Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC) Dive Team Charlie completed a five-blade change out on USS Anzio's (CG 68) port side propeller, Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, Aug. 20.

Upon initial inspection during a cleaning by Seaward Marine Services, only three blades were visibly damaged; however, all five blades had to be changed out in order to keep Anzio's propeller balanced.

"Divers went down to do a visual and technical inspection of the blades and cracks were found in the prairie air channel of one of the blades," said MARMC Dive Team Charlie Supervisor and Leading Petty Officer Navy Diver 1st Class (Diving Salvage Warfare/Surface Warfare/Expeditionary Warfare) Bryan Edwards. "The prairie air channel is welded onto the blade. The damaged blade looked like it had been cleaned so much that the weld was exposed and that's where the hairline cracks were coming from."

Dive Team Charlie is one of four of MARMC's military dive teams.

"Most of us that have done blade changes on this team have worked on [guided-missile frigates] or [guided-missile destroyers]; this is the first [guided-missile cruiser] we have worked on and this boat hasn't been out of the water in 14 years," said Edwards. "With the exception of cleanings, nothing on the [propeller] has been touched in 14 years. After removing the first blade, we discovered that the first center post sleeve was cracked. It's probably been cracked for years."

Divers started work Aug. 10, working in 12-hour shifts and over the weekend to ensure the job was completed on time.

"Although we had a slow start, we got down there and were able to figure out what needed replacing, got the tools and parts to fix it and got things moving," said MARMC Dive Team Charlie Navy Diver 3rd Class Ryan Blacklaw.

Divers worked the job in pairs; a senior diver and a junior diver worked together, in order for the junior diver to gain more experience and learn how to make repairs from the senior diver.

"My guys are doing awesome," said Edwards. "Over the weekend, they worked from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. one night; just because we work 12 hours, doesn't mean we stop at 12. We have a lot of guys that this is their first locker; they have picked up quick from previous jobs and now they are the ones in the water being the lead diver. They are doing really good. Even through the hiccups we had on this job, we still planned to be done ahead of schedule."

Anzio's blade change out was a joint effort between MARMC divers; Naval Sea Systems Command Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (NAVSEA 00C); Emergency Ship Salvage Material (ESSM) technical experts, who oversaw all components of the work package; and Phoenix International Holdings, Inc.

"We had a civilian presence here and they showed us some of the tools we could use for this job," said Blacklaw. "We helped [ESSM technical experts] put the tools in the water and they taught us how to trouble shoot them. They gave us a lot of information on counterbalancing and the work package; why we had to change all the blades out, the size of them, and the A-frames - how we were going to set them up. It was a lot of numbers and a lot of information, but we went step by step and got the job done."

"This was a good experience for all hands," said NAVSEA 00C ESSM Journeyman Mechanic Dennis Miller. "I've worked with a lot of divers and saw it from different aspects, the civilian side and the Navy side, and I've learned a lot. I definitely wanted to be able to teach the divers all the knowledge I could on this job, so they could learn how to do it the correct way and have the proper knowledge throughout their careers."

NAVSEA 00C Chief Warrant Officer 3 Joseph Theodorou oversaw the Anzio blade change outs and even dove with MARMC's divers.

"A steadfast technical expert who was on the job site representing [NAVSEA] 00C and ensuring the job went as planned, [Chief Warrant Officer 3 Joseph Theodorou] provided deck plate leadership and is truly a person for all of our dive locker Sailors and civilians to emulate," said MARMC Production Officer Capt. Jeffrey Sheets. "He is a great communicator and made a difficult job seem easy; I'd welcome his professionalism on any task."

Dive Team Charlie finished the job four days ahead of schedule.

"The job went really well," said USS Anzio Chief Engineer Lt. Cdr. Justin Neff. "The divers have been awesome in communicating with us. They had a couple of hiccups here and there, which is to be expected on such a major job, but they really worked hard to finish ahead of schedule and keep us mission ready."

Anzio will be deploying in early September.
For more information about MARMC please visit: http://www.navy.mil/local/nssa/ .

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