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Please use this topic to discuss the Navy's naming of its ships after astronauts.
yeknom-ecaps Member
Posts: 660 From: Northville MI USA Registered: Aug 2005
posted 01-21-2006 05:44 AM
Great news! Maybe a Mercury 7 fleet in the works. US Navy already had USS John Young (though not for the astronaut). You can even find STS-1 launch covers with a USS John Young cancel and ship emblem applied as the cachet.
fabfivefreddy Member
Posts: 1067 From: Leawood, Kansas USA Registered: Oct 2003
posted 01-21-2006 12:04 PM
When they get to Grissom, will it be called "unsinkable"?
East-Frisian Member
Posts: 586 From: Germany Registered: Apr 2005
posted 01-21-2006 12:55 PM
You are not very kind in this message.
mdmyer Member
Posts: 900 From: Humboldt KS USA Registered: Dec 2003
posted 01-21-2006 04:23 PM
Just a little humor. Sometimes we don't have enough of that in our lives.
ejectr Member
Posts: 1751 From: Killingly, CT Registered: Mar 2002
posted 01-21-2006 04:37 PM
The Admiral would have loved it...
yeknom-ecaps Member
Posts: 660 From: Northville MI USA Registered: Aug 2005
posted 01-21-2006 04:37 PM
Shepard will have a ship, Grissom and Onizuka have had AFB named for them. Any others?
McAullife and Chaffee had planetariums named after them. Any others?
ApolloAlex Member
Posts: 390 From: Yeovil, England Registered: Oct 2004
Posts: 16 From: Chattanooga TN, USA Registered: Oct 2004
posted 01-25-2006 10:06 PM
quote:Originally posted by fabfivefreddy: When they get to Grissom, will it be called "unsinkable"?
Hey! let us not forget, it was Gus himself who named his Gemini spacecraft the Molly Brown! Of course, after that, NASA banned naming spacecraft until they had to do so for the Apollo program so they could distinguish between command and lunar modules.
Gus certainly had a sense of humor about being unsinkable. Certainly we may do so as well.
yeknom-ecaps Member
Posts: 660 From: Northville MI USA Registered: Aug 2005
posted 02-02-2006 01:58 PM
The designation is USNS Alan Shepard not the USS Alan Shepard.
The Department of the Navy announced January 20, 2006 the naming of the Navy's newest combat logistics force underway replenishment naval vessel, USNS Alan Shepard (T-AKE 3), to honor the first American in space, Rear Adm. Alan B. Shepard Jr.
USNS Alan Shepard, being built in San Diego by General Dynamics' National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, will be 689 feet long and 106 feet wide; and able to carry 41,187 metric tons of cargo, a maximum of 26,000 barrels of fuel and 1.38 million square feet of cargo. The diesel-electric-drive ship will have a range of 14,000 miles at a speed of 20 knots.
As part of the Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force, the ship will be designated a USNS ship. The term stands for United States Naval Ship. Unlike their United States Ship (USS) counterparts, USNS vessels are manned primarily by civilian crews working for the U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command, Washington, D.C.
divemaster Member
Posts: 1376 From: ridgefield, ct Registered: May 2002
posted 06-14-2006 08:41 AM
I sure hope that when it's christened, that they find spray painted "USS Wally Schirra" over it's namesake. The ultimate gotcha!
After all, it's being built in Wally's backyard.
Scrapyard Ape New Member
Posts: 3 From: Somewhere in Florida Registered: May 2006
posted 06-21-2006 11:01 AM
While I would like to have seen a carrier named after Alan Shepard, I know the chances are/were slim... even with the next generation of large aircraft carriers.
MarylandSpace Member
Posts: 1337 From: Registered: Aug 2002
posted 06-21-2006 01:24 PM
I hope that you all get a chance to say hello to Shepard's daughter (I think her name is Laura) at the launch.
She was just beaming and so proud to represent the family at this year's AHOF Astronauts Scholarhip Foundation dinner in May.
Posts: 953 From: South Bend, IN Registered: Apr 2002
posted 10-13-2008 07:46 PM
Wow, that "Stu Roosa kid" is a dead-ringer for his beloved father! Look at that RED hair!
Thanks, most sincerely, for sharing all those pictures!
NavySpaceFan Member
Posts: 655 From: Norfolk, VA Registered: May 2007
posted 03-04-2008 05:54 AM
The selection of Wally Schirra, designated T-AKE 8, was chosen in honor of Captain Walter "Wally" Schirra.
Great!!!! No one is more deserving than Wally!!!
ejectr Member
Posts: 1751 From: Killingly, CT Registered: Mar 2002
posted 03-04-2008 06:26 AM
Being X-Navy, I think this is a really great way to honor those who excelled.
Too bad they waste the aviation connection by naming aircraft carriers after U.S. presidents and not those who excelled in the field of aviation. The only exception being G.H.W Bush, of course.
divemaster Member
Posts: 1376 From: ridgefield, ct Registered: May 2002
posted 03-04-2008 07:12 AM
And it will probably have oars as a gotcha...
PowerCat Member
Posts: 193 From: Herington, KS, USA Registered: Feb 2006
posted 03-04-2008 08:28 AM
quote:Originally posted by divemaster: and it will probably have oars as a gotcha
Or a trolling motor.
divemaster Member
Posts: 1376 From: ridgefield, ct Registered: May 2002
posted 03-04-2008 10:48 AM
And a deep sea fishing chair...
John Youskauskas Member
Posts: 126 From: Registered: Jan 2004
posted 03-04-2008 02:50 PM
An unbreakable champagne bottle...
ea757grrl Member
Posts: 729 From: South Carolina Registered: Jul 2006
posted 03-03-2009 06:38 PM
Somehow I get the feeling every Turtle among us is chuckling at the abbreviation for the shipyard...
bruce Member
Posts: 916 From: Fort Mill, SC, USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 03-03-2009 08:04 PM
Gosh Jodie, I was just laughing out loud about that as I scrolled down to your post!! I also hear Skyray's booming laugh right about now. I really miss him at the astronaut shows.
E2M Lem Man Member
Posts: 846 From: Los Angeles CA. USA Registered: Jan 2005
posted 03-05-2009 04:25 PM
Are we sure this isn't a gotcha? 7 AM on the first sunday after the time change? Wally must be smiling where he is now!
Jay Chladek Member
Posts: 2272 From: Bellevue, NE, USA Registered: Aug 2007
posted 03-09-2009 01:08 PM
That ship looks like a real turtle.
Fitting tribute to a great man. Thanks for the pics Francis. Nice touch to see Mark Harmon there as well.
quote:Originally posted by Jay Chladek: Nice touch to see Mark Harmon there as well.
That's exactly what I thought when I saw the picture with Dee!
Thanks Francis, for sharing that special moment with us, who cannot attend those events.
Dave Clow Member
Posts: 236 From: South Pasadena, CA 91030 Registered: Nov 2003
posted 03-09-2009 03:28 PM
He was a man, take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again.
-- Hamlet I:ii
E2M Lem Man Member
Posts: 846 From: Los Angeles CA. USA Registered: Jan 2005
posted 03-09-2009 06:39 PM
Francis, ole friend, your description brought tears to my eyes.
Wally would have loved the launch. The fact that all of his friends were there made it so special. You just had to know that Wally had to delay that 1st movement of the ship.
NavySpaceFan Member
Posts: 655 From: Norfolk, VA Registered: May 2007
posted 03-10-2009 06:54 AM
Great pictures Francis!!! One of the things I love about my servce, and that I will miss since I have just retired, is the pomp and ceremony for occasions like ship's christenings, commissionings, etc. I also regret that I did not think to invite Wally to the commissioning of my second ship, USS KEARSARGE (LHD-3) back in 1993. She's the successor to CV-33, the ship that recovered him after his Mecury mission. I think he would have loved it.
Bernasconi Member
Posts: 47 From: San Diego, CA Registered: Apr 2008
posted 03-10-2009 05:28 PM
Here is the video shot by Francis at the launch of the USNS Wally Schirra:
Can someone please teach Francis the parts of YouTube that are not bad music videos and Prog Rock, thanks!
Shalene Member
Posts: 47 From: San Diego, California Registered: Apr 2008
posted 03-11-2009 08:02 AM
I shot a few pictures Sunday morning at the launch that I thought were good to post. In the second shot you can see the bottle swing as Mrs. Schirra bangs on the boat.
It was fun to see!
ejectr Member
Posts: 1751 From: Killingly, CT Registered: Mar 2002
posted 03-11-2009 12:01 PM
That's a ship Shalene, not a boat. A ship is a vessel that has the ability to navigate and sail the high seas. A boat is a vessel that is small enough to be carried aboard a ship.
Nice photos of Wally's ship.
Aztecdoug Member
Posts: 1405 From: Huntington Beach Registered: Feb 2000
posted 03-11-2009 02:57 PM
Great job Francis in conveying the sense of being there.
I did my college internship programming down at NASSCO back around 1983 or 1984... it brings back fond memories. I wrote a DYL-260 program that changed all the phone number records from 714 to 619 when they did the area code change back in the day.
ilbasso Member
Posts: 1522 From: Greensboro, NC USA Registered: Feb 2006
posted 03-12-2009 07:05 AM
Happy birthday, Wally - we miss you! You're still a BIG presence in our hearts!
E2M Lem Man Member
Posts: 846 From: Los Angeles CA. USA Registered: Jan 2005
posted 03-12-2009 06:19 PM
That USNS insignia has the first three engined Redstone I have ever seen!
ilbasso Member
Posts: 1522 From: Greensboro, NC USA Registered: Feb 2006
posted 03-12-2009 09:19 PM
Well, that's the Navy drawing an Army rocket...
Dave Clow Member
Posts: 236 From: South Pasadena, CA 91030 Registered: Nov 2003
posted 03-16-2009 10:43 AM
What's the translation of the Latin motto on the USNS Wally Schirra insignia?
ejectr Member
Posts: 1751 From: Killingly, CT Registered: Mar 2002
posted 03-16-2009 11:56 AM
quote:Originally posted by Dave Clow: What's the translation of the Latin motto?
Are you a Turtle? What else!
Delta7 Member
Posts: 1505 From: Bluffton IN USA Registered: Oct 2007
posted 03-16-2009 01:12 PM
quote:Originally posted by Dave Clow: What's the translation of the Latin motto?
"Life Is More Fulfilling With The Successful Gotcha."
Dave Clow Member
Posts: 236 From: South Pasadena, CA 91030 Registered: Nov 2003
posted 03-16-2009 03:55 PM
quote:Originally posted by Delta7: "Life Is More Fulfilling With The Successful Gotcha."
posted 04-21-2012 07:24 PM
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