Military Warns of Coronavirus 'Breakouts' Aboard USS Nimitz

[MULTIZ321]

Military Warns of Coronavirus 'Breakouts' Aboard USS Nimitz.

https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2020-04-09/military-warns-of-coronavirus-breakouts-aboard-uss-nimitz-aircraft-carrier

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Richard

 

[DaveNV]

Nimitz was my last ship. I served four years aboard her. I can attest that it would be extremely difficult to quarantine anybody there. The berthing area I slept in had bunks three high, arranged very closely together. There would have been 6 bunks arranged as two stacks of three, with a 4X6 foot floor space between them. Sometimes we'd have to take turns getting dressed because there wasn't enough floor space to go around. Very tight spaces.

Dave

 

[pedro47]

IMO, Naval ships sleeping quarters are tight and it is going to be very hard quarantine anyone: especially on an aircraft carrier and a submarine.

 

[DaveNV]

IMO, Naval ships sleeping quarters are tight and it is going to be very hard quarantine anyone: especially on an aircraft carrier and a submarine.

I'd think especially hard on a submerged submarine, since everyone is breathing recycled air, which would make things worse.

This image is typical enlisted berthing aboard a carrier like Nimitz. If you count, there are 18 bunks visible in this image. The deck tiles are either 10 inches or 12 inches square, so you can count how many feet there is between bunks. (I count four and a bit of a fifth tile between the two sides, so a maximum of a bit over four feet of standing room.) Bunks are roughly 30 inches wide, and six feet long. No way you could quarantine anybody in a space like this.

Dave

 

[MULTIZ321]

I'd think especially hard on a submerged submarine, since everyone is breathing recycled air, which would make things worse.

This image is typical enlisted berthing aboard a carrier like Nimitz. If you count, there are 18 bunks visible in this image. The deck tiles are either 10 inches or 12 inches square, so you can count how many feet there is between bunks. Bunks are roughly 30 inches wide, and six feet long. No way you could quarantine anybody in a space like this.

View attachment 18844

Dave

Hi Dave,

What's the trick for getting into that top bunk?


Richard

 

[DaveNV]

Hi Dave,

What's the trick for getting into that top bunk?


Richard

Hi Richard,

The image below shows that there are steps on the front edge of the two lower bunks. So using a certain amount of monkey-like agility, the sailor in the top rack would climb up and swing into their bunk. The reverse was also true, and guys in the lower bunks had to look out for whoever slept above them, to avoid getting landed on when the upper guys got out of bed.

Each rack actually had its pluses and minuses: The top rack, while harder to get into, gave unlimited head room. The sailor could sit up in bed, which isn't possible in the two lower bunks. The space between the mattress and the bunk above is less than two feet. The middle rack made a perfect table-height space, and was relatively easy to get into, but everybody else tended to use it as a table, too. You never knew who had been laying their stuff on the sheets you're sleeping on. The bottom rack offered the easiest in and out, (squat down and roll into it), but also usually had footprints all over the sheets where the guy in the top rack stepped all over them while trying to make his own bunk.

Living for months at a time in a space like this takes a lot of adjustment, and huge patience. You learn to put up with a lot of noise, smells, and crowds. Not for everyone. The terms "territorial imperative" and "personal space" mean very little aboard ship.

Dave

 

[Brett]

I'd think especially hard on a submerged submarine, since everyone is breathing recycled air, which would make things worse.

This image is typical enlisted berthing aboard a carrier like Nimitz. If you count, there are 18 bunks visible in this image. The deck tiles are either 10 inches or 12 inches square, so you can count how many feet there is between bunks. (I count four and a bit of a fifth tile between the two sides, so a maximum of a bit over four feet of standing room.) Bunks are roughly 30 inches wide, and six feet long. No way you could quarantine anybody in a space like this.



Dave

social and physical distancing is difficult on a submarine

 

[b2bailey]

How long would it take to cruise down to L. A.and put them on the military medical ship parked down there?

 

[DaveNV]

How long would it take to cruise down to L. A.and put them on the military medical ship parked down there?

Once in the open ocean, (navigating from the south end of Puget Sound takes time), they could be there the next day. Nimitz is a speedy boat when it needs to be. I believe the ship is in an overhaul status in the Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, which makes open water sailing right now out of the question. It takes time to get the ship ready for going out to sea.

It'd make more sense to have the ill sailors transported to the Bremerton Naval Hospital, if they can handle them, or across the Sound to one of the civilian hospitals in Seattle.

Dave

 

[DaveNV]

Update: Seattle news just had an article about the Nimitz. The crew member who tested positive for Covid-19 had it happen while he was on leave in another state. He was tested there and quarantined at that location. So they don't have any cases on the ship itself at this time. They are doing a precautionary 14 Day Quarantine of ship's company right now, and they're on Day 9. So it looks like it's all under control.

Dave