUl0- Lovell and Anders leave cap- 0451--SPLASHDGWN, 2 112 0540--Two more swim- sule and get into ljfe rafts, miles off port quarter. mers enter water. 0615--All three astronauts 0459--Apollo 8 stable and 0547 'SWimm01'S etteteh in recovery helicopter. upright in water. and inflate f10ta13i0H Geller- 0621--Helo lands on York- 0503--Aetreneuts eenfirm 0555--Life T2-fi1S ettafched town flight deck with astro- everything in capsule AOK . to capsule and inflated. nauts. 0535--First UDT swimmer 0604--Access hatch on cap- 0718,,,SpaCeCI.aft onboard in water. sule open. Yorktown. Page I8

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NASA Dummy Spacecraft BUILERPLATE ALUNG Sl DE --C rewmembers watch as UDT-l2 frognen prepare to hoolz dummy capsule to B and A crane. Yorktown practiced recovering the NASA boilerplate spacecraft both at night and during the day. On December 12, the Fighting Lady' steamed about 60 miles south of the Hawaiian Islands. Winds up to 52 knots and seas 12 to 15 feet high made the recovery practice hazard- ous but still possible. One NASA official Stated they were the worst conditions he had ever en- countered during a recovery, either in practice or during an actual recovery. The Yorktown went out again onDecember 16 and, with better weather conditions , successfully picked up the dummy spacecraft three times during the day and three times at night. Swimmers from Underwater Demolition Team 12 were dropped to the bobbing boilerplate by helo. They attached the sea anchor and flo- tation collar , and remained with the capsule until just before it was brought aboard the Yorktown by the Boat and Aviation Crane. The it-?:: Yorktown' s Weapons Department was in charge of lifting the capsule from the water. While in the recovery area, several more practice recoveries were made before the real splashdown before dawn on December 27. , -fr 415 W V ' .. .5 'Sv 3-'il W -f-.., A ' - OUT UF THE WATER--The boilerplate is hoist- ed out of the water and swung over Elevator Number Three. COLLAR REMOVED--After removing flotation collar, Weapon's Department personnel are prepared to place the capsule on a dolly. Page 20