Navy's bumpy landing
IT wasn't all smooth sailing for the US Marines yesterday.
The marine in charge of monitoring the Townsville tides must have made a timing misjudgment, with one of the Landing Craft Units (LCU) stuck in mud close to the bank of the South Townsville beach for most of the afternoon.
http://www.townsvillebulletin.news.com.au./common/story_page/0,7034,18457160%255E14787,00.html
By RACHELLE CHAPMAN
14mar06
The vessel, LCU 1617, became stuck about noon and had to wait several hours until the tide was high enough before it could be moved.
The LCU was carrying troops and light equipment when it became bogged.
The vessel measures more than 40m long and can weigh more than 340 tonnes fully loaded.
Is it a boat or is it a tank?
The Landing Craft Air Cushions (LCAC) are both and they made for an impressive display as they emerged from the water and travelled across Benwell Rd at South Townsville beach yesterday.
The LCACs were used to transport military vehicles including transport trucks, tanks, light armoured vehicles and marines.
They are in Townsville as part of a nine-day US Marine training exercise involving 1500 marines.
Several locals turned out to watch as the LCACs easily made their way from sea to land.
Commanding Officer of the 11th Marine Expedition Unit (MEU) Colonel John Bullard said the training exercise would give marines the opportunity to finetune live fire and patrolling skills and polish basic military skills.
Marines will use the Mount Stuart and Townsville field training areas.
Col Bullard said the 11th MEU would continue on to the Middle East after completing the Townsville exercise.
He said the training exercise had been in the pipeline since August last year after the Marines decided to conduct an exercise in Australia.
"It was either Townsville or Darwin, and because of the wet season we chose Townsville," Col Bullard said.
He said the US Marine Corps had co-ordinated the training with the Australian military, Townsville officials and environmental agencies and were confident the environmental impact would be minimal.
"Townsville residents can expect very little impact once we get out to the training facilities," Col Bullard said.
The marines currently in Townsville were based on three naval ships, the Peleliu, the Ogdon and the Germantown.
All three ships are docked off the coast of Townsville for the duration of the exercise.
Marines and their equipment were being transported to shore by LCACs and Landing Craft Utilities (LCUs), with both these vessels making several trips from ship to shore yesterday.
The training exercise starts today, with the marines expected to leave the city on March 22.