Time capsule - from th archives of All Hands

All Hands, March, 2004

This month we look back in the All Hands archive to see what was going on in the month of March. To view these issues in more detail on the Web, go to www.news.navy.mil/allhands.asp?x=search

1959--45 Years Ago

Highly-trained hands of fellow divers secure a deep sea diving helmet on one of their crew as he prepares for a test in the recompression chamber at the School for Deep Sea Divers, Washington, D.C. Men have been traveling the oceans and seas for thousands of years. It is known that men were divers more than 800 years before the beginning of the Christian era. Homer, the great Greek poet, referred to them in a passage from the Iliad describing the fall of a charioteer. Xerxes, who ruled Persia from 486 to 465 B.C. is said to have used combat divers in naval warfare. But, with the creation of the deep sea diving suit, man can go deeper than his predecessors.

1976--28 Years Ago

A British F-4K Phantom II launched from USS Independence (CV 62) during NATO's Operation Ocean Safari. The operation was the largest NATO maritime exercise of 1975. Sixty-five ships, hundreds of aircraft and more than 17,000 Navy and Marine Corps personnel from Allied nations participated in the Eastern North Atlantic and Norwegian Sea. The exercise was designed to carry out a two-fold mission: maintain control of vital sea-lanes, and provide carrier air support of the Allied Command Europe. All Hands also looked at Allied Forces Central Europe and found out what a newly arrived Sailor had to learn during his time here. Once you can recognize more than 200 different ranks, 32 different uniforms and can cope with six different languages, including both American and British versions of English and Dutch, French, Flemish and German, you would fit right in.

1982--22 Years Ago

During their recent Indian Ocean deployment, the crew of USS America (CV 66) typified the dedication and spirit it takes for Navy people to endure the difficulties of shipboard duty. USS California's (CGN 36) return to Norfolk climaxed a successful and interesting around-the-world voyage.