لخّصلي

Chapter 1: Introduction and Aim of Work‎
‎1.1‎ Introduction
In the midst of a vast expanse of the ocean, ships navigate in a delicate balance ‎between strength and vulnerability. While these majestic vessels conquer the waves, they remain ‎constantly threatened by the risks they may encounter. In the dynamic and unpredictable open ‎sea environment, ships are continuously exposed to potential dangers that can jeopardize their ‎safety and stability. From adverse weather conditions to mechanical failures, the maritime ‎industry faces diverse challenges that require robust strategies to control damages. This is where ‎the crucial practice of ship damage control comes into play.‎
Ship damage control is an essential aspect of maritime operations aimed at minimizing the impact ‎of various types of damages that a ship may incur, whether resulting from accidents, collisions, ‎fires, floods, or other emergencies.‎

Fig.1.1 Damage due to gunfire.‎
Damage control is the art of mitigating disaster severity. It involves a rapid and decisive response ‎to breaches in the ship's structure, flooding, and countless other risks. It requires discipline and ‎commitment to keep the ship afloat, ensuring the safety of passengers and crew, and keeping the ‎journey afloat despite all adversities.‎
This discipline includes a wide range of skills and knowledge. Imagine surgeons working on ‎giants of steel, combating water ingress with doors and watertight pumps, and halting the flow ‎of fire using firefighting teams and hose systems. Damage control personnel become temporary ‎stability engineers, summoning solutions from metals, woods, and basic tools to repair the ‎massive wounds in the ship's structure.‎
In the context of damage control, specialized teams are trained to handle emergency situations, ‎and ships are equipped with specific systems and gear to prevent accidents and respond to them ‎effectively when they occur. These systems include watertight pumps, protective doors, and ‎firefighting systems, along with crew training to use these equipment efficiently.‎
Overall, damage control is considered a vital part of ship safety management, contributing to ‎enhancing a ship's ability to adapt to changing maritime challenges and ensuring the safety of ‎passengers and crew on board.‎
‎1.2 Historical incidents emphasizing the need for effective damage control measures
‎“At the Battle of Midway the carrier Yorktown was badly hit and damaged in the first attack. ‎Her damage was more than what had doomed some of the Japanese carriers, but she had no ‎explosions from fuel and bombs and within an hour and forty minutes she was underway at over ‎‎20 knots and could recover and relaunch her planes. When the second attack came in her fires ‎were out and she was steaming so the Japanese planes thought she was one of the undamaged ‎carriers and attacked her again. This attack doomed her, but the damage control efforts after the ‎first attack were incredible. The later American carriers could purge the aircraft fueling systems ‎with inert gas and did much better than the Japanese carriers in this respect. Their damage control ‎was very good. I think no Essex class carriers were sunk in action, though some were badly ‎damaged.”‎

Fig. 1.2 USS franklin damage‎
‎“Because the USN made damage control one of it’s top priories in crew training and ‎organization. Other navies had different priorities. Crews do what they’re trained to do.‎
In the USN, every time a ship is lost, a board of inquiry was convened to figure out why, and ‎what could have been done differently to save her. If the ship was damaged and saved, they ‎figured out what was done right and what could have been done better. Learning from it’s ‎successes and failures was incorporated into the training and standing orders going forward; it’s ‎something the USN does better than pretty much any other Navy. Every navy is “by the book” to ‎some degree or another; the main differentiation in the USN is it’s willingness to re-write the ‎book on the fly.‎
The USN (and the US military in general) also has a very strong tradition of empowering lower-‎level NCOs and even junior enlisted to exercise independent judgement and take personal ‎initiative in an emergency (at least compared to other navies). Most other militaries have a more ‎top-down organization that emphasizes obedience to authority and centralized control over ‎individual initiative. A mid-grade petty officer in the USN often has more authority and ‎autonomy than a junior officer in other navies. The IJN, by comparison, was downright hostile to ‎personal initiative and independent thought.”‎

‎1.3‎ Selections from reports on actions of ship damage control ‎
‎"... undoubtedly would have sunk after the first torpedo struck had she not been beached ‎quickly. The remarkable, persistent, and skillful efforts of her entire crew not only saved her, but ‎also most of her cargo, sorely needed at that time.... the inflexible determination of her personnel ‎‎.. the key to her ultimate survival and return to service."‎
‎"From the engine room the water entered the shaft alley through a leaky door and through ‎unpacked glands around electric cable, and when the shaft alley was flooded, the water entered ‎the after magazines through an electric cable hole in the deck of the handling rooms."‎
‎"The ship sank because of deficiencies in watertight integrity, by virtue of the lack of watertight ‎bulkheads on the second deck, and failure of boundaries and fittings elsewhere which should ‎have been watertight but were not."‎
‎"The ice machine room (on a heavy cruiser) flooded to a depth of about one foot through a door ‎which was improperly dogged, and through an unblanked cable hole."‎
‎"The performance of the ship in sustaining and successfully combating such extensive damage is ‎gratifying to say the least. The success of damage-control measures indicates thorough ‎preparation both in material readiness and training of personnel." ‎
‎1.4‎ Goals of damage control
The primary goal of ship damage control is to avoid collisions using any possible means. Damage ‎can occur to the structure, engines, fans, or rudder if the vessel collides with objects such as tree ‎trunks, rocks, docks, or another ship. Damage control is "the action taken to minimize the adverse ‎outcomes of something to the lowest possible extent when it is impossible to completely avoid ‎those adverse outcomes."‎
The three basic Goals of shipboard damage control are:‎
‎1.‎ PREVENTION.‎
‎2.‎ MINIMIZATION.‎
‎3.‎ RESTORATION.‎
‎1.4.1 Prevention means to take all practical preliminary measures, such as maintaining watertight ‎and fumetight integrity, providing reserve buoyancy and stability, removing fire hazards, and ‎maintaining and distributing emergency equipment before damage occurs.‎
‎1.4.2 Minimization is to minimize and localize damage by taking measures to control flooding, ‎preserve stability and buoyancy, combat fire, and provide first-aid treatment to injured personnel.‎
‎1.4.3 Restoration requires regaining a safe margin of stability and buoyancy. The primary duty of ‎the damage control organization is to control damage.Damage control objectives are attained by ‎taking necessary action to do the following:‎
• Preserve Stability
• Preserve watertight integrity (buoyancy).‎
• Control list and trim
• Maintain effective segregation of the vital systems
• Prevent, isolate, combat, extinguish and remove the effects of fire.‎
• Detect, confine, and remove the effects of nuclear, biological, and/or
• chemical attack.‎
• Assist in the care of injured personnel.‎
• Make rapid repairs to structures and equipments.‎
So The goals of damage control in maritime operations encompass a comprehensive set of ‎elements, as mentioned with embrace technological advancements. By recognizing these diverse ‎objectives and working towards their achievement, the maritime industry can enhance its ‎resilience, maintain operational safety, and fulfill its commitment to safety, environmental ‎sustainability, and public trust.‎
‎1.5‎ Responsibilities of the ship's crew to achieve the main goal
All members of the ship’s company shouldrealize the importance of their ‎responsibilities.You should think of damage control as anoffensive as well as a defensive ‎action upon whichyour ship’s ability to inflict damage on the enemymay depend.‎
‎ Damage control not only is concernedwith battle damage but also nonbattle damage.This ‎includes damage from fire, collision,grounding, weather, and explosion. ‎Damagecontrol action may be necessary in port as well asat sea and may involve the use of ‎personnel andfacilities from an undamaged ship.Damage control requires a detailed knowledgeof ‎the ship’s construction, characteristics, com-partmentation, and stability, and of ‎apparatusplaced on board to prevent or control damage.Basically, control of damage depends ‎upon theability and the initiative of personnel to takeprompt corrective action, using readily ‎availablematerial. Having a thorough knowledge of theship will enable personnel to take the ‎necessarycorrective action.‎
In summary, the goals of ship damage control are not static; they must evolve to address the ‎dynamic nature of maritime challenges. By implementing the aforementioned recommendations ‎and remaining vigilant in the pursuit of safety and sustainability, the maritime industry can ‎proactively navigate the complexities of the open sea, ensuring the well-being of crews, the ‎protection of valuable assets, and the preservation of our oceans for future generations. ‎Prioritizing and advancing these goals will undoubtedly contribute to a safer, more resilient, and ‎sustainable maritime environment.‎
‎1.6‎ General Preparatory Measures to Restart Flooding Before Damage
It has been wisely said that 90 percent of the work of damage control- the important part is ‎accomplished before damage and only about 10 percent after the ship has been hit.Most ‎preparatory work consists of measures taken to toughen the ship to resist flooding.‎

An important first step is for all personnel concerned with damage control to learn what features ‎have been designed into their ship to enable it to resist flooding.
‎
The most significant of these features is the extent and type of vessel subdivision. The ‎subdivision or the vessel will determine the extent and type of flooding that can occur and type ‎of corrective measures needed after damage. ‎

Certain material preparations are vital in toughening the ship to resist flooding.
‎
They include:‎
• maintaining watertight integrity of the ship's subdivision
• properly setting material conditions of closure
• properly classifying closures and fittings, and
• providing adequate and well-distributed operable damage control equipment
So this is the General Preparatory Measures to Restart Flooding Before Damage and make sure ‎you are ready for it.‎
‎1.7‎ Damage-Control Education and Training
Accumulating war experience emphasizes that the entire ship's company must be thoroughly ‎educated in damage-control principles and methods, and must be properly trained to act in ‎accordance with them. Action reports continue to illustrate that a ship can be lost because ‎personnel outside of the main damage-control organization fail to employ proper damage-control ‎methods and procedures. All hands, from the Commanding Officer down, must be made ‎thoroughly conversant with all phases of damage control which apply to their own ship.‎
In the ensuing discussion an arbitrary distinction will be made between educational and training ‎activities for purposes of clarity. Educational activities will include such matters as the ‎understanding of damage-control principles, the constructions and facilities of own ship, ‎damage-control measures, and the damage-control organization of own ship. Training activities, ‎on the other hand, will refer to actual damage-control drills.‎
‎1.7.1‎ Programs on a Routine Schedule
The objectives of education and training cannot be attained unless carefully prepared plans are ‎carried out. Regularly scheduled educational and training programs are necessary. These should ‎be provided for officers and men; for departmental, divisional, and war cruising groups, and for ‎battle station personnel. The programs should be adapted to "in port" and "at sea" (war cruising) ‎operating periods. The damage control officer is responsible for the planning and conduct of this ‎training. He should see that educational and training activities are represented in the ship's daily ‎schedules in accordance with the executive officer's orders.‎
It is recognized that there never will be enough training time during a ship's day for the many ‎activities considered essential and desirable by responsible officers who are trying to bring the ‎ship to its best fighting condition. It is extremely important, therefore, that the most efficient ‎possible use be made of any time available for damage-control education and training. On at least ‎one large ship all gunnery training is scheduled in the morning. The afternoon is given
over to damage-control activities. Some similar arrangement can and should be made on every ‎ship.‎
In addition to regularly designated periods, the damage control officer and his assistants can ‎utilize "dead" time throughout any 24 hour day to as great an extent as energy and ingenuity ‎permit. An efficient educational and training program will schedule activities for individuals and ‎groups required to be at certain places during specified periods of time for purposes of readiness ‎only. Further, there are likely to be "gaps" in any ship's daily program. Educational or training ‎activities for personnel who otherwise would be standing by can be provided during these ‎intervals. Attention is invited specifically to the following possibilities:‎
‎1. During general quarters, dawn or dusk alerts, target practices, and similar "all hands" ‎evolutions. (For battle station groups, repair parties, etc.)‎
‎2. During war cruising condition watches. (For individuals on watches at inactive stations.)‎


‎1.7.2‎ Interest in the program.‎
In planning and carrying through educational and training programs every opportunity should be ‎embraced to arouse widespread interest in them throughout the ship's company. A healthy ‎competitive spirit should be fostered between shipboard groups. War damage reports should be ‎discussed freely. Questions and suggestions from all personnel should be welcomed. General ‎questions concerning damage control should be included in examinations for promotion given to ‎various ratings. Any other measures which tend to promote interest in the damage-control ‎program should be put into effect.‎
‎1.7.3‎ Selection and training of instructors.‎
Successful educational and training programs call for an adequate supply of good instructors. A ‎valuable source of instructional ability exists among the ship's officers and key petty officers. ‎Most instructors will come from the engineering and hull departments, but all departments should ‎provide qualified personnel as required.‎

Fig. 1.3 realism in training.‎
instructors should improve their techniques through study of NavPers 16103, Manual for Navy ‎Instructors. They should be detailed to concentrate upon one or a limited number of subjects. ‎Responsible officers should encourage and assist the instructors in preparing for and conducting ‎their classes and drills. Personnel selected as instructors are thus given opportunity to exercise ‎certain qualities of leadership which might otherwise lie dormant. Inevitably, a conscientious ‎instructor learns more than his pupils. Furthermore, the instructor's fitness for increased ‎responsibilities may be demonstrated by his ability to educate and train others. The requirements ‎of a rapidly expanding Navy demand that officers and men become ready for promotion or ‎advancement, and become proficient in supervising less experienced personnel as rapidly as ‎possible. Acting as instructors in damage control is one means to this end.‎