More than 3,000 US sailors switch aircraft carriers

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More than 3,000 US sailors switch aircraft carriers
by Staff Writers
Los Angeles (AFP) Aug 22, 2015

U.S. Navy decommissioning frigate USS Simpson
(UPI) Mayport, Fla. (UPI) Aug 21, 2015 - The U.S. Navy's second-to-last Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate is being prepared in Florida for its deactivation next month.

The Navy says deactivation preparations on the USS Simpson are being conducted by its Southeast Regional Maintenance Center with the help of its crew and local contractors.

Ship spaces are systematically prepared, inspected and closed; classified material is being removed; shipboard fluids are being drained; and steel plates and rubber gaskets are being attached to cap all the pipes and valves leading to the outside of the guided-missile frigate.

According to the Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard is harvesting weapons system components from the Simpson. Similar harvesting activities by the Coast Guard have resulted in cost savings to it of $24 million.

"We're lucky," said Renee Justice, port engineer in charge of Simpson's decommission preparations. "Simpson has a great crew. We just passed the milestone where we are to have 25 percent of the spaces closed out, and Simpson is at 56 percent closed."

Following decommissioning, the Simpson will eventually be sold to a foreign country through the Foreign Military Sales program. Bahrain, Egypt, Poland, Turkey and Pakistan have so far purchased decommissioned U.S. frigates.

The USS Simpson was commissioned in 1985.

The US Navy sent two aircraft carriers to San Diego for a complicated switchover in which the crews of the two nautical giants change ships.

About 3,000 troops were affected by the move, which started August 10, with the bulk of the crews from the USS George Washington and the USS Ronald Reagan switching ships.

In naval parlance, such a change of personnel is called a "hull swap." The process was set to last 10 days.

The USS Ronald Reagan will relieve the USS George Washington as the Navy's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier in Yokosuka, Japan, the Navy said.

The George Washington will go to Newport News, Virginia, for a mid-life refueling complex overhaul, following a deployment around South America.

Each aircraft carrier has a crew of about 3,500 sailors and civilians. Some 1,500 personnel from each vessel was involved in the operation.

It was the first changeover of its scale since 2008, in an operation involving the USS George Washington and the USS Kitty Hawk.

"So far the swap has been a little stressful but it hasn't been too bad," said Ronika Peeples, who was being moved from the Washington to the Reagan.

"I'm actually happy to be back on the Ronald Reagan, I love the ship, it's so clean, it's so neat, everything is well put together."

Another aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, will return to San Diego, its new home port, in the fall.

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