Winter weather for training and licensing

Photo By Maj. Shamika Hill | Soldiers perform a man overboard recovery drill using the Logistical Support Vessel 3 stern ramp during the 203rd Transportation Detachment winter weather training in early February.  

BALTIMORE , MD, UNITED STATES

02.05.2014

Story by Capt. Shamika Hill 

310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command

BALTIMORE, Md. - Ice, subfreezing temperatures, winter darkness, snow, nor freezing rain prevented solider mariners of the 203rd Transportation Detachment from sailing the Logistical Support Vessel 3 for four days in February to accomplish training and licensing on the Army’s Logistic Support (LSV) class of Army Vessels.

The LSV 3 pulled out from Army moorings in Curtis Creek, Baltimore, Feb. 5, and headed south on the Chesapeake Bay. The intent of the mission was to spend as much time underway as possible, providing deck officers and soldiers the opportunity to stand watch throughout a 24 hour rotation.

Night operations, whether on land, at sea, or in the air are more complicated and stressful due to lack of visual references, and higher reliance on electronic navigation and communication.

The first day and night the LSV 3 crew steamed south toward Norfolk, Va., and encountered 2-6 inches of ice on the upper Chesapeake Bay.

The ice was not solid so it did not impede headway, however snap, crackle, and pop sounds were heard as the LSV 3 broke through and the ice passed under and along the sides of the vessel.

When they reached the Chesapeake Bay, the vessel Master, Chief Warrant Officer 5 Steve Brown, decided to make a large circle out into the Atlantic.

The LSV 3 then sailed back North on the Chesapeake Bay for a transit through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal (C & D), into the Delaware Bay, and then up to Philadelphia, Pa.

Transiting the Chesapeake Bay always provides excellent training with the high concentration of commercial vessels, restricted channels, and multiple course changes required to stay in deep water.

At the end of day two the LSV 3 transited the C & D Canal, once again breaking through thick ice, and headed north on Delaware River, sailing past the Philadelphia Naval Yard. This was the U.S. Navy’s first Shipyard, founded in 1776.

At a leisurely pace of 10-knots, the LSV 3 sailed on to Penn’s Landing in downtown Philadelphia and tired up for 12 hours so the crew could rest.

Day three the LSV 3 slipped her mooring lines at 10 p.m., and headed down river en-route to the C & D Canal and home to Baltimore. A second night passage of the Canal executed it’s without issues even with the challenge of reduced visibility and buoys off station due to ice.

The LSV3 entered the Baltimore Harbor on day four. Anchoring operations were conducted using all three anchors; stern, starboard bow anchors, and both ports before securing at her berth in Curtis Creek.

This complicated anchoring evolution is necessary when conducting real world beach and Joint Logistics Over the Shore (JLOTS) operations. Demonstration of this skill is a required component of Duty Performance Testing (DPT) for deck and engineering departments.

By midday, the LSV 3 had safely transited through the highway and railroad bridges, which lead over the route into the Baltimore Army Moorings, and had moored back at it's berth.

The LSV 3 and her crew sailed over 700 miles, conducted multiple drills, firefighting, man overboard, damage control, abandon ship, anchoring drills, and stood multiple underway watches. A number of soldiers fully completed their LSV DPTs and can now be awarded their LSV Licenses. SAIL ARMY!

• Date Taken: 02.05.2014
• Date Posted: 02.27.2014 12:19
• Story ID: 121244
• Location: BALTIMORE , MD, US