USS Comstock Houses Navy Lighter System
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS051220-08
Release Date: 12/20/2005 6:00:00 PM
By Journalist Seaman Ryan Jay Clement, Fleet Public Affairs Center Pacific
USS COMSTOCK at sea (NNS) -- Sailors aboard USS Comstock (LSD 45) successfully loaded a 270 ft. section of the Navy Lighter System (NLS) into the ship’s well deck Dec. 9, making it the first ship on the west coast to do so.
NLS was developed during World War II as a method of moving equipment from ship to shore but was never loaded onto a ship until recently in support of Hurricane Katrina.
“The operation went off without a hitch,” said Cmdr. Paul J. Shock, commanding officer of Comstock. “We didn’t know how it would fit, but the crew did an excellent job getting it safely secured.”
NLS is a floating dock system designed to reach locations where conventional port facilities may be damaged, inadequate or non-existent.
The system assembles at sea and connects together like building blocks to form ferries, causeway piers, or ships’ ramp roll-off discharge platforms.
“There’s a lot of capacity on the dock to carry vehicles, construction equipment and pallets of food and water,” said Cmdr. Richard Whipple, executive officer, Amphibious Construction Battalion 1. “A craft like this makes it possible to get big loads ashore.”
“Moving the system by ship will make it much more mobile,” said Chief Warrant Officer Mark Willis, senior deck observer, Naval Beach Group 1.
Comstock is a fully-capable amphibious ship with a well deck that allows them to take on a variety of different craft. A well deck is an open bay with a large opening at the back of the ship which allows amphibious vehicles to deploy and be retrieved.
The ship’s primary mission is to transport Marines.
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