Artist's commentary
Pictured subject is F-14A BuNo.161283 (S/N 111) from VF-102 Diamondbacks aboard USS America's CVW-1. The photograph could be dated sometime after early 1982, as that's when VF-102 transitioned from F-4 Phantoms to F-14s while also being deployed to CVW-1. They would stay there (with some swaps for few operations during the 80s and 90s) until their redesignation to VFA-102 in 2002, followed by a transition to F/A-18F Hornets and a redeployment to CVW-5.
Next to S/N 111 can be seen S/N 112 (BuNo. 161285), above it can be seen S/N 207 (BuNo. 159429) from VF-33 Starfighters.
BuNo. 161283 slid off No.3 elevator of CV-66 in June 20th 1984, killing one sailor and sinking 9000ft into the Arabian Sea. Further testing of the F-14's performance in subsurface warfare operations was discarded.
BuNo. 161285 was formally stricken in August 31st 1999, and later scrapped.
BuNo. 159429 was sent to a retirement at Davis-Monthan AFB in January 1st 1992, and later scrapped in 2008 during the great Tomcat purge.
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