USS Frank Cable: US sailors from a submarine support ship are using leave time to help with flood clean up

Close to 100 US sailors and military personnel from Fiji will help with Brisbane’s ongoing flood clean-up and are heading into one of the city’s hard-hit suburbs.

About 100 US sailors from a submarine support ship are headed to Mitchelton today to help with some of Brisbane’s ongoing flood clean-up.

They will join with 43 soldiers from the Republic of Fiji Military Forces and other US military personnel.

The sailors arrived for shore leave on Monday on the USS Frank Cable, a ship originally designed to tend to the US nuclear-powered Los Angeles-class attack submarines but now attached to the US Seventh Fleet.

The Americans will join with members of Maritime Safety Queensland and the Australian Defence Force to assist in the clean-up at the Mitchelton Football Club on Osborne Rd, Mitchelton this morning.

Commanding officer Captain Albert Alarcon told Channel 9’s Today show this morning the volunteers would provide support to the ADF.

“We provide manpower, maintenance and logistics support, which we will specifically co-ordinate with the Australian Defence Force counterparts to determine where to best employ our crew,” he said.

USS Frank Cable. Picture: USS Frank Cable/Facebook

“I had the opportunity to visit the city centre last night, and to see the level of restoration that occurred in just a two-week period speaks highly of the people’s commitment, and if we could be a part of that effort, we would be most grateful and honoured.”

Petty officer second class Josh Williams said he was joined by sailors from all over the United States during his first visit to Australia.

He said they had they option to explore Brisbane but chose to help with the clean up after hearing just how bad suburbs were affected.

“It’s pretty crazy,” he said.

“ … you can see debris pretty high up the trees so I was curious to know, was the water really that high?

“The answer I’m getting is that the water really was that high so it’s nice to see things have receded and we can hep clean it up and make it pretty again.”

Australian Army major Charlie Dickens said he was grateful for about 43 sailors who volunteered their down time on Tuesday to help remove debris and branches from the banks of the Kedron Brook.

He said members of the Australian Defence Force and their US counterparts began by clearing the bike path to restore community access as well as hazard reduction in case of future flood events.

“Obviously the US is our closest ally,” major Dickens said.

“We’re doing a lot of work with them in the region, a lot of cooperative efforts through exercises and operations and you name it, so to have them volunteer their time today … is fantastic.”

Major Dickens said spirits were high and there had been some friendly rivalry between the Australians and Americans.

“I’ve seen some questionable axe-swinging on behalf of our US counterparts but other than that, I’ll leave the commentary for others,” he said.

Based in Guam, the 197m long ship is an Emory S Land-class submarine tender with a crew of 206 US Navy personnel and 157 civilian mariners.

It spent from 1980 to 1996 as the repair ship for the Submarine Squadrons Four and Eighteen in South Carolina, assisting Sturgeon-class attack submarines and Benjamin Franklin-class ballistic missile submarines, according to the ship’s web site.

Although scheduled for decommissioning in 1996, the Frank Cable was instead refitted to replace the USS Holland in the western Pacific as the Commander of the US Seventh Fleet’s repair and support ship.

USS Frank Cable assists a submarine. Picture: USS Frank Cable/Facebook

The Seventh Fleet is the largest of the US Navy’s forward-deployed fleet that maintains a continuous forward presence in the Indo Pacific region.

The Frank Cable, the only forward deployed submarine tender in the Pacific, is named after Frank Taylor Cable, a submarine development pioneer for the US Navy.

Though still commanded by a US Navy commanding officer, some of the ship’s services and functions have been provided by civilian mariners since 2010.

More than 6000 members of the Australian Defence Force have been working across southeast Queensland and NSW, in conjunction with each state’s Emergency Operation Centres under the banner Operation Flood Assist 2022.

Australian military personnel have provided aerial search and rescue, medical evacuation and reconnaissance services, along with helping clear routes in flood-affected areas, supporting communities in clean-up and the delivery of essential supplies to isolated areas.

Several crew members from the USS Frank Cable have volunteered to help with some of Brisbane’s flood clean up while they are on leave for a few days. Picture: USS Frank Cable/Facebook

The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) also deployed two Chinook helicopters from their Queensland base last week to assist with flooding both in the Sunshine State and in northern NSW.

The southeast Queensland – and then northern NSW – floods started after a “rain bomb” dumped more than one metre of rain – or about 80 per cent of the city’s annual average rainfall – on the area in a matter of days.

At least 33 areas recorded more than one metre of rain between February 23-28, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).

In Brisbane alone, 792.8mm fell during that week, above the previous six-day record of 655.8mm set in January 1974.

About 200mm of that figure fell during three consecutive days of rain over the city.

About 15,000 properties sustained damage in the flooding and 12 people lost their lives, according to Queensland officials.

The Brisbane River remains closed with warnings in place for people to be careful on vessels as large debris, including pontoons, are still washing up from the floods.

QUEENSLAND FLOODS 2022: HOW YOU CAN HELP