(1976) Carrier Visit : USS Nimitz , 1976

On August 16th and 17th, 1976 , Hans and a colleague of his had the unique opportunity to visit the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz , during her first deployment to the Mediterranean , in order to make a written and pictorial report for several (aviation-) magazines .
The flight from Naval Station Sigonella in Sicily to the Nimitz was made in Grumman Greyhound 148148 and the return-trip in Sea Knight 151934 on the next day.
Quote from an article in the September 1976 -issue of Flash Aviation Magazine :
“at 14.00 (hours local time , on Monday , August 16th) we were checked in for Flight 322 to our destination : USS Nimitz , the largest aircraft carrier ever built… Grumman C-2 Greyhound took us to the ship in a 3-hours flight from Sigonella. It really is a curious and interesting experience to make a landing on a ship! At the moment we arrived , the carrier was not far away from the coast of Crete in the Mediterranean (…..).
The aircraft aboard NIMITZ all belong to Carrier Air Wing EIGHT (…). Our US Navy hosts were most friendly and we had all opportunity to get a good impression of what was going on(…) After a good night’s rest in one of the ship’s cabins we had the opportunity to watch the NIMITZ receiving new supplies during the entire following morning(….) At 1400 hours on August 17th , we were checked in for a helicopter-flight to take us back to Sigonella, Sicily. During our stay at the ship it had moved from the waters of South Crete towards the coast of Sicily. That was why a helicopter could be used to take us back.(…) This meant to be the end of an unforgettable experience : the visit to a USN Aircraft Carrier at Sea! ” (end quote)
(special thanks to Mr. Jelle J.Hogetoorn jr. for making this carrier-visit possible)

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