Today is the 15th anniversary of September 11,
2001. I’ve wanted to write down my experiences of that day so this is a good
opportunity.
On September 11, 2001, I showed up for work like any other
day onboard USS BATAAN (LHD-5) which was stationed at the Norfolk Naval Base in
Norfolk, VA. We were on the last days of pre-deployment stand-down which means
minimal work was getting done and almost half of the crew was on vacation
because we were scheduled to deploy the next week for six months. It seemed to
be one of the most routine, boring days I was going to experience on that ship
as we were merely counting days to deployment making sure the work being done
was on schedule.
I was an Ensign at the time and assigned as division officer
of the Main Propulsion – Aft power plant (MP Aft Division). The division of 50
people were responsible for one boiler, one steam driven 35,000 horse power
engine, one fresh water evaporator (salt water to fresh water), two steam
driven electrical turbines (for the ship’s electricity), and all associated
support equipment. We had a few contractors working onboard that day installing
or fixing some pumps that had just been repaired by the factory. The majority
of the sailors in the division were assigned to cleaning duty and minor repairs
that day. All of my work was caught up so I went to study for my Surface
Warfare Officer qualification oral board which I was close to completing (this
is the final part of the qualification in which junior officers are questioned
by a panel of senior officers and the Captain of the ship regarding anything in
U.S. Naval operations).
So I had already taken a mock board to prepare me for the
final. I was strong in most areas but needed to get better at anti-submarine
warfare and ship to ship warfare. I was in my stateroom studying flight
profiles of Harpoon and Exocet missiles as well as battle tactics to fight the
Soviet armada. That’s right, it was 2001 and I was deficient in my knowledge of
battle tactics to fight the Soviet Union. Don’t forget, some of the people on who
were going to be on my board had served in Vietnam so this is what they knew,
therefore I had to know it. September 11, 2001 was the last day I ever had to
study that information.
Needless to say this material was not easy to read and I
needed a break so I wouldn’t fall asleep. I left my room to walk to the head
and passed the 1st Division Officer who was watching the news with
the ship’s Boatswain. I thought they were just being lazy and hanging out in their
room instead of working. They told me that some idiot had just crashed his
plane into the World Trade Center. I thought it was just another bad pilot
crashing his plane and I went back to studying. I came out again a little later
and passed their room again. Now those same guys were saying that another plane
had crashed into the other building of the World Trade Center and New York was
probably being targeted by crazy pilots. I stopped to watch the live coverage
from their room and struggled to justify how these accidents could happen. I
decided that I would not be able to study anymore and went to the engine room
to notify my division and turn on live TV coverage in the engine room (this was
against the Chief Engineer’s rules but this was a special exception).
I began telling the senior Petty Officers what happened. The
Chief Petty Officer already knew from watching TV in the Chief’s Mess. We were
monitoring the news in the control room when news broke that the Pentagon had
also been hit and eventually another plane went down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
After this, we knew something big was going on and held a muster in the middle
of the day to let the division know what was going on. We told them that they
needed to stand by because we might not be going home for a few days. Not long
afterwards, the Captain called an all officers and Chiefs meeting. Again, since
we were on pre-deployment stand-down we only had half onboard. By this time I
could hear multiple sonar pings on a regular basis. Working in the engine room
underwater, the pings were loud and distinguishable. This is also expressly
forbidden while in port because this kills sea life and will harm divers
working underwater on the ship’s hull. All underwater work in Norfolk was
halted and the Cruisers, Destroyers, and Frigates were ordered to activate
sonar to stop any potential divers who planned to attack ships in port. We had
no idea what to expect next.
At the all-khaki (officers and chiefs) meeting. The Captain
explained that we were ordered to get underway that night. Our orders were to
pick up Marines from Camp LeJune and embark medics, doctors, helicopters,
amphibious landing craft, trucks, anti-aircraft missile vehicles, infantry
units, chaplains, water tanks, and supplies. Our job was to land a Marine
Expeditionary Unit in New York to fend off further attack and assist in
emergency recovery. Meanwhile the USS BATAAN would be used as a hospital, electrical
power plant, and fresh water plant for recovery efforts.
I had already been selected as the Conning Officer to get
the ship underway for deployment the next week. This was to be a ceremonious
position while everyone was in their dress white uniform with family members
waving goodbye from the pier. There would be no time for that on September 11th.
Since I had already studied the navigational charts for the transit underway,
the Captain asked me if I was ready to conn the ship out of the harbor. I said
that I was ready and he told me to get in a quick study session with the ship’s
Navigator to freshen up. After the meeting, I met with the Navigator to discuss
the ship’s course and we were both confident I could do it. This would be my
first and only time conning the USS BATAAN out of port. I was normally assigned
some sort of engineering duty on the Sea & Anchor detail (special job in/out
of port). The Captain was also to having more senior officers conn the ship
during nighttime transits, not some unqualified Ensign who only needed a routine,
daytime transit to earn his qualification. There was no time to get a new
bridge team together so I was the guy.
Meanwhile work was underway in the engine room. We had to
perform a week’s worth of maintenance and work to get the plant operational.
The most significant was that we had to install a new main-steam cross-connect
valve, install two condensate pump motors, and repair one fuel pump. While I
was at meetings, the Division was able to install new valves that were
scheduled to be installed that week. Meanwhile the contractors called in more
technicians to install the missing pumps. The ship’s best Hull Technician
(welder) was also called to start installing the main steam cross connect valve
(allows superheated steam to go from the forward boiler to the aft engine or
aft boiler to the forward engine). Without any of these things installed there
would be a catastrophic failure in the engine room meaning an explosion,
meltdown, or turbines could seize up. The Captain made the decision to light
fires in the boiler anyway. While the water began to boil to create steam, the
Captain was banking on the timeline that HT1 could finish welding a new valve
in time before the pressure blew it apart, the contractors would have to have
at least one condensate pump installed and working so that water could be fed
back into the boiler so it wouldn’t melt, and the notoriously faulty fuel pump
actually working could continue to pump fuel to the burning fires to get to the
heat and pressure needed to run the plant. Normally, we light fires to get the
ship underway a day in advance. It was just hours today. Here is a diagram to
try and explain what was missing in the engine compartment:
This was a once in a lifetime situation and we had to break
a long list of standard safety and engineering procedures to get the ship
underway that night. The Captain, Executive Officer and I think the Commodore
even came to the engine room to witness what was happening because this was
such a risky plan. Fortunately everything came on line with at least single
point failure while we worked over the next few days at sea to get the rest of
the equipment up and running.
We got underway that night with about an extra 10% of the
crew able to come back off leave and report to the ship before we left so now
we had about 60% of the crew onboard. We steamed south from Virginia to North
Carolina. While we began embarking helicopters and equipment, we were given the
order to stand down. Enough civilian emergency response crews were able to
support recovery efforts. FDNY and NYPD were being supplemented by other
agencies, hospitals were working, electric, water, and sewage was working, the
National Guard was en route, and the roads were open for emergency services.
There was no need for a military response to New York. One of the Cruisers from
our battle group stayed on station off the coast of New York acting as an
aircraft and missile defense platform for the State of New York. The USS BATAAN
returned to Norfolk two and a half days later. When we returned, I packed up
everything left in my apartment and moved onboard the ship. We deployed days
later for parts unknown in what ended up to be the invasion of Afghanistan.
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| USS BATAAN Underway at Sunset |
