The Navy is using baseball bats to smash ice on aircraft carriers in the Arctic

https://www.businessinsider.com/navy...arriers-2019-3

The Navy is planning on spending more time in the Arctic.

But it hasn't done sustained operations up there in decades, and it's having to
relearn tactics needed for that environment.

One thing crews will have to deal with is ice buildup, but sailors have an old
trick for that.


It's not often sailors get permission to take a baseball bat to a
multimillion-dollar aircraft carrier.

But when the Navy's aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman sailed into the Arctic
Circle for the first time in nearly three decades, its crew was ordered to do
just that.

The Truman sailed into the Arctic Circle on Oct. 19 to conduct operations in the
Norwegian Sea. After years of operations in warmer climates, leaders had to
think carefully about the gear they'd need to survive operations in the frigid
conditions.

"We had to open a lot of old books to remind ourselves how to do operations up
there," Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said this week during the
McAleese Defense Programs Conference, an annual program in Washington, DC.

In one of those books was a tip for the Truman's crew from a savvy sailor who
knew what it would take to combat ice buildup on the flattop.

"[It said] 'Hey, when you get out to do this, when you head on out, don't forget
to bring a bunch of baseball bats,'" Richardson said. "'There's nothing like
bashing ice off struts and masts and bulkheads like a baseball bat, so bring a
bunch of Louisville Sluggers.'



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