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July 2002, USS Samuel B. Roberts, (NNS) -- After nearly six months at sea, USS SAMUEL B. ROBERTS returned to its homeport at Naval Station Mayport July 5, 2002.
Deployed as a member of NATO's Standing Naval Forces Atlantic (SNFL), ROBERTS' odyssey took the ship and crew through Norway's freezing fjords to seas off of Syria, which were physically placid but politically tense.
Visiting the snowy Norwegian ports of Bergen and Trondheim, sophisticated and continental Lisbon, and the sunny coasts of Crete and Turkey, ROBERTS' crew completed not only its naval mission, but a diplomatic mission of goodwill across Europe.
SNFL is an international force that sails as NATO's ready force in the Atlantic. Serving as the only US ship of the force, ROBERTS operated with naval forces from Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Soon after joining SNFL in late January, ROBERTS began two weeks of intense work-ups allowing each ship to adjust to the others' capabilities while carrying out exercises in every warfare area. The force then steamed to the tiny Portuguese island of Porto Santo, 300 miles west off Morocco, in order to practice a crisis response operation.
The exercise, called Unified Odyssey, simulated providing relief and care to a city experiencing a disastrous earthquake and imminent volcano eruption. During the exercise, the six-nation team set up camp on the island and took care of the displaced citizens of the island.
After visiting the mild climes of Portugal, the ships headed north to brave the nasty winter of the North Atlantic. Experiencing almost constant 12-foot seas, 50 knot winds, and low visibility, respite from the heavy seas came with a week long visit to Trondheim, Norway where the Floridian Sailors were greeted with almost two feet of snow.
March 1 brought SNFL back to sea for Exercise Strong Resolve 2002. Strong Resolve is an annual action involving 26 nations engaging in land, air, and sea warfare exercises. Simulating a defense of the Norwegian coast, SAMUEL B. ROBERTS and her international partners engaged in simulated combat operations and battled more of the Arctic winters, operating frequently in the dangerous narrows of the Norwegian fjords.
One fjord transit proved particularly demanding and was called, "easily the most memorable moment of the cruise" by Command Master Chief Timothy Gudge. Having just landed its helicopter due to deteriorating weather, the ship suddenly found itself enveloped in a blizzard with winds more than 60 knots and zero visibility. Navigating with absolutely no room for error, the ship barely shuddered forward through the driving wind with steep cliffs just 1,000 yards to either side.
Other vessels similarly fighting the weather in close quarters only fueled the incredibly tense transit. The taxing evolution lasted hours, but the crew eventually brought the ship to the safety of the high seas, tired but safe.
Strong Resolve was completed with a well-deserved visit to Bergen, Norway, after which the crew reluctantly said goodbye to their friendly Scandinavian hosts. With the promise of warm weather ahead, the ship was off for the second visit to Lisbon.
The highlight of the two-week visit to Lisbon was the change of command ceremony for the commander of SNFL. On April 5, Commodore Fernando Jose Ribiero de Melo Gomes of Portugal, commander of the naval squadron since the end of March 2001, was succeeded by Rear Adm. Manuel Otero Peñuelas of Spain.
The departure from Lisbon marked a major mission shift for the force and ROBERTS as it sailed into the Mediterranean Sea to participate in Operation Direct Endeavor, an overseas maritime component of Operation Enduring Freedom, the international war on terrorism.
These real world actions for ROBERTS included patrolling and monitor commercial shipping. With the help of its helicopter, nicknamed "Venom", ROBERTS would track shipping vessels and send pertinent information to higher authorities. ROBERTS' two months with Direct Endeavor were highly successful ones as the crew tracked and reported more than 600 vessels. ROBERTS' query total, on station time and accumulated helicopter flight hours, were all far more than any other ships in the NATO force.
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