Five Transport Vessels Survive, Thrive in Hostile Water Simulation, Tactical Adviser Says

Aware that in the increasingly tense global security
environment the U.S. Navy’s sealift and logistical support fleet may have to
sail through seas contested by a near peer adversary, U.S. Transportation
Command recently sent five unarmed transport vessels through simulated hostile
waters in a convoy similar to those used during World War II’s dangerous
“battle for the Atlantic.”

The five ships, crewed by civilian mariners, “executed
tactical formation maneuvers” to counter the threat of hostile submarines or
sea mines, TRANSCOM said in a release. The civilians were assisted by
experienced Navy Reserve officers under a new program created in recognition of
the possibility of attacks against the sealift and supply ships, which would be
crucial in any major overseas conflict.

The convoy exercise was conducted during an unprecedented “turbo
activation” in late September in which 33 vessels from the Military Sealift
Command (MSC) and the Maritime Administration (MARAD) fleets were mobilized on
short notice to test whether the ships — most of which are considered aged —
were mechanically ready to sail and that enough qualified mariners would be
available to crew them during a national security crisis.

“The turbo activation was an exercise to prove that the material
readiness and crews’ skill level of our surge sealift ships make it possible to
respond to world events on short notice,” said Cmdr. Vincent D’Eusanio, the
tactical adviser (TACAD) who sailed aboard one of the ships in the exercise.

“We had to know if our ships would be capable of delivering
supplies and equipment to our deployed troops serving overseas when required,”
said D’Eusanio, who also is MSC’s TACAD program manager.

The TACAD program was initiated in 2017 “based off of years
of experience and past lessons learned,” D’Eusanio said in the TRANSCOM release.
“During World War II, we lost lots of merchant ships and mariners. Some of this
was a result of not knowing how to sail a merchant ship in a hostile
environment. When the Navy began to train mariners to counter threats, like the
German U-boats, our losses dwindled.”

Most of the TACADs are Navy reservists who sail as mariners
in their civilian careers. D’Eusanio is a licensed chief engineer with the
Staten Island Ferry when not on Navy duty.

The TACADs are assigned to educate the civilian crews “about
how to sail in a contested environment … provide tactical advice and facilitate
communications with the combatant fleet to allow our mariners to successfully
operate in unfriendly waters,” D-Eusanio said.

After sailing from their East Coast ports, the five MSC ships rendezvoused in the North Atlantic, formed into a convoy and performed tactical maneuvers while sailing through the simulated contested waters. The crews were trained to reduce their electromagnetic signature to avoid being detected and targeted by enemy missiles or aircraft, said Capt. Hans Lynch, MSC’s Atlantic commodore who led the East Coast mobilization.

They also were instructed how to darken the ships at night to reduce the chances of being spotted by the enemy. Lynch said the activation was not only a good test of the materiel condition of the ships and the availability of trained mariners but also the ability of the U.S. Coast Guard and the American Bureau of Shipping to provide technicians to determined if the ships were ready to sail.

“Everyone did really well,” he said. “None of the ships had major issues due to not being able to be inspected or getting people required to the vessels.”