Posted on 11/17/2005 4:32:35 PM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
ABOARD USS SAMUEL B ROBERTS (NNS) -- While patrolling in the Caribbean Sea near the Greater Antilles islands, USS Samuel B. Roberts, with its embarked helicopter detachment, rescued seven sailors adrift in a fishing vessel Nov. 14. The sailors had been adrift for three days.
The ship took its action based on the principle of Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS): ships that come across another vessel apparently in distress are by law and custom required to lend assistance.
The Venezuelan-flagged fishing vessel, Dona Malula, was found to have a broken propulsion shaft that could not be repaired at sea by Samuel B. Roberts’ Sailors. On further investigation, the vessel was found to also have a 20-inch crack in the hull that was letting in water faster than could be pumped out.
At the request of the ship’s master, the Commanding Officer of Samuel B. Roberts, Cmdr. Bernard M. Gately Jr., directed the ship’s Rescue and Assistance Team to rescue the fishing vessel sailors by transporting them to his own ship for a medical evaluation and further assistance. The ship’s master and his crew then embarked Samuel B. Roberts.
Gately then directed that the ship be reported as a hazard to navigation so no other ship would be endangered if the ship did not sink on its own.
Samuel B. Roberts is an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate homeported in Mayport, Fla. She currently has embarked Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron (Light) (HSL) 42, also out of Mayport.
For more information on Frigates, go to the U.S. Navy Fact File at www.navy.mil/navydata/fact.asp, and click on Frigates.
Somewhat like the headline "missing Seamen found in Key West"
Years ago, the Captain could have ordered her sunk, and
his crews would have gotten some much needed gun drill.
Thank God they didn't say "seamen."
If you don't think off shore commercial fishermen are not sailors, you have never been over knee deep in the ocean.
the story of the DE Sammy B Roberts of Leyte Gulf...look it up....never forget!
There's a double negative in there. Are you sure you said what you meant to say?
And you think this would be a good thing? These people are fishermen. They are out on the ocean trying to make a living and feed their families. What part of that do you have a problem with?
Well I was a PE major not English, I hope it meant that when you work off shore, you work hard for a living. Commercial fishermen do not have it easy and are every inch sailors.
http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/questions/eternal.html
The United States Navy
Eternal Father — The "Navy Hymn"
Download Eternal Father by the U.S. Navy Band's Sea Chanters
A .WAV File (668 kbytes) An .MP3 File (987 kbytes)
(Information from The Presbyterian Hymnal Companion
Was it part of Taffey 3?
The words to Sailor's Hymn are always beautiful.
The "Wild confusion" part always brings back memories to me. I rode a Force 12 out in a 36' sailboat for 18 hours 200 miles north of Cape Fennistere in the Bay of Biscay on 31 October 1977.
The implication was that the ship the Roberts rescued was filled with illegal immigrants, which is not warranted by the facts in the story.
The Roberts worked on the First Law of the Sea: The preservation of human rights at sea takes precedence over all other considerations.
The sinking of drifting boats is part of the Culture of Waste that has become accepted by government people.
They love waste because it promotes their own growth and power.
Sounds like she had a busted motor, a badly leaking hull and no long range radio or any other rescue or emergency equipment.
I'd say these folks were asking for trouble. Lucky the USN was there to help.
I'm an engineer, which means I must read and write things (requirements, specs) precisely. Unfortunately, what you wrote says the opposite of what you meant. Strike the word "not" (right before "sailors") and I think you'll see that it reads a bit differently, and more like the way you intend it to read.
BTW, I agree with you ... men have been going down to the sea in ships to carry cargo or catch fish for longer than they've been doing it to fight each other. It's hard, dangerous work, and it doesn't pay very well.
I remember that from the Discovery channel. From what I understand sailors that didn't know how to weld welded and they brought the Roberts home. God Bless them. I've seen the Roberts in Norfolk NS when I visited my son on the Kearsarge.
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