Originally posted by SiberianTiger
Oh My!! what's this www.vialls.com...

sidenote: Some of the US Navy's worst disasters since WW II have occurred in or near paint lockers (store rooms). Why would the paint be there if not to be used? Carrier fires
locker fire

Blown overboard CNN reportMichael Harris of Dillsburg, Pa., was standing in a gully directly behind an EA6B Prowler when the pilot fired up the engine.

The force sent the sailor overboard as two other sailors nearby tried to grab him, said Navy Lt. Wendy Snyder. Harris, who was working on the flight deck for the first time, plunged 65 feet into the water.

www.vialls.com...
The admiral stiffly explained that his ship had been "near Bali" when ordered to turn back, with one of the major requirements being to "have an Australian contractor paint the flight deck". In fact CVN72 was actually 552 nautical miles WEST of Bali and heading direct for the Persian Gulf at the time, but hey, that's sort of "near Bali" isn't it?
Clearly then, sometime between the USS Abraham Lincoln's departure from Fremantle on December 28, and her return on January 6, painting the flight deck had suddenly become an extremely high tech task that could only be completed by Australians in Australia. This should come as great news to the 5,000+ American crew members of CVN72, who normally paint their own flight deck all the time.
Unfortunately, painting the deck is considered so secret and vital to the "war effort" at this time, that all 5,000+ American crew members are being confined to CVN72, presumably in order to personally supervise half a dozen Australian painters with spray guns!

Global Security siteBy early-to-mid December 2002 the Lincoln had been relieved by the USS Constellation and began transiting back to the United States. On December 18 she was in the Indian Ocean headed for Australia. She arrived in Freemantle on December 22 for a port call where she remained until December 26.

In late December reports from the Navy surfaced indicating that a carrier, either the Lincoln or the Kitty Hawk would be redeployed to the Persian Gulf in light of escalating tensions between Iraq and the US. At that time it was unclear if the Lincoln would remain deployed or if they had been just alerted of the possibility. On December 30 the Lincoln Battle Group was located south of Australia. On December 31, new reports indicated that the Lincoln had indeed been ordered to remain at sea and to redeploy for the Gulf. On January 2, 2003, according to Navy documents, the Lincoln was reported to be Northwest of Australia. On January 3, 2003 the West Australian Newspaper reported that the Lincoln would be returning to Fremantle for an extended stay for repairs and maintenance before it would redeploy for the Persian Gulf.