HMCS Halifax sailors hurt in heavy seas

[NCRCrow]

Sea King Politician Story:

I seem to remember the MND (93-94 timeframe) arriving in a American SeaHawk onboard HMCS Iroquois during OP Sharp Guard(94). He thought he was on Athabaskan and had to be reminded by a personal aid of what ship he was on.

He did the politician's speech and obligatory tour had lunch with the Admiral and whisked away while two good birds were sat in the barn.(Whats wrong with our helos, the senior maintainer asked)

The worst was yet to come, just after the Sea Hawk left(along w/ the MND), the teletype in the CCR rang off a pay freeze for the forces was imposed and banning the sale of cigarettes onboard HMCS ships.
(We were doing 21 day Adriatic Patrols.)

Our CO (Cdr Edmunds) was and is an outstanding officer and promptly sent the RHIB ashore with a cigarette carton list with peoples personal orders. The RHIB returned bristling with Davidoff's and Chesterfields and happy sailors onboard especially the cooks and stokers.

We joked later how the messages and the departure of the MND almost coincided perfectly.

Scandal after scandal broke and the CF almost never recovered.

Politics and the Sea Kings . The Legacy of the 90's and mid way in the new millennium. 

 

[Navalsnpr]

For those of you who have not experienced 25 degrees of roll at sea, it is ALOT.   I've only seen 25 degrees once or twice while strapped on deck turning and burning

I think we ended up with one roll of 36-38 degrees on STJ. All the furnature in the mess ended up on the port side and one lad ended up with a broken leg.

I was really glad that I had my seatbelt on!!

Normally the guys will pencil the date in on the roll indicator on the bridge if they achieve a really good roll!!

 

[Sam69]

and magically break down......for 5 days or more

Whenever I would suggest to the CO of IROQUOIS that we needed to go ashore for whatever reason (parts, training, MEDEVAC, etc), he would always give me a wry look and tell me that he was sending the Buffer back to make sure we didn't take golf clubs, credit cards, or toothbrushes along. And then he would approve the trip, still smiling.

I don't know why the MEDEVAC of a sailor makes such news, we've always been quick to run someone ashore if the option was there and there was any doubt to their condition. Just look at the case of CHICOUTIMI and Chris Saunders, you never know when what seems to be a manageable situation can go pear shaped in a hurry. Always best to have the hairy bag in a full service hospital when that happens.

Over the years, I've MEDEVACed a fair share of people for various reasons including concussions, crushed digits, chest pains, anaphylactic shock (don't eat the chowdah if you are allergic to shellfish), and one poor guy who got crushed in the gun mount on FRASER. I even flew a guy ashore once when I was in worse need of an evac (long story). None of these cases ever raised a hint of media attention. But we missed one call (chest pains) once because our helo was down so a Brit helo took the guy off and it was in the papers the next day. The lesson? Never get sick on a slow news day.

FWIW, the CASEVAC distinction is made in Army doctrine but I've never seen CASEVAC/MEDEVAC differentiated in Navy doctrine. If we were to follow Army doctrine, our flights would be more correctly called "CASEVACs."

Also, if we are telling sea stories, I've been on deck at 31 degrees of roll and 7 degrees of pitch (steamer limits were 9 and 31) and seen 47 on the inclinometer while in a storm in NIPIGON. I know a few guys who were out during the Ocean Ranger disaster (ASSINIBOINE?) who said they say over 50. I find that anything over 10 makes it hard to sleep but a gentle 3-4 degree pitch rocks me to sleep everytime!

Get better Inch!


Sam

 

[navydrill]

"For those of you who have not experienced 25 degrees of roll at sea, it is ALOT.  I've only seen 25 degrees once or twice while strapped on deck turning and burning, usually while the ship was turning onto the flying course and got caught by a wave.  To me, it felt like we were going over the side- the beartrap held, just like it was designed to."
only once or twice gotta get me on one of those things we do 45
degrees on a regular basis.