Fueling at sea

USS McKEAN aka "Rancher" "The Mighty Mac"

Art recreation of the December 1970 cover of Proceedings

[Original] Cover Painting—“Refueling at Sea”

[Below] from the December 1970 PROCEEDINGS

Captain D. E. Cummins, U. S. Navy—Let me be among the first to suggest that Mr. Brightwell must have painted from a print made from a reversed negative. As you must know, for many reasons, we do not refuel from the port bow of aircraft carriers in the U. S. Navy.

Commander W. V Hanson, U. S. Naval Reserve (Retired)—How long have the “small boys” been refueling from the port side of carriers?

EDITOR’S NOTE: For these and other readers who questioned the correctness of the scene depicted by Navy combat artist Walter Brightwell, of a destroyer refueling from the port side of a carrier; would you believe: the USS Lexington (CVA-16) refueling the USS Ingersoll (DD-562) and the USS Twining (DD-540), and the USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-64) refueling the USS McKean (DDR-748) and the USS Harry E. Hubbard (DD-748)—among others?

See the 1968 Deck Logs archive here