Sea stories by Ensign Dale Potts (later Capt. Dale Potts USNR)
Public Information Officer USS Yorktown
1968 to 1970
USS Yorktown is the First Navy Floating TV Station
While homeported in Long Beach, CA during the late 60's, the YORKTOWN was
sponsored by the Beverly Hills Council of the Navy League. Jane Wyman adopted the ship and Hollywood stars like Edgar Burgin (along with Charlie McCarthy) provided free entertainment for holiday parties for the crew and their families.
One of the Navy League members, Eldon Rule, was the Vice President of ABC and ran the local ABC Network station. When the station upgraded its equipment, he made arrangements for the transmitter and key studio equipment to go to the YORKTOWN. The Navy league donated 50 TV monitors for crew spaces and the YORKTOWN was the one of the first Navy ships, if not the first, to have a shipboard television system.
The entire TV System was installed by the members of the Navy League while we were training in the Catalina area . Four or five of them would fly out to the ship each morning in the COD Aircraft and would stay aboard three or four days. It took them three months to complete the job. They also installed TV monitors in the destroyers that were going to accompany us on upcoming WESTPAC cruise.
The main purpose for the TV was education. According to statistics recently provided to me by CAPT Bennett, 639 men earned their High School Diploma and 39 men earned 9 Collage credit hours. All the educational tapes and materials, including exams, were provided by Los Angeles City College.
At that time, many overseas land bases had TV stations and were supplied with regular programming from the Armed Forces Radio-TV network. This included 20 hours weekly of wholesome programs like Bonanza and other popular weekly TV programs. During deployment, programming arrived erratically, so repeat shows movies or training films were also used.
The shipboard TV was handled by an enlisted Journalist and others who did scheduling, wrote news, and did announcing.* At sea, it operated from noon to midnight. He was assisted by two Electronic Technicians who were kept busy maintaining the system.
This supplemented the daily ship's newspaper at sea (which consisted of two or more pages of information pulled from the wire services and some shipboard news) which was compiled by another journalist and produced by the shipboard print shop by 6 am daily. Also, another journalist* provided a brief summary of news over I-MC daily at noon.
For entertainment, the crew also had radio speakers in each compartment where three types of pre-taped music were available: country and western, classical and popular.
Familygrams from the ship's CO were produced by the Public Affairs Office on a monthly basis. Signed by the Captain and sent out as a letter, they kept family members of the crew informed on significant events. Also, the ship produced a monthly magazine and cruise books (similar to school yearbooks) of each major cruise. Buy a Yorktown cruise book click here
Boxing was a favorite sport at the time and a boxing ring was set up in the hangar bay. Accompanying ships provided competitors and were helo'ed to the YORKTOWN for boxing matches were transmitted live while on deployment. (Picture of HS4 helicopter flying SH3A picking destroyer crewman off deck for transport to the USS Yorktown) However, once in the Gulf of Tonkin, this practice of transmitting had to be stopped because it provided a direct beacon to locate the ship.
*Editors note: Photographers Mate 2nd Daniel A. Bernath also announced the news to the crew over the 1MC and on Yorktown television. That was his first job as a "newscaster." Upon leaving the Navy he went on to become a newscaster in New York, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Detroit and other cities. However, Bernath did such a bad job as a newscaster on the Yorktown he recalls Captain Bennett correcting Bernath after a 1MC newscast to point out a mispronounced word.
Bob Wallace, the Disc Jockey to the fleet, broadcasting from the USS Yorktown
Bob Wallace reported to the USS Yorktown in 1952 as a CS 3/c (cook/baker). He was one of the few that actually lived on board prior to recommissioning in order to make the galley and bakeshop ready before sailing.
At battle stations, Wallace was assigned as the lead OBA man; the first man to would enter a smoke filled compartment and search for shipmate victims. In the event of providing ground support troops, he was also assigned as the company BAR man as a light machine gun operator.
But during leisure hours, while at sea, he was a disc jockey and broadcast a 30 minute radio show throughout the task force fleet called "Bob's Bops and Blues"...bringing you the finest rhythm and blues by the world's greatest jazz musicians."
But when someone figured out that the radio signal to the ships nearby could be a homing signal for enemy fire, the radio show had to "sign off" forever.
HELO PILOTS MARK FIRSTS
In 1967, Captain Bill Bennett was the first helo pilot to serve as Commanding Officer of an aircraft carrier when he became the skipper of the YORKTOWN. During this period, YORKTOWN deployed to the Gulf of Tonkin. The XO of one of the helo squadrons, was CDR David S. Jones who rose in the ranks to Admiral and later, President Reagan's Defense advisor.
Years later, while doing my annual training duty as PAO LCR at Third Fleet on on Ford Island for RIMPAC exercises, ADM Jones recognized me walking down the hallway. He was the Third Fleet Commander at that time and arranged for me to have coffee with him.
Cutting ceremonial cake after HS 4 recovered Apollo 8 astronauts, using Lt jg Dale Pott's "ceremonial sword". Also pictured, Captain Fifield, PH3 Daniel A. Bernath and far right PH2 Milt Putnam 1968
read more of the Apollo recover click here
He had two strong memories of the YORKTOWN. One was of my duty sword. When the squadrons were aboard, we seemed to have cake cutting ceremonies almost every week, for safe landings and takeoffs for individual, squadron and ship records. My officer's sword became the duty sword for those occasions.
We took pictures of these events for the ship newspaper and also for placement in hometown newspapers. The second event was an eventful flight from the ship to Japan. He and the ship's navigator were going in ahead of the YORKTOWN when the ship received orders to turn towards Korean because of the Pueblo incident. He and navigator had a harrowing trip back to catch up to the YORKTOWN, with bad seas and the loss of some of their airborne navigation equipment. Luckily they were successful in finding the YORKTOWN which then served as the command control ship (radar operations) for the Sea of Japan while the US government was deciding what to do about the Pueblo crew capture.
The YORKTOWN crew wondered if World War III was about to start as we went to general quarters every time a Russian Bear or Badger flew overhead. It was bitterly cold, rough seas; with huge icy waves dashing over flight decks. Dangerous for anyone to be topside. The carrier that looked so massive when parked near to the pier, was tossed around like a matchstick. read more about the USS Yorktown's role during the USS Pueblo capture click here
USO ENTERTAINER
HELPED BY PLACEBO
Later, while deployed in the Gulf of Tokin in the Viet Nam era, a USO entertainment troupe arrived to do a special performance aboard the YORKTOWN. It was a country and western group from the grand old opry. Upon arrival, the lead singer went directly from her helicopter to the Captain's inport cabin which was about dead center on the ship. And although YORKTOWN was barely making way in calm waters, she insisted that she was terribly seasick and could not perform.
Captain Bennett wisely sent me down to sick bay to get seasick pills and I came back with a small bottle of white pills for her. She downed two and within five minutes joyously thanked us for the wonderful medicine.
She went on to give a tremendous performance for the crew. As she left, she asked for more pills so I got her a bigger bottle full.
Luckily, she did not ask what was in the capsules because they were a placebo, filled only with sugar.
picture on left; 1959 USO Performer on lowered elevator #1 USS Yorktown, location in port, unknown.
VOTE AGAINST AUSTRALIA
After completing our 1968 WESTPAC cruise to Viet Nam which started with the Sea of Japan incident and included liberty in Hawaii, Japan (twice), Singapore and Hong Kong, The YORKTOWN was given the option to make a port visit to Australia. The crew was allowed to vote and the decision was to return home as soon as possible. The feeling was that all the married guys had been away from their families long enough already.
TOUGH DECISION
After being aboard YORKTOWN for 18 months, I was supposed to transfer to another ship. However, at that time, The YORKTOWN received orders to transit around South America and report to Norfolk, VA for a Northern Europe deployment. I was given the choice to remain aboard as the ship PAO or transfer to another ship for another WEST PAC deployment to Viet Nam. It took me absolutely no time to decide to stay with the Fighting Lady.
CRUISEBOOK TITLE
The YORKTOWN completed several high profile events in a short period of time; starting with portraying the Japanese
Carrier, Atsugi, in the epic movie: Tora, Tora, Tora. The ship served as the location for the filming of a "Get Smart" TV series and then carried the zero's used in Hawaii for the December 11 bombing to the Islands. That was followed by the recovery of the Apollo 8 capsule and then a South American cruise showcasing a copy of the Apollo 8. The last port of call was in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil during carnival week. Yorktown sailors were treated like Hollywood Stars click here
The ship’s cruisebook for those events earned a prestigious CHINFO (Chief of Information for the Navy) award.
MISSING ORDERS
EUROPEAN CRUISE
Shortly before The YORKTOWN was to depart on a Northern European cruise from Norfolk, orders were received in the communications center for early outs due to downsizing of the Vietnam campaign. Strangely enough, after we returned from the cruise, the name of one of our communications watch officers who made the cruise was on the original list. No one ever figured out how his name was missed before we departed. He was on watch when the communication came in. (wink, wink)
BELFAST OFF LIST
The Northern European cruise was to include a stopover at Belfast, Ireland. We had formed a Toastmasters club aboard and planed to meet with a Belfast group. But IRA trouble changed the plans and we sailed past Ireland without stopping.
RUBBERS BABY BUGGY BUMPERS
In Portsmith, England, the crowd watching The YORKTOWN arrival included a large number of ladies with baby carriages. They were married to British seamen who were on a cruise and were looking for American sailor dinner companions; somewhat like WESTPAC widows on the west coast.