Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Sarah E Horne | CORONADO, California (July 14, 2017) – Chief Operations Specialist Patrick Arthur,...... read more read more
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For one group of Navy Reservists, drill days means a long day in the surf.
“We’re going out today to help get the Essex qualified,” explained Seaman Alyssa Resendez as she loosened another bolt on the canopy. “We will moor up in the well deck. The first time we’re just going to go in and come out, and the second time we’re going to go in and they’re going to let all of the water go out of the deck.”
The USS Essex (LHD 2) requires specific certifications to get up to speed for deployment. Part of Assault Craft Unit 1’s mission is to assist amphibious ships in preparing for and conducting boarding and disembarking landing craft underway operations.
“Our mission is ship to shore movement,” Chief Operations Specialist Patrick Arthur said, [for the] expeditionary strike group and marines, we put them on the beach.”
LCs are known for their ability to carry extremely large loads despite their minimal appearance.
Each watercraft can carry multiple tanks, light amphibious resupply cargo trucks (LARCs), medium tactical vehicle replacement trucks (MTVRs), and at least one bulldozer for every operation.
Arthur said sometimes landing craft get trapped on a beach when the tide goes out, which is why a bulldozer is mandatory for beach-landing operations. By using the bulldozer’s long arm, the crew can push the landing craft back out to sea easily. There are also three sets of propellers that can point in many different directions to help from under the water’s surface to push the craft off the beach.
The landing craft weighs in at approximately two tons before anything is put on it, and can hold up to 85 tons of cargo. This can prove helpful when attempting to get on the beach and stay there.
However, the landing craft’s weight can prove to be extremely dangerous.
“When the water is coming behind us, it’s trying to push us left and right, that’s called broaching,” said Engineman Fireman Matthew Detig, the acting lead line handler.
“When we turn fully sideways we’re [in a lot of trouble] at that point because the water is going to be trying to roll us over onto the beach. We could capsize, people could go overboard, waves are crashing over the sides, it’s just a bad day overall.:
In response, Detig says that the LARCs and the bulldozers practice a procedure called anti-broaching.
"We’ll tie a line to our front bit and we’ll send them a line, they’ll hook it up to the end of their LARCs and they’ll pull," he said. "They’re trying to pull us straight so they’re basically pulling us around.”
Detig described the other dangers of landing on the beach, including how the wing walls at the bow have a tendency to fall the ten feet down to the deck while mooring the boat in the wet well of a ship.
The crew is constantly briefed and trained to combat the dangers that come with working on any Navy vessel and especially the landing craft. With that knowledge and the skills acquired through hundreds of hours of training, the crew successfully complete the boarding and disembarking operations that help the Essex with its qualification.
“The operation was definitely successful,” Arthur said, “because the ship got certified and it was a great training experience for my crew members who hadn’t been able to enter a well yet.”
The tired, but well-spirited crew, finally made it back to the pier by midnight. The chilled air raised goose bumps on exposed arms and necks, but the city lights of Coronado, Calif., and the stars above, provided a warm, welcoming light as they finally hit solid land.
| Date Taken: | 07.14.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 07.21.2017 18:28 |
| Story ID: | 241456 |
| Location: | CORONADO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 107 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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