USS Scott: UNREP Vol 1

USS Scott DDG-995

Feb 1991-Jan 1992

UNREP Vol. 1

 

I am sorry if my stories jump around a little. I write as memories hit. Shortly after we left Moon, we started tog et underway more, and that meant doing those fun things you do underway, like a UNREP. In my first UNREP, I was still in MER 1, so I was assigned as a line handler. All the new guys had to do it, so what the heck. Warning, I did write some of this for non-Navy people.

I, Escobedo, and Wallace all made our way to the missile deck since we were assigned the after fuel station. There were many new guys on the aft rig, so we were all given a rundown of the procedure. I think many of the initial UNREPs were done with USS Neosho.

One thing that is certain, line handling during UNREP was not something that I really relished. It wasn't so much that it was hard to do, but it was just one of those things that, as an engineer, I would rather not have done.

Pulling the lines and then the cable over was pretty straightforward for those not familiar with a UNREP, when ships refuel at sea. The two ships pull alongside one another, separated by about 30 yards. The small line is shot over to the receiving ship. This is attached to a larger line, which is then attached to a cable. The cable is hooked onto the receiving ship. The line is then connected to the refueling drought. This is the hose the fuel comes across in.

Eventually, the hose is attached to the receiving ship, and fuel is pumped from the tanker. Pulling the lines is a task that is reserved for the lower-ranking members of the receiving ship's crew. There are also sound powered phone lines and another cable used to show the two ships' distance. I can say it is a fascinating process.

We would refuel several times during a regular cruise. Sometimes every 3-4 days. We could travel pretty far on our fuel load, but the Navy wanted to keep up topped off.

After I moved into the oil lab, I spent my refueling time on the forward fuel station. No more line handling for me! I did have to take samples of fuel as we received it and had to check the discharge from our tank system to make sure we did not discharge any fuel. Again fro those unfamiliar with this, our ship had seawater compensating tanks. For every gallon of fuel used from the bulk tanks, we took on a gallon of water. So, the tanks were filled with seawater after the fuel was used by the ship.

When Scott refueled, the tanker would pump our fuel, and the seawater was released through a discharge. We tried to fill as full as possible, so we were okay if the discharge looked like water. But, if it turned black or looked like fuel, we had taken too much fuel.

About every 15 minutes, I would take a fuel sample to ensure we were getting clean fuel. Some of the tankers would send crappy fuel to us. I would try to take samples at an irregular schedule, so it kept the tanker honest.

Some fuelings took longer than others. Almost every time, the forward fuel tanks were full sooner than the aft tanks, so I stood by the fuel station doing nothing.

During a UNREP, we did strange things like send cookies over to the tanker. One particular UNREP the tanker, which was USS Savannah, was having a contest for cookies. Every ship in the Battle Group sent them a package with their best cookies. They were judged and scored. I forget who won. But, it was strange to see a box going across one of the lines to the tanker.

I have some more UNREP stories that I will put up in the future. The picture above is one I took during Northstar 91. The guy in the yellow hat was Velasco; sorry if I messed up your name. We also had the OPS officer on the forward station; he was an LCDR, sorry for the name. Thank you for ready, there is plenty more to come. OH, anyone have an extra patch below? I just don't want to pay eBay prices.