Re Norway Scimitar etc August '66
Extract from Ark Royal Exercise Diary; There was another early start today with the Scimitars airborne at 0230 to strike the Norwegian coast. For those who live mainly below decks it should be explained that we are operating about 64 degrees North and, at times, have been about 100 miles only from the Arctic Circle - hence the very long summer days. During last night's replenishment, when we fuelled the escorts, a Russian guided missile destroyer appeared and joined our force and she has kept station on us happily throughout the day, giving her sailors possibly their first sight of a carrier launching and recovering. We have taken some very good photographs of her as, doubtless, she will have done of us. The Sea Vixens had a busy day intercepting both the excercise enemy of Canberras and Buccaneers and also the intruding Russian aircraft. At about 0800 two BEAR aircraft made a pass over the ship, returning again later. This is the TUPOLEV 20 turbo-prop, very similar to the TU-114 airliner. Later in the forenoon two BISON flew over escorted neatly by Vixens. This is a pure jet and very clean, sleek aeroplane. Meanwhile the Scimitar strikes continued until it became unwise to operate due to the deterioration in the weather. The principal excitement was a diversion to the Norwegian airfield of ORLAND when a Scimitar lost its external fuel tank. An AEO of 803 Squadron was flown in by COD. It subsequently transpired that the pilot had narrowly escaped disaster when he had chopped down some high electric cables. Although he is now safely on board writing his report of the incident, he has left several small islands without electricity. (A repetition of the birth rate increase resulting from the great New York black-out cut may be forestalled by the shortness of the night at this latitude.) An American Tracker courier brought both visitors and mail on board and our own COD brought Rear Admiral Evans, who is the Deputy C-in-C North, a NATO appointment, to observe the exercise. He was expected to stay on board but Captain Evans USN, COS to COMSTRIKFLTANT (Chief of Staff to Commander, Strike Fleet, Atlantic), did not expect to, but has now found himself marooned on board. There was an ugly rumour that valuable mail had been blown overboard from the Flight Deck, in fact, some packets of strictly official exercise mail were lost - nothing important!