USA: Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard Backs RIMPAC Ships

The mission of Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PHNSY & IMF) is summarized in its motto: PHNSY & IMF keeps them fit to fight. The term “them” refers to the surface ships and submarines of the U.S. Navy. That meaning takes on an expanded international flavor to the maintenance and repair work done at the shipyard every two years during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise.

RIMPAC is the largest multinational maritime exercise in the world and this year’s is the biggest in the 41 years since the first one was held in 1971. More than 40 ships from 22 nations, including Russia for the first time as an active participant, are involved in RIMPAC 2012, which has increased activity and the sight of foreign ships and uniforms at Pearl Harbor.

Participating ships began arriving in Hawaii in late June during a period of high workload at the shipyard concurrent with the start of the USS Texas (SSN 775) availability, a major Virginia- class maintenance milestone for the shipyard. In the two-week period before and after the June 29 exercise start date, the shipyard responded to more than 60 service requests from the U.S. Navy and ships and from other countries participating in RIMPAC.

Most of the maintenance support the shipyard provided was to surface ships in the form of technical assistance on communications and other electronics gear. Other support covered a wide range of work, such as repairing several small holes in a hull, fixing an awning, analyzing lube oil, refilling nitrogen bottles, weight testing decoy launchers, and clearing propellers fouled with nets.

“Our role as maintenance providers enabled RIMPAC ships and their crews to more fully take part in various combat and other exercises,” said Capt. Brian Osgood, PHNSY & IMF commander. “In a larger sense, the shipyard’s contribution extended beyond repairs to pieces of equipment. We were also supporting the beginning of new partnerships and the strengthening of existing partnerships among nations, which is in keeping with this RIMPAC’s theme of ‘Capable, Adaptive Partners.’ The sight of flags and ships of other countries in Pearl Harbor reminds us that the work we do has an impact far beyond the shipyard. When we keep the U.S. Navy’s ships ― and those of our partners and allies ― fit to fight, we are also contributing to the future peace, prosperity and security of the Asia-Pacific region,” Osgood said.

The shipyard is a field activity of the Naval Sea Systems Command and a one-stop regional maintenance center for the Navy’s surface ships and submarines. It is the largest industrial employer in the state of Hawaii with a combined civilian and military workforce of about 4,850. Strategically located in the mid-Pacific, the Navy’s largest ship repair facility between the West Coast and the Far East is about a week of steam time closer to potential major regional contingencies in East Asia than sites on the West Coast.

[mappress]

Source: navsea, August 8, 2012