May - 1959
1959 - Special Ops - U.S.S. Mount Katmai AE-16 - U.S.S. Hornet CVA-12
The story goes something like this - The Mount Katmai had just pulled into Hong Kong and we hadn't dropped anchor yet. An encrypted message came into the radioshack and was sent to the Crypto room to be un-encrypted. Captain Beyers read it and gave orders to sail out of the harbor of Hong Kong. There went 5 days of R&R! We moved south to the South China Sea. There we met a task force. I don't remember the given code name. There was one aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Hornet - CVA-12, a cruiser, and several destroyers. Names of the cruiser and destroyers are unknown at this time.
We passed ammo to the cruiser in the dark, early AM. We then connected to the Hornet and passed ammo all day until we were empty of all but nuclear (if we had any onboard).
The radio shack is on the same deck as the bridge and was known as O3 level. Above that is the Signal Bridge known as the O4 level. I went up to the O4 level and climbed up the mast that held our radar antenna along with a couple of our radio antennas. I could see the flight deck. The aircraft, which had been dark blue prior to that, were now a flat white. The insignias could hardly be seen from 50 feet away. The aircraft, which I've ID'd as A4D or Skyhawks were being loaded and lined up for take off. Several hours after watching take-off's and landings I went below to the radio shack and changed frequency on one of the radios to listen to a newscast. I don't remember what service I switched to. I remember hearing "...unidentified aircraft are bombing and straffing the end of the runway where the rebels are located...." Or something to that effect.
Now - how many of you were aboard the Katmai at this time? What do you remember?
A4D - Skyhawk - the type I "think" I saw on the Hornet's flight deck.
Now, since we were told by our Captain "you were not here today" just what happened? Well, it appears that we may have been part of a CIA operation. In that aircraft from the Hornet supported an operation sponsored by the CIA. On the Internet you can do a search for rebels airfield 1959 laos and you find, among others, the following pages:
U.S.S. Hornet CVA-12
What Do You Remember?
Please remember - this is what I think I remember of the time period - early to mid 1959. I do know that after we left the group we sailed home. I was home just in time for the birth of my first daughter, Diana Lynn, in July 1959, and then shipped out to Guam. I arrived on Guam just after the frist of August 1959.
Sam Vallance, CTRC, USN-Ret Wednesday, 9/14/05, 9:12 PM
Good memories of the "Kat" - I read about the Special Ops that was listed for 1959; I was aboard when the rearming took place and remember the unmarked planes very well. We were close to Sumatra when the rearming took place. Early, early in the a.m. when we sighted the Task Unit. Came close to being a shellback, but heard the the Captain was a pollywog and wouldn't keep going across the equator. Oh Well :-) It was in 1958 though and we weren't pulled out of Hong Kong, we were steaming toward Kagashima for R&R when we had to head toward the rearming of the ships. I was SK3 at the time and worked for SKC Joe Murphy and SK1 Bob Stafonic. Was transferred to NavBase Key West in April 1959 when we returned from our 9 month WestPac Cruise. D/C in Nov 60 and back to active duty in 1963. Switched over to CT2 from SK2 in 1965 and retired as CTRC in Jan 1978. "Thanks for the memories" as a favorite navy friend used to say. :-) All the best to all you Navy Vets.
From: Greenwood, South Carolina
E-mail: samdeb@nctv.com
Someone else remembers this event ....
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