Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Logan Kellums | 210217-N-OW019-0010 PACIFIC OCEAN (Feb. 17, 2020) Operations Specialist 2nd Class...... read more read more
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Sailors aboard the guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59) have participated in many simulated general quarters while deployed for more than 10 months, but on Feb. 17, the drill commemorated a historical event.
On Feb. 18, 1991, while operating in the Arabian Gulf in support of Operation Desert Storm, the two-year-old Princeton sustained damage when two floating mines detonated under the port rudder and off the starboard bow, damaging a rudder and causing cracks in the hull, leading to flooding onboard the ship.
“I’m sure when it [the explosions] happened in ’91 it was chaotic,” said Damage Controlman 1st Class Gregory Harrod, from Tehachapi, Calif., the ship’s damage control training team coordinator. “They were drilling constantly and planned for something like that to happen and when it did, they were all able to come together and do their jobs.”
Simulating the casualties that the ship sustained three decades earlier helped the crew understand the amount of determination, training and readiness required to fight the ship and stay keep her afloat.
“They had to coordinate six or seven casualties at once and get everyone where they needed to be,” said Harrod. “Looking at the damage report was eye opening as to how much damage the ship had sustained.”
While there were injuries on board, no Sailors died as a result of the attack. The training also helped the crew to understand how important damage control training is and that anyone at any time could be called up to use that training to save the ship or a shipmate.
“The old saying is hope for the best but plan for the worst,” said Harrod. “We want to ensure that that anything that could possibly ever happen won’t be the first time the crew sees that type of casualty.”
Princeton, a part of Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, is currently conducting routine operations in U.S. Third Fleet.
| Date Taken: | 02.19.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 02.26.2021 14:12 |
| Story ID: | 389994 |
| Location: | PACIFIC OCEAN |
| Hometown: | TEHACHAPI, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 1,585 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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USS Princeton (CG 59)
