She was not the most glamorous girl aboard, and I didn’t appreciate her as much as I should have during our time together. Only later did I realize just how much I loved her.
I had spent the previous six months in preparation and anticipation before meeting her for the first time in Coronado, California in the spring of 1985. I was 21 years-old and we traveled the world together for the next three years.
Sub Hunter
The Lockheed S-3 Viking entered active service in 1974 and served capably through the remainder of the Cold War and beyond. She was a technological marvel, with an advanced sea search radar under her nose cone (RADOME), a forward looking infrared camera (FLIR) , a retractable magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) boom, and a state-of-the art computer that could analyze data from these and other onboard and deployed electronic sensors and equipment – simultaneously displaying the codified data to her crew of four. Her primary task was anti-submarine warfare (ASW) – the detection, identification, and, if necessary, destruction of hostile submarines.
Hoover
Viking‘s unofficial nickname was “Hoover,” not in honor of the former President, but because her twin GE TF-34 jet engines made a distinctive vacuum cleaner-like “whoop” sound. Within the squadron we sometimes called her “the whistling s—can.”
“A Kill’s a Kill”
The sub-hunting capabilities of the S-3 had become severely compromised – if not made practically obsolete – by the Walker spy ring, which sold reams of top secret data on tactics, technology, and weapons systems to the Soviet Union from 1967 to 1985. During our six-month 1987 Western Pacific cruise the scuttlebutt was that we made contact with only one submersed submarine, that being a friendly Pakistani vessel we knew was in the area. About a year before I joined the squadron, she and her airwing were aboard USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), participating in joint exercises with South Korea in the Sea of Japan. A Soviet submarine known to have been shadowing the battlegroup unwittingly surfaced in front of Kitty Hawk in bad weather. The resulting collision damaged both vessels, causing brief Cold War tensions. When I arrived at my ASW squadron shortly afterward, many of our S-3 aircrew wore patches depicting the incident along with the caption, “A Kill’s a Kill.”
Carrier Complement
The S-3 was designed for all-weather operation aboard aircraft carriers, and was equipped not only with a tail hook, launch bar, rugged landing gear, and folding wings and rear stabilizer, but also with a fully automatic carrier landing system. During my tour aboard USS Ranger (CV-61) the air wing consisted of eight squadrons, each with ten or more aircraft, including our S-3As, SH-3H Sea King helicopters (ASW, search and rescue, logistics), E-2C Hawkeyes (electronic surveillance, airborne command and control), and EA-6B Prowlers (electronic countermeasures).
“Seen it? I’ve lived it!”
The undisputed celebrities of the flight deck were two squadrons flying the F-14 Tomcat, stars of the May 1986 blockbuster movie Top Gun, some of which was filmed aboard Ranger. I attended an early screening with a group of shipmates at the then-sparkling new but now-defunct Horton Plaza Mall in downtown San Diego. “You can be my wingman anytime!” we’d assert to one another. “No, – you can be mine,” was the reply. When asked if we’d seen the film our response was, “Seen it? I’ve lived it!!” Second billing aboard ship went to two A-6E Intruder squadrons, strike aircraft featured in the best selling novel Flight of the Intruder released later in 1986.
Dependable and Respected
By comparison the S-3 was a plain Jane, her assigned tasks more mundane, her fuel-efficient but subsonic turbofan engines incapable of showy displays like those of the F-14 on afterburner. Nevertheless, she was a shapely and attractive airplane, and was slowly developing a reputation as a dependable, agile, and well-rounded workhorse as well. In her 35+ year naval career, The S-3 proved to be the most adaptable and, arguably, the most valuable aircraft on the flight deck. Her reputation was earned in the grind of day and night carrier operations, not via the bright lights and publicity of mass media. That is, until… But more on that shortly.
Increasingly Versatile and Valued
In addition to her ASW duties, in the mid 1980s the S-3 served in other roles such as carrier onboard mail and supply delivery (COD), surface reconnaissance (scout), and – taking advantage of her four crew seats – occasional transportation for ship personnel. Memorably, I was with some squadron mates in Barber’s Point on Oahu when a Ranger crewman suffered a fatal heart attack aboard ship. His body was flown to Hawaii in one of our birds. We met the plane on the tarmac, and were tasked with unloading our unfortunate shipmate from the narrow avionics bay, around a sharp corner, down the hatchway stairs, and onto an awaiting gurney. He was a large man, and zipped into a body bag. We wrestled with him as reverently as we could through the confined area. Fluid inevitably sloshed around, some ending up on my arms.
Later, we were anchored in Vancouver harbor and I was giving tours to civilians, pointing out features of my planes. The S-3A’s were in the process of being upgraded to S-3B’s, one improvement being the addition of an electronic countermeasures/chaff/flare dispenser. We had painted a mock dispenser on one of our planes to give the impression it was an S-3B, and I mentioned this to a group which included a Canadian RAF veteran. He took me aside and told me maybe I shouldn’t have pointed that out. Oops. We became friends, and the next day he hosted me on a memorable tour of his town.
War Hoover
The S-3 was designed to carry anti-submarine ordnance in her bomb bays, while external fuel tanks, bombs, and torpedoes could be hung from her two underwing pylons. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Viking’s ASW capabilities were de-emphasized. Not only she was utilized for COD, transportation, and scout purposes, but also – with modified airframes – for electronic intelligence (ES-3A Shadows) and aerial refueling of other carrier aircraft (Texaco Hoovers). With the S-3B upgrades, she was given the ability to carry the over-the-horizon Harpoon anti-ship missile, along with Maverick and SLAM land-based missiles. S-3s were utilized as a strike aircraft during Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom, and Enduring Freedom, participating in bombing sorties, and taking out Iraqi patrol boats, a Silkworm missile site, and severely damaging Saddam Hussein’s personal yacht at Basra – this last by a jet from my active duty squadron. Viking had earned a new sobriquet: War Hoover.
NAVY 1
Viking‘s starring moment arrived on May 1, 2003. The USS Abraham Lincoln was off the California coast, returning from war operations in the Persian Gulf. Live footage carried by every network showed an S-3B dubbed “Navy 1” with a special guest aboard flying onto the carrier, marking the first and only arrested landing by a sitting U.S. President. That aircraft was later flown to Pensacola, Florida, where it is displayed at the National Museum of Naval Aviation.
Old Airplanes Never Die…
It’s been said that old soldiers never die, they just fade away. Perhaps that’s true of airplanes as well. War Hoover was removed from carrier duty in 2009, and was used sparingly by the Navy and then NASA until 2021, when the last of the S-3’s were retired. She was not the most glamorous girl aboard, but she was attractive, versatile, and dependable. She was also my first love, and I’ll never forget her.
No Comments