{"id":20185,"date":"2023-07-26T22:59:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-26T22:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=20185"},"modified":"2023-07-27T06:41:38","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T06:41:38","slug":"rooted-in-maritime-history-stennis-holds-mast-stepping-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=20185","title":{"rendered":"Rooted in Maritime History: Stennis Holds Mast Stepping Ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The event, held in accordance with almost a millennium of naval tradition, marked the placement of Stennis\u2019 new main mast, not only giving the ship a part of its identity back, but also providing a platform for new combat system capabilities and a safer way for Sailors to climb the mast.<\/p>\n

Speakers at the event included Capt. J Patrick Thompson, Commanding Officer of John C. Stennis, Lt. Cmdr. Marco Guidi, Combat Systems Officer, and guest speaker Ms. Jessica Gomez, Program Director for In-service Carrier Programs at Newport News Shipbuilding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis mast stepping allows us to acknowledge our past as we move into the future,\u201d Said Thompson. \u201cWhile the mast of the days of sail represented propulsion, the new mast you see here represents pure combat capability \u2013the ability to guide an aircraft home on the darkest of stormy nights; the ability to communicate and share targeting data with other ships and aircraft via encrypted, jam resistant networks; or the ability to coordinate offensive action with our Navy and Joint partners via low probability of intercept communications. \u201c<\/p>\n

The new square and tapered mast, which replaced the smaller, round-shaped pole, provides a larger area to host state-of-the-art defense and communications systems that will help carry the ship into the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis team has put its heart and soul into USS John C. Stennis, and we\u2019ll continue to give our all to prepare her for the second half of her life,\u201d said Gomez. \u201cWhen she leaves our shipyard to return to the call of duty, Stennis will be equipped with updated aircraft launch and recovery equipment to support the latest aircraft, cutting edge combat systems to protect the ship and the most advanced carrier IT network.\u201d<\/p>\n

The practice of mast stepping is not a new. In fact, according to The Society for Nautical Research, the tradition is likely to be as old as shipbuilding itself. Dating back more that 2000 years ago, the ritual has evolved over time and led to Vikings and seafarers of the north who would place coins, amulets and other offerings beneath the masts of their ship for good luck. Even the USS Constitution, one of the U.S. Navy\u2019s six original frigates authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794, had coins placed beneath her mast in conformity with this time-honored naval tradition.<\/p>\n

The practice continued even after the advent of steel-hulled ships, commemorative time capsules containing coins and other remembrances of the current era welded to the mast \u201cstep\u201d in lieu of coins being placed beneath a wooden main mast.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven a short ceremony like this means a lot to our Sailors and myself,\u201d said Guidi. \u201cSo many aspects of our job go back thousands of years, and maintaining these maritime traditions and ceremonies remind us where we came from. Although I work with some of the most advanced systems on the ship, I still enjoy the historic traditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Items placed in the capsule, which was welded to the Stennis\u2019s mast step after the ceremony, included a full roster of the ship\u2019s crew, a commanding officer\u2019s coin and the ship\u2019s mid-life coin.<\/p>\n

Unlike other types of ships, modern carriers typically undergo mast stepping twice; once during initial construction, and then again when the ship goes through the RCOH process.<\/p>\n

The Stennis, however, is unique that this will be the ship\u2019s third mast stepping, the second installment taking place in 2005 during a planned maintenance availability. Items retrieved from the last time capsule, placed nearly two decades ago, will be placed in the Stennis Room aboard the ship for Sailors to come observe and reflect upon a different time in the carrier\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had the pleasure of serving as this ship\u2019s executive officer during its most recent deployment and saw the capabilities of this warship,\u201d reflected Thompson. \u201cToday, we see the next step in its transformation into the most technologically advanced Nimitz-class carrier in the fleet. The amount of hours and dedication put into not only the mast, but revitalizing this ship as a whole is truly remarkable- the strength of our U.S. carrier force is a testament to each individual who has played a part in getting this ship back in the fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The John C. Stennis entered RCOH at the Newport News Shipbuilding, May 2021, for its mid-life refurbishment, preparing the aircraft carrier for an additional 25 years of service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The event, held in accordance with almost a millennium of naval tradition, marked the placement of Stennis\u2019 new main mast, not only giving the ship a part of its identity back, but also providing a platform for new combat system capabilities and a safer way for Sailors to climb the mast. Speakers at the event […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":20187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20185","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\/20185","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=20185"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20188,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20185\/revisions\/20188"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}