Posted on 01/27/2006 12:23:44 AM PST by naturalman1975
IT might be one of the world's most impressive displays of military might, but the USS Ronald Reagan is no match for Queensland's jellyfish.
Some capabilities aboard the 97,000-tonne, $5 billion aircraft carrier were disabled after the blubbery invertebrates were sucked into its condensers while docked in the Port of Brisbane.
Condensers are used to take in water from the ocean and cool down the ship's engines.
A spokesman today confirmed the slimy creatures had caused problems during incoming tides.
"The impact was minor and required shifting of electrical generators in order to clear the fouled inlets," he said.
"The fouling by sand and biologics is a common occurrence which the ship's engineers are trained to counter.
"At no time was the ship or environment at risk and we remain capable of fulfilling our mission requirements."
The nuclear-powered ship suffered a similar problem in June 2004 when a main condenser was fouled with several hundred squid and octopi following a four day port visit to Valparaiso, Chile.
But the jellyfish couldn't completely put the brakes on the Ronald Reagan as the "floating city" today set sail after five days of offshore leave.
Around 6000 crew spent their time soaking up Brisbane's pubs, clubs and tourist attractions.
In turn, hundreds of fascinated locals queued for hours and caused traffic chaos to catch a glimpse of the warship.
A handful of people today protested its presence but their plans to kayak out to the "killing machine" were thwarted by tight security.
"The police stopped the kayaks going out to the waters ... they said that the whole river was an exclusion zone," Brisbane Peace Convergence spokeswoman Treena Lenthall said.
The Ronald Reagan left San Diego on January 4 and is on its maiden deployment. Brisbane is its first foreign port of call.
The warship stands 77m high from the waterline, 344m long and the flight deck covers 1.82ha, housing an air wing of 80 fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.
It will now conduct naval operations in support of the war on terror as well as security commitments in the western Pacific.
AC&R is one of the best jobs to have in A-gang. Been there done that :>} They use sea water for the chiller condensers and refrigeration units. It's about hour job on each unit if all goes right. You spend more time cutting the new gasket and cleaning the old one off than you do cleaning the strainer. We never had the misfortune of something like that hitting all at once thankfully. But IIRC it was a once every 3 month job anyway. I've been off my ship 25 years and if it was still around I could go through and operate all the A/C units and remember each ones quirk.
Tell him this and he'll get a good laugh. If the Chill Water Loop is loosing water and you can't find out where just dump two cans of sea marker in the loop. We did it in port and every discharge on the ship I think poured green. Base Commander wasn't too happy LOL.
*snicker*
Most of the ships use anti-freeze in the chill water loop now. They tell me it makes for a more efficient transfer of heat than with just plain water.
I think jellyfish are the least of their worries. When I was on Enterprise we often had seawater leaks into the freshwater side of the main condensors. That makes jellyfish look like a picnic by comparison.
I have this image of a torpedo plowing into the kayak, colleciting it and both torpedo and kayak hooning away up the Brisbane River at 28 knots, while a hippie quietly does something his mother taught him not to do when he was only two.
…after the blubbery invertebrates were sucked into its condensers while docked in the Port of Brisbane.
Funny, how Austrailia seems to have the deadliest creatures on the face of the earth, all collected together... It's almost as if they knew that Steve Irwin was going to be born there!
Mark
If they're went "offshore" wouldn't that be on the ocean?
"Onshore" leave would be a more appropriate phrase since the sailors hopefully will be relaxing ON FREAKIN LAND!!!
I saw that too- looked like the ship popped a woody. It was pretty funny!
Easy, the Carrier. Remember, Carriers usually have Marines on board. They are good shots. :-)
I was in the Navy as well and permanently hurt in this sense means crippled or dead beyond restarting. Scarring and near death experiences are still funny.
Don't use a multimillion dollar torpedo when a fire hose will do the job.
Squiddies!
Jellyfish Love Reagan too!!!
IIRC the chill water fed the scuttle butts directly. Is my memory failing me, did they change this or were you guys just a little callous about the drinking water.
It's all Bush's fault. Becuase Bush single handedly created global warming, the lowly creatures of the earth have risen up to attack us...including muslims.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.