with Christmas decor….swabba swabba swabba-dink and macaroni zoo
MAKE the island lights so festive…wallawalla Washington and Kalamazoo!
I could go on…..but methinks you don’t want to hear me carrying on in holiday spirit this early in December.
USS Dwight D Eisenhower in holiday regalia….more or less. It was an absolutely nasty day – that snow the DC area and others received was just a grumpy, wet and gray rain day here in Norfolk – not a good picture taking one.
I did get a few semi-ok ones of the USS Carl Vinson returning to port from some sea trials. Normally a west coast carrier, CVN 70 has been in Newport News undergoing a major refueling and upgrade service-life extension program the past few years. Watching the ship come back was kind of interesting – I watched from the entrance to the harbor, as she was turned around by the big ol’ tug boats, all the way until she was moored and they shifted colors from the main mast yardarm to the flagpole on the stern.
Vinson inbound
The turnaround (exciting, I know, especially when speed is measured in feet per minute)
Just a nice one of the starboard side of the ship (the two starboard tugs headed over to the port side to start pushin’ there). Those ship designers knew what they were doing with that overhang – it still amazes me how that thing stays right-side up.
A little HDR action with this one, just to give it a bit of eye-flavor.
One of the tugs kicking up a bit of a fuss as she pushes the ol’ girl into place.
And of course, when teh first of those big rope hawsers are attached to the pier, a blast of the ship’s horn and the announcement: “The ship is moored. Shift colors”.
More when I get home. Last day tomorrow. I know you guys are getting sick of hearing this, but those khakis will feel particularly good. I might not want to take them off at the end of the day.
Jake the Snake // Dec 6, 2009 at 8:05 am
Who’s your relief for Norfolk NS photos with no more training weekends in your future? And I always found it curious you took a lot of SHIP(!) photos when you were a weekend warrior rather than hanging around NAS Norfolk (for E-2 or H-53 pics) or cruising down to MJB Oceana for Hornet or other AIRCRAFT(!) photos. Perhaps I missed those. ;-|
Deep down I think you really wanted to be a SWO. FW&FS
Kevin // Dec 6, 2009 at 10:19 am
A beautiful ship.
Bob Kelly // Dec 6, 2009 at 11:40 am
Very nice pix, as usual. Very nice to hear you channelling ‘Pogo’ too. Carpe Diem – Merry Christmas!
Kinda off topic, but what do the flags say on the mainmast?
Matt // Dec 6, 2009 at 11:57 am
For some reason that first picture of Vinson inbound is really great to me. Can’t say exactly why though. Should submit the HDR one to the news since that is all the rage now.
Kath // Dec 6, 2009 at 2:43 pm
And for the non-Navy amongst us, why are they moving the flag?
CunningPike // Dec 7, 2009 at 4:07 pm
@Bob Kelly,
I hope I’m not speaking out of turn, because Pinch would know way more than me, but I pretty sure that the port-side flags mean ‘I have a pilot on board’. The first striped flag signifies that the following signal (the one below) is from the International Code, and the Hotel flag is the signal for ‘I have a pilot on board’. The raising of that signal would have been accompanied by 4 short blasts on the whistle – the Morse code for ‘H’.
The starboard signal reads ‘NCVV’ – the USS Carl Vinson’s callsign.
@Kath
It is Navy protocol to fly the US flag from the gaff when underway, and from the jackstaff at the stern when moored (from 0800 to sunset).
Hoping I didn’t tread on Pinch’s toes…
CP
Pinch // Dec 7, 2009 at 7:43 pm
CP,
I owe you one (or more) of your favorite adult beverages! Well done.
CunningPike // Dec 9, 2009 at 2:47 am
On the contrary, Pinch – I owe you many beers. You walked the walk where I merely talk a good talk, and much is owed to people like you by people like me.
Enjoy your retirement – FW&FS!
CP
Kath // Dec 8, 2009 at 6:37 am
Thank you, CP.
Larry // Dec 9, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Thank you for the great photos, Pinch. I was AT3 aboard Chuckie-V for WESTPAC ‘86 and ‘88; seeing her again brings back a lot of memories.
Thanks for your service, and FW&FS for whatever comes next.
Steeljaw Scribe // Dec 12, 2009 at 12:21 pm
On a day not unlike the above, we entered the turning basin on IKE only to find to our dismay that the Stennis was sitting where we were supposed to go to pick up the tugs and TR hadn’t completed her berthing shift. *We* were on time (to the second) but you were pretty much looking at a CVN gridlock, so we had to go over to the weaps anchorage and wait for everyone else to finish. Not fun when coming back form a prolonged at sea, families waiting on the pier and your “buds” couldn’t get their act together and stay on schedule.
Still, got another graded anchorage evolution from the AIRLANT team which was good for the Battle E competition…
- SJS
P.S. Pinch – you really should submit these and some of your other shots to the official navy site. Your eye for composition and use of color is superior to many of the official hacks they post over there.
Glenn Cassel AMH1 USN Retired // Dec 20, 2009 at 4:18 pm
The turn to Pier 12! It has been a long time since I did that. The last time was on the GW’s shakedown in 92. And I haven’t been at the Whiskey Anchorage in say…….. almost 35 years. It is good to have a look at NS Norfolk and surroundings once in a while.