Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Jaimar Carson Bondurant | 200428-N-MQ703-1229 PEARL HARBOR (April 28, 2020) - Steelworker 1st Class Moises...... read more read more
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PEARL HARBOR – Seabees assigned to Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 303 Detachment Pearl Harbor provide assistance with restoration work aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Hopper (DDG 70) April 27.
This work is typically contracted out to civilian restoration experts. With current travel restrictions, Hopper leadership looked for a local solution and found it with the Seabees.
The Seabees were responsible for fabricating and welding new electrical receptacle brackets for the Hopper. The fabricating process is done by marking, cutting and bending a sheet of metal to make the bracket. In order to bend such thick metal, they first have to cut away about three-fourths of an inch where they intend to bend the metal. After this process, the bracket is welded onto the ship. Behind the brackets is the passive countermeasure system material, a neoprene rubber tile used to minimize radar signatures.
The Seabees broke the work down into three days. The first day, they cut away all the pieces that needed replaced. The second day, they went to the welding shop and fabricated new pieces. The third day, they weld the new pieces onto the ship and start the process over again.
“For us, the most difficult part is to move the sheets of metal back and forth since they’re so heavy,” said Steelworker 1st Class Moises Vargas, the operations leading petty officer for CBMU 303. “It takes four people to carry the metal and hold it in place so that we can cut and fabricate it.”
With it being their first time on a ship, the Seabees had to get familiar with a new work environment and the protocol that came with it.
“I didn’t realize how tall I was until I got on a ship and there’s all these tight spaces you have to get through,” said Utilitiesman 2nd Class Jonathan Zielinski.
Shorter ceilings, narrow ladderwells and cramped doorways are a few of the differences he said he noticed while on a ship. The team practiced social distancing in a small environment, which he said made it a little more difficult to do their daily tasks.
The Seabees plan to weld a total of six new electrical receptacle brackets. The work is still in progress.
| Date Taken: | 04.27.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 05.11.2020 21:41 |
| Story ID: | 369763 |
| Location: | PEARL HARBOR, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 286 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Seabees Assist with Maintenance and Repairs aboard USS Hopper, by PO2 Jaimar Carson Bondurant, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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