1964-Contin ued
Fla., completing an l8-day, 26,550 nautical mile flight
which, in several stages, carried it around the world.
On the over-water leg of the flight, the plane dropped
explosive sound signals to assist Naval Ordnance
Laboratory scientists studying the acoustical properties
of the sea as a medium for sound transmission over
long distances.
7 May The Chief of Naval Operations informed the
Chief of Naval Personnel of an agreement by which
the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Coast Guard would train
Navy pilots in the techniques of operating HU-16 sea-
planes in Search and Rescue and requested its imple-
mentation.
24 June PHC Clara B. Johnson of VU-7 was desig-
nated an aerial photographer and became the first
WAVE with the right to wear the wings of an aircrew-
man.
26 June An LC-130F Hercules, commanded by
Lieutenant Robert V. Mayer of VX-6, completed a
round-trip flight from Christchurch, New Zealand, to
Antarctica in an emergency evacuation of Petty Officer
B. 1. McMullen, critically injured in a fall. Two planes,
with teams of medical specialists on board, flew from
NAS Quonset Point, R.1., to Christchurch where one
plane stood by while the other undertook the haz-
ardous flight.
29 June A new specification for the color of naval
aircraft was issued which changed the color scheme
for patrol aircraft assigned to antisubmarine work to
gull gray with white upper fuselage.
1 July The Pacific Missile Range facilities at Point
Arguello, Calif., and on Kwajalein Atoll were trans-
ferred from Navy to Air Force and Army command,
respectively.
2 August North Vietnam motor torpedo boats that
attacked Maddox (DD 731) patrolling international
waters in the Gulf of Tonkin, were damaged and driv-
en off by ships gunfire and rocket and strafing attacks
by aircraft from Ticonderoga.
5 August On orders from the president to take
offensive action toward preserving our right to operate
in international waters, aircraft from Seventh Fleet car-
riers Constellation and Ticonderoga attacked motor
torpedo boats and their supporting facilities at five
locations along the North Vietnam coast. In 64 attack
sorties against the concentrations, these aircraft sank
UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995
255
or seriously damaged 25 boats and destroyed a major
part of their petroleum stores and storage facilities.
15 August The president announced existence of a
program to develop a counterinsurgency (COIN) air-
plane designed to perform a variety of missions in
peace and war. The Navy Department, as the designat-
ed Department of Defense development agency,
selected North American Aviation Co., as the contrac-
tor for construction of the prototype, later assigned for
designation OV-lOA and the name Bronco.
29 August Boxer and two LSDs arrived off the coast
of Hispaniola to give medical aid and helicopter evacu-
ation services to people in areas of Haiti and the
Dominican Republic badly damaged by Hurricane Cleo.
28 September The Polaris A-3, Fleet Ballistic Missile,
became operational as Daniel Webster (SSBN 626)
departed Charleston, S.c., with a full load of the new
missiles.
30 September Three ski-equipped LC-130 Hercules
aircraft of VX-6 took off from Melbourne, Australia;
Christchurch, New Zealand and Punt an Arenas, Chile,
respectively, and made flights to Antarctica, landing on
Williams Field at McMurdo Sound. The flight from
Melbourne, the first in history from Australia to
Antarctica, passed over the South Pole to drop a 50-
pound sack of mail to the wintering-over party, then
landed at Byrd Station before proceeding to McMurdo
Sound. The arrival of Rear Admiral James R. Reedy,
Commander Naval Support Forces, Antarctica, on this
flight, on 1 October, marked the official opening of
Operation Deep Freeze '65.
1 October Franklin (AVT 8), formerly CVS, CVA and
CV 13, was stricken from the Navy Register-first of
the World War II Essex Class carriers to be labeled
unfit for further service.
3 October Operation Sea Orbit ended as Enterprise
and Long Beach (CGN 9) arrived at Norfolk and
Bainbridge (CGN 7) reached Charleston, S.c. This task
force, the world's first composed entirely of nuclear
powered ships, left Gibraltar on 31 July, sailed down
the Atlantic and around Africa, across the Indian and
Pacific Oceans, and around Cape Horn, completing a
65 day and 30,216 nautical mile round-the-world
cruise without taking on either fuel or provisions.
17 November Helicopters of HMM-162 from
Princeton, began delivery of 1,300 tons of food and
clothing to people in the inland areas of South
Vietnam flooded by heavy rains following a typhoon.

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