San Diego-Based Ship to Sail for Mideast

The San Diego-based destroyer tender Acadia will depart within weeks for the Persian Gulf, making it the first San Diego-based Navy vessel to sail from the West Coast to join the escalating crisis in the Middle East, Navy officials in Washington said Friday.

Sending the Acadia, which could take almost a month to arrive, is a signal that Navy officials are gearing up for a long-lasting stint at sea, some say.

“It certainly means we are in for the long haul if necessary, but remember a ship can always turn around and come back,” said retired Capt. James Bush, a 26-year Navy veteran who is the associate director for the Center for Defense Information in Washington. “But it’s a signal to Iraq that we are in for the long haul, though it’s not too costly for us.”

The ship, whose 1,200-member crew includes 308 women, will not be deployed to an area with heavy fighting should combat erupt, since it is a repair vessel with little ability to defend itself.

“We would want to be in a central area where ships could get to us and some protection is afforded,” said Capt. Larry King, the Acadia’s commanding officer, who emphasized that he could not discuss the possibility of the Acadia’s deployment. Navy officials were unwilling to be specific about when the ship might leave.

The ship’s crew repairs vessels, whether steam- or nuclear-powered, that float by its side. The Acadia also can provide services to other ships’ crews, such as medical care, or supplies such as drinking water and food.

Navy officials say 140 female sailors serve aboard support vessels in the North Arabian Sea. Of those, 34 are aboard the San Francisco-based ammunition ship Flint. The Flint, however, was already in the region when the Middle East crisis heated up and did not sail from the West Coast. Since U.S. law prohibits women from participating in combat, those deployed in the Persian Gulf area serve in support roles, in roles such as welders and electricians.

Some of the women aboard the Acadia said they resented the attention they had drawn because they are women sailors.

“Women have been on ships like this for more than eight years--it’s annoying to see so much focus on women at sea rather than looking at the Navy itself,” said the ship’s navigator, a Paso Robles native who declined to give her name. “I just don’t see what’s so important about having women on a ship or sending a ship with women to the Persian Gulf.”