Refuelling at Sea
The USS Independence (CV-62), and the USS Biddle (CG-34) are seen here in the Eastern Mediterranean in the summer of 1982, refuelling from the Military Sealift Command's (MSC's) replenishment oiler Pawcatuck (T-AO-108).
Independence, the fourth and last of the Forrestal-class oil-fuelled steam-driven aircraft carriers, was one of two in the US Sixth Fleet that summer. Biddle, the ninth and last of the Belknap-class cruisers, was part of her protective screen. Pawcatuck, the fourth of five Mispillion-class oilers, and a Military Sealift Command (MSC) unit, was part of her underway replenishment group (URG). The photo was taken from aboard another element of the URG, USS Mount Baker (AE-34).
Whilst this was at the height of the Cold War, and the group was primarily focused on providing support to NATO's Southern Flank, in this instance we were actually heading for Beirut. There we supported the 32nd MAU (Marine Amphibious Unit - a reinforced battalion) who landed temporarily to assist the Lebanese government and protect the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), which was being ejected from the city to various countries around the region following Israel's invasion.
Scanned from a negative.
Refuelling at Sea
The USS Independence (CV-62), and the USS Biddle (CG-34) are seen here in the Eastern Mediterranean in the summer of 1982, refuelling from the Military Sealift Command's (MSC's) replenishment oiler Pawcatuck (T-AO-108).
Independence, the fourth and last of the Forrestal-class oil-fuelled steam-driven aircraft carriers, was one of two in the US Sixth Fleet that summer. Biddle, the ninth and last of the Belknap-class cruisers, was part of her protective screen. Pawcatuck, the fourth of five Mispillion-class oilers, and a Military Sealift Command (MSC) unit, was part of her underway replenishment group (URG). The photo was taken from aboard another element of the URG, USS Mount Baker (AE-34).
Whilst this was at the height of the Cold War, and the group was primarily focused on providing support to NATO's Southern Flank, in this instance we were actually heading for Beirut. There we supported the 32nd MAU (Marine Amphibious Unit - a reinforced battalion) who landed temporarily to assist the Lebanese government and protect the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), which was being ejected from the city to various countries around the region following Israel's invasion.
Scanned from a negative.