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Gator rumbles with excitement of home

Marine Corps News

Release Date: 5/23/2003

Story by Seaman Sean Spratt

ABOARD USS SAIPAN (LHA 2) (May 18, 2003) -- USS Saipan (LHA 2) was abuzz with the Marine back load - bringing back Marines and their equipment and making necessary preparations for the trip back home.

"Back load is a term for the process of bringing back the Marines and cargo from the beach," said officer-in-charge of Assault Craft Unit 2 Detachment B, Navy Chief Warrant Officer Robin R. Ross, about the 12-day back load that finished May 18.

"We're going to get everything back that we sent off initially," explained Ross. "It took some time to receive everything because of the mandatory wash down and the sporadic movement of the Marines."

Another reason for the 12-day timeline was that all the amphibious ships were receiving their Marines and cargo in the same time frame as Saipan.

Transporting the Marines and cargo from the beach to Saipan is the responsibility of the Landing Craft Utilities (LCUs).

"We have Four LCUs aboard Saipan, which are the main source of transportation for the Marines and cargo to and from the ship," explained Ross. "Each LCU has the capability of carrying three battle ready tanks, 400 battle ready Marines and a total weight of 420,000 pounds in a wartime situation."

From the beach to the water, the LCUs travel at a speed of 10.5 knots carrying Marines and equipment into the gulf to rejoin Saipan.

Just like the whale swallowing Jonah, Saipan does the same to her LCUs as she takes them into her belly, otherwise known as the well deck. This is where Sailors and Marines finish the last leg of the back load.

Before the LCUs enter Saipan, the ship is sunk slightly into the water as the well deck is flooded.

"There are nine primary ballast tanks we fill with seawater in order to lower Saipan," said Saipan's Damage Control Assistant, Lt. Cmdr. Jack C. Likens. "The ship sinks a total of 10 feet, which puts 8 feet of water in the well deck."

According to Likens the ship requires a two-hour pre-ballast in which four tanks are filled with fire main initially sinking Saipan two feet, bringing the bottom of the well deck even with the water line, which is known as an "assault draft." "After the pre-ballast is done, it takes about 20 minutes to sink the ship to full ballast," explained Likens. "And it takes about an hour to de-ballast the ship, which is done by using air compressors to push the water out of the tanks."

During the 12-day operation, Saipan executed numerous ballasting and de-ballasting maneuvers to launch and receive LCUs.

"It took a total of 5 days to actually receive all the equipment and cargo," said Likens. "But we ballasted all 12 days during the back load process, because we made our LCUs available to other ships in the Amphibious Ready Group to help them load their equipment and cargo."

With the back load completed and all safely stored away inside the ship, Saipan's Sailors and Marines get ready to ride the waves towards home.