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Re: Russian ship question

My memory is not very good either. Could we be talking about a Russian plane that came near the ship on a WESTPAC cruise? I seem to recall an incident of that kind.

Re: Russian ship question

No, I'm not thinking of the Russian planes. I remember that well. I seem to recall being very near a Russian military vessel that was on the 'Hawk's port side. I seem to recall that we could have traded cigarettes we were so close. This would have been no later than April of '66. I remember the trawler that followed us and I remember there was a Russian sub that tailed us as well. I never saw that, but I heard about the sub.

Re: Russian ship question

I would presume that with the escorts we always had with us that nothing would be allowed as close as you are thinking. I have a picture of the Russian Plane ( The Bear ) that was escorted away from our ship by a couple of our own fighters.I do remember a ship on the horizon that wwas always monitoring our moves!!!!

Re: Russian ship question

Russian Trawler vs. Kitty Hawk – 1969—Off the coast of Vietnam:
Yes, it happened. I saw it all. I was the JOOD on the bridge. Capt. J.F. Davis was also on the bridge along with all of the other assorted people who are ordinarily on the bridge. We were off the coast of Vietnam and doing an underway refueling with a tanker. As always, the tanker was on the starboard side of the Kitty Hawk. It was a bit overcast that day. We saw a blip on the radar. We saw that the blip was a Russian trawler dead ahead at about 10 miles out. International open sea protocol is to give way to a ship that is underway replenishing. We had all the proper flags flying and we were flash signaling the trawler to move. But it stayed put. We were doing 12 knots which is the standard speed for an unrep. As we got closer, we started tooting the fog horn. The trawler which was perpendicular to us and facing starboard stayed put. Capt. Davis was cool as a cucumber. We stayed the course. At about one mile out, the trawler moved to a position about 100 yards to the starboard side of the tanker. The trawler was facing away from us. As we passed the trawler, I had the binoculars right on them. The crew was on the fan tail facing away from us, and one person was facing them and giving a vigorous lecture. They kept their cool and never looked back at us and they eventually faded into the distance. The trawler had some fishing nets out on the deck, but also had a ton of radio antennas sprouting all over the place. Just in case, Capt. Davis had prepared our crew and the tanker crew to be ready for an emergency disconnect. We would go to port and the tanker to starboard and we were prepared to let the trawler pass between us. And, yes, we did have an escort destroyer, but we kept them back because the only thing they could do was to ram the trawler or blow it out of the water. Either of those options would have led to an international incident which the Captain wanted to avoid.
Lt. JG Helios Joe Hernandez
May 18, 2015