• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Sasebo Divers Patch USS Essex

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS070821-05
Release Date: 8/21/2007 12:24:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Aaron Stevens, American Forces Network Det. Sasebo Public Affairs

SASEBO, Japan (NNS) -- Navy divers assigned to Ship Repair Facility Det. Sasebo installed patches on 13 holes aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) in early August as part of scheduled maintenance while the ship is docked in Fleet Activities Sasebo.

The divers used an array of plugs to patch the holes in the ship, including aluminum patches with backing plates and foam seals, as well as wooden plugs.

“We’re using box patches that we call ‘coffer dams,’” said Chief Navy Diver (DSW/SW) Eric Nabors, the leading chief petty officer at the dive locker. “[They have] inductors and vent hoses that suck the water out and replace it with air so it’s a completely dry environment. Essentially it keeps the ship out of drydock and lets [the crew] do whatever needs to be fixed without taking [the ship] out of the water.”

Nabors said keeping the ship out of drydock is more cost effective.

One diver, who is new to the job, said the operation was a learning experience for him from start to finish.

“I was tending the umbilicals for the divers in the water,” said Navy Diver 3rd class Kyle Weiss, a second class diver. “[I was] rigging lines, getting things ready to go underwater and handing things to divers.”

The coffer dams are installed in pairs to the ship. Navy Diver 1st Class (DSW) Aaron Scrimager said it takes many calculations to figure out how to attach it due to the different densities between water and air. This time, the two coffer dams alone required three hours of labor to attach properly to Essex.

“It’s a little tedious,” said Scrimager. “We try to find neutral buoyancy with them. They’re very large; the dry weight of them is considerably heavy, but once you put them in the water they’re really light.”

The divers in Sasebo didn’t go into the project alone; however, they received help from two Japanese divers from Yokosuka, Japan. With their help, the divers attached all 13 patches to Essex over a span of two days.

“They’re professional divers,” said Nabors of the Japanese counterparts. “They dive for a living just like we do, and we get along very well.”