Stranded USN Minesweeper to be dismantled

[Edward Campbell]

I have been following this story for a few days now; the latest, in this report, which is reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act from The Guardian, is that the ship will be dismantel, in situ, rather than risk damaging the Tubbataha marine park in Philippines:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/30/us-navy-dismantle-minesweeper-coral

US navy will dismantle minesweeper stranded on coral reef
The damage to the ship that ran aground in the Philippines is so extensive the vessel will have to be cut up and removed

Associated Press
guardian.co.uk

Wednesday 30 January 2013

The US navy said on Wednesday that it would dismantle a minesweeper that ran aground on a coral reef in the Philippines after carefully studying all options on how to remove the damaged ship.

The navy spokesman James Stockman said dismantling the USS Guardian was determined to be the solution that would involve the least damage to the Tubbataha Reef, a protected marine sanctuary where the ship got stuck 17 January.

He said the Philippine coastguard was reviewing the plan, but gave no other details.

The navy had said previously that the ship would be lifted by crane on to a barge and taken to a shipyard, but apparently the damage was too extensive and it will have to be cut up and removed in pieces. Stockman gave no time frame for the operation.

The grounding caused no casualties to the ship's 79 crew and officers, who were taken off the vessel after it crashed into the reef in shallow waters. The ship began listing and taking on water through holes in the wooden hull. The navy's support vessels siphoned off remaining fuel and salvage teams removed heavy equipment and hazardous material.

The navy is investigating the incident, which caused Philippine government agencies and environmentalists to express concern about the extent of damage to the coral reef.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said last week that the US navy must explain how the ship got off course. He said the navy would face fines for damaging the environment.

Thomas Carney, commander of the navy's Logistics Group in the Western Pacific, told reporters last week that the investigation would look into all the factors that may have led to the grounding, including a reported faulty digital chart, sea conditions, weather and the state of the ship's navigational equipment.

The navy and the US ambassador to the Philippines, Harry K Thomas, have apologised for the grounding and promised to co-operate with its close ally.

USS Guardian aground on the Tubbataha Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Sulu Sea
about 130 kilometres (80 miles) southeast of the western island of Palawan.

USS Guardian in happier times

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Wow. That's a wooden hull?

 

[Edward Campbell]

My understanding - sailors will please help - is that real, purpose built, primary role mine countermeasures vessels have non-ferrous metal hulls and minimize the use of steel to minimize the vessel's magnetic signature.

 

[ModlrMike]

My understanding - sailors will please help - is that real, purpose built, primary role mine countermeasures vessels have non-ferrous metal hulls and minimize the use of steel to minimize the vessel's magnetic signature.

Yes, it's probably a bad combination to have a metal hull while laying magnetic mines.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

23 years old, you can imagine the forces working on her hull when those waves in the picture hit it.

 

[Occam]

Yes, it's probably a bad combination to have a metal hull while laying magnetic mines.

If Wikipedia is to be believed, it states that most US naval mines are delivered by aircraft.  It's minesweeping ships that typically have wooden hulls.  Our steel hulled MCDVs have a minesweeping capability, but I believe they deal with the magnetic mine issue through deperming/degaussing.

 

[cupper]

There is some speculation that the marine charts may be inaccurate. Supposedly a Greenpeace ship grounded in approximately the same location and claimed that their chart showed the reef 8 NM further away.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

There is some speculation that the marine charts may be inaccurate. Supposedly a Greenpeace ship grounded in approximately the same location and claimed that their chart showed the reef 8 NM further away.

I get it. Like locals putting out the lighthouse and then building a bonfire on the beach to lure ships onto the rocks. ;D

 

[cupper]

Yep. The space geeks at the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency may have pulled an oops. Never trust an agency which the government refuses to confirm or deny the existence of.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/01/29/minesweeper-stuck-reef-philippines/1875931/

The ship's digital navigational chart, which was prepared by National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, miscalculated the reef's location about 8 nautical miles.

 

[Journeyman]

Never trust an agency which the government refuses to confirm or deny the existence of.

Really? Not much of a conspiracy -- you can write them here:

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
Office of Corporate Communications
7500 GEOINT Drive
Springfield, Virginia 22150-7500

And their 2011 Budget justifications to Congress (unless Congress isn't part of the US government either) are here

 

[NavyShooter]

I used this as a case study of "Consequence of Error" when repairing the Digital Nautical Charting system that our Navy uses last week with some students....it's nice to have a real world application of knowledge...

 

[Colin Parkinson]

There was a time when the expectation was that the chart was always incorrect and other methods to ensure safe navigation were employed, now the expectation is that the chart is correct and can be relied upon.

 

[CougarKing]

Latest updates on the USS Guardian story: other news sites say the ship's parts will be brought to Japan

Pic of the dismantling

Source: PACOM FB

CO, USN 7th Fleet Blog

Final Hull Section of Guardian Removed From Reef

USS Guardian Crew Get a New Home As a New Minesweeper Arrives In Sasebo

Posted on April 1, 2013
by c7fwebmaster


Story by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Mackenzie P. Adams
Navy Public Affairs Support Element Japan

SASEBO, Japan (March 29, 2013) The crew of Ex-Guardian (MCM 10) watched from the pier as USS Warrior (MCM 10) arrived at Commander, Fleet Activities Sasebo (CFAS) March 27. In an unusual crew-swap situation, the crew of Ex-Guardian will be transferred to Warrior and remain forward deployed to CFAS effective March 31.

The Ex-Guardian ran aground on Tubbataha Reef in the Philippines Jan. 17, was beyond economical repair and was subsequently decommissioned and stricken from the naval registry Feb. 15.

“It’s been difficult for the crew, both officers and enlisted, not having a ship,” said Lt. j.g. Jared Shrader, Warrior’s Damage Control Assistant. “Sometimes there is a sense of confusion, but now with Warrior here we have a clear purpose.”

Warrior, which was most recently deployed in the 5th Fleet area of responsibility, is an Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship similar to the ex-Guardian, which will make the crew’s transition to manning the ship and making it operational a little easier.

“The crew has been training for the last month and a half, running drills and visiting other ships, “ said Shrader. “We’re excited to get on board, take possession of this new warship and get back out to sea like we were meant to do.”

“We’ve been training like we fight back on the ship, and we can’t wait to get back out to sea,” said Engineman 2nd Class Nicholas Davis, Warrior’s Main Propulsion Supervisor, who credited his leadership for maintaining unit cohesion for the past two months. “Ever since the incident the chain of command, from LPOs [leading petty officers] up to the 7th Fleet, has been very supportive of us,” said Davis. “They made sure we had uniforms and that the crew stayed together.”

Lt. Cmdr. Mark A. Rice, commanding officer of the Warrior, introduced the crew to the new ship with an awards ceremony on the pier, thanking them for the courage and dedication they showed when Ex-Guardian ran aground, and handing crew members who had been on board a letter of recognition.

“It was an incredible challenge but you demonstrated the greatest character in meeting that challenge. All 79 Guardian Sailors made it home because of it. As we move towards the future, know that I have always been proud to be part of this crew.”

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Certainly shows how much the relationship with the Philippines is worth the US. The Russians would have left it there.

 

[Monsoon]

There is some speculation that the marine charts may be inaccurate. Supposedly a Greenpeace ship grounded in approximately the same location and claimed that their chart showed the reef 8 NM further away.

Hmmm... I suspect this is a case of the local chart using a different datum than the ocean chart. Locally-surveyed charts (particularly old charts based on 200-year old manual surveys) can easily be 8 nm off the WGS84 projection used by GPS - particularly near the equator. In ye olde dayes of paper charts, you would be warned that this might be the case when the chart you were using was hand-drawn in black and white, decorated with pretty drawings of the coastline as seen from water level, and attributed to the work of Lt Cook, RN. In the day of electronic charting, you need to pay close attention to the datum information in the system and adjust accordingly. Would a Greenpeace "mariner" be aware of this? Not so much.

 

[cupper]

Hmmm... I suspect this is a case of the local chart using a different datum than the ocean chart. Locally-surveyed charts (particularly old charts based on 200-year old manual surveys) can easily be 8 nm off the WGS84 projection used by GPS - particularly near the equator. In ye olde dayes of paper charts, you would be warned that this might be the case when the chart you were using was hand-drawn in black and white, decorated with pretty drawings of the coastline as seen from water level, and attributed to the work of Lt Cook, RN. In the day of electronic charting, you need to pay close attention to the datum information in the system and adjust accordingly. Would a Greenpeace "mariner" be aware of this? Not so much.

Those the ones that have written along the edge "There be monsters here" ?

 

[Monsoon]

Those the ones that have written along the edge "There be monsters here" ?

No jokes! A lot of the coastal charts of Newfoundland were surveys originally done by the man who eventually went on to become Captain Cook. Some of the elevation drawings are quite beautiful.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

I have seen the charts drawn by Capt Vancouver of this coast, stunning detail and pretty dam accurate considering the equipment they had. I suspect that he would be unimpressed with the navigation skills of the average modern bridge officer.