This shot was taken exactly 40 years ago, capturing the USS Enterprise sailing back to the states after a Pacific cruise that included the evacuation of Saigon. The green CH-53s sitting on the “Big E’s” bow were hitching a ride back to the states. Those little dots in front of them?Sunbathers enjoying the breeze, seas and skies.
The Enterprise also was carrying F-14 Tomcats, one of which sits at alert on the #3 waist catapult. This cruise was the first for the F-14A, with VF-1 Wolfpack and VF-2 Bounty Hunters heading to sea in their new and still very finicky mounts for the historic cruise.
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