Talyn
Emissary
Note: My favorite Essex-Class CV.
Laid down a month before D-Day, the “Big O”, the Oriskany also made seven “fighting” deployments to Vietnam between 1965 and 1973, the first three with CVW-16 and the last four with CVW-19.
These were all typically with two squadrons of F-8C/E/J Crusader “gunfighters” while her punch came at first from two squadrons of A-4E Skyhawks and an A-1H/J Skyraider squadron, with those three VAs later replaced by three of A-7A/B Corsairs after 1969. These squadrons, of course, were augmented by dets of EKA-3 Whales, E-1B Stoofs, UH-2 Sea Sprites, SH-3 Sea Kings, and RF-8G photo birds.
She conducted one of the longest American carrier deployments of the Cold War on her 5 Jun 1972 – 30 Mar 1973 Tonkin Gulf cruise, chalking up 298 days.
laststandonzombieisland.com
Aerial photograph showing USS Oriskany (CV-34) on the day of her return to Alameda from her 18th and final deployment on 3 March 1976, seen just six months before she was decommissioned. Note that among the aircraft on her deck are two cocooned F-4 Phantoms (although tested with) and a Grumman A-6 Intruder– jets that were never operationally deployed on any Essex-class carrier.
She was coming off her last deployment (from 16 September 1975 to 3 March 1976) and capped her almost 26-year career, logging her 200,000th arrested landing during that final cruise with Carrier Air Wing 19 (CVW-19).
en.wikipedia.org
Her complete service history...
Laid down a month before D-Day, the “Big O”, the Oriskany also made seven “fighting” deployments to Vietnam between 1965 and 1973, the first three with CVW-16 and the last four with CVW-19.
These were all typically with two squadrons of F-8C/E/J Crusader “gunfighters” while her punch came at first from two squadrons of A-4E Skyhawks and an A-1H/J Skyraider squadron, with those three VAs later replaced by three of A-7A/B Corsairs after 1969. These squadrons, of course, were augmented by dets of EKA-3 Whales, E-1B Stoofs, UH-2 Sea Sprites, SH-3 Sea Kings, and RF-8G photo birds.
She conducted one of the longest American carrier deployments of the Cold War on her 5 Jun 1972 – 30 Mar 1973 Tonkin Gulf cruise, chalking up 298 days.
The Big O Comes Home
A half-century ago this very day, Aerial photograph showing USS Oriskany (CV-34) on the day of her return to Alameda from her 18th and final deployment on 3 March 1976, seen just six months before …
laststandonzombieisland.com
Aerial photograph showing USS Oriskany (CV-34) on the day of her return to Alameda from her 18th and final deployment on 3 March 1976, seen just six months before she was decommissioned. Note that among the aircraft on her deck are two cocooned F-4 Phantoms (although tested with) and a Grumman A-6 Intruder– jets that were never operationally deployed on any Essex-class carrier.
She was coming off her last deployment (from 16 September 1975 to 3 March 1976) and capped her almost 26-year career, logging her 200,000th arrested landing during that final cruise with Carrier Air Wing 19 (CVW-19).
USS Oriskany - Wikipedia
Her complete service history...
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