I knew it was only a matter of time before this happened!
I knew it was only a matter of time before this happened!
Six USS Frank Cable sailors were medically evacuated to the States over the weekend after a steam line ruptured aboard the Guam-based submarine tender.
Suffering burns on 20 percent to 70 percent of their bodies, the six arrived at the Brooke Army Medical Center’s burn center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, at 3 a.m. local time Sunday, said Nelia Schrum, a spokeswoman from Brooke.
The sailors had been taken from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam to Tripler Medical Center, Hawaii, for stabilization, before being sent on to Brooke for treatment.
As of Monday morning, five of the sailors were medically classified as “very seriously ill,” which is the military’s term for what the civilian medical community calls “critical” condition, Schrum told Stripes by phone.
The sixth sailor was classified as stable, she said.
The “very seriously ill” designation is the most serious of those used by military medical teams when classifying patients. Other terms are “serious,” “critical but stable,” “stable,” “satisfactory,” and “treated and released.”
The use of “VSI” on paperwork allows the military to transport and lodge the family at government expense to be with a patient, Schrum said.
By Monday, most of the critical sailors had family members who were traveling to or already at Brooke, where a Navy liaison had arranged rooms for them, she said.
An earlier news release from Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Marianas said eight sailors were performing maintenance operations when a steam line ruptured on the boiler deck of the 28-year-old submarine tender. The sailors’ families were notified of the accident, it said.
A submarine tender is a ship that supports submarines, which cannot carry much in the way of supplies. The Cable is one of two active sub tenders, the other being the USS Emory S. Land, currently stationed off the Italian island of Sardinia.
The steam leak occurred during maintenance operations as the Frank Cable, a 7th Fleet repair ship, was moored at Naval Base Guam. The 28-year-old submarine tender is based at Apra Harbor, Guam.
I always knew that this would eventually happen. After 2 years of pouring my blood and sweat into this dying ship I knew one day something bad would happen. I was sad to hear that my former shipmate and "Cableville" neighbor died. MRFN Jack Valentine was a great Sailor whose life was cut short. The thing that hurts me the most about all of this is that the entire chain of command knew about this crack in the tube. I am sure the Chief Engineer didnt want to stand up to the Captain though. He probably figured it was good enough to get by for a family and friends day cruise. I dont know this Cheng because I left around the time that he got there but there is one thing that I know for sure is that LCDR Sheehan would never have authorized that boiler being lit off. He was a great leader who would fight for his engineers even if it meant standing up to the Captain. Capt. Goff always came across to me as a man who never wanted to listen to anyone but himself. I dont know if that is true or not but that is the impression that I got.
Engineers on the Frank Cable are vastly under appreciated. On the Frank Cable there are passengers and there are Engineers. I spent 2 years patching up the frank Cables electrical systems and doing my best to maintain shore power and providing power for the units along side. All of our equipment was old and needed replaced but we were always told to keep patching it up. We would change fuses daily because loads would be too high because of all the computers on the ship. Did anyone ever think, "Hey, maybe we shouldnt have 20 things plugged in at once?" Nope, no one cared. E-div was always expected to drop what we were doing and change fuses for some useless division. Our Senior Chief was a complete pushover and he always had us doing "hookups" for his boys. I learned a lot working in Electrical Division. I worked with some of the best sailors in the Navy. We all knew that the frank cable sucked but we knew the only way we could get through it is if we stuck together. I learned not to get too excited about anything because in E-div everything changed and we were the ones getting screwed. We were undermanned for the 2 years I was there. Every new electrician it seems would go to R-3, home of the useless Electricians in the Rubber and Plastics shop. What a waste of manpower. I still cant believe the Captain allowed that to continue. Good Electricians who could have been used in Engineering wasting away cutting plastic. What crap! Anyways, stay tuned for more of my ramblings courtesy of the USS Frank Cable. Rest in Peace Valentine.
Six USS Frank Cable sailors were medically evacuated to the States over the weekend after a steam line ruptured aboard the Guam-based submarine tender.
Suffering burns on 20 percent to 70 percent of their bodies, the six arrived at the Brooke Army Medical Center’s burn center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, at 3 a.m. local time Sunday, said Nelia Schrum, a spokeswoman from Brooke.
The sailors had been taken from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam to Tripler Medical Center, Hawaii, for stabilization, before being sent on to Brooke for treatment.
As of Monday morning, five of the sailors were medically classified as “very seriously ill,” which is the military’s term for what the civilian medical community calls “critical” condition, Schrum told Stripes by phone.
The sixth sailor was classified as stable, she said.
The “very seriously ill” designation is the most serious of those used by military medical teams when classifying patients. Other terms are “serious,” “critical but stable,” “stable,” “satisfactory,” and “treated and released.”
The use of “VSI” on paperwork allows the military to transport and lodge the family at government expense to be with a patient, Schrum said.
By Monday, most of the critical sailors had family members who were traveling to or already at Brooke, where a Navy liaison had arranged rooms for them, she said.
An earlier news release from Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Marianas said eight sailors were performing maintenance operations when a steam line ruptured on the boiler deck of the 28-year-old submarine tender. The sailors’ families were notified of the accident, it said.
A submarine tender is a ship that supports submarines, which cannot carry much in the way of supplies. The Cable is one of two active sub tenders, the other being the USS Emory S. Land, currently stationed off the Italian island of Sardinia.
The steam leak occurred during maintenance operations as the Frank Cable, a 7th Fleet repair ship, was moored at Naval Base Guam. The 28-year-old submarine tender is based at Apra Harbor, Guam.
I always knew that this would eventually happen. After 2 years of pouring my blood and sweat into this dying ship I knew one day something bad would happen. I was sad to hear that my former shipmate and "Cableville" neighbor died. MRFN Jack Valentine was a great Sailor whose life was cut short. The thing that hurts me the most about all of this is that the entire chain of command knew about this crack in the tube. I am sure the Chief Engineer didnt want to stand up to the Captain though. He probably figured it was good enough to get by for a family and friends day cruise. I dont know this Cheng because I left around the time that he got there but there is one thing that I know for sure is that LCDR Sheehan would never have authorized that boiler being lit off. He was a great leader who would fight for his engineers even if it meant standing up to the Captain. Capt. Goff always came across to me as a man who never wanted to listen to anyone but himself. I dont know if that is true or not but that is the impression that I got.
Engineers on the Frank Cable are vastly under appreciated. On the Frank Cable there are passengers and there are Engineers. I spent 2 years patching up the frank Cables electrical systems and doing my best to maintain shore power and providing power for the units along side. All of our equipment was old and needed replaced but we were always told to keep patching it up. We would change fuses daily because loads would be too high because of all the computers on the ship. Did anyone ever think, "Hey, maybe we shouldnt have 20 things plugged in at once?" Nope, no one cared. E-div was always expected to drop what we were doing and change fuses for some useless division. Our Senior Chief was a complete pushover and he always had us doing "hookups" for his boys. I learned a lot working in Electrical Division. I worked with some of the best sailors in the Navy. We all knew that the frank cable sucked but we knew the only way we could get through it is if we stuck together. I learned not to get too excited about anything because in E-div everything changed and we were the ones getting screwed. We were undermanned for the 2 years I was there. Every new electrician it seems would go to R-3, home of the useless Electricians in the Rubber and Plastics shop. What a waste of manpower. I still cant believe the Captain allowed that to continue. Good Electricians who could have been used in Engineering wasting away cutting plastic. What crap! Anyways, stay tuned for more of my ramblings courtesy of the USS Frank Cable. Rest in Peace Valentine.
posted by Unknown at 11:48 AM
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