THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 12, 1996 TAG: 9607120680
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 65 lines
The Navy's decision to send its East Coast ships to sea Wednesday in advance of Hurricane Bertha was based as much on a lesson it learned 52 years ago as it was any present-day knowledge.
Three destroyers were sunk and nine ships crippled in a 1944 typhoon in the Philippine Sea. Nineteen other ships were damaged. Afterward, Adm. Chester Nimitz messaged his fleet that the Navy could never again permit heavy weather to wreak such havoc, that the service had to learn from its mistakes.
``That was a wake-up call for the Navy,'' said Cmdr. Martin Drake, one of the officers keeping track of the 54 ships and submarines riding out Bertha at sea, 48 of them from Norfolk.
``We are learning the lessons of so many people who have gone before us,'' said Drake, of the Atlantic Fleet Operations Center in Norfolk.
``That task force suffered a lot of damage because people didn't understand the things we know now, like storm avoidance, like staying out of the dangerous semicircle, trying to move toward the navigable semicircle.''
While the submarines are having the smoother ride, 100 feet down, the surface ships are seeking calmer water to the east of Bertha, said Drake.
They left throughout the day Wednesday and steamed 275 miles east of Hampton Roads, where they regrouped and began heading south, behind the storm.
Essentially, that is what they did last year when Hurricane Felix appeared off Cape Hatteras.
The trick is to avoid it.
``The key word in this is art,'' Drake said. ``It's not a science. These things are so unpredictable. You can't imagine the power one of these things has until you are standing close to it. It will humble you with the power it generates.''
Among the lessons learned over the years is that a hurricane's counter-clockwise rotating winds will pose the most danger to ships if they encounter the storm's right side.
That means the greatest danger from a storm moving northward is on its east; on a westward-moving storm, the greatest danger lies north.
``The left semicircle is a little more navigable,'' Drake said. ``Now you're still in a hurricane, but there is some advantage staying on the left, navigable semicircle.''
Broken into smaller task groups for easier management, the East Coast ships are all under the operational command of Vice Adm. Vernon E. Clark, 2nd Fleet commander, riding in the command ship Mount Whitney.
Planning began last Friday for the ships to get underway. That is when the first signs of Bertha began to show off the West African coast, where most Atlantic hurricanes are born.
If the ships get into the storm, or it catches up with them, the crews are trained to begin trying to minimize the damage, said Drake.
Either way, he said, ``it's not fun.
``The crew will not get a whole lot of rest. They are going to be tired and fatigued.
``It will be like a bucking bronco, constantly hanging on. It's like doing calisthenics the entire time you are out there.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
COMING HOME
When the Navy announces arrival times for East Coast ships
returning from riding out Hurricane Bertha, you will be able to get
up-to-date times through Infoline. Dial 640-5555 and press NAVY
(6289).
KEYWORDS: HURRICANE BERTHA U.S. NAVY by CNB