Posted on 27-Sep-2013
Report by Staff Sergeant Kodie Low of 3rd Kuala Lumpur Company
June 5th, 2013
PULAU INDAH, PORT KLANG - Fourteen Senior Section Boys from 3rd KL Boys' Brigade had a chance to visit and tour the USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) at Port Klang. USS Blue Ridge is the command ship for the U.S. 7th Fleet which homeport is in Yokosuka, Japan, which travels around the of the Pacific area. After going through a short clearance with the dock security and the immigration department, we were on our way to the ship. Our tour guides for the ship were Petty Officer 2nd Class Bobby and Petty Officer 3rd Class Andrew.
Left: USS Blue Ridge docked. Center: Passing through the ceremonial walkway. Right: Our guides explaining a few things.
For the first stop of our tour, we were brought to the ceremonial walkway of the ship which is where the commanding officer of the 7th Fleet would walk through upon boarding the ship. There were also pictures along this walkway, fashioned like a gallery, showing pictures and awards given to the ship for her years of active service. We then made our way to the bow of the ship, or the forecastle, where our guides explained on how the ship's anchoring system works and the number of personnel it took to work it. We then proceed to the top deck of the ship where our guides explained the various functions of the equipment we saw, most were radar domes, which was a very important part of this vessel since it was the command ship for such a large force.
Left: The ship's anchoring system. Center: On the top deck. Right: Helipad area.
While on deck, the crew were preparing the open area for a fellowship function between our Malaysian Navy and US Navy commanders. We also spotted a couple of US marines patrolling the ship's deck, fully armed and geated, proving that security was part of the Marine detachment assign to the ship. At the stern of the ship were two SH-60 Seahawks which are used for transportation of the Vice-Admiral and other important personnel. Then we were brought to the Bridge of the ship which is where the ship is controlled from and our guides explained various functions of what we saw in the Bridge and shared some of his own experiences.
Left: Bridge. Center: Mess hall. Right: One last group shot before departing the ship.
Then down again we went, through the narrow corridors and stairs of the ships to the mess hall and all of us found the smell heavenly but it's not all that it seemed to be according to our guides who explained their feelings about it. Now we were at our final stop of the tour, the ships library which like any other library has a large variety of books for the sailors to enjoy during their free time. In the library we also visited the multipurpose room which was used for religious activities where we meet the ships religious officer who was in-charge of making sure that the room is ready for any of the many religions that can be found on the ship among the crew. So with that we made our way back to our starting point and bid farewell to our guides and thanked them for such a wonderful time and made our way home but not before grabbing lunch ourselves.
Group picture on the deck and helipad area
Page Created: 27th September 2013
Last Updated: 29th September 2013