THE USS GUARDIAN GROUNDING

The Situation

06JAN13 - Departed Sasebo, Japan for Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines

13JAN13 - Arrived in Okinawa, Japan for fuel

Initially scheduled to get fuel in Puerto Princesa, Republic of the Philippines, on 16 January 2013 but received the schedule change for Makassar, Indonesia.

15JAN13 - Departed Subic Bay departed Subic Bay for the routine transit to Makassar.

0222, 17 January 2013, while in the Sulu Sea, GUARDIAN ran aground on South Islet, Tubbataha Reef, Republic of the Philippines.

The cause of the grounding was the failure to reconcile the known difference between DNC® GEN11A, the 'general' chart, and DNC® COA11D, the 'coastal' chart.

The Timeline Cont.

What Went Wrong

1132 - The CO shift's control of steering from CCS to the Bridge and Split Plant.

1142 - The Bridge takes control of both shafts.

- CO ordered ALL BACK 2 for second attempt

1204 - OOD ordered ALL BACK 4, BACK 2, BACK 6, BACK 2, and BACK 1

1225 - MPA recommended to secure 1A MPDE and engines OOC due to overheating

1303 - OOD ordered ALL BACK 6 Then ALL BACK 2

1307 - Crack beam in the bilge but no water intrusion.

1340 - OOD ordered various engine and rudder combos to free ship

1416 - For the last time OOD ordered various combos to free the ship.

1434 - OOD ordered AL STOP

2359 - CHENG reported all damage and flooding under control

- Wave activity bagging/gridding the hull and keel against the reef,

- Anticipated greater damage the longer the ship remained aground.

- Investigators' failed to follow the last step of Principle of Investigation which is Repeat

- Too many attempts to refloat ship failing to follow NSTM 079 VOL 1, RPM

- NTTP 3-20.31 states ““IF THE PROPS ARE REVERSED AND THERE IS NO TENDENCY OF THE SHIP TO BACK AWAY FROM THE BEACH, NO FURTHER ATTEMPTS TO MOVE THE SHIP BY MEANS OF THE PROPELLERS SHOULD BE USED.”

- DCA failed to complete 3 out of 4 his actions, which were:

- Weigh the ship down hard ( not complete)

- Investigate for damage

- Determine Tons Aground ( not complete)

- Calculate Critical Draft (not complete)

What Went Well

1. DCA reminded command on two separate occasions they only had "one shot to back off the reef"

2. Condition II DC set at T+2 after the grounding

3. Zebra was set throughout the ship

4. DCA set up a P-100 pump in case of a loss of firemain

5. The CO ordered the start of the anchor windlass to move the anchor chain on deck to distribute weight aft.

The Timeline Cont.

0323 - CO ordered ALL BACK 2

- Intentions were to keep the ship perpendicular to the reef and straight.

- DCA informed the CO about ALL BACK 2

- Sounding of the water depth from frame 79 to 107 was approximately 50 feet.

- The port and starboard shaft were clear of the reef.

0436 - GUARDIAN was on reef with zero list and pitch of positive 3 degrees.

0517 - The CO ordered all engines stop.

0617 - Engineering casualty of high jacket water temp on 1A ships service diesel generator.

- Load removed from 1A SSDG-- ship on single Generator operations.

0639 - Leak in bow thruster under control; leaking at one gallon per hour

- Dewatering in progress by buckets and a vacuum.

- P-100 set up in the event ship lost number three fire pump.

0849 - CO orders start of anchor windlass to assist in rousting and distribute weight aft.

0948 - Moved Eights shots of anchor chain to the fantail for weight distribution.

- Shots nine and ten remained in the anchor chain locker.

1023 - SAR swimmer, takes video and picture of the damage below the waterline.

INTRODUCTION

The Timeline

0224 The DCA assumed control, and ordered condition II DC.

- Water intrusion in AMR hydrophone number 4.

- Water intrusion was reported in bow thruster at 1/2 gal/hour.

0226 to 0229 The DCA's "One Shot",

- The CO ordered all emergency back six.

- Investigators out:

- Crack on Sonar Trunk

- Flooding was slow

- Cracking noise

20 Minutes later, CO

- Orders, ALL STOP since the ship didn't move

- Calls superiors

0242 to 0245 The DCA ordered ZEBRA

- Tide was falling, next assessed high tide @ 1400 over 75 nautical miles away.

0246 Sea water leak in AMR through #hydrophone had been secured.

0253 SONAR sea chest and the water level measured six feet by lead line.

- Visible Coral at the bottom of the the SONAR sea chest trunk.

0259 DCA Reported ZEBRA set throughout the ship.

Lessons Learned

References:

- COMMAND INVESTIGATION INTO THE GROUNDING OF USS GUARDIAN {MCM 5) ON TUBBATAHA REEF, REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES THAT OCCURRED ON 17 JANUARY 2013

- NTTP 3-20.31/CGTTP 3-20.31, Surface Ship Survivability

-NSTM 079 Vol 2, Practical. Damage Control

Presented by:

LTJG Arbuckle, ENS Yin, CWO2 Reese,

CW02 Gonzalez, and DC1 Rosario

THE USS GUARDIAN GROUNDING