Harpers Ferry Improves Sailors and Ship During SRA
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS051219-09
12/19/2005
By Journalist 2nd Class (SW) Brian P. Biller, USS Harpers Ferry Public Affairs
SASEBO, Japan (NNS) -- The amphibious dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) got underway for sea trials Dec. 10 as the ship transitions out of her Selected Restricted Availability (SRA) period.
With marked improvements from stem to stern, the crew will finally get a chance to test their new and upgraded equipment.
“I would say it was highly successful, over $14 million worth of work got done,” said SRA coordinator, Chief Warrant Officer Mark A. Manor. “We had some major upgrades and installations.”
Some of the major work included repairs to all five air conditioning units, overhauling two main engines, upgrading the ship’s electronics suite, installing a new boat davit to accommodate two new rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIB), and the refurbishing of several berthings and one crew’s head.
“It was just an extraordinary team effort by everybody involved,” said Manor.
Manor went on to thank the Ship’s Repair Facility personnel, the port engineer, John Hamilton, and several other key personnel in Sasebo who were integral in facilitating repairs quickly and efficiently.
But shipyard workers weren’t the only ones who worked hard. The Harpers Ferry crew put in countless hours getting the ship back in shape. Engineering personnel worked day and night in the engine rooms, and were even augmented with the help of “Tiger Teams” of Sailors from other departments to help clean and preserve spaces for a crucial Light Off Assessment (LOA).
An LOA is a major check of the ship’s engineering plant. It is a thorough demonstration of everything the ship needs to get underway, from main engines to evaporators, steering, as well as the ship’s ability to fight a main space fire.
When the crew wasn’t cleaning, they were training. With main space fire drills every morning and damage control training every evening, the ship’s crew drilled and trained until they got it down to a routine.
“We did everything we could to maintain a solid standard of readiness for our folks,” said Harpers Ferry Chief Engineer, Lt. j.g. Alexander L. Simmons.
The training didn’t stop there. Service on Harpers Ferry counts as especially arduous sea duty because of its forward deployed status and high operational tempo, so when the word came that the ship would be in port for several months, the command jumped at the opportunity to get schools for all its Sailors.
“Every repair locker went to firefighting school,” said Training Officer, Lt. j.g. Derek Mason.
Additionally, Harpers Ferry had three non-compliant Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) teams trained up through several intense schools, making them the first three teams established in Japan.
Mason said a majority of Harpers Ferry Sailors was sent to some form of school during the SRA period.
“Overall, we sent people to 471 schools,” said Mason.
Mason pointed out that the figure is more than the amount of crew members on the ship and explained that some people went to more than one school.
“We really took advantage of the SRA period to better our Sailors,” said Harpers Ferry Commanding Officer Cmdr. Marlin C. Anthony. “It would be a waste of time and money to execute such a robust shipyard package and fail to get our Sailors the training they need to operate and fight the ship properly.”
With repairs behind them, the training will continue, according to Manor.
“Now we roll into the training cycle and get ourselves trained up and ready to jump back into the Forward Deployed Naval Forces (FDNF) fold and get ready for our operational commitments,” he said.
With sea trials underway, new engines, new small boats and new beds to sleep in, Harpers Ferry Sailors continue their mission of projecting power afloat while getting familiar with all the new tools in her arsenal.
Harpers Ferry is part of the world’s only amphibious strike group, forward deployed out of Sasebo, Japan.
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