USS Carr (FFG 52) conducted an underway replenishment (UNREP) with USNS Charles Drew (T-AKE 10) while deployed to the Caribbean Sea in support of Operation Martillo, Aug. 13.
Typically ships assigned to the Fourth Fleet area of responsibility must go off station to conduct a brief stop for fuel in port; however, Carr was able to take advantage of the Charles Drew as it transited through the Western Caribbean.
The event took Carr off station for only two hours and was in close vicinity to the assigned operating area.
Charles Drew is transiting home following its deployment as part of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group. A brief stop for fuel usually encompasses an entire day and requires the additional cost of pilots, sewage barge, water barge, and barge fees. Upon completion of the underway replenishment, Carr had taken on 1,912 barrels of diesel fuel marine and 362 barrels of JP-5 (jet fuel).
“It was incredibly beneficial to have Charles Drew transit through the Caribbean,” said Lt. Cmdr. Neil Krueger, Carr executive officer . “Refueling at sea allows us to remain on station to execute our mission and using a USNS asset saved us both time and money. Additionally, the underway replenishment kept our deck division and bridge teams proficient.”
Charles Drew is designed to carry refrigerated and dry stores, ammunition, water, and fuel. It has the ability to give one million gallons of fuel while not taking away from its own fuel, even though it is not an oiler.
Carr is homeported in Norfolk, Va., and is currently deployed in support of Operation Martillo, under operational control to U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command and C4F (COMUSNAVSO/C4F) while conducting counter transnational organized crime (C-TOC) operations in support of Joint Interagency Task Force – South, U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), and U.S. Coast Guard District Seven.
Operation Martillo (Spanish for ‘hammer’) is a U.S., European, and Western Hemisphere partner nation effort targeting illicit trafficking routes in coastal waters along the Central American isthmus. This joint service, interagency, and multinational operation is being led by Joint Interagency Task Force-South, a National Task Force charged with detection, monitoring, and supporting the interdiction of illicit trafficking in a 42 million square mile area primarily in the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) area of operations. Operation Martillo is a component of the U.S. government’s coordinated interagency regional security strategy in support of the White House strategy to combat transnational organized crime and the U.S. Central America Regional Security Initiative.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, August 15, 2012