U.S. NAVY SIXTH FLEET FILM "A FORCE FOR PEACE" USS RANDOLPH 29724
Filmed at sea with the
Sixth Fleet in the late
1950s, A
FORCE FOR PEACE shows the aircraft carrier
USS Randolph and its air arm, including A-1H Skyraiders and jet fighters. This print is slightly incomplete and missing the main title and a portion of the ending.
The film begins in
Norfolk as the crew says goodbye and departs for the
Mediterranean and duty in
Europe. At 4:54, the
Captain addresses the ship's complement and discusses the importance of a strong presence in the Med, to protect world peace. At 6:11, the
USS Forrestal's aircraft welcome the
Randolph as it approaches
Gibraltar. Dignitaries from the
Royal Navy board the ship at 7:50.
Life aboard the aircraft carrier is shown with various routines. At 11;40, FJ-2
Fury jet aircraft are prepared for launch and spotted on the flight deck. Aircraft launch is seen at the 13:45 mark, with
Piasecki HUP-1 rescue helicopter standing by to pick up crewmen if they have to ditch.
Sixth Fleet
ASW exercises are seen at the 16 minute mark, with a hunter killer group being assembled. An amphibious landing exercise is seen at the 16:30 mark, working with
British commandoes and
Italian troops. A
Regulus missile is seen being launched at the 17:00
Mark from the cruiser
USS Los Angeles.
Sidewinder missiles are seen being test flown at 23:30.
Resupply at sea is seen at the 20:00 mark, including transport of crew between ships. A delivery aircraft arrives on the carrier at 20:30.
Church services are seen at 21:00.
Night operations are seen at 22:00.
USS Randolph (CV/
CVA/
CVS-15) was one of 24
Essex-class aircraft carriers built during
World War II for the
United States Navy. The second
US Navy ship to bear the name, she was named for
Peyton Randolph, president of the
First Continental Congress. Randolph was commissioned in October
1944, and served in several campaigns in the
Pacific Theater of Operations, earning three battle stars.
Decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, she was modernized and recommissioned in the early 1950s as an attack carrier (CVA), and then eventually became an antisubmarine carrier (
CVS). In her second career she operated exclusively in the
Atlantic, Mediterranean, and
Caribbean. In the early
1960s she served as the recovery ship for two
Project Mercury space missions, including
John Glenn's historic first orbital flight.
She was decommissioned in
1969 and sold for scrap in 1975.
On 14 July
1956, Randolph again steamed east for a seven-month tour of duty with the
6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. When
Israel, Britain, and
France invaded the
United Arab Republic in October of that year, Randolph stood ready. Operating near the
Suez Canal, her aircraft provided air cover and surface and air reconnaissance for the evacuation of
U.S. nationals from
Alexandria. She returned to the
United States on
19 February 1957.
After a few months operating off the
East Coast, Randolph deployed to the Mediterranean again on 1 July 1957. Between August and December, as political turmoil in
Syria threatened to further disturb the already turbulent
Mideast, she patrolled the eastern Mediterranean.
Back in the United States on
24 February 1958, the flattop made her 5th Mediterranean deployment from
2 September 1958 – 12
March 1959.
The
Piasecki H-25 Army Mule/
HUP Retriever was a compact single radial engine, twin overlapping tandem rotor utility helicopter developed by the
Piasecki Helicopter Corporation of
Morton, Pennsylvania during the late
1940s and produced during the early 1950s. The company changed its name in the 1956 to
Vertol Aircraft Corporation and subsequently was bought by
Boeing Aircraft Company in
1960, and became Boeing-Vertol.
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting?
Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example like: "01:00:12:00 --
President Roosevelt is seen meeting with
Winston Churchill at the
Quebec Conference."
This film is part of the Periscope
Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the
USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit
http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com