Yorktown crewmembers pray for Astronauts
(or so the cruisebook caption read)--During
Christmas services held in the ship's chapel, two men of the crew pray for a
safe return of the three astronauts.I remember that I felt oddly about our mission. I had been on the Yorktown through a Vietnam War cruise. Our job during the Vietnam War was to keep track of enemy shipping, to act as a base for Search and Rescue missions if a pilot was shot down in enemy territory and of course to be always on the alert for enemy submarines. The Vietnam War was a hot war but we were in the midst of the "Cold War" where we constantly tracked the Russian Navy and they constantly tracked the US Navy, including the USS Yorktown. We were a warship and everything we did, every plane we launched and recovered-24 hours a day reminded me that we were on the front lines in the Cold War.
Yorktown crewmembers pray for Astronauts
(or so the cruisebook caption read)--During
Christmas services held in the ship's chapel, two men of the crew pray for a
safe return of the three astronauts.
The Yorktown approaches the "boilerplate" (Apollo 8 mockup) 1000 miles from Hawaii December 21, 1968. Navy UDT underwater demolition team swimmers (now known as SEALS) follow the boilerplate at the left. As the ship edges its way to the capsule, operators of the Boat and Airplane crane prepare for the pickup
The Yorktown's long and deserved reputation was that "she has taken lives and she has saved lives." But here was a mission that was completely new for the men of the Yorktown. Soon, the Yorktown would forever enter the history books as the ship that recovered the first men to travel to the moon and back. But at the time, I actually felt that for such a mighty warship that diverting her for the mere plucking of astronauts from the ocean was beneath her dignity.
Picture Caption: The Yorktown approaches the "boilerplate" (Apollo 8 mockup) 1000 miles from Hawaii December 21, 1968. Navy UDT underwater demolition team swimmers (now known as SEALS) follow the boilerplate at the left. As the ship edges its way to the capsule, operators of the Boat and Airplane crane prepare for the pickup
The practice went without a hitch
that I could see. I had to put on the photo lab’s flight gear and had a fellow
photographer take my picture in front of the practice capsule.
I
sent one to my Mom and another to my girlfriend in Madison Heights, Michigan.
Then
the gentlemen of the press came on board. There was a reporter from the Hawaiian
newspaper who said they were covering the story "like it was a local
story."
The Associated Press sent a photographer, Barry Sweet, who hung out with us in
the photo lab of the Yorktown, UPI sent Karl Kramer and ABC News sent a gaggle of technicians, NBC
sent Ron Nessen. Ron Nessen went on to greater fame. He became the press
secretary to President Ford at the White House a couple years later.
"Counting the minutes"
Live via Color TV around the World from the USS Yorktown.
CBS Veteran newsman Dallas Townsend speaking
to billions of people around the world from our flight deck
(click
here to see how AP and UPI got their pictures
of the Yorktown's recovery
spread around the world
from our location in the Pacific.)
