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IN THE MILITARY

Amphibious ship
extensively repaired
after collision at sea

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By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

When the 570-foot amphibious transport dock ship USS Denver pulled up to Pier Bravo 3 on July 14, it had a gaping 40-foot hole in its bow from the second deck to the water line -- the result of a collision at sea with an oiler.

By the time it left Pearl Harbor 13 days later for its home port in San Diego, 54 tons of new plates and beams had been installed and held together with 1,300 pounds of welding electrodes or rods. The repair area was roughly 40 feet high and 24 feet back from the bow.

Although a dry dock was available at Pearl Harbor, all of the repairs were done pierside, some of it under water. The presence of lead paint inside and outside the ship also presented a problem.

The Navy said repairs were conducted around the clock and when the Denver left Hawaii, Supervisory Naval Architect Eric Bacquiro said: "From afar, you wouldn't have known the ship had been in a collision."

A Navy investigation into the cause of the collision is ongoing.

A team of underwater experts and four survivors of the cruiser USS Indianapolis are in the Philippine Sea, trying to locate the remains of the World War II warship that was sunk by a Japanese submarine July 30, 1945.

Only 316 of the ship's 1,199 crew members were rescued after floating in shark-infested waters for more than four days.

Indianapolis survivors are now attempting to clear the name of their skipper, Capt. Charles McVay III, who was court-martialed for the sinking.

The Indianapolis had delivered to Tinian the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. It was returning to the Philippines when it was spotted by a Japanese submarine.

The expedition is being filmed by Partisan Pictures to be aired on the Discovery Channel next year. If the ship's underwater wreckage is found, no attempt will be made to recover or disturb the 610-foot vessel, which is believed to be resting in waters more than 10,000 feet deep.

The Army says Schofield Barracks is the first Army installation to be removed from the Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List that ranks the nation's worst toxic waste sites.

Jon Fukuda, the facility's program manager, said EPA and state health officials determined the site no longer poses a significant threat to public health or to the environment.

Schofield Barracks was listed in 1990 because its drinking water source was contaminated with a cleaning solvent. The base suspended use of the water supply wells in May 1985 when trichloroethylene was first discovered.

In September 1996, the Army built a facility to remove the solvent from the drinking water.

Brig. Antonio Taguba, a 1968 Leilehua High School graduate, earlier this month was recognized for his efforts as an assistant division commander of the 24th Infantry Division (Mech) at Fort Riley in Kansas. Taguba's next assignment will be as commanding general of the Army's Community and Family Support Center.

Moving up

Pearl Harbor: Capt. Richard Snead recently relieved Capt. David McCall as commander of Submarine Squadron One. McCall will report to Submarine Warfare Division in Washington, D.C.