Yorktown Apollo Recovery (CVS 10) - Naval Cruise Book

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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

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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' '

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Air Groups Embarked VRW--111, Det. 34 Cdr George Ormond , Jr., Officer-in- Charge of VAW-111, Detatch- ment 34, was born on June 24, 1933, in Far Rockway, New York. He attended Long Is- land Agricultural And Technical Institute be- fore entering the Naval Aviation .Cadet pro- I gram in Nov. 1953. He was commissioned and designated a Naval Aviator in May, 1955. His first duty assignment was with Attack Squadron 176, flying the A-1 Skyraider . Subsequent assignmentshave included a tour at the Naval CIC School, duty as Assistant CIC Officer on USS Shangri-Lag and adeployment to the Mediterranean as Officer-in-Charge of VAW-12's Detatchment 42, embarked on USS Roosevelt. Prior to reporting to VAW-111 in September. 1968, Commander Ormond attended the U. S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. ll! VR 30 CREW Members of the VR 30 squadron that were onboard to fly the astronauts to Hawaii The mission of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 111 is primarily used as air- borne early warning to extend the radar cover- age of the Yorktown. The aircraft carries a crew of five that can position jet-fighters to intercept enemy aircraft in the event of an air attack. The plane commander assisted by the co-pilot and thru the directions of the radar controller position the E-1B to provide the most effective radar capability and coverage. The complex electronics system is operated by two Naval Flight Officers as Radar Controllers and one Enlisted Flight Technician to maintain the system at peak performance. An interesting feature of the E-1B is the massive radome. It is aerodynamically de- signed to provide it's own lift in flight thus producing a minimum amount of drag on the aircraft. VR 30, Det. VR-30' s primary mission is logistic support for the West Coast. VR-30 is based at NAS Alameda, Calif. , and fly C-131 and C-1 OOD type aircraft. Assigned by AIRPAC to assist in logistic support for the Yorktown, Detatch- ment D flew the astronauts and NASA per- sonnel off the ship to Hawaii on the first leg of their trip back to Houston. LCdr Al Miller is the Officer-in Charge and Lt Stephen Collins and Ltjg Bill Barsz are co-pilots AMH2 Clar ence Atkinson and ADR2 Craig Ulrich are crew men with the detatchment Page 24 . Q Q p as I 1 Q. Q Q . I ' 1 If A 9 s 0