Quote:
Originally Posted by John Rogers
I was on board the USS Enterprise CVA(N) 65 when it went into dry dock at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The fuel had all ben emptied, minimum ballast in any tanks and just enough to make her sit level. That was all done with SLIDE RULES and a few calculators by one dock master and a couple assistants! It was amazing the creeks and groans it made as it settled onto the blocks. There is one main set down the center line and a spare set on each side to take up wind buffeting.
The carrier was a CVA(N) until the white house said we should not have ships with "Attack" in their name so she became CV(N)………. The patch on my leather jacket has the CVA in the name and every now and then someone will notice that!
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I was on board the E while in drydock at Hunters Point. Twice actually. The first time was for emergency repairs after careening off of Bishops Rock. We had just enough time to get patched up and head out for deployment. Went back in after coming back from deployment for a much needed overhaul. It was an amazing feeling, walking under her while on the blocks. I can also say that I’ve been at the very top as well, having had to replace an antenna off the top yardarm in the middle of the IO.
Still miss that ole B i t c h at times.