Silent and Unseen by McLaren Alfred

Author:McLaren, Alfred
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-6125-1846-6
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Published: 2015-05-14T16:00:00+00:00

Aircraft Reconnaissance Mission

Between Seadragon’s two Cold War missions, while I was at sea in the Northern Pacific with Seventh Fleet ASW units, I transferred to the aircraft carrier USS Midway (CVA 41) for several days to take part in a flight operation. A helicopter hovered above our sail, lowered a harness, and, once I had secured myself within it, lifted—or rather yanked—me up into the air and reeled me to an open door in the side of the helicopter where several crewmembers grabbed and hauled me inside. We flew to the Midway and landed on her flight deck, and I exited to be met by Cdr. Frank S. Haak who would be my host during my visit. I was quickly shown where I would be berthed and given a brief tour of “officers’ country” and the bridge area, where flight operations were in progress.

When mealtime came, I was turned over to two junior naval aviators who would take me to dinner in what was called the alligators mess, where all the junior officers—mostly ensigns, lieutenants junior grade, and junior lieutenants—ate their meals. It was well named, because the huge dining area seemed to be packed with ravenous junior officers. One of my escorts was a Lt. Robert J. Craig, a fellow U.S. Naval Academy graduate, class of 1956, with whom I had run the high hurdles on the track team. He was flying the Vought F8U “Crusader” on night missions at the time and confided to me how much he disliked making carrier landings at night with that aircraft. He also expressed his concern that he might not make it one night. Sadly, just three months later, his premonition was to prove true.

Following dinner, Commander Haak, who was the squadron commander of VAH-8, a heavy attack squadron, invited me to join him on a night mission in his Douglas A3D-2 Skywarrior, or Whale as it was termed by carrier aircraft handling crews because of its large size compared to other carrier aircraft and its heavy weight of up to 80,000 pounds.2 The aircraft was a four-seat version that normally carried a pilot, copilot/navigator, radio-electronics operator, and a crew chief who handled the tail guns when installed. I would be taking the crew chief’s place. The mission was to be a radar stimulation one off the coast of North Korea, and we would be collecting/recording search and fire control radar emissions plus attendant communications.

I was provided with proper flight clothing and a parachute. I changed clothes and took part in the preflight briefing, which outlined the route that would be followed, the altitude, and the possible reaction by North Korean forces that we might encounter. The briefing also included the survival procedures we should follow if we went into the water or made an emergency or crash landing somewhere. We all climbed on board the aircraft shortly before 8:00 p.m.. The A3D lacked ejection seats, and as a result A3D had come to mean “All three dead,” since the only exits

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