Abandon Ship Exercise

A Navy ship has many routine preparedness exercises designed to help all on board know what to do in case of a real emergency. Today we did an abandon ship exercise where all 1,000 of us had to done hats, long sleeved shirts, and tuck our pants into our socks and then get a life jacket from a locker and head to the flight deck. There we have to report to our life raft stations. This drill cannot end until everyone on the ship has been accounted for. It was warm in our long sleeve shirts, but really fun to be out there with everyone on the ship. It was my first time on the flight deck and while we were ther they launched on of the life rafts. This huge raft was in a canister that was probably on 8 feet long and shaped like a tootsie roll. The canister popped open and this huge round life raft popped out and it also had a supply of food inside and the life raft had a canopy on it to keep out the sun. Also up on the flight deck are the hangers that house the 2 helicopters on board the ship. After the drill they opened the doors and started their loud music to begin their daily maintenance on the helos. The tails fold in so they can fit in the hangers and the blades come together.