USS CARR Families and Friends –
First off, I hope that all our families and friends have weathered Hurricane Irene without significant damage or injury. Our Sailors have been calling and emailing their families to verify they are doing well. For any family members who need assistance, our OMBUDSMAN is the first place to start.
This week CARR and her crew were engaged in the following:
Day 69 – Sunday, August 21st
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The majority of our crew took the opportunity to get some rest to recover from the exercise we conducted with the Polish Navy and long transit through the Danish Strait – not to mention relaxing after getting tossed around for a few days. After almost two months, we are out of the Baltic Sea and in the North Sea enroute Leith, Scotland.
Day 70 – Monday, August 22nd (Arrive Edinburgh, Scotland)
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This morning we arrived in Leith, Scotland – about 8 miles from downtown Edinburgh (pronounced Edin-borough). Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and its second largest city. Located in the southeast of Scotland, Edinburgh lies on the east coast near the North Sea. The city is well known for the annual Edinburgh Festival, a collection of official and independent festivals held annually over about four weeks from early August (which we are lucky enough to be in town for). The most famous of these events are the Edinburgh Fringe (the largest performing arts festival in the world), the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Edinburgh attracts 1 million overseas visitors a year, making it the most visited tourist destination in the United Kingdom, after London. Stand by for some history for those who can stomach it:
People have inhabited Edinburgh since the Bronze Age, leaving traces of primitive stone settlements. The city fell to the Scots in 950 A.D. Even then, there was significant Germanic influence in southeast Scotland – the city’s name even has a Germanic suffix, ‘burgh’. By the 12th century Edinburgh was well established. Edinburgh continued to flourish economically and culturally through the Renaissance period and was at the center of the 16th century Scottish Reformation and the Wars of the Covenant a hundred years later. In 1603, King James VI of Scotland succeeded to the English and Irish thrones, uniting the Kingdoms in a union known as the Union of the Crowns. Scotland remained an independent state with Parliament in Edinburgh. Disputes between the Presbyterians and the Anglican Church in 1639 led to the Third English Civil War.
In 1706 and 1707 the Acts of Union were passed by the Parliaments of England and Scotland, thus uniting the two Kingdoms into the Kingdom of Great Britain. As a consequence, the Parliament of Scotland merged with the Parliament of England to form the Parliament of Great Britain in Westminster (London). Edinburgh was at the heart of the Scottish Enlightenment and became a major cultural center. It earned the nickname Athens of the North because of the Greco-Roman style of architecture, as well as the rise of the Scottish intellectual elite who were increasingly leading both Scottish and European intellectual thought.
In the 19th century, Edinburgh industrialized, but did not grow as fast as Scotland’s second major city, Glasgow. Glasgow became and remains the largest city in the country. The Scotland Act 1998 established a devolved Scottish parliament and Scottish Executive, both based in Edinburgh and responsible for governing Scotland – matters such as defense, taxation, and foreign affairs remaining the responsibility of Westminster (similar to the relationship between our Federal Government and States).
In order to get into the harbor, Carr had to enter a lock. The lock was 90 ft wide and a little bit longer than Carr – the lock separates the inner harbor from the channel and prevents water from moving freely between the two bodies of water. The harbor water is kept at a height of about 30 ft, while the channel height drops to as low as 18 ft during low tide. Two tugs assisted us in bringing Carr inside the lock – once in, we tied up alongside while the port authorities shut the huge door to seal us inside the lock. Once the door was shut, they pumped water into the lock in order to raise the water level to match the harbor water height…it took about 20 minutes. Once the water levels were equal, the inner door opened and Carr carefully proceeded into the harbor. Great job to both our Foc’sle and Fantail line handlers on a job well done! Today’s mooring was particularly challenging because of the stronger than expected winds…about 20kts.
Our midships line handling team did a superb job ensuring that portable air filled fenders were in place to cushion the movement of Carr against the wall of the lock – great job to LT Quentin Lease, SH1 Jason Zarcone, LS1 Frank Caterino, LS2 David Burke, LS2 Lawrence Stubblefield, LS2 Gregory Chery, and LSSN Dewayne Gilkes.
During our last few port visits we were not allowed to paint the hull; therefore, Deck Division had some work to do. Soon after we moored in Leith and while most of the crew was gearing up for a day of liberty, Deck Division rolled up their sleeves and started working to keep the sides of our ship looking sharp. Great work by SN Brandon Vasser, SR Aaron Reyesvilla, and BM3 Matthew Mudderman for working long hours painting and preserving the hull – as a result, we looked great for our reception on Tuesday. We continue to get comments from visitors on how great Carr looks.
Day 71 – Tuesday, August 23rd (In Port Edinburgh, Scotland)
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Today our Culinary Specialists put on our seventh reception of this deployment – this time the host was the U.S. Consulate Principal Officer, Dana Linnet. As always they put on a great showing. Several guests told us they had done a reception on another warship earlier in the week and commented on how much better the food was on Carr. It is always great to hear kind unsolicited words from our guests
Great job to EN3 Elvin Lugo who returned to us this week after completing a tough three month school for Air Conditioning and Refrigeration maintenance. This is definitely a technical skill that helps our crew – we have limited AC&R equipment, and when they are down they significantly impact crew morale.
Day 72– Wednesday, August 24th (In Port Edinburgh, Scotland)
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Congratulations to GSM3 Tyler Smith who earned recognition as Carr’s Food Service Attendant of the Month for August. Although not the most glamorous job on board, this is truly an important duty that supports all our Sailors on a daily basis – great job!
Bravo-Zulu to MR2 Kevin Smith for troubleshooting and rebuilding the gearbox for the lathe in the general workshop. This job had been screened to a repair activity; however, MR2 Smith wanted to get the lathe back in operation; therefore, he took action to fix it himself. His efforts resulted in saving $1,300 taxpayer dollars. His determination in restoring the lathe to operation ensured Carr could maintain the ability to manufacture critical repair parts.
I wanted to take a moment to warn our families about the mementos some of the crew purchased in Edinburgh – KILTS! I was unfortunate enough to view some of our crew members in kilts – it wasn’t a pretty site…be forewarned.
Day 73 – Thursday, August 25th (Underway from Edinburgh, Scotland)
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This morning we got back underway, reversing the process for exiting through the lock. For the remainder of the day we dodged through oil rigs in the North Sea – an amazing sight, especially at night with 50 ft high flames shooting out of some of the rigs.
Day 74 – Friday, August 26th
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After discovering a power failure in the SQS-56 Active/Passive SONAR System, STG2 John Harrold and STG2 Matthew Greenwood successfully troubleshot the power failure for over 15 hours isolating the fault down to a power distribution issue. FC2 Adam Lemons directly assisted in the troubleshooting through successfully completing a micro-miniature repair on the Power Supply Unit (PSU) which restored our SONAR System.
In the evening, we had Pizza night and an ice cream social on the Mess Decks. As we move further North we are looking forward to experiencing the Northern Lights; however, the meteorological conditions thus far haven’t supported them being visible.
Day 75 – Saturday, August 27th
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This morning we woke up to a temperature of 51F, it is continuing to get colder as we continue North (imagine that…). This morning we took time out of the schedule to host a visit by Boreas Rex and Davey Jones for a Blue Nose ceremony for those who had not previously crossed the Arctic Circle (we had 141 new Blue Noses). Thanks to CDR Jim Sposato, BMCS Kenneth Feagin, ITC Joseph Wert, OSC Chris Van, and Anthony Contino for putting together the event and making sure it was memorable. Prior to our ceremony, the only Blue Noses on board were the five individuals who ran the event – crossing into the Arctic is a rare opportunity. I can’t reveal the details of the ceremony; suffice to say it was cold!!! This week we will order Blue Nose certificates for all those who successfully met the challenge; I am sure my wife is holding her breathe for one more piece of Navy flare to hang in our home.
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Please join us on Facebook:
CARR Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FFG52
Jessica Meissner OMBUDSMAN http://www.facebook.com/pages/USS-CARR-Ombudsman/219688138070847?sk=wall
Melissa Lemons CARR Family
Readiness Group http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_137767426300026&ap=1;
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Until next week, stay safe Carr Family and Friends!
CDR Patrick Kulakowski
Commanding Officer
USS CARR (FFG 52)
“Courage, Will, Determination
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