Thread: Farewell to the Galloping Ghost of the Oahu Coast

USS Enterprise CVN 65 retired.
Fair seas and following winds...
USS Enterprise, World's 1st Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier, Taken Out Of Active Service (PHOTOS)

I actually took a tour of her in the late 60s at the Alameda navel air station.
Was like being in a small town it was so large.
Thing that always stayed in my mind was in the stern of the ship they had PT boats on dollys set on railroad tracks,at least 4 of them as I recall that could be launched out the backside of the ship,made an everlasting impression on me.

Always a sad day for an old sailor to see a proud ship being paid off.

Bob

Yeah, they called it an "inactivation ceremony". I hate to see stuff like that. Seems to me those ships acquire sort of a soul or life of their own.

My old ship, The USS AMERICA, is at the bottom of the Atlantic. She got sunk after being "inactivated". Funny thing, I'd always heard it as being decommissioned. I guess inactivation is more PC.

I guess I need to be quiet now. If I keep on, I'll surely upset some delicate feelings by saying what I really think about what's going on with our military.

As for the BIG E? She was a HELL of a ship. She and her crews and served with honor and pride.

On a related note, I was fortunate enough to witness USS Edson being towed up the Saginaw River to her new berth in Bay City, Michigan this summer.
I wish I'd been at historic Fort Wayne on the Detroit River when she received the cannon salute! BOOOOOOM!!!

We did many operations with the Enterprise when I was in the Navy. I was a Radarman and that ship is so big it filled the scope.

I used to have an overhead picture of the USS AMERICA, the USS ENTERPRISE, and the USS CORAL SEA all steaming along with their escorts and an unknown US Submarine. That was the first time since WWII that any carriers had been allowed to get that close together except in US waters.

At some point in the last 40 years that picture went the way of the wild goose.

Somewhere in the Tonkin Gulf, 1972, night ops. Taking a break from loading mail destined for N Viet Nam during Operation Linebacker II.