1975-Continued

30 April VW-4, the Hurricane Hunters, was disestab-

lished. Established 15 November 1952 as VJ-2 and

redesignated VW-4 in 1953, it was the Navy's last

squadron specifically detailed for hurricane reconnais-

sance. During its more than 30 years of service, VW-4

made major contributions to meteorological science,

oceanographic research, the National Weather Service,

and the Naval Weather Service Command.

2 May Midway off-loaded at Utapao, Thailand, over

40 USAF helicopters used in South Vietnam evacuation

operations. At the same time, carrier personnel assisted

in the recovery and on-loading from the Utapao Airport

of over 95 South Vietnamese Air Force craft, including

F-5 fighters and A-37 light bombers, which had been

flown into Utapao when South Vietnam fell to the

Communists. The aircraft were transported to Guam.

2 May Development of a new carrier-based fighter

by the McDonnell Douglas and the Northrop aircraft

corporations was announced by NAVAIR. To be

designed for speeds in excess of Mach 1.5, a combat

ceiling in excess of 45,000 feet and a radius of action

of more than 400 nautical miles, development was to

emphasize improved maneuvering performance, relia-

bility, and maintainability.

5 May The first training class for a new type of

physician, the Aviation Medical Officer (AMO), began

at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute, Pensacola,

Fla. The program was initiated because of the acute

shortage of flight surgeons. The AMOs were not

scheduled to undergo flight training nor be assigned

duty involving flying; instead, they were to augment

the efforts of flight surgeons where aeromedical work-

loads were heavy, performing flight physicals and pro-

viding routine medical care.

12-14 May Coral Sea participated with other Navy,

Air Force and Marine forces in the recovery of the

American merchantship SS Mayaguez and her 39 crew-

men, illegally seized on 12 May in international waters

by a Cambodian gunboat controlled by the Communist

Khmer Rouge. Protective air strikes were flown from

the carrier against the Cambodian mainland naval and

air installations as USAF helicopters with 288 Marines

from Battalion Landing Teams 2 and 9 were launched

from Utapao, Thailand, to rescue the crew and secure

the merchantman. Eighteen Marines, airmen and Navy

corpsmen were lost in action. Alerted for response, but

not utilized before the release of the commandeered

ship and crew on the 14th, were Hancock, operating

as an LPH platform, and Okinawa.

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

313

1 July All U.S. naval gunfire training activities at the

Puerto Rican island of Culebra were terminated

through a joint Washington-San Juan agreement, end-

ing a controversy that had dragged on for years. The

announcement indicated that air-to-ground weapons

training at Culebra Cays would continue for a limited

time only because of previously scheduled training

activities.

1 July The aircraft carrier designation CV A was

replaced with CV. This change was made to improve the

accuracy of designations in modern warfare. By remov-

ing the letter A, which stood for attack, the new desig-

nation CV could serve a multipurpose air, surface, and

ASW role, depending on the type of aircraft carried.

24 July HS-6 operating off New Orleans recovered

the Apollo spacecraft and astronauts Vance D. Brand

(former Navy pilot), Thomas P. Stafford (USAF) and

Donald K. Slayton (USAF). This splashdown marked

the end of the Apollo-Soyuz mission, the first joint

U.S.-Soviet space effort, and the end of the Apollo

Program. It was also the final planned at-sea recovery

in the U.S. space program.

28 July The U.S. Senate cleared the way for construc-

tion at Diego Garcia by voting to expand the U.S. sup-

port facility on the Indian Ocean island. It ended a long

dispute over construction at the installation, permitting

the Navy to begin an $18.1 million expansion to include

aircraft runway extension, petroleum-oillubricants stor-

age areas, a pier and additional power plant facilities.

29 July The Navy created the lighter-than-air project

office at the Naval Air Development Center, Warminster,

Pa. The purpose of this office was to enhance expertise

in lighter-than-air technology within the Navy.

1 August A KA-3B Skywarrior, attached to VAQ-208,

completed the longest nonstop flight ever made by a

carrier-based tactical jet aircraft. The flight originated

at the Naval Station, Rota, Spain, and ended at NAS

Alameda, Calif. It covered a distance of 6,100 miles

and lasted 13 hours.

2 August The Commandant of the Marine Corps

announced that the twelve Marine Corps fighter/attack

squadrons would remain an all F-4 Phantom force

until their replacement by F-18 aircraft beginning in

the early 1980s. The Marine Corps was scheduled orig-

inally to be equipped with four squadrons of the F-14

Tomcats, but instead these four would be used to tran-

sition four Navy fighter squadrons from F-4s to F-14s,

thus retaining the authorized 18- squadron Navy force

for overall air defense.