Shipmates Who Live in the State of
Alabama

One of the last pictures of the USS Plymouth Rock taken in James River, VA on 28 January 1996.  The Plymouth Rock is the first LSD in line from the top, next to her is the USS Donner (LSD20) and the Fort Snelling (LSD30

WHY THE UNUSUAL COLLAR ON A SAILOR'S UNIFORM?

Long, long ago sailors with a pretty ragged looking bunch.  (Would I lie to you?)  Told to clean up their hair, they took tar from the rigging, molded their hair into a que and became known as "tars".

Uniforms were unknown.  Pants were of discarded sail canvas and tops were whatever.  An enterprising Captain, striking for Admiral, bought his crew look alike shirts.  However, the tar from the que got all over the shirts.  That's when collars were invented!  Would I lie to you?
            Contributed by Harry C. Andersen, BTC

Pensacola, FL. - The ex-Oriskany, a decommissioned aircraft carrier, became the largest ship intentionally sunk as an artificial reef May 17 when it was sunk approximately 24 miles off the coast of Pensacola, Fla.

After 25 years of service to the Navy in operations in Korea, Vietnam and the Mediterranean, ex-Oriskany will now benefit Marine life, sport fishing and recreation diving off the coast of the Florida panhandle.

The 888-foot ship took about 37 minutes to sink below the surface after strategically placed explosives were detonated at 10:25 a.m. CDT. The Navy developed an engineered sink plan to place the 32,000 ton ship upright on the ocean floor in a north-south orientation at an existing artificial reef site at a depth of approximately 212 feet, as requested by the state of Florida.

“The Navy and Florida team performed flawlessly to execute today’s sinking. The Navy is thrilled that ex-Oriskany will continue to serve the United States as a tourist and diving attraction off the coast of Florida,” said Glen Clark, deputy program manager of the Navy’s Inactive Ships Program Office. “This is a fitting new beginning for this illustrious ship, and we are proud of the information she has provided us for the reefing of future Navy ships as artificial reefs."

The Navy has been working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Escambia County Marine Resources Division and the local Pensacola area community since 2003 and has conducted several scientific studies that demonstrated that ex-Oriskany would create an environmentally safe artificial reef.

The ex-Oriskany was the first ship to be environmentally prepared using the EPA’s “Best Management Practices for Preparing Vessels for Use as Artificial Reefs,” and is also the first ship to receive a risk-based Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) disposal approval from the EPA based on the agency’s findings that the reefing would not pose an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment.

A few days before the scuttling event, a Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal team placed explosives and detonation equipment on 22 sea chest pipes and valves inside the ship, which were armed the morning of the sinking.

Ownership of the vessel transferred to the state of Florida as the ship landed on the ocean floor. A 2004 Florida State University study estimated Escambia County would see $92 million a year in economic benefits from an artificial reef.

Plymouth Rock (LSD-29), Chesapeake Bay, July 1964, Navy Archives

History

The Phalanx Close-In Weapons System (CIWS) underwent operational tests and evaluation onboard USS Bigelow in 1977, and exceeded maintenance and reliability specifications. Phalanx production started in 1978 with orders for 23 USN and 14 Foreign Military Sales (FMS) systems.
 

Description

Phalanx provides ships of the U.S. Navy with a ""last-chance"" defense against anti-ship missiles and littoral warfare threats that have penetrated other fleet defenses. Phalanx automatically detects, tracks and engages anti-air warfare threats such as anti-ship missiles and aircraft, while the Block 1B's man-in-the-loop system counters the emerging littoral warfare threat. This new threat includes small,high-speed surface craft, small terrorist aircraft, helicopters and surface mines. Phalanx accomplishes these engagements via an advanced search and track radar system integrated with a stabilized, forward looking infra-red (FLIR) detector. This integrated FLIR provides Phalanx with an unique multi-spectral detect and track capability for littoral warfare threats and dramatically improves the existing anti-air warfare capability. Block 1B also incorporates new Optimized Gun Barrels which provide improved barrel life, improved round dispersion and increased engagement ranges.

Phalanx is the only deployed close-in weapon system capable of autonomously performing its own search, detect, evaluation, track, engage and kill assessment functions. Phalanx also can be integrated into existing Combat Systems to provide additonal sensor and fire-control capability.
 

Valiant Shield 2006 - Three Carrier Strike GroupsFor the first time in over 20 some odd years, three carrier strike groups got together in formation for a great photo op.

PACIFIC OCEAN, (June 18, 2006)  USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) (foreground), USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) (middle), USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) and their associated carrier strike groups steam in formation.   and Coast Guard are also participating in the exercise. Official U.S. Navy photo.  Held in the Guam operating area June 19-23, the exercise includes 28 Naval vessels including three carrier strike groups. Nearly 300 aircraft and approximately 22,000 service members from the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard are also participating in the exercise. Official U.S. Navy photo.  Thanks to Ron Swearingen for e-mailing me the photos.

LSD's Currently Still in Service

Harpers Ferry Class Dock Landing Ship: