Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in February 1965, an aircraft received what was believed to be an accidental "cold cat" launch from USS Essex, CVS-9. USS Gearing had the plane guard assignment and was right there when the aircraft landed in the water. The flight crew scrambled into a life raft as the plane sank. An Essex helicopter quickly moved in and, shown here, begins to lift the pilots to safety, one at a time. |
member is lifted to safety in this photo, but with the raft now much lighter, the downwash kept blowing the raft out of reach of the rescue collar. (This photo was on page one of the Providence Journal a couple of days later.) |
rescue team moves in and picks up the last pilot. He was an honored guest of the Gearing crew for several days and was highlined back to Essex only after they paid a "ransom" of multiple gallons of ice cream. |