DAY 154 - 18 JANUARY 1991 - Safety Stand Down...
DAY 154 - 18 JANUARY 1991
0830 Muster today, for the Actual Safety Stand Down.
We covered things like Gas Mask training, Boat Drills (life boats), Battle Stations, and what to do if we think we see something floating in the water. There are mines floating in the Gulf that were left over from the Iran - Iraq war, back in 1980-1988. Mines tend to float for years, just waiting to bump into a ship. So we're really trying to pay attention, but we're tired, haven't slept much the last couple days...
Then the ship shook with a huge FUCKING EXPLOSION, and all the lights flickered, then went out. OH SHIT!
We poured out of the officers lounge upstairs where we were having the training, ran down a couple ladders as the emergency lights started to come on. We broke out of the water tight door into the hanger deck, to our battle stations, which we had just talked about not 20 minutes ago. We could see smoke coming up from below decks, which frankly scared the shit out of me, considering what our cargo is! You know, the bombs? Yeah.
As bad as things seemed, the worse part was we're all standing there, not knowing if we're going to die or what the fuck is happening, and no one is telling us what to do next. Do we launch the helos? Are we under attack? Is it Lunch time yet?
Well, after the smoke cleared, and the damage control teams got into the boiler room to see what happened, it was reported that one of the auxilary boilers had exploded, blown a person sized hole through it.
I don't know a lot about ship propulsion systems, but from what they told us, there are more than one boiler. They boil the water to create steam. The steam drives the turbine, which drives the ship. My understanding is rather than having one really big boiler, they have several smaller ones. The one that blew is sort of a spare, so its not a big deal. At least as far as blowing up and scaring the shit out of us right?
Well, after we put our gas masks away and had some time to check our underwear, we got some reports from the real war. So far things re going well, unless you're an Iraqi, then not so well I guess. First Iraq shot a bunch of those Scud Missles at Isreal. Then we started bombing the shit out of the Iraqi Army.
Our ship still isn't in the Persian Gulf yet, we're waiting for our escort ship. Soon though. After the excitement of today, and the lack of sleep in the last couple days, I'm feeling like a zombie now, keep falling asleep on my feet. I secure at 0130, but then found out we set the clocks back today, so guess its only 0030 now. Either way, I'm going to bed, and will get to sleep until next shift at 1730. ... To sleep, perchance to dream...
0830 Muster today, for the Actual Safety Stand Down.
We covered things like Gas Mask training, Boat Drills (life boats), Battle Stations, and what to do if we think we see something floating in the water. There are mines floating in the Gulf that were left over from the Iran - Iraq war, back in 1980-1988. Mines tend to float for years, just waiting to bump into a ship. So we're really trying to pay attention, but we're tired, haven't slept much the last couple days...
Then the ship shook with a huge FUCKING EXPLOSION, and all the lights flickered, then went out. OH SHIT!
We poured out of the officers lounge upstairs where we were having the training, ran down a couple ladders as the emergency lights started to come on. We broke out of the water tight door into the hanger deck, to our battle stations, which we had just talked about not 20 minutes ago. We could see smoke coming up from below decks, which frankly scared the shit out of me, considering what our cargo is! You know, the bombs? Yeah.
As bad as things seemed, the worse part was we're all standing there, not knowing if we're going to die or what the fuck is happening, and no one is telling us what to do next. Do we launch the helos? Are we under attack? Is it Lunch time yet?
Well, after the smoke cleared, and the damage control teams got into the boiler room to see what happened, it was reported that one of the auxilary boilers had exploded, blown a person sized hole through it.
I don't know a lot about ship propulsion systems, but from what they told us, there are more than one boiler. They boil the water to create steam. The steam drives the turbine, which drives the ship. My understanding is rather than having one really big boiler, they have several smaller ones. The one that blew is sort of a spare, so its not a big deal. At least as far as blowing up and scaring the shit out of us right?
Well, after we put our gas masks away and had some time to check our underwear, we got some reports from the real war. So far things re going well, unless you're an Iraqi, then not so well I guess. First Iraq shot a bunch of those Scud Missles at Isreal. Then we started bombing the shit out of the Iraqi Army.
Our ship still isn't in the Persian Gulf yet, we're waiting for our escort ship. Soon though. After the excitement of today, and the lack of sleep in the last couple days, I'm feeling like a zombie now, keep falling asleep on my feet. I secure at 0130, but then found out we set the clocks back today, so guess its only 0030 now. Either way, I'm going to bed, and will get to sleep until next shift at 1730. ... To sleep, perchance to dream...
posted by Carlin at
12:16 AM
2 Comments:
"Is it Lunch time yet?" Lol!
Man--that's great reading, but when you think that it's real--puts my fiction to shame. :-)
That's pretty amazing, when I read "scud missile," it took me back to where I was that day--glued to NBC news reports. Kudos to you and everyone else who was on *that* side of the news.
You'll probably appreciate this quote then...
“The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.”
Tom Clancy
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