AHC: Deploy HMAS MELBOURNE to Yankee station

Entirely right.

Even if the cruise is uneventful it would be good to demonstrate fixed wing capability for a raft of reasons.

Now I guess my thoughts would be how could the RAN utilise or create political capital from the cruise. That is the replacement carrier question.
 
^ Considering that the RAN would have bought the Invincible if the Falklands War hadn't intervened, I'm not sure how big a question the carrier replacement program is bound to be. More to the point, the RAN's original plan of buying an Iwo Jima-class ship would not have been a particularly good option for a Melbourne replacement, as an Iwo Jima could only operate helicopters.

Perhaps Australia instead gets involved in the American Aircraft Carrier (Medium) project? It would be beginning just as the RAN is deploying to Vietnam for the second war cruise, and while the program had a LOT bigger crew, USN warships tend to be quite heavily overmanned so I don't doubt you could knock that number down if needed.
 
The sale of Invincible was quite fortuitous. There was every chance that without it the replacement would have been delayed into cancellation which is what happened when the Invincible sale fell through.

Perhaps a war cruise in 1972 would have been better, as Australia's reaction to the invasion of that year. Politically it shows a commitment to the country we spent years fighting for but without having to build up the Army/RAAF again.
 
That is a good point.

RAN FAA A-4's launching CAS missions south and north of the DMZ. Much easier to sell to the public, perhaps even leaving the AATV post withdrawal.
 
It could be a political signal about our commitment to a free SthV without the hassle and controversy of sending in the Army. A carrier deployment must have an end date, which would be politically handy.
 
If you want to have RAN pilots flying over the North pre-1972, here's an option: exchange duty. The RAN sends some pilots to the U.S. to get ready for the Skyhawk program, and to get some of them combat experience, a few are attached to USN or USMC A-4 squadrons flying missions in Southeast Asia (say, one or two with the USN, the same number with the Marines). .
 
Okay so several RAN pilots are deployed on exchange to a USN / USMC squadrons prior to 1972.

Now in order to get MELBOURNE to conduct a war cruise in 1972, what type of political POD would be required? Perhaps Fraser as Minister of Defence?

Additionally how much of an impact would MELBOURNE's airgroup have over the North Vietnamese attacking south.
 
Several RAAF pilots served on exchange with the USAF in Phantoms and as FACs, putting the odd birdie in a USN CAG doesn't really cut it as a serious Australian contribution. There was an idea floating around that about half a squarons worth of Skyhawk personnel joining a USN carrier in 1968, 6-8 pilots and dozens of maintainers but that died a death.

I don't know of a political PoD but Melbourne's CAAG would have maybe 10 Skyhawks, they aren't going to make a major impact other than by a fluke hit on a vital target.
 
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