Maine presence inhabits Bath-built destroyer in Gulf

IN THE ARABIAN GULF – The USS Chafee may be named after the late Sen. John Hubbard Chafee of Rhode Island, a World War II hero and secretary of the Navy, but to Master Chief Bennett Ray, the destroyer is as much Maine’s as anything else.

That’s why the destroyer’s crew has raised more than $5,000 for victims of Hurricane Katrina and why, when the ship was being built in Bath, the crew provided a variety of volunteer services to Bath as part of a Navy program to develop good community relations between ships and municipalities.

“We feel like we have that small-town politeness and professionalism because we bonded with Maine,” Ray said while the ship patrolled the Arabian Gulf recently. “We feel like we’re a part of the Bath family.”

The 40th destroyer of the Arleigh Burke class and the 22nd to be built by Bath Iron Works, the Chafee is part of a U.S. contingent of ships providing security to two oil platforms in the gulf whose oil sales provide about 85 percent of Iraq’s economy.

With a plaque dedicated to the work of its Maine builders hanging in a passageway near its mess, the Chafee seems almost proud of its Maine roots. Its keel was laid on May 5, 2001, and it was launched on Nov. 2, 2002, and commissioned on Oct. 18, 2003. Most of its crew stayed in and around Bath during the bulk of that process, and kept busy – when it wasn’t helping to rig out the ship – by doing a host of charitable works in the city, Ray said.

Those efforts included:

. Helping to rebuild and doing volunteer work at the Bath Public Library.

. Providing tax assistance for Bath’s elderly residents.

. Helping to restore a maritime museum.

. Doing yardwork for elderly residents.

. Volunteering at Williams-Cone Elementary School in Topsham.

. Providing added security and organization skills to Bath’s Fourth of July parade in 2003.

The Chafee’s work in Bath is deeply appreciated, City Manager John Bubier said.

“They were an example of many of the pre-commissioning crews that come in. They get involved in everything from community development days to a community-ship volleyball game,” Bubier said. “They become part of the fabric of the community, and there is such great interaction between the ships and the community.

“The relationship with the crews and the community is priceless. There is no way you can put a price on a serviceman or -woman helping a child or an elderly resident. There’s no way you can put a dollar figure to that,” he added.

The ship received a key to the city for its efforts.

Besides helping build good community relations, the volunteer projects help foster ship morale and build leadership skills, Ray said.

“I think one of the most important things about these is the way we empower our junior sailors to really take charge of a project,” Ray said. “We tell them, ‘It’s your idea. You run it.'”

The Katrina effort began when news accounts of the disaster reached crew members through armed forces television news accounts. Matthew Mula, 21, of New Orleans, a 2nd Class cryptologic technician, asked whether the ship could help hurricane victims. Ray, who is from Bogalusa, La., immediately said yes.

“Every one of us tries to do something,” said Mula, who helped oversee the collection effort. “When the ship collects money, everyone gives whatever amount of money they can.”

The money will go to the American Red Cross and the Gulf Coast Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society, Mula said.

Crew members were horrified at the damage done by the hurricane, said Fire Controlman 1st Class Shaun Strehlow, who was among several sailors who helped rebuild a campsite in Bath.

“Mula really went out of his way to make sure that we did something to help,” Strehlow said. “This ship is very well-known for doing community relations projects like this. Every port we put in to we try to do something for. We’re in the military and it’s in our role to help and protect people.”