Yorktown Apollo Recovery (CVS 10) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 23 text:

540 lb. Cake Waiting For Astronauts QR' 1,0 Nag, , , 4 K W- f-ms.. N- who as--1, 5 w. . .4 A u...,....,'it' tv J.-,L f , .i-is Ls ni Q also W , X 4-.Z-155.2 .iii , mrs? 7 A 540 PUUND CAKE--lfrom L to R2 CSI Clifton Calhoun, CSCS Marlin Buirge. and CSI Steven Gras- teit show their finished 540 pound cake they baked for the Apollo 8 astronauts. After the Apollo 8 astronauts splashed down and arrived aboard the Yorktown a 540 pound cake was waiting for them. Prepared by the Yorktown bakeshop, the seven foot long by three foot wide cake was actually 60 small she et cakes put together like a brick wall-no reflection on its texture. Designedby CSCS1VIarlin Buirge, the cake signified an open history book--the first time menhave orbited the Moon. The pages of the book contained the names of the three astro- nauts. Half chocolate and half white, the cakes were baked on Christmas Day by CS2 Samuel Cle- ments. The cake actually weighed 450 pounds but was covered with 90 pounds of icing. The icing re- cipe called for 12 pounds of shortening, 17 pounds of butter and 57 pounds of powered sugar. It also contained nine teaspoons of vanilla. Though not professional cake decorators, the cake was decorated by CS1 Steven Gras- teit and CS1 C. T. Calhoun. The cake contained, among other things , 127 pounds of flour, 123 pounds of sugar, 22 pounds of shortening, 15 quarts of salad oil, six gal- lons of milk, 22 dozen eggs and three quarts of vinegar. Preliminary sketches of .the cake design were started early in December. The design was completed just prior to the ship leaving Hawaii for the recovery area on December 18. Due to its large size and the location of the bakeshop, the cake was assembled and dec- orated near a bomb elevator so it could be brought up to the hangar deck for the cere- mony. Knowing that the three astronauts would not be able to eat a 540 pound cake by themselves , the entire crew of the Yorktown, including the air groups and embarked press, radio and television crews were invited to share it. The cake may have been large , but no larger than the pride of the bakers who prepared? it, their small part in paying tribute to three brave Americans. The cake was presented to the astronauts at 7: 30 pm and all 540 pounds were gone by 10 pm. 7 Page 22 nu' '--ir' Mr' '

Page 22 text:

Weather Important To llpollo 8' Weather is something always critical to air operations. But, it was evena greater factor for the three astronauts in Apollo 8, as they completed their orbits of the M oon and s pla sh- ed down in the Pacific. A fourth man vitally interested in weather conditions in the recovery area, 1,000 miles Southwest of Hawaii, was LCdr Neil F,O'Con- nor, Yorktown's meterologist. His work began even before the capsule was launched from Cape Kennedy. He and his staff of 11 Navy aerographers provided NASA with a six day forecast prior to the launch. Fortunately, the weather in the recovery area is very stable this time ofyear, O' Con- nor said. As far as weather is concerned, the impact area was aboutas good as we could have asked for, he added. Weather forecasting is not new to LCdr O'Connor. His Navy career has spanned 23 years. He started out as an enlisted aero- grapher, and participated in the Bikini and Ewitok atomic tests. Weather stations from the entire Pacific area were feeding information to space headquarters in Houston. Fleet Weather Cen- tral in Pearl Harbor had a vital role in forecasting wind and sea conditions in the re- covery zone. My men made upper air as well as sur- face observations every three hours during the 'Y IN SALUTE T0 ARLINGTUN--Astronauts wave to crew of communications ship Arlington, be- fore departing Yorktown for Hawaii. Page X X if um iz 8 li li 'il -if , X xp -'I' A XQXF. xi! H ,Q ggi . K K d A Y-Qs. PLUTTING WEATHER--LCdr Neil F. 0'Conner plots weather during Apollo 8 recovery. entire II1iSSiO11, O' Connor said. This infor- mation was made available to the astronauts before they splashed down, he added. LCdr O' Connor is also Public Affairs Officer on the Yorktown, another job that kept him busy during the Apollo 8 recovery. SHURTENED SWIM CALLS--Two swim calls were cut short l,000 miles from Hawaii wl1ile waiting for the Apollo 8 recou- ery. The first was due to rough water and the second because of a shark' s appearance. 2l

Page 24 text:

Rest, Recreation, Work While Waitin 4 gr Q. iff, NURMALRUUTINE--fleftl Yorktown boatswain- mate chips paint on fantail as the normal workday went on while waiting to recover the Apollo 8 spacecraft: while Iabovel HS-4 officers play volleyball on Number Une Elevator for recreation. RESTlNG Yorktown crewmember takes a break on the fantail. While cruising l,O0O miles Sputh uest of Hawaii there wasn t much to see while wanting for Apollo 8 recovery day except for Page 23