{"id":197327,"date":"2024-06-13T13:44:57","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T13:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=197327"},"modified":"2024-06-13T16:30:17","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T16:30:17","slug":"skagen-welcomes-uss-wasp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=197327","title":{"rendered":"Skagen Welcomes USS Wasp"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

The amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1), and embarked Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) Special Operations Capable (SOC), arrived in Skagen for a scheduled refueling and resupply, June 12th, 2024.<\/p>\n

Skagen is Wasp\u2019s first port visit since entering the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations. During the transit across the Atlantic Ocean, Wasp conducted multiple successful replenishments-at-sea with Military Sealift Command supply vessels. Once Wasp had entered the North Sea, conducting a resupply with a NATO member was an opportunity the first-in-class assault ship\u2019s commanding officer, Capt. Christopher Purcell, was eager to seize.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving the full support of our NATO Allies make it easier for us to accomplish our mission,\u201d said Purcell. \u201cWe\u2019re happy to pull into such a beautiful port and have the chance to interact with the people of Skagen, even if only for a short resupply. The crew would love to visit longer in the future to experience everything the area has to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though the Port of Skagen has a long maritime history as home to fleets of civilian fishing vessels, it was not always able to accommodate larger ships, such as Wasp.<\/p>\n

The original Skagen fishing harbor was built in 1907. Since then, it has evolved into a port consisting of an industrial harbor that continues to support the fishing industry, as well as facilities for cruise ships. In 2022, a new 600-meter port was built and is now utilized by cruise lines and cargo ships alike. The expansion of its piers and depth of their basin \u2013 which allow for bigger ships \u2013 has made local harbor pilots a critical necessity.<\/p>\n

J\u00f8rgen Busk Vestergaard, a Danish harbor pilot in Skagen, boarded Wasp as it entered port to work with the navigation team and guide the ship safely pier-side.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs typical with American warships, it was a very professional crew,\u201d said Vestergaard. \u201cThe biggest difference with bringing in a warship is it\u2019s a lot of people. It was nice to have direct communication with [the person] who gives commands across the ship, and that made it very easy to pull the ship into port.\u201d<\/p>\n

While in port, Wasp is taking on fuel, such as jet propellant-5 (JP-5), and supplies in the form of food and other dry goods. The planning and logistics of bringing fuel and food for more than 3,000 Sailors and Marines on a 41,000-ton warship is a monumental task for a small fishing town. Cmdr. Lee Eubanks, Wasp\u2019s supply officer, explained how receiving the necessities from Skagen was such a success for the ship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really are stretching our logistics hubs to maximize our capabilities as we operate in the northern 6th Fleet area of operations,\u201d said Eubanks. \u201cWe can\u2019t accomplish our mission without resupplying. Having the ability to pull into a town, dock at a pier we\u2019ve never docked at, and be welcomed the way we were, proves that we can accomplish anything with the support of our Allies and partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wasp is scheduled to participate in Baltic Operations 2024 (BALTOPS24) as the flagship of the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group and embarked 24th MEU (SOC). BALTOPS is an annual, multinational exercise designed to enhance interoperability and demonstrate NATO- and partner-force resolve to defend the Baltic region. The exercise will test the flexibility of joint forces in order to strengthen the combined capabilities necessary for immediate maritime crisis response and regional stability.<\/p>\n

You can follow USS Wasp\u2019s adventures on Facebook and Instagram (@usswasp_lhd1)<\/p>\n

To learn more about WASP ARG and 24th MEU \u201cTeam of Teams,\u201d visit their DVIDS feature page at https:\/\/www.dvidshub.net\/feature\/wasparg24thmeu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1), and embarked Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) Special Operations Capable (SOC), arrived in Skagen for a scheduled refueling and resupply, June 12th, 2024. Skagen is Wasp\u2019s first port visit since entering the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations. During the transit across the Atlantic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":197329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-197327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=197327"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":197330,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197327\/revisions\/197330"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/197329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=197327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=197327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=197327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}