Tiger Cruise on USS Bataan

[Drewski]

Hi All:

Last week I had the honor and pleasure to be invited on board the USS Bataan (LDH-5), an amphibious assault ship, for a one-day Tiger cruise off the Virginia Capes. A good friend of mine, CMDR Joe Mones, is the IT and Weapons Officer on the ship.

I picked up his wife and kids in Norfolk (along with a few other friends) and drove down to the Norfolk Naval Base where we boarded LCUs and headed out to the ship anchored off shore.  Bataan is also a floating dock, meaning that landing craft can pull inside and dock, which is exactly what we did.

Bataan had been underway for just over 30 days, visiting Florida and the Caribbean as part of the "certification" process it needs to complete prior to a major deployment. The ship will be heading out this winter for 7 months at sea (God bless them...).

We had a BLAST on the ship all day, ate great food and basically had the run of everything.  I took lots of pictures and videos and posted the best ones to an album in Photobucket.  Click here to view. Be sure to check some of the videos, they're pretty COOL...

BTW, I looked but could NOT find a hot tub anywhere on that ship. One would go great just below the main mast, good view too...

Drewski

[nhskier]

I'm glad to see the Navy is still doing tiger cruises.  I had been wondering if those had been stopped due to the terrorism threat.

I had the great fortune to do a 3-day run on the USS George Washington from Nassau to Norfolk as the task group returned from a 6 month deployment in the Med.  (This was about about 10 years ago.)  It was an absolutely incredible experience that I'll never forget.  Flight deck ops, training drills, and the ability to see and learn things I'd never know otherwise.

And the sight of thousands of family members on the dock as the ship came into port choked me right up.  Can't image how the crew felt as they saw their families for the first time in 6 months.

While I've always had respect for servicemen & women, that experience put their service, skill and dedication into a whole new light for me.  A tip of the hat to all servicemen & women.

--NHskier

[wmccall]

I've seen the videos from when my brother in law was with his son on the Abraham Lincoln out of Pearl.  Amazing, but they need a hot tub overlooking the flight deck.

[spahappy]

My eighteen year old son is stationed in Norfolk and is serving on the USS Theodore Roosevelt. He's invited us on a Tiger cruise but unfortunatley we had conflicts with the time.

I'm so proud of him and the man he's becomming largely due to the Navy. He's seen things and places and had more experiences than most twice his age.

Of couse he feels like life is passing him by and all his hometown friends lives are far more exciting than his.

Great pictures!!!