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Saipan Participates in SINKEX

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS041119-13
Release Date: 11/19/2004 2:16:00 PM

By Journalist Seaman Apprentice Derek Hurder, USS Saipan Public Affairs

USS SAIPAN, At Sea (NNS) -- USS Saipan (LHA 2) participated in a unique exercise with other Standing Naval Force Atlantic (SNFL) ships Nov. 12, the sinking of ex-Research Vessel Gosport, or SINKEX.

Saipan fired live rounds from its gun mounts in an attempt to sink the decommissioned ship about 300 miles off the East Coast of the United States.

Members of Saipan's Ship Self-Defense Force (SSDF) team manned 40mm grenade launchers, as well as .50-caliber and 25mm mounted guns. About 50 personnel got a chance to fire the weapons before Saipan moved on to allow other ships to open fire on the target.

Personnel fired more than 80 grenades and approximately 1,500 other live rounds before the exercise was concluded, said Chief Gunner's Mate Timothy Hackett, the ship's gunner.

"I wanted SSDF personnel to feel the movement of the weapons," Hackett said. "The folks who shot today know now that shooting these weapons takes practice. It's not a born skill, it's a learned skill."

After Saipan moved out of the firing area, Sailors on other ships got a chance to open fire. Later in the evening, helicopters were scheduled to fire missiles at the target to sink the ship. In the event Gosport remained afloat at the completion of the exercise, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) personnel were standing by to detonate charges to complete the exercise.

The ex-USS Haylor was also fired on during the exercise. EOD personnel detonated charges to sink the ex-Haylor Nov. 15 as Saipan personnel watched from the flight deck.

Opportunities like this exercise are quite rare, said Hackett.

"I know chiefs and senior chiefs who've never fired a weapon at a live target," he said. "The commodore made the comment that he hadn't seen an exercise like this in 20 years. People will be able to say, 'Hey, I actually got an opportunity to fire live rounds at a real target. That's something they might never see again."