Heh, I was too in the Seventies...ahh, Palma!
On the Big John, that is. I was on deck when that Tomcat went over the side in 1976...I was sleeping in the cockpit of my plane lined up next to the waist cat.
My plane shuddered violently, and I jerked up and looked back at the cat just in time to see the tail of the Tomcat disappear over the side with everyone running to the side.