U.S. Navy Douglas A-4E <i>Skyhawk</i> (BuNo 150134, 151094) in the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS <i>Franklin D. Roosevelt</i> (CVA-42) in October 1973. 36 Skyhawks were delivered to Israel from U.S. stocks during the Yom Kippur War to replace losses. Staging from Lajes, the aircaft were refueled by U.S. Air Force Boeing KC-135A tankers from Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire (USA), and U.S. Navy tankers from the USS <i>John F. Kennedy</i> (CVA-67) west of the Strait of Gibraltar. They then flew on to the <i>Franklin D. Roosevelt</i> southeast of Sicily where they stayed overnight, then continued on to Israel refueling once more from tankers launched from the USS <i>Independence</i> (CVA-62) south of Crete.
USN
U.S. Navy photo <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.navysite.de/cruisebooks/cv42-73/012.htm">[1]</a> from the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.navysite.de/cruisebooks/cv42-73/index_003.htm">USS <i>Franklin D. Roosevelt</i> (CVA-42) 1973-1974 cruise book</a> available at <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://navysite.de/cruisebooks/index.html">Navysite.de</a>