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| Navy may deploy Atlantic Fleet to avoid Isabel |
| 2003-09-15 |
| Edited for brevity and relevance. East Coast residents boarded up homes and businesses and moved boats inland Monday, and government agencies from South Carolina to Massachusetts made preparations as powerful Hurricane Isabel headed for the coast. In Norfolk, Navy officials huddled to decide whether to send Atlantic Fleet ships out to sea to ride out the hurricane. Navy Atlantic Fleet officials were deciding whether to send ships out of port to avoid being battered against piers, said Ted Brown, a spokesman for the Atlantic Fleet based in Norfolk. The fleet - which includes everything from nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers to older steam-driven vessels - needs a minimum of 96 hours notice for a mass sailing. Uh, aren’t nuclear-powered vessels also steam-driven vessels? Officials at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware were meeting to decide whether to move the base’s fleet of giant C-5 cargo aircraft to bases out of the storm’s path. "Because of the size of the planes, it’s got to be bases with very large air fields," said base spokeswoman Lt. Olivia Nelson. |
| Posted by:Dar |
| #7 ....During Gloria in 85, some good friends of mine were aboard Norfolk and Baltimore, and both of them simply submerged at pierside, though IIRC, the way the sub docks at Norfolk are positioned, they don't have to worry about getting hammered by the surge. What will happen - probably by Tuesday night - is a full dress HURREVAC from Seymour Johnson and Langley AFBs. They'll head inland usually to a place like Wright Patterson AFB or SW to Eglin, both of which can absorb 70+ extra aircraft without too much strain. Shaw AFB - in central SC - still has its birds on the ground, which should give you an idea as to where the USAF thinks its going. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2003-9-16 1:06:01 AM |
| #6 It was bad at the pier in Norfolk. Even if your lines parted you certainly weren't getting help from tugs. They were all chasing the barges with cranes on them that broke loose. It was chaos. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-9-15 8:15:30 PM |
| #5 Of course it's better to submerge deliberately at the pier than to sink at the pier. |
| Posted by: jfd 2003-9-15 5:55:27 PM |
| #4 When Hugo ripped through Charleston, SC in '89, at least one submarine on the Cooper River was in no state to get underway. My recollection is the USS Narwhal submerged at the pier. I don't know if they snorkeled or just ran on battery. The word on the river was she got muscled around the river by the storm surge. |
| Posted by: jfd 2003-9-15 4:52:48 PM |
| #3 Speaking of Isabel… |
| Posted by: Katz 2003-9-15 3:42:34 PM |
| #2 Nuclear ships are steam driven, but the older ships they are talking about are conventional. You don't want to be pierside Norfolk if hurricane comes through. It's great when a giant dumpster full of paint cans goes airborne and everybody is getting seasick tied to the pier. Ufortuantely, if you try to cross the hurrican's path and it turns into you, that sucks as well. They normally keep the slower ships at the pier. There are also always a couple of ships that are partially disassembled for maintenance. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-9-15 2:56:13 PM |
| #1 It's always nice to witness the migration of the C-5's every September. Persian Gulf last year, Afghanistan the year before. If we HAVE to move them, could I suggest, oh, say, ... |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2003-9-15 1:58:02 PM |