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Wednesday, July 9, 2008

USS George Washington won’t arrive at Yokosuka in August

By Allison Batdorff, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, July 10, 2008

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Cancel the band: The USS George Washington will not make its first Yokosuka public appearance in August as planned, the Navy announced Tuesday.

"Ongoing repairs" will delay the aircraft carrier’s arrival "past August," a Commander U.S. Naval Forces Japan release stated. A "transit plan" to Yokosuka "has not been finalized," it said. Navy officials did not give any specifics on when the ship would officially take its place as the Navy’s Forward-Deployed Naval Forces’ aircraft carrier.

The repairs, and consequent delay, stem from the May 22 fire aboard the George Washington while the ship was conducting an under way replenishment with the USS Crommelin in waters near South America.

The fire started in an air conditioning and refrigeration space and auxiliary boiler room and spread to 80 spaces. The damage was "primarily electric in nature," according to Navy reports. No sailors were seriously injured, though 23 suffered from heat stress and one had first-degree burns. Sailors fought the blaze for several hours. The cause of the fire has not been established.

The George Washington has been undergoing repairs, investigations and assessments in San Diego’s North Island since May 27, waylaying plans to swap personnel with the USS Kitty Hawk and participate in the large-scale international Rim of the Pacific exercise. Instead, Kitty Hawk, the 47-year-old aircraft carrier formerly stationed in Yokosuka, took the George Washington’s place in the exercise, which lasts through July in the waters near Hawaii. Kitty Hawk will then meet the George Washington in San Diego for the swap in August.

Afterward, Kitty Hawk will continue to Bremerton, Wash., for decommissioning.

Repairs to George Washington are scheduled to be finished in "late August" . But a timeline for the Pacific transit remains unknown.

The fire on the GW was fought for a bit more than “several hours”. More like a half day. There was severe damage over many deck levels. It will be a while before she relieves the Kittyhawk.

Non-Navy personnel may not be aware that those USS GEORGE WASHINGTON sailors, and all sailors for that matter go through fire-fighting training in Boot Camp.. at least that was the way things were in my Navy Days.

When a ship is underway, miles and miles from shore, if a fire breaks out as in this case, fire-fighting is an All Hands operation. There’s no fire dept. to call.

On another semi-related topic, The USS KITTY HAWK was a new ship during my time. I served aboard a Destroyer Tender providing repairs and services to the fleet. I recall job orders from the KITTY HAWK when I worked in the Pipe Shop while we were overseas.

In Yokosuka, there is a pier named Piedmont Pier.. named after my ship back at the end of WWII because PIEDMONT set up repair operations while tied up to that pier. Again, during my time in Yokosuka, the carriers would be moored to Piedmont Pier, and we would be moored at another location at that Naval Station.

I’m assuming that carriers still moor to Piedmont Pier.

One more semi-related item, the scuttlebutt during those years said that the USS KITTY HAWK and the USS CONSTELLATION were built from the same plans and were the longest ships in the fleet. Each ship would boast that they were the longest so to settle the arguement, they measured the flight deck of each ship. The KITTY HAWK was the winner by 6 inches. If they were built from the same plans, how could one be bigger? Expansion joints and temperature caused one to be shorter than the other.

Like all good Sea Stories, “Now this is no s**t!”

Thanks for the report on the fire aboard the GW. I guess I missed that one in the News when it happened.