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Wasp Sailors Learn to Save their Ship at Wet Trainer

Navy NewStand

Story Number: NNS030314-20
Release Date: 3/16/2003 1:46:00 PM

By Signalman 3rd Class(SW/AW) Derrick M. Ingle', USS Wasp Public Affairs

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (NNS) -- "General quarters, general quarters. All hands man your battle stations." For some Sailors, hearing this yelled over a ship's loudspeaker usually means nothing more than a scheduled training exercise.

But what happens when it's the real thing? What do you do when your ship's just been attacked, and it is rapidly taking in water? Dialing 9-1-1 is not an option at sea. And if you don't hurry and trap the flooding, you and your shipmates could go down with the ship.

Crew members of the multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) were presented with this exact scenario aboard the Fleet Training Center's simulated ship USS Buttercup at Naval Station Norfolk, Va.

The wet environmental trainer is a hands-on tool used to intensify lessons taught during a two-day damage control course. It also gives students better insight on how to save their ship and themselves.

"In the Buttercup, we create a scenario of an actual missile attack," said instructor Machinist's Mate 1st Class (SW/AW) Steven Russell of Hampton, Va. "Shortly after the explosion, general quarters is set. Next, all the lights are shut off, and the only sounds are people panicking and screaming. In addition, we flood 78,000 gallons of water in the pool, which serves as one of the ship's main spaces. Their goal is to check out the damage and do whatever is necessary to prevent water from traveling to the next compartment."

From busted pipes in the berthing to holes in the bulkhead of the machinery room, damage to Buttercup can be unpredictable. Student investigators and on scene leaders are the first to scope out and locate the problem.

"Being the first on the scene is scary, because you don't know what to expect," said number one investigator Electrician's Mate 3rd Class (SW) Derek Wright, a native of Queens, N.Y. "At first, I panicked. The ship was rocking, water and steam were hitting my face, people were hollering, and worst of all, you can't see anything. Learning how to save the ship in the class and then actually doing it was totally different."

Others agreed. When it comes to damage control, both students and instructors see hands-on training as more beneficial than class lectures and training manuals.

"All through my Navy career, I've been educated on saving the ship, yet this was the first time I've actually done it," said Information Systems Technician Seaman Daniel Moran of Merrimack, N.H.

With Wasp already scheduled for its second deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, shipmates are cautious not to take the wet trainer for granted. Shipmates heightened their awareness when instructors conveyed that Sailors of USS Cole (DDG 67) went through the same training just months before terrorists attacked their ship.

"Hearing about the Cole really touched home," said Wright. "Everybody thinks nothing like that could happen to them, yet the Wasp could easily be the next target. I'm sure nobody on the Cole thought or suspected an attack, yet look what happened."

Through 48 hours of education and hands-on experience, students witnessed the intensity of actually saving a ship. True, the Buttercup treatment was just simulation, yet it provided real life attack scenario.