This contact sheet documents a small U.S. Navy auxiliary or utility craft operating near the Essex-class carrier USS Ticonderoga during Vietnam War operations. Photographed in sequence from an elevated position aboard the carrier, these frames capture the routine but essential work of small support vessels that kept a carrier task force running — from mail and personnel transfers to plane-guard and harbor duties — far from the more famous flight deck action, but no less vital to fleet operations. Project: 218230