I say fireboats for everyone but that terminal did not cost the taxpayer $8 Billion. The USS Zumwalt in San Diego did. That terminal is likely insured, the USS Zumwalt is not. That terminal is not sitting directly next to billions of dollars pf government assets. The Zumwalt is. That terminal is not the first line of defense in an uncertain world.
If the Navy can’t afford fire extinguishing maybe the admirals should spend more time on fire prevention.
There is a story of the company hiring a helicopter to fly over the Ocean 255 to survey the damage. Well, that Helicopter blew some of the foam off which caused a re-flash!
Yes I heard that story before we arrived. I was not sitting comfortably on my couch when I went alongside to take hot cargo off. Nor was the rest of my crew. I worked with the Captain on that rig and was a darn good Mariner who recently passed. I am quite happy at home now in retirement. I know you Tugs, a well respected engineer.
I was working in the Eastern Fleet when this happened but after transferring down to the Gulf, I worked with several of the guys that were onboard when this happened! It’s stories like this that still keep me awake some nights. I can’t even imagine what they went through getting off of the Seafarer! It took balls to even go near her to start lightering her!
NOB does NOT have fireboats. Most of the ship movements have been contracted out to commercial tugs. My old XO went on to become the Port Services Officer. Additionally, Newport News Shipbuilding turned their fireboat over to Newport News fire department - the Carl Brashear…
To those that may not have a clue what NOB @Bruce_T_Shark is referring to, it is Naval Operating Base Hampton Roads (Norfolk, VA).
Nor does the people that build our subs and and aircraft carriers as Bruce highlighted. Is a picture of the Carl Brashear available?
Grin, my first Chief’s second to last tour was Force Master Chief for Sixth Fleet.
Thanks Chief!
here you go @SeaEagle
Are you impressed that this can respond to a real potiential catastrophy in NOB and NNews area?
The US Navy not having fire boats makes sense if you think like a billionaire. They don’t insure their mansions. They just rebuild or move to the other mansion. Money is no problem.
The US taxpayers will cover any loss the Navy has so the Navy is like the billionaires.
I understand that thinking, many successful companies self insure once they reach a certain size. It’s a great peacetime policy.
But not during war.
The Navy can not think like a traditional investor they must think like a black swan investor. We don’t pay them trillions of dollars to invest in the most likely future, we give them trillions to prepare for a future so unlikely that most will chuckle at me for even mentioning: a full scale attack on mainland America.
During war Jeff Bezos will surely abandon any properties near the war zone. The Navy can not.
If war breaks our tomorrow the navy will need to fight with what it has RIGHT NOW.
We are the wealthiest nation on earth. Money is not a limiting factor. Repairs will be made at any cost if the need should arrive.
The problem is time and available resources? How many repair shipyards do we have. How long will it take us to repair damaged vessels if the black swan paddles over to san diego TOMORROW?
Now that you think I’m truly crazy, he’s another astonishing fact: this isn’t the Army we are talking about… naval battles are very short affairs. You win or loose command of the sea in the first days (sometimes hours) of war! This has always been the caee, and will always be the case.
Sure you can take a few years to rebuild and wrestle control of the sea back from the victor, as we did in the Pacific in wwii, but in the meantime millions would die and victory would not be assured.
There is an old saying i. The FDNY: You arrive at the fire with the level of training and equipment you have, not what you need.
The same is true for war… so let’s PLEASE stop running the navy as if peace will last forever and America will never be attacked. Run it as if our lives would depend on it when the black swan arrives… and pray it never does. Pray that historians will look back and say “WOW, what a waste of money, they should have self-insured”.