Old Connie's still quite a ship
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
At 1,079 feet, the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Constellation is 50 feet shorter than that of newer Nimitz-class counterparts, and pilots catapulted off it get a bigger jolt to become airborne. Eight steam boilers power the carrier instead of a nuclear reactor.
U.S. Navy
But the nearly 40-year-old Constellation, the Navy's second-oldest ship, still is an awesome sight and packs an equally awesome punch.
The USS Constellation and its crew of 5,000 pulled into Pearl Harbor last week near the end of its second-to-last deployment. The nearly 40-year-old aircraft carrier is expected to be replaced by the USS Ronald Reagan in 2003.
The "Connie" and its crew of 5,000 sailors, Marines and aviators pulled into Pearl Harbor last week before heading home to San Diego yesterday to wrap up its second-to-last deployment. The USS Ronald Reagan is expected to replace the Constellation in the Pacific Fleet in 2003.
Four times during the six-month deployment, the Constellation made world news, showing that it hasn't taken a back seat among the Navy's dozen carriers.
After it replaced the USS Harry S. Truman in the Persian Gulf at the end of April, Constellation's pilots flew hundreds of sorties in Iraq in support of Operation Southern Watch, striking seven targets.
Its approximately 70 aircraft, including F-14D Super Tomcat and F/A-18C Hornet fighters, EA-6B Prowlers and S-3B Vikings, made up over two-thirds of U.S. striking ability in the region.
"We brought every bit as much capability as Truman had, which is a real testament to the people who designed and built the ship," said Capt. John W. Miller, the Constellation's commanding officer.
The 17-story carrier received an overhaul to its 4.5-acre flight deck in the mid-1970s, upgrades in 1982 to carry the F/A-18 Hornet, and $800 million in improvements in the early 1990s.
In June, the carrier dubbed "America's Flagship" by President Reagan in 1981 went on high alert after terrorist threats prompted the Pentagon to order U.S. ships out of Bahrain.
More recently, the Constellation battle group steamed into Hong Kong on Aug. 20 in the first major port call since the EP-3 spy plane incident chilled relations with China. Three days earlier, the Constellation took part in a military exercise in the South China Sea that some analysts called a show of force aimed at Beijing.
Guysen Pauline, 19, who graduated from Waipahu High School in 2000, said Navy videos warned of potential risks in Hong Kong and sailors were cautioned to "watch your back." But Pauline, an airman apprentice, said the former British colony was "mild" and people there were nice.
As for the gulf, "We'd be on alert all the time. We had to be on our toes, knowing this was the real deal."
Lt. Tyler Nekomoto, 26, of Kaua'i, an F/A-18 pilot on his first deployment, flew missions in Iraq. "At first it's kind of scary and you get butterflies, but as time went on, you get more used to it," he said of the sorties.
Arman Lagman, 19, of Waipahu, an aviation boatswain's mate handler who drives tractors on the carrier, said he was looking forward to 10 days' leave here. "I just want to see my family and play some music," he said.
