Bob Hope gets misty, cleaned in Charleston

By Frank Randall

Ground crewmembers prepare the spray system to disperse oil of wintergreen over large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ship USNS Bob Hope during Operation Southern Breeze at Naval Weapons Station Charleston, S.C.

The last hatch was dogged shut as the slightly greenish mist came floating down toward large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ship USNS Bob Hope July 16 pierside at Naval Weapons Station Charleston, S.C. Having been forewarned, Capt. Tina Vanderploeg and her crew were ready. Powerful water spray from the multiple fire hoses clipped to the ship's rails rose like fountains to greet the simulated chemical attack and, hopefully, wash it away harmlessly as the "enemy" helicopter made two passes over the ship.

The occasion was Operation Southern Breeze, a military operation developed to evaluate and increase a crew's ability to survive and then recover from a chemical attack on a non-combatant cargo ship. The Navy already has plenty of data on protecting combatant ships from possible chemical warfare attacks, but almost none on cargo ship operations, an aspect of the global war on terrorism that is of paramount interest to Military Sealift Command. At the same time, the results of the testing will be directly applicable to commercial ships in the U.S. maritime industry.

Initial indications are that, with advance warning, the preventive water spray from the fire hoses and closure of hatches and ventilators can be fairly effective.

Two days later, the test was conducted again. This time, there was no simulated advance warning. MSC officials wanted to know how far contamination would penetrate if the ship was in its normal on- and off-load configuration with hatches open, ventilators on and no water spray.

The levels of oil of wintergreen did, indeed, rise throughout the ship, as measured by test personnel.

The test procedures, designed and conducted by the Army's Dugway Proving Ground, located in Utah, involved the use of a simulated chemical warfare agent — methyl salicylate, commonly known as oil of wintergreen. Dugway is the nation's chemical and biological defense proving ground and has more than 50 years of experience in chemical and biological testing.

An Army helicopter carrying a standard agricultural spraying rig made two passes over USNS Bob Hope on July 16 with the ship in a forewarned condition. MSC's Keith Bauer, a project officer for the Prepositioning Program, was aboard Bob Hope to observe the test.

An Army helicopter sprays large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ship USNS Bob Hope with oil of wintergreen as part of Operation Southern Breeze.

"I could detect a faint smell of the oil of wintergreen on the bridge," said Bauer. "It smelled like a popular muscle liniment."

Bauer reported that the test officials compared the levels of oil of wintergreen found on Bob Hope's bridge to several common household items.

"The oil of wintergreen measured two parts per million on the bridge," said Bauer. "Someone had a breath mint, and the sensors registered that at 3.5 ppm. They also checked on a popular mouthwash, which registered 4.7 ppm. The muscle liniment came in at 69.7 ppm."

All data collected by the approximately 40 members of the evaluation team during both phases of the operation will be compiled and studied at Dugway. Air and surface samples and other observations made by the test team will become part of the comprehensive report Dugway will issue in approximately six months.

The operation was funded by the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency at Fort Belvoir, Va. DTRA provides equipment, services and technologies to enhance U.S. capabilities in countering the threat of weapons of mass destruction.