The amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans (LPD 18) completed a four-week underway May 15 as a part of the ship’s basic training cycle to prepare for future deployments.
The time at sea was filled with inspections and evolutions, including firefighting, well deck operations, deck landing qualifications and towing exercises to test the readiness of the crew.
Capt. Douglas Verissimo, the commanding officer of New Orleans, said:
We had a long list of certifications and expectations to meet and we exceeded them.
New Orleans completed her first towing exercise with a local San Diego tugboat. The exercise consisted of hooking a towing hawser to a tugboat for a 15-minute cruise that included a 90-degree turn.
New Orleans also completed approximately 20 hours of deck landing qualifications with Navy SH-60 Sea Hawk and Air Force HH-60G Pavehawk helicopters during both day and night operations.
The largest evolution during New Orleans’ underway was executing four days of well deck amphibious operations. New Orleans performed multiple evolutions, launching and recovering two landing craft air cushions (LCAC), 12 amphibious assault vehicles (AAV), two light amphibious resupply cargo (LARC), two coastal riverine assault boats and one landing craft unit (LCU).
During one of the evolutions, the ship’s deck department successfully recovered two coastal riverine assault boats. The crew also conducted numerous firefighting drills to improve readiness in case of an actual casualty.
The evolutions and drills conducted during the four-week underway helped prepare New Orleans for their upcoming deployment.
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Image: US Navy