Happy Hour

"IF A LIFETIME CAN BE LIKENED TO A DAY, THEN THIS IS HAPPY HOUR!"
BUCK PENNINGTON

Mother, Mother Ocean

Mother, Mother Ocean, I've heard you call
Wanted to sail upon your waters since I was three feet tall
You've seen it all, you've seen it all
Watched the men who rode you, switch from sails to steam
In your belly you hold the treasures, few have ever seen
Most of 'em dream, most of 'em dream
Yes, I am a pirate, two hundred year's too late
The cannons don't thunder, there's nothin' to plunder
I'm an over-forty victim of fate
Arriving too late, arriving too late

Yoda

"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is."
―Yoda, to Luke Skywalker

Counted the Stars

Counted the stars on the 4th of July
Wishing we were rockets bursting in the sky
Talking about redemption and leaving things behind
I have these pictures and I keep these photographs
To remind me of a time
These pictures and these photographs
Let me know I'm doin' fine
We used to be so happy once upon a time
Once upon a time
But the sun sank west of the Mendocino County Line
And the sun sank west of the Mendocino County Line


""SOME SEE A GLASS AS HALF FULL, SOME SEE IT AS HALF EMPTY, I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHO’S DRINKING MY RUM."
Rumbear

Sunday, June 03, 2012

Rusty Mothball Fleet: Not your normal Ship Pr0n

From a guy at Flickr.
A shot of four carriers at NIMSF Bremerton WA.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/romamar76/4477314996/

 BREMERTON MOTHBALL FLEET

USS Ranger (CV 61)
Type ship: Forrestal-class aircraft carrier
Length: 1,067 feet
Beam: 270 feet
Status: Stricken, available for donation as museum or memorial
Commissioned: Aug. 10, 1957
Decommissioned: July 10, 1993
Stricken: March 8, 2004
 USS Ranger in 1980. I was in that A-6 Squadron back then.
 File:USS Ranger (CV-61) flightdeck and island 1980.jpg


 USS Independence (CV 62)
Type ship: Forrestal-class aircraft carrier
Length: 1,070 feet
Beam: 263 feet
Status: Stricken, to be disposed of
Commissioned: Jan. 10, 1959
Decommissioned: Sept. 30, 1998
Stricken: March 8, 2004

  Kitty Hawk and Independence at NS Pearl Harbor HI. RIMPAC 98. This was long after I had retired.
File:USS Independence (CV-62) and USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) at Pearl Harbor crop.jpg













 USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63)
Type ship: Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier
Length: 1,069 feet
Beam: 282 feet
Status: Out of commission, in reserve
Commissioned: April 29, 1961
Decommissioned: Spring 2009

USS Constellation (CV 64)
Type ship: Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier
Length: 1,073 feet
Beam: 282 feet
Status: Stricken, to be disposed of
Commissioned: Oct. 27, 1961
Decommissioned: Aug. 6, 2003
Stricken: Dec. 2, 2003

Those three vessels I served on are in the pic at the link as well as Constellation.
They represent a large part of my life, approximately 5 years and 2 months of it.


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

All four of these ships were there on 28th or was it the 27th Jan 1973. The day Vet Nam was over. I have the picture of it in the Ranger cruse book I have.
Along with CV-65, Oriskanie, Forrestal, and I think Coral Sea.

Hogdayafternoon said...

Noble ghosts. Carriers of souls.

IT (aka Ivan Toblog) said...

Five sailors from my Boot Camp company went straight from San Diego to the Constellation. I'm assuming they survived long enough to be plank owners.
My own ship, USS Wiltsie (DD 716) had the opportunity to operate with both the Ranger and the Kitty Hawk. Acting as plane guard for either was anything but fun.

Buck said...

Status: Stricken, to be disposed of

Those are pretty sad words, among the saddest in certain company. I kinda sorta know the feeling: NONE of the radar sites I served at during my career exist today. There are remnants... rusting towers, derelict buildings... and seeing those make me pretty sad.

Another one of those "gettin' old sucks" sorta thangs.

Musings from the Smartest Man in the World said...

I was on the Ranger in 89 & 90 while attached to VF-2. After 20+ years that was the best ship I was on. I would like to see it dontated as a museum someplace.

I will not go down and tell my children I didn't have the courage, the conviction, the commitment or the character to fight for this country...Don't go home and let your children down~~ LTC Allen West

Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus

‎"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.("Therefore, he who desires peace, let him prepare for war")" from "Epitoma Rei Militaris," by Vegetius (Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus)