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yeahh im finally back from my Maiden sail with RSN. I was onboard RSS Endurance, the exact platform in the picture above. It's one of the 4 largest ships in our navy, and I was kinda lost inside on the first day..
The cabin that we stayed in was below the water level, and it was quite inconvenient to climb up and down, especially when the steps are so tiny and cramped!! The whole place was like a maze oso.. so many passageways leading here and there, and we'd try to avoid places like "officers' country" which means officers' messes.
Actually, I can say that i've learnt really really a great deal during this 3-day-2-night stint, and i've seen for myself how everything that i've been learning in the past 2 months are put together in a ship. Our cohort was just visitors to the ship, and our role was just to witness and watch how the ship's crew carry out their operations. But hey, all 80 of us were all-shacked-out by the 2nd day, only due to loss of sleep. I really can't imagine how we would all take it in future, when there'll be loss of sleep + a hell lot of duties + alot of odd jobs + under scrutiny of seniors and officers.
But i must say describe a little on SOuth China Sea. We were quite fortunate that we were travelling at the time of year when the sea is at its calmest. We only experienced Sea State 1 or 2. (its a measure of how choppy the sea is, 1 being very calm). I heard from one of the crew, that last year when they sailed across the south china sea, at a time when the sea was really wild, it was approximately sea state 5, and the ship was really pounding up and down. It's quite unimaginable la, given the sheer size and mass (6000 tons), we would think that it'd be very stable right? But at that time, "the ship's crew were practically all vomitting!!". Wow. Talking about vomitting, some of us in our cohort actually did. And the thing that's stupid is, vomitting bags are actually TRANSPARENT. U get to see the entire yellowish brown substance that ppl throw up. SO what's the big deal if the bag is made of high-quality? It can actually influence the ppl around to puke as well lor.
Ok, abit about the south china sea. i went up to the fox'cle (the top front part of the ship) on the first night, and i was surprised to see that there was NO land mass and NO ships or vessels in all 360 degrees. And the feeling's scary. All around was empty and dark, except for the bright moon. It feels as if you are sailing to nowhere and there's really nothing in sight. Imagine if you fall overboard, it would be so scary la..so dark + cold + the thought of seeing the only ship in sight to be cruising further and further away from you.... lol. But i think the only regret was that the moon was just too bright. Otherwise, the entire night sky would be fully covered by stars and it would be so easy to count shooting stars, like how we did back in ocip sabah.
Oh ya, i was quite delighted to see the Horsburgh Lighthouse as well. If u've never heard of this, you would definitely recognise this alternative name: Pedra Branca. Yes, the small rocky outcrop that SIngapore and Malaysia had unsettled dispute on, and which had since been brought to the international court. This lighthouse has been one important landmark that our navy ships look towards for navigation. And since very very very long ago, this lighthouse has been under the charge of the navy, and ppl were sent there to do guard duty. Im not sure if this is still the case today, but at least my course commander was once part of the guard duty personnels at Horsburgh.
Actually the ship's quite a scary place to be in. AS what an officer says, if you compare army and navy, perhaps army is abit more xiong, due to outfields+chiong suahs. But what is the worst that can come to an army soldier? Injuries that result in downgrading. But for navy personnels, the probability of deaths and major injuries is very very much higher. Look, even the closing of the heavy watertight door can cause broken fingers and major fractures or concussions and injuries. It needn't elaboration to talk about what would happen if a ship out at sea experiences Flooding or Fires or Collision or Explosion. Or if you fall overboard. Or if during operations, the helicopter landed off-track and smashed onto ppl. And the list goes on. Lives are quite helpless when out at sea, but thankfully stringent checks are always done, unless negligence comes kicking in. (and here comes the almost daily repeat of the tragedy that involved RSS Courageous and ANL Indonesia some 3 years back).
In conclusion, its really a BIG eye-opener to be able to sail on this LST (Landing Ship Tank), as not everyone has the chance, not even some navy officers. ANd we've even got the chance to witness how operations are carried out in certain sensitive and out-of-bound key areas. But its also a little discouraging to see the roles that i would be playing in future. Sai-kang + lots of duties. ANd most importantly, getting bullied by the seniors and the officers. Luckily im only an NSF.
人生是黑白的.
10:16 PM <3
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yeahh im finally back from my Maiden sail with RSN. I was onboard RSS Endurance, the exact platform in the picture above. It's one of the 4 largest ships in our navy, and I was kinda lost inside on the first day..