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SASEBO, Japan – The
forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) began a
Ship’s Restricted Availability (SRA) maintenance period August 26.
The ship’s crew and contractors will work on maintaining, updating
and replacing many of the ship’s systems.
“We have more than 500 jobs approved for this SRA,” said Chief
Warrant Officer Jay Summer, repair officer and ship’s maintenance
material officer. “Those jobs include more than 50 ship alterations
and eight weeks to finish it.”
During SRA, Essex will receive new non-skid for the entire 80,000
square feet of flight deck, a 2.8-million-dollar endeavor. Engineers
will also install 126 new screen wall tubes, perform a five year
inspection on the number two boiler and perform extensive
maintenance on five ballast tanks. In addition, Essex will be fitted
with a brand new SPS-73 radar system to improve tracking
capabilities.
“The SRA will be a great opportunity for us to get the ship into
peak condition,” said Capt. Troy Hart, Essex’ commanding officer.
“It’s going to take a lot of hard work by everyone onboard, but
their efforts are vital to maintaining our readiness in the
forward-deployed role in which we operate.”
All U.S. Navy ships get a CNO-approved SRA, which is usually three
to four months, but a forward-deployed ship has only eight weeks.
Many departments aboard Essex have an even shorter timeline to
complete their work.
“The thing with engineering is those guys have about five weeks to
do their whole SRA,” said Summer. “They have to take out whatever
they’re fixing and replace it within five weeks because Essex will
be getting underway and they have to do boiler light-offs and steam
testing two weeks prior.”
As with all SRAs, safety will be a major issue. Summer temperatures
will be high and Sailors will be doing a lot of hot work. Essex’
safety division will help ensure Sailors are using proper
operational risk management (ORM) at all turns.
“We just conducted our SRA safety stand down, which was mandatory
for all hands to watch,” said Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class (AW/SW)
Tony Jarmond, safety department leading petty officer.
Essex’ SRA safety stand down covered topics such as heat stress,
sight and hearing conservation, and general safety.
“With Sailors using a lot of power and electrical tools, we have to
be sure to give them proper training so they don’t hurt themselves
or others,” said Jarmond. “We also do respirator qualifications so
Sailors can paint and work in hazardous areas without having to
breathe in dangerous fumes,” Jarmond said.
In all, there are more than 500 work orders scheduled for Essex
during SRA. This continued maintenance enables Essex to serve in
peak condition under the Navy’s Fleet Response Plan.
Essex is commanded by Capt. Troy Hart and is the lead ship of the
only forward-deployed U.S. Amphibious Ready Group and serves as the
flagship for CTF 76, the Navy's only forward-deployed amphibious
force commander. Task Force 76 is headquartered at White Beach Naval
Facility, Okinawa, Japan, with a detachment in Sasebo, Japan.
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