US warship on drug duty in region

The vessel which left Naval Station Mayport, Florida on March 24, has been patrolling the waters of the western Caribbean with Coast Guard detachments and various forces from Latin America and the Caribbean.

Lieutenant Raul Eliza, acting Executive Officer, aboard the ‘USS Underwood,’ conducted a tour of the vessel on Wednesday with some of TT Defence Force top brass officers including Col Edmund Dillon, Regiment Commanding Officer, Capt Jeewah Ramoutar of the Coast Guard, Capt Kent Moore, Commanding Officer of the National Air Guard and Brigadier Ancil Antoine, Chief of Defence Staff.

The vessel which carries a crew of 250, is capable of fighting air, surface and sub-surface via electronic warfare and could also control helicopters or shoot targets six to eight miles away.

One impressive feature of the ‘USS Underwood’ is the palm-sized helm- the steering wheel of the ship- that is powered by an electro-hydraulic system unlike other large ships, which generally has large helms.

Some of the vessel’s powerful equipment include the 76mm gun aboard the deck which could fire up to 80 rounds of ammunition per minute and the Closed-in weapon system which has a radar of its own and can shoot 4,500 rounds per minute at targets two miles away on the ground and one mile into the air.

About one year ago the ‘USS Underwood’ was a part of “Iraqi freedom” where troops from the Navy were deployed to the Persian Gulf for the purpose of protecting two oil platforms that were the main sources of oil in Iraq.

The ship’s crew yesterday painted one of the buildings of the St Dominic’s Home, Belmont, as part of their community activity.

It is customary for the crew of naval vessels to perform some kind of community activity in the countries they visit.