Preview of coming attractions....
Now that I'm done with my Corsair time for a build near and dear to my heart. From November 1992 to Summer of 1997 I spent more time aboard The USS Independence as an Aviation Electrician's Mate in VAW 115, CVW-5, sailing out of Yokosuka Japan, than I did with my family who lived at our CAG-5 home in Atsugi. She was a hard ship to live on, at the end of her life (decommissioned in '98 scrapped a few years ago), but man, we loved her. Scalding hot showers in the South China Sea, Freezing cold showers off North Korea, but we had a bond those of us in the "I5 Team". I once got up in the middle of the night so cold I padded down to the ships store in my shorts and socks to buy an Indy sweatshirt and extra socks because berthing was so freakin' cold I couldn't feel my toes! But Damn, she was a grand old lady. Living in Japan was, and I don't use this term lightly "magical". The Japanese people and the culture, left an indelible mark on my wife children and I. And the places we went and the things we saw. I am part of several Navy veteran's groups, of which I am proud, but those of us who were in CAG 5 on Indy in VAW-115 Liberty Bells or "Da Belles" as we called ourselves, they are my brothers until I die. This build is for all of them.
Excellent project, Rob! The memories that go with it are fantastic! Looking forward to it!
Sounds like you had an adventurous life on board the Independence, Rob @robertandy
A nice project to keep memories alive, looking forward to it.
What about the JP-5 smell in the showers. Looking forward to this one Rob.
LOL, Indy wasn't too bad actually at least when I was on her. Connie was rough in that deprtment, the running joke was never smoke after taking a shower or drinking a cuppa. Man I remember at times it was bad enough to burn your throat a bit going down!
Look forward to the build.
BTW is that the ole RM Forrestal kit which had the early Forrestal class gun mounts 1/542 ish scale? I built one as the USS Saratoga.
No, it is the Arii USS Independence, Scalemates lists it as 1991 when first released. It is pretty close to Indy, not sure about Forrestal. I am having to add a CWIS mount on the port quarter, the island configuration will need a bit of modification, but not much.
In case you weren't aware, here is a link to underwater survey of her now:
https://nautiluslive.org/video/2016/08/25/uss-independence-reminder-past
Wrong USS Independence. I am not near old enough to have served on CVL-11. This is CV-62, broken up for scarp in Texas a few years back