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A German Ship Visit, June 18, 2024
A German Ship Visit, June 18, 2024
By LCDR Chip Lancaster, USN (Ret.)
From June 10th to June 17th, San Diego was visited by German Navy ships and aircraft. On Monday the 10th, two Westland Lynx helicopters arrived overhead the San Diego Bay, landing at NAS North Island to park on the HSC-3 Flight Line. The ships were a combat support ship and a frigate which were berthed at Naval Base San Diego.
The air detachment arrived on Monday afternoon after a quick reconnaissance trip around San Diego County. The detachment consisted of eight personnel with the two Westland Lynx helicopters, along with eleven maintenance technicians who arrived on the ships. The air detachment is under the leadership of Commander Markus Gawlitza. Markus is a former German exchange pilot instructing the MH-60S at HSC-3. One of the Lynx aircraft was equipped with a dipping sonar while the other aircraft was not. The dipping sonar was removable and could be switched to either aircraft. The Lynx has a tricycle landing gear with two main mounts and a nose wheel. While the nose wheel can caster, the two main mounts are locked in place at an angle which only allows the Lynx to turn in a circle. The configuration is for single spot ship deck operations and does not allow for taxiing at the airport. Consequently, the Lynx can only air taxi. Both aircraft were also equipped with rescue hoists for SAR or MEDEVAC operations.
The two German ships tied up at Naval Base San Diego on Pier Three the next day. They were the 570-foot combat support ship Frankfurt am Main and the 492-foot frigate Baden-Wurttemberg. The helo detachment came over aboard the combat support ship and they were scheduled to transfer over to the frigate while in San Diego. Each ship had a large helicopter landing deck on the stern painted similar to USN single spot ship flight decks. Each of the flightdecks was equipped with a circular Heligrid harpoon rapid securing system to keep the aircraft secure on deck in heavier sea states. Each was also equipped with two large hangars, a double hangar on the supply ship and two single hangars on the frigate. The hangars were tall and roomy, large enough to accommodate an AW101, NH90, or a Sea King. Also located on Pier Three was an Italian naval vessel, Raimondo Montecucoli (PPA3), a 469-foot frigate sporting a large flightdeck and dual hangars with an AW101 spread on the deck being serviced and washed.
All of the ships were scheduled to leave the following week en route to Hawaii. In Hawaii, they will participate in a multinational RimPac Exercise. RimPac will feature 40 surface ships from 30 different countries including three submarines and more than 150 aircraft. After the exercise in Hawaii a new German crew will be flown there to relieve the helo det that we met on the ramp at HSC-3. The ships are then scheduled to go to Japan and ultimately going back through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean to return to Germany.
The air detachment arrived on Monday afternoon after a quick reconnaissance trip around San Diego County. The detachment consisted of eight personnel with the two Westland Lynx helicopters, along with eleven maintenance technicians who arrived on the ships. The air detachment is under the leadership of Commander Markus Gawlitza. Markus is a former German exchange pilot instructing the MH-60S at HSC-3. One of the Lynx aircraft was equipped with a dipping sonar while the other aircraft was not. The dipping sonar was removable and could be switched to either aircraft. The Lynx has a tricycle landing gear with two main mounts and a nose wheel. While the nose wheel can caster, the two main mounts are locked in place at an angle which only allows the Lynx to turn in a circle. The configuration is for single spot ship deck operations and does not allow for taxiing at the airport. Consequently, the Lynx can only air taxi. Both aircraft were also equipped with rescue hoists for SAR or MEDEVAC operations.
