• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

Aircraft Carrier Theodore Roosevelt faces Coronavirus Outbreak

antonz

antonz

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
5,309
taskandpurpose.com

Esper says he won't evacuate coronavirus-stricken carrier after ship captain's letter warns of 'unnecessary risk' of keeping sailors onboard

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he won't evacuate the USS Theodore Roosevelt, despite a spreading outbreak of COVID-19.
taskandpurpose.com taskandpurpose.com
www.sfchronicle.com

Exclusive: Captain of aircraft carrier with growing coronavirus outbreak pleads for help from Navy

The captain of a nuclear aircraft carrier docked in Guam with more than 100...
www.sfchronicle.com www.sfchronicle.com


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Tuesday it was not time to evacuate a U.S. aircraft carrier reeling from an outbreak of coronavirus, adding that he had not read in detail a letter from the commander of the ship pleading for help.

Asked if it was time to evacuate the carrier, Esper said: "I don't think we're at that point."

"We're moving a lot of supplies and assistance, medical assistance, out to the carrier in Guam. We're providing additional medical personnel as they need it,"
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Administration continues to show it has no clue how to deal with this crisis.
 
bangai-o

bangai-o

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,527
There was a story this morning of submarines are going to return soon without any knowledge of the outbreak.
 

Deleted member 1086

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,796
Boise Area, Idaho
I've been on a Navy ship during deployment when a regular cold breaks out, since everyone is in close quarters it spreads to everyone and it spreads quick. I can't imagine what it's like with this COVID 19 going around especially since it's not possible to socially distance on a ship. I would definitely think you should get all those sailors off that ship as soon as possible.
 
EmptyWarren

EmptyWarren

Self-requested ban
Banned
Oct 29, 2017
1,250
Racks stacked 3 high and less than 4 feet or so across from each other. If someone got sick, everyone got sick. Don't envy them peeps. We were on deployment when H1N1 was happening during the Bush years.
 
DrForester

DrForester

Mod of the Year 2006
Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,761
inguef said:
Submarines have no communication with the outside world these days when submerged? I had no idea!
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It's not that they can't communicate, it's that they aren't told so as to avoid bringing down moral and keeping people focused.

Ever see The Martian? Remember how NASA didn't want to tell the crew Watney was still alive? Basically the same thing.
 

Deleted member 17092

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
20,360
Have a close friend who is set to deploy fucking tomorrow on another Carrier out of the Seattle area. Damn.
 

Sol Mori

Member
Jun 10, 2018
221
inguef said:
Submarines have no communication with the outside world these days when submerged? I had no idea!
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

No, this is false. Submarines do have, limited, communication and everyone would be aware of something like COVID-19 going on. Sailors on subs face many issues that ones on surface ships don't, but they're generally not unaware of major news.
 
Hey Please

Hey Please

Avenger
Oct 31, 2017
22,824
Not America
DrForester said:
Carriers are basically floating cities with an airport.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

When I was momentarily on a Canadian coast guard icebreaker, I was the told the crew complement was 60 something. To me, that was huge, having previously only sailed with crews ranging from 12 to 16 on equal and larger commercial vessels. My mind simply can't process 4,000 people (previously believe it was a few hundreds at most) in a space with length smaller the latest Maersk Triple E class super container vessels and as broad as a larger fishing boats at the water line and an offshore supply vessel at its max beam/breadth.
 

Deleted member 2802

Community Resetter
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
33,729
Sol Mori said:
No, this is false. Submarines do have, limited, communication and everyone would be aware of something like COVID-19 going on. Sailors on subs face many issues that ones on surface ships don't, but they're generally not unaware of major news.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
How does news of something like COVID19 get around? Does the captain explain major events over the intercom? I think that would be kinda hard on morale.
 

Deleted member 1086

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,796
Boise Area, Idaho
I'm not sure how it is on submarines, but on surface ships internet is readily available, unless the ship is set to River City for mission readiness, and even then you can still receive incoming emails, you just can't reply to them. Would imagine subs have a system that gets internet to them, though it's probably not as good as surface level ships(which really isnt that good to begin with).
 

Sol Mori

Member
Jun 10, 2018
221
shira said:
How does news of something like COVID19 get around? Does the captain explain major events over the intercom? I think that would be kinda hard on morale.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Summaries and snippets posted where you would line up for food. I'm not sure if COs would directly talk about COVID-19, but some might. While it may seem demoralizing to know that a pandemic is happening, having no news is even more demoralizing. Trying to hide this from the crew would just lead to rumors anyways.
 
0VERBYTE

0VERBYTE

Banned
Nov 1, 2017
5,555
Hey Please said:
When I was momentarily on a Canadian coast guard icebreaker, I was the told the crew complement was 60 something. To me, that was huge, having previously only sailed with crews ranging from 12 to 16 on equal and larger commercial vessels. My mind simply can't process 4,000 people (previously believe it was a few hundreds at most) in a space with length smaller the latest Maersk Triple E class super container vessels and as broad as a larger fishing boats at the water line and an offshore supply vessel at its max beam/breadth.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
And 4000 isn't even the max. It's usually close to 5000 on a super carrier.
 
amoy

amoy

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,230
How did it get in the boat?

I can see the possibility in the Diamond Princess case, but this is a warship and it's recent like a week ago, boggles my mind.
 
amoy

amoy

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,230
Hiphopopotamus said:
Best guess is a layover in Vietnam. Virus infections were hundreds of miles away, but that's the most informed opinion I've heard so far
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Looking at more articles, seems likely. And this is the second ship with Covid-19, USS Ronald Reagan being the other.

Are there enough test kits yet, so anyone getting on or off the ships can get screened?
 
HardTimesFamilyPride

HardTimesFamilyPride

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,055
Appalachia
mbpm said:
this ain't good.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yeah, one of the articles in the OP has the Acting Navy Secretary saying they're trying to offload sailors but Guam doesn't have enough beds so it's a slow process. I have a feeling the virus is gonna spread (or is already spreading) faster than beds will become available.

I am not military and don't know the feasibility, but seems an escort to Pearl Harbor like Jim up there said, or SOMEWHERE better equipped for this, is something that should have happened days ago.
 
Anti

Anti

Banned
Nov 22, 2017
2,972
Australia
why the government, even worse, the current government would care? They see normal average citizens as expendable, they care even less about the troops.
 
Joni

Joni

Member
Oct 27, 2017
19,508
China would be quite happy with this, with both the USS Ronald Reagan and the Roosevelt out of commission the US loses quite a bit of 'showing off' power in the Pacific.
 
gutshot

gutshot

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,440
Toscana, Italy
Coyote Starrk said:
Oh wow. Imagine that. You come back to a world on the brink after leaving one that was relatively fine.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

There have been a few instances of this already.

www.bbc.com

Coronavirus: German Big Brother cast told about pandemic live on TV

Some of the housemates - who hadn't been told about the pandemic - expressed fear for their parents.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

www.nytimes.com

Opinion | They Went Off the Grid. They Came Back to the Coronavirus. (Published 2020)

25 days rafting through the Grand Canyon meant no access to the news ā€” and a new reality when the trip ended.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
 
Zaphod

Zaphod

Member
Aug 21, 2019
1,125
"Honor, courage and commitment", unless you say something true but politically inconvenient.
 
Rhete

Rhete

Member
Oct 27, 2017
656
Months into this and we're still retaliating against whistle-blowers huh. Un fuckin believable

How will the "support our troops" crowd rationalize this
 
jstevenson

jstevenson

Developer at Insomniac Games
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
2,042
Burbank CA
Dishwalla said:
pretty bad look for the Navy to relieve him of command for looking out for the safety and wellbeing of his crew
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

he broke the chain of command.

you don't get to captain an aircraft carrier and leak a letter like that to the press. He likely knew this would be the result when he did it. That may be courageous and honorable and the right thing to do. But there's no way he could remain in command after this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.