Katrina damages two destroyers in Pascagoula, Mississippi

Since 08-31-05

From: Waspscpo@aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2005 2:34 AM
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Subject: Katrina damages two destroyers in Pascagoula, Mississippi

http://www.navytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1068793.php

Katrina damages two destroyers

By Christopher P. Cavas
NavyTimes staff writer
30 August 2005

Two Navy destroyers were damaged when Hurricane Katrina struck their Mississippi shipyard Monday, but by the following afternoon, the most serious damage had been repaired. “There was some damage and flooding on the Kidd,” a Navy source told DefenseNews.com.  “When the ship rose up, it banged up against the pier, causing a small gash which caused some flooding.” But Brian Cullin, a spokesman for Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, said Aug. 30 the damage had been made good.

“Northrop Grumman welders ballasted up the ship and got access to the breach,” Cullin said. “They were able to weld it and it was repaired and made watertight.” The Forrest Sherman, another destroyer under construction at Northrop’s Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., also suffered some damage, a Navy source said, when a drifting barge bumped into the ship. The barge came to rest on a pier without puncturing the side of the warship.

The Sherman’s crew of about 300 sailors rode out the storm on the ship, tied to a pier along with the Kidd, whose crew has yet to move aboard. Two other Navy ships under construction at Ingalls, the amphibious landing transport docks San Antonio and Mesa Verde, moved away from the piers and ballasted down to ride out the storm, the Navy source said. Both ships  “rode out the storm quite well,” the source said.

The San Antonio, which, like the Forrest Sherman was at sea conducting trials earlier this summer, is feeding and berthing emergency crews at the shipyard, the Navy source said. With electrical power out and damage still being assessed, Northrop Grumman workers are using the Forrest Sherman as a headquarters ship.

“The Navy was gracious enough to invite us aboard the Forrest Sherman to temporarily set up our emergency assessment efforts,” Cullin said, “for which we’re very grateful” A Navy statement released late Aug. 30 said it’s still too early to know the full extent of damage to Navy facilities in the region hit by the hurricane. “The Navy will provide updated information as storm conditions abate and recovery operations progress,” the statement said.
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Conributed,
YNCS Don Harribine, USN(ret)