I have a son on the GW - currently all emails to the ship are being returned by the ships postmaster;
"This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification.
Delivery to the following recipients failed."
No surprise comms are down - I thank God nobody was seriously hurt.
The U.S. Navy was once renowned for its on-board firefighting skills. It seems those skills have deteriorated. It took "several hours" to control the fire? That doesn't bode well for the eventual day-one of the naval war in the Persian Gulf.
12 hrs at GQ....that's a long stretch. Musta got kinda exciting. Had one small fan room fire at sea...we were wrapped up in about an hour...
"L", I have several questions for you; did you serve in 'once-renowned' navy OR the current one? I suspect not. Are you aware of the evolution that was taking place at the time? Again I suspect you have looked into this much. The 'routine replenishment' the above snippet refers to is only routine in the fact that it happens often, but it is not taken lightly. The ship was transferring JET FUEL - at hundreds if not thousands of gallons per minute, not supplies or mail or whatever else you might imagine.
As well as we strive to maintain our equipment and our vessels, unforeseen occurrences arise. A leak may have developed, fumes may have reached a space with newly exposed wiring, some jerk could have been smoking (which is forbidden during fuel transfers)...any number and combination of issues may have contributed to this happening. We are not the investigators, it is not our job to conjecture and accuse regarding the cause.
What you may not realize is what an AMAZING job my fellow sailors did Thursday. Aircraft carriers hold hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel, not to mention the aircraft and munitions in the vicinity of the fire. There is also a compressed gas shop very near where firefighting efforts took place, and a fire allowed to spread there could have been tragic.
I doubt a fire in a similarly equipped, multi-purpose, civilian industrial facility would have been dealt with as well; with the major effect so far being that myself and others cannot send or receive emails to our loved ones until certain repairs to electrical systems are made. No lives lost, no major injuries.
I am very proud of my friends and fellow co-workers and you should be too.
I believe the outcome of thursday's events onboard my former home bodes just fine for our navy.
"L", I have several questions for you; did you serve in the 'once-renowned' navy OR the current one? I suspect not. If so, you are not looking at all aspects of this incident. Are you aware of the evolution that was taking place at the time? Again I suspect you have looked into this much. The 'routine replenishment' the above snippet refers to is only routine in the fact that it happens often, but it is not taken lightly. The ship was transferring JET FUEL - at hundreds if not thousands of gallons per minute, not supplies or mail or whatever else you might imagine.
As well as we strive to maintain our equipment and our vessels, unforeseen occurrences arise. A leak may have developed, fumes may have reached a space with newly exposed wiring, some jerk could have been smoking (which is forbidden during fuel transfers)...any number and combination of issues may have contributed to this happening. We are not the investigators, it is not our job to conjecture and accuse regarding the cause.
What you may not realize is what an AMAZING job my fellow sailors did Thursday. Aircraft carriers hold hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel, not to mention the aircraft and munitions in the vicinity of the fire. There is also a compressed gas shop very near where firefighting efforts took place, and a fire allowed to spread there could have been tragic.
I doubt a fire in a similarly equipped, multi-purpose, civilian industrial facility would have been dealt with as well; with the major effect so far being that myself and others cannot send or receive emails to our loved ones until certain repairs to electrical systems are made. No lives lost, no major injuries.
I am very proud of my friends and fellow co-workers and you should be too.
I believe the outcome of thursday's events onboard my former home bodes just fine for our navy.
(sorry, not normally a blogger or commenter and accidentally posted twice.)
Maggie, thank goodness no lives were lost in the fire.
I'm hoping we'll learn more about what happened when the carrier docks here in San Diego.
Emails are likely being returned because the ship has "turned off" email service to prevent crew members from sending info/pics regarding the event that have not been officially released. It is a common procedure when the ship has an accident, loses an aircraft, etc.
right after the oriskany fire the following "Sea Story" was floating around.
"this is nooo sh#$"
the ship went to fire quarters at condition zebra. a brand new fireman apprentice was assigned to a very small pump room down right next to the keel by himself. the room was accessible by a trunk that went from the hanger deck to the space straight down about 6 decks. there was a zebra fitting at the bottom of the trunk and one at the top.
they fought the fire for about 18 hours. the kid in the pump room asked for relief for sanitary purposes and was told to hold fast.
after about 30 hours and several requests for relief he was told it was alright to come out.
after he came out he realized that the trunk had flooded and that if he had opened the hatch below it would have completely filled the pump room and drowned him.
i guess that the guy shook for a couple of days and then put in for a battle stations spot of lookout.
which he was granted directly.
(notice the obligatory and traditonal disclaimer at the start of the tail.)
C
fire on board an aircraft carrier anyplace (at sea or at the pier) is a very serious thing.
i went aboard oriskany about an hour after they pulled in to cubi point nas (there was heavy smoke still pouring out of the side ports) and saw some interesting things.
75% of the staterooms (pilots quarters) in the horshoe around the forward elevator were burned out. in the passageway there were brass firehose fittings that had melted from the heat of the fire but on the opposite side a bullitein board with a plexiglass was merely singed.
two smaller jet aircraft were about half burned (on the top only), another had the cockpit cover melted.
there were no yellow or purple carts etc. on board. the story to that was that an abm2 covered himself with glory by hooking aircraft tugs onto trains of loaded bomb and fuel carts and then driving the whole thing over the side through the side ports and stepping off just as they went over the side. (they had done the bit of changing missions several times and the defueling carts had not been drained back into bunkers and the removed ordinance had not been struck below before the fire. all of this stuff was sitting around on the hanger deck when the baloon went up.)
one thing that was suprising was that the hanger cross deck fire doors actually worked. (those things were notorious for rusting solid and took some serious muscle about every couple of months to free them.)
they also had a bunch of guys grousing about having to stay at fire quarters when they could be hitting the rack.
we did some work, the srf painted the entire outside of the ship, the ships force did a lot of electrical repairs and cable stringing. "somebody" off loaded 100% of the ammunition. they fueled the ship and she left.
made it to san francisco in 8&1/2 days. (calculated by the day and time i saw it leave against the artical in the stars and stripes about when it pulled under the golden gate bridge).
C
I have a son on the USS George Washington, we heard about the fire on the news this morning, I know they are well trained for this. I have started prayer for the entire crew. Thank God for looking out for each one of our loved ones! Please continue to pray for these brave men and women.
Fires suck. They are bad and they kill people.
That is why ships/submarines/aircraft carriers train, train, and train to combat fires. Then they train some more. We still have the best DC in the world.
Sounds like they did a good job: no one died and the ship can continue the mission.
MTC, i've been onboard for comms blackouts, i wish it were only that this time. Word from the command and ombudsmen is that comms could be down for several weeks while repairs are made. Really puts it into perspective how reliant on and spoiled by email we've become. My friends and I are so out-of-sorts without our daily emails!
I definitely have a greater respect for submariners and their families who deal with this each deployment. Bless you all.
If their email will be down for weeks, why don't we all send our loved one a nice letter or package to lift their spirits. I'm sure each one could use some extra encouragement now. They need to know how PROUD we are of each and every one of these men and women on the USS George Washington.
If their email is down, it would be nice for the ship/ navy to also let their families know that they are ok. especially for people like me (navy wife) who gets left out of the ombudsmen and command regular posting.
Got an email from my son - he reports all is well and he is now officially a Shellback
I also have a son on the GW and like many here heard the news on CNN. Now I can't find out anything. I understand the security and why E-mail might be down, but would like to receive some word from the Navy.
I'm my son's biggest fan, we are blessed to have close relationship,however, I feel, no news is good news. I know in my heart he will contact the first chance he gets, knowing he has so many family concerned about him, however he must follow his orders as well. The injured are priority, and letting their families know how they are if it is serious. So many family members are so negative, please keep our wonderful men and women on the USS George Washington,edified positive thinking, encouraged, and their moral and spirits lifted as much as possible. I would love to hear any suggestions or ideas. Remember, They are out there for us, they need as little pressure from home as possible.Hope to get ideas from other Moms or ladies that have men on this ship or any other.
I have a good friend who was on board. He called to tell me he's fine. I hadn't even heard anything about it in the news (I'm in Texas) so I had to search the internet to find out what happened. He said an 18 hour fire and they're now in San Diego. Glad everyone is ok.
My son called tonight, and everyone is doing fine, Praise God, if you want to hear about it just go to google and type in USS George Washington fire 2008, all kinds of articles and pictures come up. My husband saw it flash across the bottom of the local news Sat. morning and I went to research it on google. I think they all did a wonderful job! I'm PROUD of each and everyone that was involved. Great job guys, way to go! Thank you for all the hard work!
Being a retired sailor still working in the field and having served on a Nimitz class for several years, I can tell you that ship board fires aren't like shore fires. Word here is the actual fire was out in a couple of hours, but it had gotten into the cable ways. No one stands down the crew until there is no possible way that there could be fire hiding somewhere on board. And I mean they dig out walls and cable ways and anything else that might harbor a smolder. All comms off a ship are shut down for a while, at the discrimination of the captain, when any kind of problem happens on a ship. And when you rip out cable ways, all that has to be replaced.
Just came back from San Diego and saw my son who is stationed onboard the USS George Washington. We were fortunate to have a tour and sadly saw a very small section of the damage. It is amazing how confined the spaces are and how much damage was done. They were due to leave San Diego on the 2nd of June but may end up being there for a few weeks - still have lots of cables and electrical stuff to run. Personally knowing one of the 23 that had heat stress and seeing some of the damage --- training training and more training came into play --- great job by all involved. For the other parents and family - everyone I saw was happy it was over, was eager to get it fixed and ready to get on with their mission!! May calm seas guide them in the future!!
Our loved ones are going to be working overtime, we all know they have a huge task ahead , as PB explained, not to mention the stress of other areas in their lives. We must continue to lift these brave, hard working, men and women up in prayer every time we think of the sacrifices being made by them and their families. Please know, if your loved one is ever injured seriously, you will not get a call, you will be getting a knock at your door. A wise saying I heard the other day "THEY DON'T CARE HOW MUCH YOU KNOW, UNTIL THEY KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CARE" Wish this could be posted in every area of the Georgewashington. We all are PROUD of the sailors, we THANK YOU for your sacrifices and dedication! We love you, A Mom that understands
Our loved ones are going to be working overtime, we all know they have a huge task ahead , as PB explained, not to mention the stress of other areas in their lives. We must continue to lift these brave, hard working, men and women up in prayer every time we think of the sacrifices being made by them and their families. Please know, if your loved one is ever injured seriously, you will not get a call, you will be getting a knock at your door. A wise saying I heard the other day "THEY DON'T CARE HOW MUCH YOU KNOW, UNTIL THEY KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CARE" Wish this could be posted in every area of the Georgewashington. We all are PROUD of the sailors, we THANK YOU for your sacrifices and dedication! We love you, A Mom that understands
George W Crew;Job WELL DONE :
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