Summer Cruise_Day 3

Refueling at Sea – We started the morning with some more basic damage control training which finished with an impromptu fire hose handling competition. In the afternoon we moved on to some combat training and then finally joined up with other naval air and surface forces to begin training together. Truth be told, we are playing an opposing force (or OPFOR) role and for our first event we were simply a “target.” Being the target though, got us a couple of great fly bys which we enjoyed. The big event of the day was an early evening refueling at sea. Refueling at sea or what we refer to as Underway Replenishment or UNREP for short, is one of the most fascinating and exciting things we do at sea. More than 25,000 tons of naval power sailing together on the same course and speed at a distance of 150-160 feet lateral separation for more than an hour to take on upwards of 100,000 gallons or more of fuel! Today we refueled from the oiler USNS LARAMIE (TAO 203). We refueled on the LARAMIE’s starboard side while USS DEWERT (FFG 45) refueled on the other. Five new Ensigns had the opportunity to conn the ship alongside and a deck seaman stood her first watch as Rig Captain – all in all, another great day of training at sea.