Cardinal's Crew Works Overtime for OIF
Navy NewStand
Story Number: NNS030426-01
Release Date: 4/26/2003 4:49:00 AM
By JO2(SW) Dennis J. Herring, Naval Forces Central Command/5th Fleet Public Affairs
MANAMA, Bahrain (NNS) -- "Over all lines," sounded the ship's announcing system as Sailors tossed mooring lines to a barge alongside the pier. At mid-morning Thursday, the crew of USS Cardinal (MHC 60) pulled back into home port after its longest underway period ever.
Family members waited anxiously on the pier for their own personal heroes to come ashore. Holding flowers and "Welcome Home" posters, they greeted their loved ones as they walked down the ship's brow.
Cardinal, an Osprey-class minesweeper and its crew, recently returned to Bahrain after spending 45 days at sea in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).
Cardinal's mission is locating, classifying and destroying underwater mines with what is usually a 15-day endurance time at sea. During this deployment, the ship remained underway almost three times as long.
"Forty-five days is not that big of a deal from a large ship's perspective, but it is a long time for a small ship," said Lt. Cmdr. Dan E. Voth, the commanding officer of the 188-foot-long minesweeper.
According to the Voth, Cardinal and its crew usually spend up to two weeks at sea. Even with three times the normal underway time, the only challenges the crew faced were dealing with the logistics of obtaining supplies and fuel.
"The crew held up great," said Voth. "They were underway, doing their mission, doing what they trained to do all of their professional life in the Navy."
"They were focused. They were tired. They stood a lot of watches, but above all, they were ready to do their mission," Voth added.
During OIF, the crew's mission was to clear waterways in southern Iraq of mines, allowing vessels carrying humanitarian aid to safely reach the Iraqi people with much-needed supplies.
"The ship performed lead-through operations for the humanitarian vessels," said Mineman 1st Class Billy R. McKay, ship's operations department leading petty officer. "In this operation, our ship took the lead position for other ships while sailing in waters suspected of having mines.
"Cardinal was the second minesweeper to lead a humanitarian vessel into Iraq," he added. "As part of the coalition of forces, a United Kingdom ship, the HMS Sandown, led the first ship, RFAS Sir Galahad, which headed into Iraq with supplies."
"The hard work of the coalition crews made it possible for the humanitarian vessels to transit the waterway successfully and offload much-needed supplies to port," said Chief Mineman Steve R. Brashier, Cardinal's command chief petty officer.
Coalition ships suffered no casualties due to the success of the minehunting crews clearing the waterways.
"It has been a tough 45 days," said Brashier. "But, I am really proud of the crew. They did a great job. Morale stayed unbelievably high as Sailors faced tough working conditions. The crew stood watches in a port and starboard rotation, or six-hours-on, six-hours-off."
Brashier went on to say that one of the good things about a small ship is the smaller the command, the tighter bond of the crew. "A lot of these guys are good friends," he said. "Now we are all family."
Cardinal's crew will get to spend a few weeks at home in Bahrain with family before going back out to sea for mine-hunting operations, according to Voth. While in port, crew members will also spend time performing maintenance on ship's equipment. After that, Cardinal will set sail to continue its mission in support of OIF.
"The crew is incredibly proud to be a part of Operation Iraqi Freedom," said Voth. "We will continue to do the mine warfare mission, because the job is not completely finished yet, and Cardinal is going to continue that job as long as necessary."
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