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EMBARRASED WHEN A U-S
DESTROYER IN THE
ENTERPRISE STRIKE GROUP
WAS
INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT
IN THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ
LAST AUGUST.
BUT AS 10 ON YOUR SIDE'S
ART KOHN TELLS US, THE
CREW OF THE U-S-S
PORTER TURNED WHAT COULD
HAVE BEEN A TRAGEDY INTO
A TRIUMPH.
THE "BIG E" DREW THE BIG
CROWD AT YESTERDAY'S HOME
COMING BUT THE RETURN OF
THE USS PORTER WAS
CERTAINLY A BIG STORY. A
STORY OF BAD NEWS AND
GOOD NEWS FOR
THE NAVY THAT BEGAN WITH
A COLLISION IN THE EARLY
MONING
HOURS OF AUGUST 12TH IN
THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ.
"WE HAD A 160-THOUSAND
TON WATER DISPLACEMENT,
JAPANESE TANKER IMPACT
THE STARBOARD SIDE OF THE
USS PORTER." THE
COLLISION LEFT A 20 BY
30-FOOT HOLE IN THE SHIP,
ABOVE THE
WATERLINE.
"WE KNEW THAT SOMETHING,
IT WASN'T A NORMAL HIT."
CHIEF JAMES ANTOINE IS AN
INTERIOR COMMUNICATION
CHIEF ON THE PORTER. HE
WAS IN HIS RACK SLEEPING
WHEN THE
COLLISION OCCURED AT 1AM.
"EVERYBODY WAS EMOTIONAL.
UM, WE HAD A LOT,
EVERYBODY WAS SCARED.
THEY WERE FRIGHTENED..."
ACCORDING TO CHIEF
ANTOINE, SEVERAL SPACES
TOOK ON WATER BUT
THE CREW RESPONED WITH
DAMAGE CONTROL
PROCEDURES.
"WE PULLED TOGETHER TO DO
WHAT WE HAD TO DO TO GET
TO DUBAI."
"WE PULLED INTO THE UAE I
THINK AUGUST 12TH AND WE
WERE
UNDERWAY I THINK
SEPTEMBER 9TH." COMMANDER
DAVE RICHARDSON TOOK
COMMAND OF THE SHIP AFTER
THE COLLISION REPLACING
THE
PREVIOUS CO.
"THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT
IT, THERE WERE, THERE
WERE SOME MISTAKES
MADE, THE CO HAS BEEN
FIRED, THAT'S KNOWN AND
WE'LL DETERMINE WHAT'S
NEXT BEYOND THAT." AND
YET, THE STORY OF THE
PORTER IS A
SOURCE OF PRIDE FOR THE
COMMANDER OF THE
ENTERPRISE STRIKE
GROUP.
"...SHE HAS SAILED (WITH
US) THROUGH THE SUEZ
CANAL, SHE CAME THORUGH
THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ WITH
US LAST TIME. MADE IT
HURRICANES..." TO RETURN
ON TIME WITH THE GROUP.
TO RETURN ON TIME WITH
THE GROUP.
THE REPAIR THAT WAS DONE
TO THE PORTER WAS WHAT
THE NAVY CALLS A
"VOYAGE REPAIR". SHE WAS
ALREADY SCHEDULED FOR AN
AVAILABILITY IN THE
YARD NEXT YEAR AND MORE
EXTENSIVE REPAIRS WILL BE
DONE AT