USS Constellation CV 64

DISPLACEMENT: 82,538 tons (74,877 metric tons) full load

LENGTH: 1,073 feet (327 meters)

BEAM: 130 feet (39.62 meters); extreme width: 282 feet (85.95 meters)

DRAFT: 39 feet (11.89 meters)

SPEED: In excess of 30 knots (34.5+ miles per hour)

COMPLEMENT: 4,000 crew

AIRCRAFT: 85

ARMAMENT: Three NATO Sea Sparrow launchers; four 20mm Phalanx CIWS mounts

CLASS: Kitty Hawk

.....The second Constellation (CVA 64) was built by New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, N.Y.; christened 8 October 1960 by Mrs., C.A. Herter, wife of the Secretary of State; and commissioned 27 October 1961, Capt., T.J. Walker, in command. She was named for one of the six frigates bought by the Continental Congress in the late 1790s. The first of those frigates, ships which were to make American naval history, was named for the ring of 13 stars that formed a "new constellation" on the flag of the United States.

.....It was in the last stages of her building at the New York Naval Shipyard, on 19 December 1960, a fire broke out on Constellation's hanger deck. Fifty civilian workers died in the blaze.

.....Constellation deployed to the western Pacific from her home port of San Diego on 5 May 1964. The first three months of that deployment brought normal operations, training and port calls. However, on 2 August, while operating in international waters in the gulf of Tonkin , USS Maddox (DD 731) reported being attacked by units of the North Vietnamese Navy. Within minutes of her receipt of the message, USS Ticonderoga (CVA 14) dispatched four, rocket-armed F8E Crusaders to the destroyers assistance. Upon arrival, the Crusaders launched Zuni rockets and strafed the North Vietnamese craft with their 20mm cannons. The Ticonderoga airmen teamed up with Maddox gunners to thwart the North Vietnamese attack, leaving one boat dead in the water and damaging the other two.

.....Two days later, late in the evening on 4 August, Ticonderoga received urgent requests from USS Turner Joy (DD 951), by then on patrol with Maddox, for air support in resisting what the destroyer alleged to be another torpedo boat foray. The carrier again launched planes to aid the American surface ships, and Turner Joy directed them. The Navy surface and air team believed it had sunk two boats and damaged another pair. President Johnson responded with a reprisal to what he felt at the time to be two unprovoked attacks on American sea power and ordered retaliatory air strikes on selected North Vietnamese motor torpedo boat bases. On 5 August, Ticonderoga and Constellation launched 60 sorties against four bases and their supporting oil storage facilities. Those attacks reportedly resulted in the destruction of 25 PT-type boats, severe damage to the bases, and almost complete razing of the oil storage depot. The strikes lasted for four hours. Constellation lost an A-1H Skyraider, whose pilot, Lt., j.g. Richard A. Sather, became the first Navy pilot to be killed in Vietnam, and an A-4E Skyhawk, flown by Lt., j.g. Everett Alvarez who became the first Navy POW.

.....On August 1964, Congress authorized President Johnson to "take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the United States....[and] to assist any member or protocol state" of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). This resolution passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 416 to 0 and in the Senate by 88 to 2.

.....Constellation returned 1 February 1965. Her crew was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for actions in the Gulf of Tonkin. Constellation again deployed to the western Pacific from her home of San Diego on 12 May 1966 with Carrier Air Wing 15. On 1 July, three North Vietnam torpedo boats came out to attack USS Coontz (DLG 9) and USS Rogers (DD 876) operating about 40 miles off shore on search and rescue missions. Aircraft from Constellation and USS Hancock (CVA 19) made short work of the attackers, sinking all three with bombs, rockets, and 20mm cannon fire. After the attack, Coontz pulled 19 survivors from the water. Constellation returned from the WESTPAC deployment on 3 December 1966.

.....Constellation made her third deployment to the western Pacific and Vietnam in 1967. She departed San Diego with a new air wing, CVW 14, on 29 April 1967 and returned home on 4 December.

.....Constellation began her fourth deployment to the western Pacific and Vietnam on 29 May 1968. It was during the initial stages of this deployment that she was visited in June by President Lyndon B. Johnson. On 1 November, as directed by President Johnson, all bombing of North Vietnam was halted at 2100 Saigon time. The last Navy mission over the restricted area was flown earlier in the day from Constellation by Cmdr., Kenneth E. Enney in an A-7 Corsair II. Constellation remained on deployment, returning home to San Diego on 31 January 1969. Following maintenance and training periods, the carrier once again stood out from southern California, the time on her fifth deployment to the western Pacific and Vietnam on 11 August 1969.

.....On 28 March 1970, Lt., Jerome E. Beaulier, and Lt., (j.g.) Stephen J. Barkley in an F-4 Phantom II of VF-142 off Constellation shot down a MiG-21 while escorting an unarmed Navy reconnaissance plane on a mission near Thanh Hoa, North Vietnam. This was the first North Vietnamese MiG kill since the 1 November 1968 bombing halt. Constellation returned home on 8 May 1970.

.....On 1 October 1971, Constellation sailed from San Diego to begin her sixth combat deployment to Vietnam. Seven months later, Lieutenant Randy Cunningham and Lieutenant (junior grade) Willie Driscoll became America 's first aces of the war by downing three MiG fighters during vicious dog-fighting over North Vietnam, bringing their total to five enemy aircraft in four months. Alternating on Yankee Station, Constellation, USS Oriskany (CVA 34) and USS Enterprise (CVAN 65) provided 22 two-carrier days on the line by 1 November, delivering 1,766 ordnance-bearing strike sorties, twelve and nine of them into North Vietnam and South Vietnam, respectively. Two reconnaissance missions were flown during the month, with the airfield at Vinh the mission assignment. Escort aircraft on both missions expended ordnance in a protective reaction role against firing antiaircraft artillery sites near the field. Other protective reaction strikes were executed.

.....Constellation and Enterprise operated on Yankee Station together during the month until 10 December, when Enterprise was unexpectedly directed to transit to the Indian Ocean where she operated as flagship for the newly formed Task Force 74 for the possible evacuation of U.S. citizens from East Pakistan in connection with the Indo-Pakistani war. Constellation's tour was extended to the end of the month due to these new contingency operations. USS Coral Sea (CVA 43) joined Constellation on the line 15 December.

.....A total of 2,462 ordnance delivery strike sorties were flown during December 1971. The number of surface-to-air missile firing incidents increased and the bold excursions by MiG aircraft into Laos prompted both the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy to develop new tactics, combining efforts, to suppress the MiG threat. A major protective reaction strike effort by both USAF and USN commenced 26 December and terminated 30 December. In this period, TF-77 flew 423 strike sorties employing all-weather A-6A systems backed up by A-7Es as pathfinders, with Dong Hoi, Quang Khe and Vinh the major targets assigned to the Navy. During the month, the Laser Guided Bomb (LGB) was introduced by squadrons aboard Constellation. Initially, 16 trial LGB drops were road cuts, with subsequent targets antiaircraft artillery sites. In the coming year, LGBs were to be used effectively against heretofore seemingly indestructible targets in NVN, such as heavy steel bridge structures built into solid rock.

.....USS Enterprise rejoined Constellation on Yankee Station on 18 January 1972 following her tour in the Indian Ocean in December 1971. The next day, 19 January, Lieutenants Randall H. Cunningham and William P. Driscoll in an F-4 Phantom of VF-96 off Constellation shot down a MiG-21, the first enemy aircraft downed since the 28 March 1970 shoot-down of a MiG-21 by Lt., Jerome E. Beaulier and Lt., (j.g.) Stephen J. Barkley in an F-4 Phantom II of VF-142 off Constellation. The 19 January action occurred during a protective reaction strike in response to earlier antiaircraft artillery and surface-to-air missile firings from the area which had menaced an RA-5C reconnaissance plane and its escorts. This accounted for the Navy's 33rd MiG shot down in the Vietnam War since the first shoot-down on 17 June 1965, downed by Commanders Louis C. Page and John J. Smith in a F-4 of VF-21 off USS Midway (CVA 41).

.....Throughout January 1972 Constellation, Coral Sea and Enterprise served intermittently on Yankee Station. With only light ground action, limited troop contacts and withdrawal of U.S. ground troops continuing during the month, the level of air operations also remained low, a situation which continued generally throughout the first three months of the year. During January, a total of only eight Navy tactical air attack sorties were flown in South Vietnam. In North Vietnam, there was very little attack effort except for some protective reaction strikes.

.....During the following month, naval air attack sorties in South Vietnam had risen to 733 compared to the eight during January. The increase was due to the preemptive operations by allied forces in preparation for an expected large-scale enemy offensive during Tet which did not materialize. Constellation, Coral Sea, and Hancock served overlapping tours on Yankee Station, assuring two to three carriers on station at a time during most of February 1972.

.....Naval Air attack sorties in South Vietnam in March 1972 again dropped to 113. On 23 March the U.S. canceled further peace negotiations in Paris, France, because of a lack of progress in the talks. This was followed by the North Vietnamese invasion of South Vietnam. This "Easter", or "Spring Offensive" was the result of the long buildup and infiltration of North Vietnamese forces during previous months and presaged some of the most intense fighting of the entire war. The North Vietnamese invasion prompted increased air operations by the carriers in support of South Vietnamese and U.S. forces. The carriers on Yankee Station when North Vietnam invaded on 30 March were Hancock and Coral Sea, which had rotated with Constellation and USS Kitty Hawk (CVA 63).

.....Beginning on 5 April 1972, aircraft from Constellation, along with those from Hancock, Coral Sea and Kitty Hawk took part in Operation Freedom Train which involved Navy Tactical air sorties against military and logistic targets in the southern part of North Vietnam that were involved in the invasion of the south. The operating area in North Vietnam was limited initially to between 17 degrees and 19 degrees north. However, special strikes were authorized against targets above the 19th parallel on various occasions. The magnitude of the North Vietnamese offensive indicated that an extended logistics network and increased re-supply routes would be required to sustain ground operations by North Vietnam in their invasion of South Vietnam. Most target and geographical restrictions that were placed in effect since October 1968 concerning the bombing in North Vietnam were against vehicles, lines of communication (roads, waterways, bridges, railroad bridges and railroad tracks), supply targets, air defense targets and industrial/power targets. By the end of April, operations were permitted in North Vietnam throughout the region below 20 degrees 25' N and many special strikes above the 20th parallel had also been authorized.

.....By mid-April, the Navy was averaging 191 sorties per day in South Vietnam, a 97 percent increase over the previous week. Sorties concentrated west and north of Quangtri City with interdiction and direct air support flown in the area. Carriers on Yankee Station were Constellation, Hancock, Coral Sea, and Kitty Hawk. On 16 April, in Operation Freedom Porch, aircraft from Constellation and the other three carriers on Yankee Station flew 57 sorties in the Haiphong area in support of U.S. Air Force B-52 strikes on the Haiphong petroleum products storage area. From 25 through 30 April, Constellation's VA-146, VA-147, and VA-165 hit areas around the besieged city of Anloc in support of South Vietnamese troops, some only 40 miles outside the capital of Saigon. Targets attacked included artillery fire bases, enemy tanks, bunkers, troop positions, ammunition caches and gun emplacements.