USS Little Rock CLG 4 and
USS
Springfield CLG 7 Make History
in the Mediterranean Sea, southeast of Palma de Majorca, Spain in 1967.
Official US Navy photo from the collection of Clarence Wolfe.
"Hose-To-Hose-To-Hose"
The above photo and the article below were submitted by
Terry D. Gann EM-2 (USNR-Ret.)
FLAGSHIPS MAKE REFUELING HISTORY
With the US Second Fleet
For the first time in U.S. Navy History, the flagships of both the Second Fleet and Sixth Fleet have refueled simultaneously while steaming in the Mediterranean Sea. The event took place after two days of conferences between Second and Sixth Fleet Staff Officers at Polensa Bay, Majorca.
The guided missile cruiser USS Springfield (CLG-7) flagship of Vice Admiral Charles K. Duncan, Commander Second Fleet and Commander of NATO'S Striking Fleet Atlantic, was winding up a two-month deployment to several European ports before returning to her homeport of Norfolk. The USS Little Rock CLG 4 is the flagship of Vice Admiral William I. Martin, Commander Sixth Fleet and NATO'S Striking Force South.
The refueling was done by the Fleet Oiler USS Chikaskia (AO-54) a member of Service Squadron Four, U.S. Atlantic Fleet.
Besides the first time the two Flagships had refueled together, it was also the first time in a number of years that these two Three-Star Fleet Commanders had gotten together to discuss the aspects of their various operations. The meeting was the last of several conferences with European NATO and Navy Commands for the Second Fleet staff before returning to Norfolk. The European deployment took them to Portsmouth, England: Amsterdam in the Netherlands: Lisbon, Portugal and Barcelona Spain.