"I have no idea what story you are talking about." It's an old sea story that anyone that ever served on The Iwo Jima would have known, and it has to do with why The Iwo Jima was designated LPH 2 even though it was the first of the LPH's.
As legend would have it The Iwo Jima was originally designated LPH 1, but as the island was being installed it rolled over on it's side and sank, because the shipwrights that had designed her didn't compensate for the added weight of the island, After The Iwo Jima was salvaged and refloated it was redesignated LPH 2 and Concrete was added to the port side bilge to offset the weight of the island.
Proof positive of this was said to be the way she always tended to lean towards port at anchor or underway no matter how many aircraft or how much equipement was on board and positioned on the Starboard side.
Frankly I never believed the story, and chalked it up as a myth of the sea, an urban legend best told to young Marines that didn't know any better, but I could never explain the list to port the Iwo Jima always had.
As for when I served aboard her, 1978-79, and riding aboard her in a winter atlantic storm almost killed me, or at least I wanted to die before we made it to port.
I'll be honest, you haven't shown me anything that would lead me to believe that you aren't a troll here to clear Kerry's obviously soiled record and sorted past, but that's just my opinion.
And yes, this formerly young Marine has pictures of his time on the Iwo Jima.
Thanks for the story. I never heard it. I also don't recall any permanent list to port at anchor. I ran S-2 and S3 Divisions during my tour onboard 1966-67. We had more than 10 months on our WESTPAC tour, which included more than 8 months off the coast of Vietnam and 65 days at sea at one stretch before we went into drydock in Sasebo to fix a fuel contamination problem. The ship was not that stable in a storm. It had a single screw and was somewhat top heavy with not that deep a draft, which made it unstable in high winds and storms. I slept under Spot 4, which also made it very noisy during flight ops with the H-34s.
During my time, the only permanently embarked Marines were in Operations and Administration and they were officers.
I'll be honest, you haven't shown me anything that would lead me to believe that you aren't a troll here to clear Kerry's obviously soiled record and sorted past, but that's just my opinion
You couldn't be more wrong. Read my posts. I just don't want to undermine legitimate attacks against Kerry by introducing bogus charges that can be easily refuted. I have read Unfit for Command, downloaded and read all of the military service documents released by Kerry, and written articles, letters etc to the media, Congress, and others. I have been exchanging correspondence with several media types providing them with data and analysis. I have also contributed money to the SBVFT and the RNC. It is an absolute travesty that someone like Kerry could even be a major party candidate for President of the United States.