Navair-—A-6’s-—Yup, Super Senior. And I’ll bet you started your old rusty non-nuke carrier with a crank? I remember that horny sailor who shut down the Forrestal with a crank——in the gear box.
You are of course referring to USS Lexington CV-16.
I knew her as the floating Post-graduate school for "our" student Naval Aviators; she shuttled from Jacksonville (aka JAX) along the Gulf coast to Corpus Christi and back for all the training bases along the way to learn the fine art of Carrier Ops on a real live US Navy Bird Farm.
Wasn't a nuke, the whole ship was so small (at least by comparison) some of the nuggets would talk about 105 knot landings on their maiden aunt's coffee table and the launches...Sheesh.
Okay, so she was old and small. She was also operated by Active Reservists who were so Old School and damn proud of their "Lady Lex" I thought she was antidote to rust at a kilometer. Including straight down.
Oh, yeah. She's still tied up in Corpus Christi on Museum Duty.
I'd bet a steak dinner there ain't no rust on her either.