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Leyte Gulf, Enterprise UNREP at Sea

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS101021-17
10/21/2010

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joe Aldrich, USS Enterprise (CVN 65) Public Affairs

USS Enterprise, At Sea (NNS) -- USS Enterprise (CVN 65) conducted a fueling-at-sea with the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55) Oct. 20, during its Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX).

The successful fueling-at-sea brings Enterprise one step closer to qualification for its upcoming deployment.

This was the first fueling-at-sea Big E has conducted since its 2007 deployment when the ship sent 100 gallons of fuel to the receiving ship. This fueling sent 123,000 gallons to Leyte Gulf.

Carriers are designed with the ability to provide fuel to other ships in their battle group. This prevents a single point of failure scenario if a ship is unable to refuel with a supply ship.

The procedure went well despite the significant time lapse since the last refueling, and the turnover of personnel that has taken place since. Sending fuel to other ships as opposed to taking it on requires a different sequence of tasks to be completed and can catch Sailors off guard if they don't practice.

"Everything is in reverse," said Senior Chief Boatswain's Mate (SW/AW) Sequincy Culver, the rig captain for the fueling team. "Always taking on fuel can cause complacency. That's when people are more likely to get hurt."

The ship's leaders carefully briefed the Sailors prior to the event to ensure it was completed safely and professionally.

Rigging the lines isn't the only part of the process that has to be reversed from the normal replenishment-at-sea procedure. The actual process of moving the fuel requires the team to work backwards as well.

Fuel must be moved from the holding tanks through the pumps and sent to the sponson. For Air department's V-4 division, this process is actually easier than when Big 'E' is taking on fuel.

When receiving fuel from a supply ship, Sailors have to ensure the destination of the fuel is changed as the tanks become full. Each tank must then be manually closed to keep the fuel in. When Enterprise is fueling another ship, they don't have to worry about their tanks overflowing.

"Each of those tanks has to be manually closed once it is full," said Lt. Winston A. Cotterell, the fuels maintenance officer. "There's no button. It's not automatic. Sending fuel out is actually easier for us."

The coordination between the deck and V-4 teams was flawless. From a spectator's viewpoint, one might think this was a weekly event.

"The deck team and the V-4 guys did a great job," said Cotterell. "To do this well after not performing this evolution for so long is awesome."

The fueling-at-sea is a continuation of what is turning out to be a very successful COMPTUEX for Enterprise and her strike group.

Enterprise Strike Group consists of USS Enterprise(CVN 65), the guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55), the guided-missile destroyers USS Bulkeley (DDG 84), USS Barry (DDG 52) and USS Mason (DDG 87), USNS Arctic (T-AOE 8), Carrier Air Wing 1 and Destroyer Squadron 2. Enterprise Strike Group is conducting COMPTUEX as part of its work-ups in preparation for an upcoming deployment.