Avnut wrote:
Can you please elaborate regarding F-14's, A-7's, F-4, E-2's being on her when she was sunk. There was a story on The War Zone (see link below) that mentioned aircraft being on board, but they were only Ohio ANG A-7s.
From the story, near the bottom: "In addition, we have found out from another source that the carrier's hangar bay was packed with ex-Ohio Air National Guard A-7Ds that had been sent to Aberdeen Proving Ground. They were barged over to the carrier and loaded aboard before it headed out to the target area. So one of the goals of the operation was to see how aircraft reacted to explosions inside the ship's hangar bay."
This is from a list that was floating around at the time she was sunk - It mentioned is the Navy wanted a selection of current and retired aircraft in her hanger bay - what I posted was only a sample of what was placed on board. There was also helicopters, small boats, trucks, hummers, uniforms. This list suggests that the Army and Airforce also participated in providing samples of equipment.