PHNSY & IMF Provides Multinational Fleet Maintenance Support
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS080822-12
Release Date: 8/22/2008 3:07:00 PM
By Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility Public Affairs
PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- Nine US Navy and foreign ships were repaired at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PHNSY & IMF) during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) maritime exercise.
RIMPAC exercise 2008 was conducted June 29 through July 31, consisting of 10 nations, 35 ships, six submarines, and more than 150 aircraft and 20,000 Sailors, Marines, Soldiers, Airmen and Coast Guardsmen expanding cooperative relationships and contributing to the security and stability of the maritime domain.
"Most of the repairs done during the exercise were of an urgent nature and required rapid response," said Tyson Livingston, assistant project superintendent for PHNSY & IMF's Fleet Maintenance Project – Surface Craft.
PHNSY & IMF, a Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) field activity, is one of four public shipyards that play a major role in maintaining America's fleet and providing wartime surge capability to keep the nation's ships ready for combat. Customer service is important in every business, and NAVSEA's top priority is serving their customers in the fleet.
PHNSY & IMF provided maintenance support for five U.S. Navy ships, including the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63), as well as two Canadian vessels and two Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ships.
According to Livingston, priorities were established, funding was negotiated and work was allocated based on funding, material availability, and capabilities.
One of the most challenging ships that the PHNSY & IMF's Surface Craft Maintenance Division repaired was the RAN's HMAS Tobruk. The amphibious ship is a multi-purpose roll-on/roll-off troop and heavy vehicle carrier with both stern and bow doors. Tobruk had several items that required immediate repair so she could perform her mission during RIMPAC. Tobruk also had an inoperable gantry crane. The motor that operated the main hook had burned out on the way to Hawaii. The RAN's port engineer ordered a new motor prior to her arrival and it was waiting on the pier for installation.
PHNSY& IMF's engineering and planning department performed a ship check and determined that gears first had to be checked for cracks, then dressed and inspected for proper alignment. The shipyard's outside machine shop, nondestructive test division, fluid and mechanical division, and rigging shop quickly installed the motor.
Weight-testing the crane required following RAN procedures and testing to a total weight of 77 tons. The test needed to be performed in increments, requiring the individual weights to be distributed over several areas of the deck. The weights first had to be gathered and landed on floating crane YD-261, then relocated from the floating crane onto Tobruk. The ship's gantry crane then picked up the weights, swung them over the side and held them for 10 minutes at each phase of testing.
"The shipfitting, welding, shipwright, plastic fabricator and temporary services shops performed outstanding work on these jobs," said Livingston.
The ship was able to participate in her RIMPAC mission as scheduled and reported zero leakage during the operation.
Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility is the largest industrial employer in the state of Hawaii with a combined civilian and military workforce of about 4,700. It has an operating budget of $600 million, of which more than $390 million is payroll for civilian employees.
PHNSY & IMF, strategically located in the Pacific Ocean, is a full-service naval shipyard and regional maintenance center for the U.S. Navy's surface ships and submarines.
For more news from Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, visit www.navy.mil/local/phnsy/.
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