Tortuga Supports SAR Operation
Navy Newsstand
Story Number: NNS040616-12
Release Date: 6/16/2004 6:37:00 PM
From Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command Public Affairs
From Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command Public Affairs
MAYPORT, Fla. (NNS) -- The dock landing ship USS Tortuga (LSD 46) served as the on-scene commander June 12 for search efforts for the missing victims of a ship wreck 25 miles west of Puerto Rico.
Tortuga responded to the emergency call and arrived at the site, where U.S. Coast Guard units had recovered from the water 91 migrants whose vessel had capsized. Upon arrival, Tortuga assumed duties as the on-scene commander of the search and rescue efforts for unaccounted victims, coordinating all search assets, establishing search patterns and serving as refueling platform for U.S. Coast Guard helicopters supporting the operation.
Tortuga launched two Rigid-Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIB) and one Landing Craft Unit (LCU) to join two U.S. Coast Guard HH-65 helicopters and one C-130 Hercules in the search for the missing victims. One of the RHIBs also transferred two injured migrants to Tortuga for medical attention.
After several hours of intense searching, the bodies of the three missing migrants were found by divers from the Puerto Rican Police Department.
Tortuga departed its homeport of Norfolk, Va., June 7 and is currently operating in the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command area of responsibility, where it will participate in bilateral exercises with naval forces from the Dominican Republic, as well as in the amphibious phase of the multinational naval exercise UNITAS.
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