[ChurchillChat] Re: Sir Winston Churchill on USS Randolph

[Richard Langworth]

Some further notes on helicopters and USS *Randolph.*

“I have never been in a helicopter” is in *Winston S. Churchill,* vol. 8, 
*Never 
Despair 1945-1965* 
 (Hillsdale 
College Press, 2013), 


Wendy Reves, “The Man Who was Here,” *Finest Hour 63, 2nd Quarter 1989:*

I remember . . . our helicopter ride together. It was his 
first, and mine also. He was to be the honored guest aboard the *Randolph*, 
an aircraft carrier. He loved unusual happenings, and this was certainly 
one. My husband Emery, Sir Winston, his bodyguard Detective Sergeant Murray 
and I drove to the Nice airport, where we found two Navy helicopters 
awaiting us. The plan was that Sgt. Murray would go with Sir Winston in one 
machine, and Emery and I in the other. Then, without warning, Sir Winston 
said, “No! Wendy comes with me.” And so it was. The helicopter was a rough 
and raw model, sternly navy with no comforts. The pilot, feeling I think 
his moment of greatness, lofted us up so quickly and so roughly that we 
were both startled. I looked across at Sir Winston, and there before me was 
the young, valiant Churchill, courageous, with his chin jutting forward. It 
was as though he had suddenly shed 50 years, and was once again squarely 
facing a challenge: a split second only ... a memory.

 

Martin Gilbert, *Churchill: A Life,* 954:

The helicopter ride was “an exhilarating incident,’ he told 
Wendy Reves, who accompanied him.

 

Edmund Murray, *I Was Churchill’s Bodyguard, *160:

On trips abroad, especially to the French Riviera, we 
invariably had trouble with too many enthusiastic photographers and 
reporters. On the 1952 trip, one of the newer weapons of the fourth estate, 
the helicopter, was employed to spy on Churchill while he painted in the 
seclusion of the Caponcina grounds. But he was quite unperturbed for, as he 
heard the chattering of the machine overhead, he commented, “I may fly home 
in a helicopter too.”

“Would you wish to land in the Festival Grounds, Sir?”

“No,” said he, “on the Horse Guards Parade. Why not?” Chuckle, 
chuckle. He did not do so, however, and in fact, his first ride in a 
helicopter did not take place until some four or five years later when the 
American Navy picked us up at Nice Airport to carry us to the United States 
carrier Randolph, part of the Mediterranean Fleet, for dinner. It was a 
superb evening and I was told that permission had been obtained from the 
White House or the Pentagon, for champagne, whisky and cocktails to be 
served, probably for the very first time since the American Navy went dry.

 

*Second Helo Ride, May 1959*

Pilpel, *Churchill in America, *268:

On Wednesday, the sixth, Eisenhower took Churchill to have a 
look at his Gettysburg farm. They traveled by helicopter from Washington, 
which gave Winston a chance to inspect the Civil War battlefield from the 
air en route.

 

Anthony Montague Browne, *Long Sunset,* 261:

We had flown with the President by helicopter to his Gettysburg 
farm, and after the visit had hovered over the battlefield with the curator 
of the museum. All had been astounded that WSC could pick out with the 
utmost accuracy the main features of that terrible engagement: Round Top 
Hill, Pickett’s charge, with their distances and significance, were 
fluently and dramatically described. WSC had walked many of the Civil War 
battlefields and his descriptions are very close to the greatest of his 
prose. It was a triumph for a very old man.

 

Mary Soames, *Speaking for Themselves, *CSC to WSC, 7 May 1959:

“Not one word from you & Anthony after the short message 
announcing your safe arrival - However I follow your doings in the Press - 
I am so very glad you went to see Mr Dulles & General Marshall, & what fun 
the helicopter must have been!”

 

*Churchill on Helicopters (seems there was nothing he didn't 
contemplate)*

15 July 1953. From Moran, *Struggle for Survival*

“He was troubled often with fluids going down the wrong way. 
Turning to Clemmie after one of these bouts of coughing, he said: ‘You see, 
dear, we have a turnstile in our throat, and it is so arranged that traffic 
is bound to go the right way, until things go wrong.’ He showed me a 
memorandum that he had written on helicopters. When they were 300 feet from 
the ground or less, if the engine cut out or the propeller came off there 
was a nasty crash. His memorandum contained suggestions to meet that 
contingency; the propeller was to be hollow, and in the hollow there was a 
parachute. He had sent his paper to the Prof. for his comments.”


   Gilbert, *Never Despair,* 772: “He also wanted to know, on 
another occasion, why a parachute could not be deployed by a helicopter, 
should the engine fail, and thus float down in safety!” [The paper, 

[ChurchillChat] Re: Sir Winston Churchill on USS Randolph

[Ken Mendel]

On Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 9:29:51 AM UTC-5, Gary Santos wrote:
>
> I'm researching the history of the aircraft carrier USS Randolph. Winston 
> Churchill visited the USS Randolph on October 26, 1958 in Canne, France. 
> Supposedly, this was his first visit to a US warship since the end on WWII. 
> Does anybody have background information of this event? 
>

Just ran across your post while doing some research of my own.  I am now 
the Secretary/Editor of the USS Randolph Reunion Association.  We meet once 
a year. This year we will be in Kissimmee, FL on Sept. 23-30.  On October 
26, 1958 I was an Airman on the USS Randolph.  When we were in port, I was 
the Captain's driver.  Earlier in October, 1958 I had driven the Randolph 
CO, Captain Strean & his wife Janet to the Reeves villa for lunch with 
Churchill.  On the 26th I led his limo to our helicopter at the Nice 
Airport and helped him aboard,.  Attached is a brief article I wrote for 
our newsletter several years ago.

Send me your email address and I will put you on our list to receive future 
newsletter (3/year).

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[ChurchillChat] Re: Sir Winston Churchill on USS Randolph

[Gary Santos]

Thank you all. This is what I have from the Randolph's perspective:

Churchill visits the Randolph
Graves, William S. *Naval History**; Annapolis*3.4 (Fall 1989): 21. 

The atmosphere on the bridge of the USS Randolph (CVA-15) was quiet and 
concentrated. The giant aircraft carrier was entering a foreign port and 
was minutes away from dropping her anchor. The captain's attention was 
fully occupied with bits of information coming at him from many different 
sources. 


To interrupt him now was simply not done. The messenger of the watch had 
some difficult moments, staring in disbelief at the phone in his hand. "Are 
you sure you want to interrupt him now, sir? We're about to drop the hook," 
he asked the officer on the other end of the line. 


"It's important," came the answer. 


The young sailor swallowed hard. "Ensign Rammrath would like to speak to 
the captain." Captain Bernard "Smoke" Strean knew his public information 
officer to be assertive-which he liked-but his timing certainly needed some 
adjustment; this might be the time to do it. 


He took the phone. "Yes, Rammrath!" His eyes squinted shut behind his 
sunglasses as he listened. 


"Sir Winston Churchill and Brigitte Bardot both live here in Cannes. Do you 
mind if I ask them aboard for lunch?" The captain culled some answers that 
the young ensign would remember for awhile, but decided they would have to 
wait. "Hell yes, I mind. 


Don't do it." He let it go at that. 


It was October 1958, and it had been a hectic fall in the Mediterranean. 


The past two weeks at sea had been grueling. The captain had been on the 
bridge almost constantly. Flying 16 hours a day took its toll on everyone. 

The last three days, they had been operating around the clock. Like the 
crew, Captain Strean was looking forward to this eight-day visit to Cannes. 
His wife was ashore waiting for him. 


The giant ship shook as the engines backed...


On Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 10:29:51 AM UTC-4, Gary Santos wrote:
>
> I'm researching the history of the aircraft carrier USS Randolph. Winston 
> Churchill visited the USS Randolph on October 26, 1958 in Canne, France. 
> Supposedly, this was his first visit to a US warship since the end on WWII. 
> Does anybody have background information of this event? 
>

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