Loyal hooks award

By Sheree Callahan

Mariners working for the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command usually serve aboard ships carrying military gear to foreign ports or delivering food, fuel and spare parts to Navy ships at sea. But some mariners work aboard ships with very unique missions.

The 20 commercial mariners and 10 technicians aboard MSC ocean surveillance ship USNS Loyal track submarines, and they are very good at their jobs. USNS Loyal earned the prestigious 2003 Hook Em award from the Navy's Sixth Fleet.

The Hook Em award celebrates superior performance in the Sixth Fleet undersea warfare community. Loyal's crew received the award for superior work during exercise Nordic Hunter, conducted in the North Atlantic Ocean in August. Loyal provided near-continuous information on the locations of participating submarines, earning the praise of Rear Adm. P. Stephen Stanley, USN, Commander, Submarine Group Eight/Task Force 69, who nominated the ship for the biannual award.

The crew and technicians were cited for their skillful use of undersea warfare systems in locating submarines. But that is nothing new for Loyal. The ship was deployed for eight months conducting undersea surveillance, and the Hook Em award was a particularly special honor for the hard-working ship.

"Vice Adm. Scott Fry (Commander, U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet) is very interested in improving the art of anti-submarine warfare in Sixth Fleet's theater of operations," said Cmdr. Rick Low, USN, Sixth Fleet anti-submarine warfare officer. "This is why Loyal's accomplishments while in the North Atlantic were of such great significance."

USNS Loyal is one of four ships in MSC's Victorious class of twin-hulled, undersea surveillance ships. Twin-hulled ships are somewhat unusual in the U.S. Navy, but Loyal's design makes her more stable than a single-hulled ship in rough seas. Submarines often hide in northern latitudes where sea conditions are very rough and the weather is stormy.

Loyal is part of the 22 ships in MSC's special mission program, which includes both civil service and commercially operated vessels. Special mission ships provide services for U.S. government and military missions. Oceanographic and hydrographic surveying, underwater surveillance, missile flight data collection and acoustic research are just some of the services this program supports.

The mariners aboard the 235-foot USNS Loyal work for a ship operating company under contract to MSC. The technicians aboard are employed by a company under contract to the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command.