The original plan was that our ship would pull into an island port to refuel on our way south. Apparently the ship's captain managed to make a deal, because we skipped the port and did an underway replenishment a few days ago. An oiler pulled alongside, extended hoses, and we took on a quick sip of a few million gallons of heavy fuel oil.

What made it cool was that the oiler belonged to the USS Kitty Hawk carrier battlegroup. So I go up on the flight deck to do an inspection on one of our helicopters, and the Hawk was passing on our port beam at less than a mile range. The ship I'm on is a big ship by most standards, but a real fleet carrier can stomp all over us. It was on an opposite heading, so by the time I got below and came back up with my camera, it was miles away, on the horizon.

The carrier was showing off, too. They were busy launching S-3 Vikings at closest approach; and their overhead combat air patrol fighters were buzzing us at a freqency and altitude that seemed tactically unusual. The big guys like showing off to us; our little Harrier jump-jets can't compete with a fleet carrier's F-18 Hornets.

Posted by: Boviate at 09:11 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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