Hurricane363 Posted November 15, 2010 Share Posted November 15, 2010 Hi All, I'm after some information on the Carrier Air Wing that would have been on board the USS Nimitz (roughly about 1979/80), I believe it was CVW-8, but i'm finding it difficult to locate info on the squadrons/ aircraft strength etc.... Was wondering if anyone could help? Cheers, Mat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted November 15, 2010 Share Posted November 15, 2010 (edited) It was CVW-8, for a long time associated with USS Nimitz. The timeframe you mention is probably that of a Sept. 1979 to May 1980 cruise in the Mediterranean and the Arabian Sea... and if I'm not wrong saw the carrier involved in operation Eagle Claw, the failed attempt to free the hostages in Iran. USS Nimitz did another shorter cruise in late 1980. The units on board are listed in this page of a great japanese website: http://www.gonavy.jp/CVW-AJf.html Guess this site will give you most info you need. Regarding the strength, IIRC in those days Tomcat and Corsair squadrons had 12 planes, Intruder squadrons had 10, prowler and hawkeye 4. Going by memory here, I can check on some old magazines although I'm pretty sure of the strength for tomcat and corsair squadrons. The Nimitz spending most time in the mediterranean, CVW-8 featured heavily in the Italian aerospace press of the days, and on the newpapers and magazines too. Edited November 15, 2010 by Giorgio N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Murphy Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 It was CVW-8, for a long time associated with USS Nimitz. The timeframe you mention is probably that of a Sept. 1979 to May 1980 cruise in the Mediterranean and the Arabian Sea... and if I'm not wrong saw the carrier involved in operation Eagle Claw, the failed attempt to free the hostages in Iran. USS Nimitz did another shorter cruise in late 1980. The units on board are listed in this page of a great japanese website: http://www.gonavy.jp/CVW-AJf.html Guess this site will give you most info you need. Regarding the strength, IIRC in those days Tomcat and Corsair squadrons had 12 planes, Intruder squadrons had 10, prowler and hawkeye 4. Going by memory here, I can check on some old magazines although I'm pretty sure of the strength for tomcat and corsair squadrons. The Nimitz spending most time in the mediterranean, CVW-8 featured heavily in the Italian aerospace press of the days, and on the newpapers and magazines too. You're correct. The make-up was 86 aircraft: 12 X F-14 12 X F-14 12 X A-7 12 X A-7 10 X A-6 10 X S-3 6 X Seaking 4 X Prowler 4 X Hawkeye 4 X KA-6 Cheers, Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonofjim Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 (edited) i believe the line up was VF-84 Jolly Rogers and VF-41 Black Aces F-14A VA-82 Marauders and VA-86 side winders A-7E VA-35 Black panthers A-6E VS-24 Scouts S-3A VAW-112 Golden Hawks E-2C VAQ-134 Garudas EA-6B HS-9 Griffins SH-3D VRC-40 Raw hides C-2A NATC F-4 and A-7 Det. Bravo EKA-3D VFP-63 Eyes of the Fleet RF-8P in the numbers previously mentioned the red f-4 and a-7 were from the Naval Air Test Center someone here maybe able to tell you more about thier embarkation but i seem to remember them being abours at some point ? hope we helped jim. Edited March 22, 2011 by sonofjim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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