Wednesday, September 30, 2009

USS John F Kennedy in Malta

I received this picture today from my aunt. It was forwarded with this question:
Have you ever considered how big a U.S. aircraft carrier really is?
Here is a picture of the USS John F Kennedy (CV-67) docking in Malta. The comparison to buildings, automobiles, and city streets gives some conception of its size.

I couldn't resist posting this picture of JFK, which was the first ship I was ever assigned to in the Navy. Stationed in Spain in the early 70's, I was ordered TAD (Temporary Additional Duty) aboard CV-67 in the North Atlantic (for about a month, as I recall). If memory serves, we were participating in a NATO exercise. We crossed the Arctic Circle aboard ship, making us all Blue Noses. This designation is similar to that of Shellback (for one who crosses the Equator aboard ship) but did not entail the extensive initiation process of Shellback.


I later served on another short TAD trip aboard the Kennedy (CV-67) in the Mediterranean. The memorable part of that trip was being flown off the ship on the carrier's COD, nicknamed Caroline, in honor of President Kennedy's daughter.

I previously wrote about my time aboard aircraft carriers here.

5 comments:

Bonnie said...

So, are you a bluenose AND a shellback ?

Sabba and Nanny said...

Alas, no, Bon. I never did cross the Equator on a ship.

Mrs. Wallace said...

so I guess the answer to the question is: yes, you have considered how big an aircraft carrier is! :-)

Sabba and Nanny said...

You are so right, Pam, and you showed me that I had removed a sentence that I originally had included to the effect "not only have I considered how big they are,I have experienced it on four different occasions..."

Kath said...

And Jimmy and I have been on the Kennedy as well! There was a dependent's day cruise that Dad was able to take me on. I was about 15 minutes pregnant with Jimmy, making the almost undetectable movement of this tremendous vessel getting underway seem like I was sailing through a tidal wave! Fortunately, fresh air revived me and it was a fun, fun day. I even saw (AND HEARD!) some flight ops!