Bataan Returns Home After Hurricane Relief Efforts
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS050924-06
Release Date: 9/24/2005 1:00:00 PM
By Journalist Seaman Joanne De Vera, USS Bataan Public Affairs
NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- The multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) returned to her homeport at Naval Station Norfolk Sept. 23 after a 66-day underway period in support of Fuerzas Aliadas PANAMAX 2005 and 19 days in support of Joint Task Force Katrina search, rescue and relief efforts in the New Orleans and Gulfport and Biloxi, Miss., areas.
Bataan had departed her homeport July 20 with a scheduled return date of Sept. 2.
The ship successfully completed PANAMAX, a multinational exercise geared toward the defense of the Panama Canal, with the help of Helicopter Sea Control Squadron (HSC) 28, based out of Naval Station Norfolk, and Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadrons (HM) 14 and 15, based out of Naval Station Norfolk and Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas. Bataan arrived at Naval Station Ingleside, Texas, Aug. 27 to offload HM-14 and HM-15 personnel and equipment.
Bataan departed Ingleside Aug. 28 and received orders that afternoon from Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet to stand by in the Gulf of Mexico in case assistance would be required in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Three MH-53 Sea Dragon helicopters from HM-15 returned to the ship Aug. 29 as she steamed toward New Orleans behind Katrina, which was a Category 4 hurricane when it made landfall.
As the first Navy ship on the scene, Bataan began her involvement in the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief efforts Aug. 30 by launching helicopters to aid in search and rescue efforts. Helicopters moved 28 personnel to safety and delivered more than 8,000 pounds of water and 500 pounds of food to various points in New Orleans that day.
“If I was going to associate one name with the rescue operations that have occurred - and the immediate assistance that was available - it would be Bataan,” said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Mullen on a visit to Bataan Sept. 10. “It’s really great to see the response from the Navy came so quickly in this tragedy.”
The squadrons’ efforts continued throughout the following weeks by flying almost non-stop to transport more than 1,600 people to safety and delivering more than 160,000 pounds of supplies to the Gulf Coast states.
“We all just did what we could to help out,” said Lt. j.g. Carlos Reyes, flight schedule writer for HM-15. “Our squadron was very fortunate to have worked with Bataan during PANAMAX, because it really helped during the Katrina efforts.”
With all of the injured and ill refugees strewn throughout the Gulf Coast, medical personnel were in short supply. A team of 84 medical professionals from the Navy’s Casualty Receiving and Treatment Ship Team (CRTS) 8, based out of Naval Hospital Jacksonville, Fla., embarked Bataan Sept. 1 to assist in hurricane relief medical operations. Teams ranging from 20 to 30 medical personnel went to various locations along the Gulf Coast to provide assistance to on-site medical personnel.
Bataan began her involvement in relief and rebuilding efforts in Mississippi Sept. 5 by sending a 15-member team to Biloxi High School to serve dinner to 300 people and breakfast to 200 people sheltered at the school. Those displaced at the shelter had not had a hot meal since Hurricane Katrina roared through their town.
The ship's efforts continued as she provided more than 500 of her Sailors to the shores of Mississippi to assist in the relief efforts.
“Once the crew saw the devastation and saw what had happened to our fellow Americans, they jumped in feet-first and did everything they could possibly do to help out,” said Capt. Nora Tyson, Bataan’s then-commanding officer. “The number of folks who went in every day was phenomenal.”
Bataan Sailors became part of a multinational relief effort by working with sailors from around the world who wanted to help the people of the United States in a time of need. The Dutch frigate HNMS Jan van Amstel (F 831) sent as many as 67 sailors each day to the Mississippi shore to support the relief efforts; the Mexican amphibious ship Papaloapan (P 411) sent nearly 100 Sailors daily; and three Canadian ships, HMCS Athabascan (DDH 282), NCSM Ville de Quebec (FFN 332) and HMCS Toronto (FFH 333), sent more than 200 Sailors daily.
“It was great having our international counterparts from Mexico, the Netherlands and Canada who came and brought their ships and were anchored alongside us [in the Gulf],” said Tyson. “Bataan’s Sailors were working side-by-side with their sailors to help their fellow man.”
While Sailors were volunteering along the Mississippi coast, another aspect of the relief and rebuild efforts was underway.
HM-15 and Mine Countermeasures Squadron (MCM) 3 worked side-by-side with Coast Guard ships to search for oil rigs lost or damaged by Hurricane Katrina and to look for navigational hazards and obstructions in a 1,500-square-mile area along the Gulf Coast. Bataan served as the command and control platform for the surveys.
“The safe transport of goods and services depends on the information we obtain,” said Lt. Cmdr. Sanford Thornton, HM-15’s maintenance officer. “About 25 percent of oil used in the U.S. comes from the Gulf Coast, so anything that affects those transport ships affects the whole country.”
Sept. 17, Bataan offloaded HM-15, HSC-28 and CRTS-8 and wrapped up her participation in the Hurricane Katrina Relief efforts.
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