USS Nimitz, landing on a pitching deck.

[bob10]

I remember a USN A4 pilot who cross decked to HMAS Melbourne saying it was like landing on a postage stamp. During our Vietnam deployment, Perth formed part of the destroyer screen on Yankee Station , in the Tonkin Gulf, screening the US Carrier group as they bombed North Vietnam. We screened Hancock [ CVA 19]then took up screen commander duty for Ranger [CVA 61] and Kittyhawk [CVA 63] at various times. We had to have all four boilers on line just to keep up with the carriers. Watching the aircraft landing after their missions was sobering, some suffering battle damage of varying degrees, thankfully we didn't have to rescue any of them, those pilots knew their stuff.


YouTube (https://youtu.be/4gGMI8d3vLs)

[bob10]

USN training film, Carrier landing mishaps and crashes.


YouTube (https://youtu.be/SPlqoeaPUu4)

[bob10]

WW2, landing and respotting aircraft. Doing it right and quickly under pressure could be critical in a time of War, as the Japanese found out at Midway. Having no sighting of the US carriers, the Japanese Admiral had their aircraft configured for ground attack, on Midway. When, suddenly, the US carriers were spotted, he made the decision to change to ship attack, torpedos and the like, but in the middle of the confusion, with bombs on the deck , the US planes found them. The rest is history. The War in the Pacific hinged on that one bad decision, by the Japanese Admiral. Thank goodness.


YouTube (https://youtu.be/bfkwjU8k6W4)

[bob10]

What happens when things that can go wrong do go wrong. 134 men killed, many injured, USS Forrestal, 1967, Tonkin Gulf.


uss forrestal fire 1967 - Bing video (https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=uss+forrestal+fire+1967&&view=detail&mid=BBAC143DD1FAA8897FF4BBAC143DD1FAA8897FF4&rvsmid=1CA623E054CAB08460E81CA623E054CAB08460E8&FORM=VDRVRV)