BMR Damage control is the responsibility of all hands
Chapter 12
-Damage Control- Damage control organization consists of two main parts:
1. Administrative Organization
2. Battle Organization Damage control petty officers (DCPO) will ensure that all emergency equipment, fittings, and compartment check-off lists are maintained and/or are working properly.
The engineer officer is responsible for maintaining properly trained DCPOs, repair parties, and repair locker personnel.
The Damage Control Assistant (the DCA), under the engineer officer, will coordinate and train repair party personnel. The DCA is responsible for administration and training all personnel. The DCA maintains records of all DC and PQS qualifications.
The ships bills, records and schedules for maintenance, written doctrine, and procedures relating to damage control are all part of the administrative organization of damage control.
The CO must ensure that the ships officers and crew are trained and continually exercised in all aspects of survivability. The CO is ultimately responsible for the entire ship.
The Executive Officer (XO) keeps the CO informed of the ships readiness. As the team leader, the XO is the senior person assigned to the damage control training team (DCTT).
The DCTT is responsible for all shipboard drills and exercises in the area of damage control.
DCPOs normally serve for a period of 6 months. They must first complete the requires PQS based on TYCOM instructions. Each work center has a DCPO.
Gas Free Engineer (GFE) (Chief petty officer or above) determines if its safe for personnel to enter closed or poorly ventilated spaces. Ie., tanks, chainlockers, etc.
Fire Marshal helps the DCA train personnel in damage control as well as prevent fire. All ships designate a fire marshal. The fire marshal conducts daily inspections throughout the ship, looking for fire hazards.
The battle phase starts when the ship has received actual damage. The battle organization is responsible for restoring the ship back to as normal operation as possible.
The DCA is responsible for the control of damage, control of stability, list, medical casualty response, fire fighting, restoring from damage CBR countermeasures. The battle station for the DCA is Damage Control Central (DCC).
Damage Control Central (DCC) or Central Control Station (CCS) on newer ships, is to collect and compare reports from repair lockers.
Normally each ship has at least 3 repair lockers. 2,3 and 5 (see below). The makeup of each repair party and repair locker depends on the type of ship and the area they serve:
Repair 1- main deck repair
Repair 2- forward repair
Repair 3- Aft repair
Repair 4- Amidships repair
Repair 5- Propulsion (engine)
Repair 6- Ordnance
Repair 7- Gallery deck & island structure
Repair 8- Electronic casualty control In-Port Emergency Team (IEF) are made of duty section personnel. IET members are emergency team member qualified and respond to respond to any of casualty.
Rescue and Assistance (In Port/At Sea) All ships are required to have rescue and assistance detail in port and at sea. Their primary missions are to assist other units in distress, both ashore and at sea. All personnel assigned to the rescue and assistance detail must, as a minimum, R&A personnel must be quality as an emergency team member and in first aid.
General Quarters (GQ) is an all hands evolution. It is the highest state of readiness of the ship. We responding to GQ, all hands adjust their clothing to battle dress and proceed to their GQ stations.
Battle Dress is when you tuck the bottom of your pants into your boots or socks, long sleeves will be pulled down and buttoned, top button on shirt buttoned, and flash hood and gloves donned. All exposed skin should be covered.
The pre-established route to get to your General Quarters Station is move forward and up the ladders on the starboard side and move aft and down the ladders on the port side.
Most cases of spontaneous combustion involve the process of rapid oxidation.
DC gear can be found in various repair lockers throughout the ship. The equipment and materials required for making battle damage repairs vary according to the nature of the damage. You must know how to use a variety of equipment and materials. Damage control equipment should be stowed in its designated location and be readily accessible. DC equipment must not be used for any purpose other than damage control.
The DCA battle station will be in Damage Control Central (DCC).
Communications are vital to the damage control organization. The major shipboard DC communications are as follows:
The general system (1MC) is integrated with an alarm signal system. This alarm system will override the microphone control and is intended to notify the ships crew of imminent danger. These are in order of priority, as follows:
1. collision
2. chemical attack
3. General (GQ)
4. Flight crash
The emergency damage control communication system is the X4OJ. It is used when all other circuits fail. The X4OJ can be a portable (salt and pepper line) or it can be a permanently installed (risers) components. If all methods of communications fail you can use messengers. They are used to deliver written messages between repair lockers, DCC, the bridge, or other locations. Messengers may also have to deliver oral messages without error.
Material conditions of readiness refer to the ships watertight integrity. Watertight integrity is maintained by keeping watertight doors, hatches, scuttles, and valves closed. This will limit the spread of smoke, gases, fire, and flooding. Each watertight closure/fitting will have an identification classification plate (or label) affixed to the closure or fitting.
* Please note that I will only cover the basic classifications. If you are not familiar with material conditions of readiness, you will need to review pages 12-10 through 12-14. X-Ray provides the least protection and provides the greatest ease of access throughout the ship. Condition X-Ray is set during working hours in port. All fittings marked with an X or circle X are closed when condition X-Ray is set.
Yoke provides a greater degree of watertight integrity than X-ray. Yoke is normally set at sea and in port during wartime. All fittings marked with Xs, Ys, circle X, and circle Y are closed when condition Yoke is set.
Zebra provides the greatest degree of protection. It is the maximum state of readiness. Condition Zebra is set under the following situations:
1. When GQ is sounded.
2. Entering or leaving port in wartime
3. To localize damage
4. Whenever the CO deems necessary. All fittings marked with an X, Y, Z, and all circle X, Y, Z as well as Dog Zebra are closed when condition Zebra is set.
Dog Zebra fittings are secured when condition Zebra is set, and daily at sea, whenever the ship is at nighttime steaming. Darken ship fittings and closures are closed to prevent light inside the ship from showing outside. Dog Zebra is set just before dusk at sea.
Circle William are ventilation closures set prior to a CBR attack.
William are vital fittings such as sea suctions, ventilation fittings, fire pumps, and other vital equipment. These fittings are always open, unless they have to be secured to control damage or repair equipment.
Each compartment on a ship has a CCOL (compartment check off list). See page 12-12 for an example CCOL. The CCOL will have a list of all the fittings and closures in that space. The DCPO will maintain the CCOL in their assigned spaces. The CCOL list is posted in each space near each entrance.
The normal setting of a material condition should be logged in the Damage Control Closure Log daily by each division or repair party. Any closures or fittings that are not secured must be logged in the DC Closure Log.
The inoperative fittings on a ship must also be logged in the inoperative fittings and closure log. This log becomes a tracking tool for future repairs.
Emergency Escape Breathing Device (EEBD) are used to escape from a fire (see page 12-14 figure 12-3 for illustration) The EEBD lasts 15 minutes.
You should be able to don an EEBD in less than 30 seconds.
Supplemental emergency egress device (SEED) is used for personnel working in engineering spaces. The SEED is worn on the belt for easy access. The SEED is used to get to the EEBD (see page 12-15, figure 12-14) The SEED has no eye or nose protection and has a short operational time.
The A-4 OBA is currently the primary tool used by fire fighting teams for respiratory protection.
OBA timers should be set to 60 back to 30.
The self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) are being phased in throughout the Navy. The units main components consist of a harness, high pressure bottle, pressure regulator, full face mask, and the high and low pressure hoses as shown on page 12-17 figure 12-16.
The fire triangle can be simplified into the relationship between three components:
- Fuel
- Heat
- Oxygen
To have a fire in any combustible substance, each of these components must be present. The fire tetrahedron is the fourth requirement needed to maintain combustion. This is the uninhibited chain reaction needed for flames to exist.
Heat is transferred by three different methods:
- Conduction: direct physical contact (touching)
- Convection: transfer of heat, gasses, or liquids.
- Radiation: is the transfer of heat from a source across an intervening space. (ie, a campfire gives a radiation heat.) There are classes of fire class materials:
Material .........................Method of extinguishing
Alpha: Wood, cloth, paper ....Water:straight/fog pattern
Bravo: Flammable liquids, fuel, oil ..........AFFF (Halon/PKP)
Charlie: Energized electrical fires . ...........CO2, Halon
Delta: Combustible metals,ie magnesium/titanium.....Water; fog pattern P-100 is a diesel-engine driven portable pump unit. It is designed for fire fighting and dewatering. See page 12-25 figs. 12-13 and 12-14
Review Chapter 12 BMR