Stokes Bay 29th July 2017

After a two year wait since the last carrier visit, we were eager to get down to Stokes Bay to see the 'Avenger' CVN77 USS George Bush.

Buster and Nay decided on an afternoon visit to coincide with the 4pm tide. We didn't have to wait long for the mighty ship to start turning. Arriving at the Diving Museum car park we soon found Pogo who had arrived some half hour earlier.

The weather however was very wet, and at times it was hard to see the aircraft let alone read them off! But with breaks in the weather we managed to read most of the codes on board.

The list below is a complete inventory of aircraft aboard, all in white were read, those in blue were reported as on deck but not confirmed by us. Any in yellow were reported as below deck and not seen.

Stokes Bay 29-7-17



CVN77 USS George Bush

CVW-8

VFA-31 'Tomcatters'
166776/AJ-100 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-122
166777/AJ-101 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-123
166778/AJ-102 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-124
166779/AJ-103 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-125
166780/AJ-104 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-126
166781/AJ-105 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-127
166782/AJ-106 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-128

166783/AJ-107 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-129
166784/AJ-110 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-130
166785/AJ-111 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-131
166786/AJ-112 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-132
166788/AJ-113 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-134
169120/AJ-151 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-294

VFA-213 'Black Lions'
166663/AJ-200 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18F Super Hornet F-141
166674/AJ-201 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18F Super Hornet F-152
166679/AJ-202 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18F Super Hornet F-157
166681/AJ-203 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18F Super Hornet F-159
166682/AJ-204 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18F Super Hornet F-160
166683/AJ-205 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18F Super Hornet F-161
166684/AJ-206 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18F Super Hornet F-162
166672/AJ-207 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18F Super Hornet F-150
166636/AJ-210 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18F Super Hornet F-129
166638/AJ-212 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18F Super Hornet F-131
166639/AJ-213 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18F Super Hornet F-132
166640/AJ-214 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18F Super Hornet F-133

VFA-87 'Golden Warriors'
168910/AJ-300 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-269
168911/AJ-301 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-270- marked CO on tail
168912/AJ-302 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-271
168913/AJ-303 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-272
168914/AJ-304 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-273
168915/AJ-305 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-274
168916/AJ-306 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-275
168917/AJ-307 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-276
168918/AJ-310 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-277
168919/AJ-311 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet E-278

VFA-37 'Ragin Bulls'
165187/AJ-400 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet C-412
164632/AJ-401 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet C-261
164976/AJ-402 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet C-391
165526/AJ-403 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet C-466
165221/AJ-404 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet C-446
165174/AJ-405 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet C-399
165200/AJ-406 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet C-425
165176/AJ-407 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet C-401
165171/AJ-410 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet C-396
165182/AJ-411 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet C-407

VAQ-131 'Lancers'
168772/AJ-500 McDonnell Douglas EA-18G Growler G-086
168773/AJ-501 McDonnell Douglas EA-18G Growler G-087
168774/AJ-502 McDonnell Douglas EA-18G Growler G-088
168775/AJ-503 McDonnell Douglas EA-18G Growler G-089
168776/AJ-504 McDonnell Douglas EA-18G Growler G-090

VAW-124 'Bear Aces'
165507/AJ-600 Grumman E-2C Hawkeye A52-173
165300/AJ-601 Grumman E-2C Hawkeye A52-171
165298/AJ-602 Grumman E-2C Hawkeye A52-169
164483/AJ-603 Grumman E-2C Hawkeye A-149

HSC-9 'Tridents'
167901/AJ-610 Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk 703786
167878/AJ-611 Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk 703648
167888/AJ-616 Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk 703872
168581/AJ-620 Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk 704451
168577/AJ-621 Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk 704432
167892/AJ-622 Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk 703712

HSM-70 'Spartans'
167063/AJ-700 Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk 703940
168125/AJ-701 Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk 704815
168132/AJ-704 Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk 704827
166552/AJ-706 Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk 703145
168131/AJ-710 Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk 704826



Over in Portsmouth were the following support ships, unfortunately all hangar decks were closed with no visible helicopters.

DDG75 USS Donald Cook - landing pad only
CG58 USS Philippine Sea - HSM-70 embarked
166547/AJ-705 Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk 703118
167064/AJ-707 Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk 703945

Also in dock was the Norwegian frigate, part of the flotilla for the upcoming exercise.

F313 HNoMS Helge Ingstad

An NH-90 is embarked on this, but again was hangared.

A single AW189 was conducting a rescue practice in the bay.

G-MCGO Agusta Westland AW189 92002 HM Coastguard


All in a good day out, let's hope it's not too long until the next one :-)