News: Apollo 11 45 yrs Stories from the Space Coast- Setting Sail

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Apollo 11 45 Yrs

"Stories From the Space Coast ".

On July 23rd we were all getting ready to become part of history. Lookouts were especially alert, the radar crew were all glued to the screens waiting to see the first signs of the descending capsule. Of course there were the friendly wagers between ships as to who would see it first.

~ Frank Montelione

Where were you 45 years ago this month? I know exactly where I was the day the Neil Armstrong stepped on the Moon.

On July 24, 1969 the astronauts returned home aboard the Command Module Columbia as it splashed down at 12:50 p.m. at 13°19′N 169°9′W13.317°N 169.150°W, in the Pacific Ocean 2,660 km (1,440 nmi) east of Wake Island, 380 km (210 nmi) south of Johnston Atoll, and 24 km (13 nmi) from the recovery ship, USS Hornet and the Secondary Recovery Ship, the USS Carpenter DD 825.

In the morning we were transferring the Apollo Crew doctors who rode with the Carpenter, the faster of the recovery ships, to boarding a helicopter and brought to the USS Hornet. The Command Module Columbia had been secured by Navy divers and the floatation collar was attached. The three astronauts were taken by helicopter to the Hornet.

As Paul Harvey would say “Now for the rest of the story”.

We had set sail before the shot went up on July 16, 1969. I was just thrilled knowing my birthday, July 19th, was going to be spent in the middle of the Pacific instead of at the Enlisted Men’s Club forcing down the birthday beers I’m sure would have been waiting for me. We had to cross the equator and were just finishing cleaning up from the Navy traditions involving becoming a “Shell Back” in King Neptune’s Court. I was already a Shell Back so I got to watch as the “pollywogs” were put through two days of “special” duties.

No one was exempt from this, NO ONE. There was one officer who swore he was a Shell Back but didn’t have the certificate to prove it. He had to join the Apollo doctors who also were not exempt. There were civilian scientists on board and news crews – also not exempt.

On July 23rd we were all getting ready to become part of history. Lookouts were especially alert, the radar crew were all glued to the screens waiting to see the first signs of the descending capsule. Of course there were the friendly wagers between ships as to who would see it first.

The capsule landed and rolled upside down but righted itself. The helicopters dropped, what would be Navy Seals today, jumped in full diving gear from the helicopters and attached the “floating device” around the capsule. The Astronauts blew the hatch and were helped into the helicopter and transported to the Hornet. Once everything was secured and the astronauts were secured in their “Mobile Quarantine Facility”, their home for the next few weeks, we set course for Pearl Harbor.

We moored behind the Hornet and were anxious to go ashore. But, there’s always a but, the crowds that were allowed on base was overwhelming. There was no way to get the plank from the ship to the pier.

It’s funny how when you’re a 21 year old, having been to Vietnam once and preparing to go for a second tour, it was a “do we have to go to sea again” mind set. I only realized how much a part of history we were when as a District Aide for Florida Legislative District 31, I had to attend a breakfast honoring the new Kennedy Space Center director. As we talked at the table one of his staff was talking about the Apollo program. I told him I had a connection to it and when I told him I was the backup Apollo crane operator he immediately brought me to meet the Director. It seems he was an astronaut on another Apollo mission. Then anytime we were at KSC if I mentioned Apollo 11 we were treated like celebrities.

It was a time when we were at war. A time when the Civil Rights movement was formulating riots for their rights, a time when groups like the Weather Underground, the Students for a Democratic Society, and the Black Panthers were at their peak. Kennedy had been assassinated. Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered. It was a time in history when the nation and world changed. Yet the United States raised the hopes and dreams of the entire world. Everywhere people stopped to watch Neil Armstrong proclaim “This is one small step for man and a giant leap mankind”. It seemed all was well with the world for at least the time the mission took place.

Today, I am honored to have been on the crew and a real part of history. My name won’t be found anywhere in the Space Race records. The USS Carpenter is often left out of the story. But you know what, I know, my shipmates know and that, to me, is what’s important. ~ Frank Montelione

Photos below compliments of Frank Montelione - from 2 year prior

Practicing for the Auto Recovery of Apollo 11 in 1967 !!!!

USS Carpenter DD 825