Tarawa stands out for energy conservation efficiency
by MCSN Jon Husman
INDIAN OCEAN (NNS) -- The amphibious assault ship USS Tarawa (LHA 1) earned the SECNAV 2007 Gold Award for excellence in energy conservation for a large deck ship during the 2007 fiscal year on April 24.

Tarawa's intensive energy conservation methods helped set her apart from more then 50 other ships considered for the prestigious award. Tarawa's savings amounted to $2,002,289 or 15,891 barrels of fuel.

"Although there is an increase in fuel usage due to the demands and intensified operations involved in Tarawa's aggressive schedule," said Ensign Eric Hernandez, MP-3 division officer, "Tarawa continues to implement energy conservation measures by using solid engineering practices and assertive maintenance practices."

The ship enacts a deliberate approach to underway energy conservation by utilizing daily schedules and routines to attain the most economical cruising speeds. Some of those routines consist of the Engineering Department and Operations Department always utilizing the ship's Total Fuel Consumption Curves and Acceleration/Deceleration tables located on the bridge and in the engineering spaces, when planning the ship's daily operations. Tarawa's navigator consistently calculates and selects the best course and speed based on shortest distance, wind, and sea state.

"I believe that it was the energy management and planning that set us apart from the rest," said Hernandez. "Operations on Tarawa were carefully coordinated to ensure optimum accomplishment of each task while remaining mindful of energy resources."

Tarawa engineers also perform boiler flexes, checking the response rate of the automatic boiler control system, on a routine basis to ensure both boilers are operating at Level One to save fuel.

"Our engineers are constantly working to make the boilers run more efficiently, identifying any leaks in the plant, fixing them and conducting routine maintenance on the equipment to ensure it runs most efficiently," said Chief Machinist's Mate Jack Hunt, MP-3 leading chief oetty officer. "This is a very hard job to do on a 30-year-old engineering plant."

Despite an extensive underway schedule and high op-tempo prior to deployment, Tarawa's energy savings were significant.

The award will be presented during a ceremony at the Washington Navy Memorial in October 2008.

Tarawa is the flag ship of the Tarawa Expeditionary Strike Group. While on deployment, Tarawa ESG has provided support to Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom; taken part in operations in the Horn of Africa; provided disaster relief and humanitarian assistance to Bangladesh in the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Sidr; and conducted Maritime Security Operations in the Persian Gulf.

Tarawa is currently operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility. The U.S. 7th Fleet is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. Fleets covering 52 million square miles, with approximately 50 ships, 120 aircraft and 20,000 Sailors and Marines assigned at any given time.

USS Tarawa conducts Damage Control portion of ULTRA-S
by MC3 Daniel Barker
INDIAN OCEAN (NNS) -- Afloat Training Group Pacific (ATGPAC) inspectors from San Diego assessed amphibious assault ship USS Tarawa (LHA 1) during its biannual Unit Level Training Assessment-Sustainment (ULTRA-S), April 24-26.

ULTRA-S damage control inspections must be completed every six months in order for U.S. Navy ships to keep their damage control certifications.

"Tarawa's performance with the various drills and scenarios was outstanding," said Chief Damage Controlman (SW) Jimmy Bailey. "Each of the last three inspections made improvements over the previous inspection."

Sailors aboard were tested with scenarios ranging from a main space fire drill and a toxic gas leak to class alpha fires and a simulated helicopter crash on the flight deck. They were trained and ready for the scenarios ATGPAC assessed during the ULTRA-S inspection.

"With recent [personnel] transitions, we had to operate these drills with reduced manning and the additional challenge of training more people. We were still able to sustain a closer percentage within plus or minus ten percentage points to sustain certification," explained Bailey.

The shipwide drills involved a majority of the nearly 1,200 Sailors aboard Tarawa including all seven repair lockers.

"When we heard that there was an inbound missile port side during the drill, we had to quickly brace for shock on the appropriate side of the passageway," said Yeoman 2nd Class (SW) Matthew Hoover. "After only a moments hesitation we all responded correctly. If this had been an actual event we would know what to do."

The ULTRA-S drills lasted three days, but the realistic scenarios played out by the Tarawa crew during the inspections will keep them ready for any casualty the ship may encounter during its deployment to the Western Pacific.

Tarawa is the flag ship of the Tarawa Expeditionary Strike Group. While on deployment, Tarawa Expeditionary Strike Group has provided support to Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom; taken part in operations in the Horn of Africa; provided disaster relief and humanitarian assistance to Bangladesh in the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Sidr; and conducted Maritime Security Operations in the Persian Gulf.

Tarawa is currently operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility. The U.S. 7th Fleet is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. Fleets covering 52 million square miles, with approximately 50 ships, 120 aircraft and 20,000 Sailors and Marines assigned at any given time.