Yorktown Apollo Recovery (CVS 10) - Naval Cruise Book

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operation among all the groups involved in the UDT-12 Underwater Demolition Team 12 assigned ten meng three officers and seven enlisted personnel, to the Apollo 8 recovery. Ltjg Richard J. Flanagan was the Officer-,inn Charge of the recovery team. K UDT-12 is home based at the U. S. Naval Amphibious Base, Coronado, Calif., and is part of the amphibious forces under the con- trol ofthe Naval Special Warfare Group Pac- cific. Deployments to' WESTPAC are made on a rotation basis with UDT-11 and 13. While deployed, Team 12 is engaged, in beach recon- naissance of friendly and hostile beaches in Vietnam, demolition jobs as wellas clear- ing wreckage or blasting sandbars for land- ings , and accompanying Riverine For ces in the M ekong Delta. UD T-12 holds the Navy Unit Citation a S well as numerous individual awards among which are 17 purple hearts from their last deployment. q p Training for the Apollo 8 recovery began last October in San Diego Bay. The pros- pective personnelbecame acquainted with the boilerplate andflotation collar. After the in- troductory phase, work began with the pilots from HS-4, practicing attatching the collar after exiting from the helicopter. Throughout the operation the job was made much easier by the skill and courage of the HS-4 pilots who manuvered their helicopters to the most ad- vantageous position for the swimmer even if that meant thatthe pilot could hardly see be- cause of spray from the rotors. Upon completion of training in San Diego final teams selected flew to Hawaii where they joined the Yorktown. More training followed inPearl Harbor and at sea and then--Decem- ber 27. Recovery went as smoothly as the practices due to the professional skill and co- ,. , ....t . . . N, ,Q WM ., X 1 .I , K L ,A ' S' -- . X Am .- swf- is X ' A ip 1852 . , MAA Q, ' .KK K gli' ' ,A 1'..,. as-A .A A 'f ., -X 1... s,.- 4'-fa1A.As - .,,,. . . Xp .W-... . Q A - ,. gp .. ,As --A-MQ-.5 AAw. A-AA ,. X . 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HS-4 Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Four was commis- sioned in June, 1952 at Auxili- ary Landing Field Ream, San Ysidro, Calif. Since com- missioning,the squadron has flown many differenttypes of helicopters , including the HO- 2, HO-4S, HSS-1N, SH-3A, and SH-3D. The squadron is now equipped with 17 SH-3D turbine powered helicopters. HS-4 was the first ASW helo squadron to deploy aboard an aircraft carrier, the USS Ren- dova QCVE-1145. In 1961 the squadron became the first command in NAVAIRPAC to achieve a 24-hour helo ASW capability with the HSS-1N. The initiation of HS-4 into the TonkinGulf Yacht Club ' came during the 1966 WEST- PAC cruise. While operating in the Gulf of Tonldn, HS-4 pi- lots and aircrewmen rescued 24 downed airmen-the large st number recorded by any ASW squadron to date. . The SH- 3D Sea King' helicopter, built by Sikorsky Aircraft, is the latest model night, all-weather, anti-submarine warfare helicopter in use by the United States Navy. lt is powered by two General Electric, T-58, gas turbine engines which produce approximately 1,250 continuous shaft horsepower each. The maximum endurance for the SH-3D is over 7 hours with a max- mum range of about 700 miles. With a normal crew of a pilot, co-pilot, and two airborne so- nar technicians QAircrewmen5, the SH-3D is equipped with AQS-13 dipping sonar to carry out its mission of submarine detection and destruction. From its four external bomb racks the SH- 3D can deliver either conventional or nuclear weapons. One-time holder of the worlds speed record for helicopters, the Sea King has greatly reduced the time required to reach a contact area. Commanding ff icer Cdr Donald S. Jones, Command- ing Officer of HS-4 , was born inMad- ison, Wisconsin and attended high school and the University of Wiscon- sin there. He enlisted in the Navy in 1950 and a year later commenced flight training as a Naval.Aviation Ca- det. Upon graduation in February, 195 3 he was commissioned as Ensign. In 1955, while assigned as ASW Helicopter Project Officer with Air Development Squadron ONE QVX-11 , he accepted a regular commission Page 25 as Ltjg, USN. Subsequent squadrons assignments have included HS-1, and two tours with HS-5. In 1959 Cdr Jones completed post- graduate insturction at the Naval In- tellegence School. He was later or- dered to the Taiwan Defense Com- mand in Taipei. Prior to reporting to HS-4 as Executive Officer he was assigned to the Strategic Plans Divi- sion in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. On November 27, 1968, Cdr Jones took command of HS-4.

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l l Christmas Services During Apollo 8 l , 1 C-. .ll7lNT ClRlSTM4S SERVICE--A joint Catholic-Prostestant Prayer Service for World Peace was held on the flight deck on Christmas Day. The Yorktown was a praying ship.Ead1 night at taps Chaplain Lucian R.Bras- ley or 'Dean K. Veltman prayed with the crew for the safety of the astronauts, their families, and for all aboard who were to be responsible for their safe recovery. The three astronauts, Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William And- ers, were in our thoughts on Christmas Eve when, just before our Candlelight Service, the word was passed that lunar ejection was accomplished and our com- rades were on their way back. Protestant Holy Communion and Catho- lic Midnight Mass were a time of pray- ers of ,thanksgiving--first, for the Prince of Peace and second, for those .dedicated Christian officers in the ,command module who were heading over ,200,000-miles straight for the York- On Christmas Day a joint Catholic- Protestant Prayer Service for World ,Peace was held at ll am on the flight deck. Biblical passages which spoke of the promised .Prince of Peace were read from both Testaments.v A joint choir led the singing of our common heritage of carols, and the prayers of men of faith representing all Christendom aere said The ecumenical spirit of our day may Christmas By Chaplain Dean K. Veltman Christmas is the season of light. In a very real way it illuminates our paths throughout the new year which follows. Above all it is the season of sharing . . . gifts as did the wise men so long ago, praise just as the shep- herds who left the tiny manger scene and returned to their work, love as given and returned within the Choly family as they were drawn together by the new baby in their midst. And so it was with Yorktown in this very holy time. Gifts from home, re- ceived and held for weeks, were opened beneath. makeshift Christmas trees, praise in the form of Christmas carols were sung in Chapel services and played on the phonographs and sound systems throughout the ship, love was exper- ienced over the distance, often in terms of lonliness and the heartfelt desire to be with those who were sep- arated. yet lead to that universal time of peace promised prophetical1y'so long ago! 'They shall beat their swords into plow shears, and their spears into pruning hooks neither shall they learn war anymore N Phge27