MAKO69 186 Posted October 10, 2014 A detachment of USMC strike fighters from VMFA-531 The Grey Ghosts operating the F-4B Phantom II on board the USS Forrestal for her Med. cruise, were temporarily assigned to RN HMS ARK Royal during the months of February & March of 1973. With their few weeks of combined ops with the Royal Navy coming to an end and the Ark Royal due to port in Malta (where USN personnel where not welcome) one of the Phantoms had a mechanical issue that couldn't be fixed and readied to depart with the rest of the Marines. So the British Navy crew told the Marines we'll take care of her and keep her safe. So they tucked her away in the lower hanger deck while the Ark Royal crew had leave in Malta. Once the Ark Royal was under way USMC personnel returned to work on the Phantom and bring her back to the Forrestal. The Squadron members of RN Fighter Squadron 892 who also operated the Phantom, had painted their squadron markings on the Marine Corps' Phantom. Those silly limeys. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fallenphoenix1986 603 Posted October 10, 2014 Along simillar lines: Just ran accross this page while looking for a pic of her, worth a look if your interested in FAA Tooms. http://www.phantomf4k.org/ Craig 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
future_tuskegee_airman 13 Posted October 10, 2014 That's amazing! Thanks for the information! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nesher 629 Posted October 11, 2014 owned the marines, if I was them.. I'd run! :P Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ironroad 218 Posted October 14, 2014 Wow! I'm surprised US F-4 B/Ns were able to operate off the smaller British ships. I know the UK had to heavy modify their F-4s before they put them in active service. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+CrazyhorseB34 937 Posted October 14, 2014 (edited) The Brits do this stuff all the time. When my company went to the UK on a unit exchange with 1RTR in 94, the guys we swapped out with painted "Chinese eyes" on all our tanks while we where gone. The story I heard about that paint job was engine failure which caused the F-4B to not be able to launch until it was replaced. Speys and J-79s just are not the same thing. So the USN flew a new engine over and a joint marine and RN effort got the jet FMC. When the F-4B was set to launch the next day it had some special decorations applied. Edited October 14, 2014 by CrazyhorseB34 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MAKO69 186 Posted October 17, 2014 I like this pic. The RN Phantom's had the Spey engines which had more dry thrust, which they needed for the work around the smaller decks of Her Majesty's Ships. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
