Posted on 06/02/2015 7:16:33 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A 70-year-old man sailing alone across the Pacific Ocean was rescued by a U.S. Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier returning home to San Diego.
USS Carl Vinson rescued the man Sunday from his 35-foot sailboat, 400 nautical miles from Hawaii.
Using a satellite phone, the man sent a text to his wife asking for help. That message was relayed through the U.S. Coast Guard, Pacific Fleet Command and the U.S. 3rd fleet. The sailor, who had spent a month on his boat, was airlifted by the crew of a MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter including two search and rescue swimmers.
Once the helicopter landed on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier, the rescued mariner was treated by Navy medical staff.
He was said to be in stable condition and would be airlifted to San Diego in the coming days.
The USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group returns to San Diego Thursday after a 10-month deployment supporting strike operations in Iraq and Syria.
Are they still flying the Sea Stallions? I thought they were replaced with the UH60s ...
Could have been worse. He could have been riding a bicycle in France. It's THAT kind of rescue that really eats up US resources!
Marines use Super Stallions. Yes, the Navy still uses MH-60 for SAR.
Wait. I stand corrected. The Navy used the H-46 Sea Knight for SAR and then was replaced by the MH-60. Marines still use the H-46D with the witch’s t*tties intake screens, also known as “Pedro” for SAR at Air Stations.
Anyone see a name of the rescued Skipper ?
That’s great they rescued the guy. But I’m guessing they end up leaving the boat or sinking it? I wonder how insurance deals with that?
“Oh - so there wasn’t a fire? It wasn’t sinking? You just left it for a bigger boat?”
Two months from now “You know - I bounced back pretty quick. Maybe I should have waited on that rescue - I bet I could have made it.”
Good training for our guys. They’ll have a nice story to tell.
Thank you, Patro!
Glad he is safe.
Wonder what they did with the sailboat .
Another cool fact: The USS Carl Vinson was named after Carl Vinson (1883 - 1981). He was a Democratic Representative for Georgia and was born right over here in Fulton County. During his tenure, he was a member of the House Naval Affairs Committee. What’s surprising is that he was a Democrat, yet he was a big-time advocate for a bigger and more powerful U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. There’s more information about him and I encourage folks to read up about him if it’s of any interest.
MH-53s are still used for minesweeping, AFAIK.
+1, I forgot about that.
Fat stubwings!
Well, there’s a free boat out there if any one wants to claim it...
Yes - lots of info missing. What was the emergency? What became of the boat? Don’t journalists bother to ask questions anymore?
Still the name is: SKIPPER
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