Posted on 01/29/2013 10:06:54 PM PST by GATOR NAVY
Malaysian tug Vos Apollo prepares for defueling operations near the grounded USS Guardian on Jan. 24, 2013, while a U.S. Navy small boat approaches with a salvage team. The U.S. Navy contracted Vos Apollo to assist with removing fuel from the mine countermeasures ship, which ran aground on the Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea on Jan. 17. No fuel has leaked since the grounding and all of the approximately 15,000 gallons onboard Guardian was safely transferred to Vos Apollo during two days of controlled defueling operations on Jan. 24 and Jan. 25. Geoffrey Trudell/U.S. Navy
Wha an undignified way for a ship to end its service career
No matter how much I search, I can’t find the name and rank of the captain of the vessel. Hope I just didn’t overlook it.
Not even mentioning the captain.
Wow. Um. Go Army, beat Navy?
I can’t remember the last time the Army beached a Bradley worth several hundred million dollars and had to fly the crew to someplace else...
Just kidding, my brothers in arms. I heard the Philippine government is going to charge us for environmental damage.
Hmmm...allies.
Didn't even have a real Captain
The commander of a ship is the captain regardless his rank. Navy Captains usually command capital ships ... carriers, cruisers etc.
I see
Does this seem a little strange? The boat is floating around on top of the reef, but cannot be dragged off? Is this a decision driven by some sort of environmentalist idiocy?
Wooden/fiberglass hull doesn’t stand up well against coral. Would certainly sink if they pulled it off.
I would just set a few depth charges drilled down into the reef below the ship, then KABOOM! Done.(Dusting off hands gesture)
Actually, ... I am employed with a company that manufactures the transmissions for the Bradley, as well as components for the Abrams and the big diesel engines for the tank recovery vehicles, some of the pictures and videos from the recent conflicts in the middle east might surprise you. Let’s just say, there is no fixin’ stupid, no matter the branch of service.
It is stuck on a UNESCO World Heritage Site, of all places.
Ah right it’s a minesweeper. Hence the non-metallic hull.
I haven't seen anything that says it outright, but apparantly the reef is a UN "World Heritage Site" or something like that, a crane could not be used to lift it off because of fears of damaging the reef, and the Navy had to call in a tug from Malaysia to clean up some spilled diesel - so YES, I imagine the Navy Brass had to go into politically-correct environmental mode for this.
http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/mcm5/Pages/bio1.aspx#.UQk3LmeviSo
The boat is floating around on top of the reef,
and
New found boyancy after fuel removal - - -
So they fill it back up with seawater....
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