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Nigel R. Sadler visits Portsmouth UK on 5th April for the first visit of a flat-top in 4 years...... |
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Nigel R. Sadler visits Portsmouth UK on 5th April for the first visit of a flat-top in 4 years...... |
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| Dropping Anchor in Stokes Bay, Portsmouth on 3th April , A welcome visitor to the shores of the UK was the aircraft carrier USS Theodore ROOSEVELT. She was on her way home to the US having handed over the reins to the outgoing CVN69 USS Dwight D Eisenhower as her tour of duty in the Gulf had come to an end, after a seven-month deployment supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. A well earned rest for the CO Captain Ladd “Wheels” Wheeler and his crew, the next few days there would be some R&R visiting places such as London, Stone Henge and other places of interest. I set off for Portsmouth at 03:00 for the 3 and a half hour journey meeting the other Squadron members on the naval base prior to being met by our US Navy hosts |
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We
had to park our cars on the dock right next to HMS Daring rather a nice
surprise as we were hoping we may get a glimpse of her. Boarding A281
Nutbourne for the 40 minute transit we eagerly waited the sight of the
carrier, boarding was via the pontoons at the rear of the ship the deck
looked awesome with so much hardware being visible still very odd to not
see the old Tomcats but the new F-18e’s and F’s looked really
impressive. This
visit was all the more significant as it would see a number of milestones,
firstly the air wing CVW-8 will be swapped to CVN-77 USS George H.W.Bush
in 2009 so the last time the wing will be on the big stick. A second
milestone will see this as the last cruise for VAQ-141 with the venerable
EA-6B Prowler as they will start the transition to the EA-18G
“Growler” later in the year, and last but not least the last time
SH-60F and HH-60F Seahawks will be at sea with HS-3, the unit is to
upgrade to new MH-60S helicopters being re-designated HSC-9 on July 1st
2009, there were some historical pictures to be taken to capture the
moment.
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Our
visit started in the William D. Johnston Room Mr. William Davison Johnston served as the President of the
Theodore Roosevelt Association from 1980 to 1986. He was also Co-Chairman
of the Association's Ship Commissioning Committee, and his dedicated
efforts in this area during the ship's years of construction were
inspirational. He was singularly responsible for gaining permission from
the National Park Service for the ship to hold and display TR memorabilia
in its museum. Mr. Johnston died in 1991. During the Theodore Roosevelt
Association's 73rd annual dinner on Oct. 31, 1992, Vice Admiral S. A.
Abbot, then a Captain and serving as TR's third Commanding Officer, named
the ship's on board museum in honour of Mr. Johnston and his lifelong
support of Theodore Roosevelt's legacy This room is actually on the same level of the hanger deck at the rear of the ship. We then made our way to the flight control room where the euijie board is kept, plotting every exact location of the aircraft on deck this is maintained constantly if anyone knocks off any of the aircraft cut-outs they have to pay a dollar, some quick photographs of the whole deck were taken to ensure we could plot the deck locations later. |
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Out
onto the flight deck we were in parties of 10 and each had a hosts who
were there to answer all our questions basically we could go anywhere we
liked. The arrester gear was on maintenance so at least we didn’t have
that to trip over on this visit, the sun was glorious as we photographed
everything 10 times over in a wonderful spring morning. The CAG birds as
always were a draw to the lense and looking at the detail on each aircraft
brought out some interesting art work that the crew had applied. |
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We
then made our way to the bridge and had an excellent talk about the
various navigation devices on board, and there in the far left corner was
the chair where “Wheels” sat when on the bridge. A quick photograph to
the front of the ship as this can’t be accessed from Vultures row and
then we climbed more stairs to come out above the deck on VR to take some
shots down on the deck. |
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