USAV GREAT BRIDGE

It is easy to forget how many ships and boats are indeed operated by the United States Army. Earlier this week the 80 feet long vessel, Enin Meto, with 101 people aboard, was bound from Lib to Ebeye, two island in the Marshall Islands chain in the Pacific, when their engine broke down. Using a battery operated radio, the Enin Meto‘s crew contacted USAKA (United States Army Kwajalein Atoll) Operations, which dispatched the LCU Great Bridge to find the stricken vessel. In high seas on a very dark night, the Great Bridge finally located the Enin Meto and towed the boat and her passengers to the island of Ebye.  Ebye is  the most populous of the more than a dozen islands that make up the Kwajalein Atoll.

The Great Bridge is a Runnymede class large landing craft 174 ft (53 m) long, with a beam of 42 ft (13 m), a draft of 8.5 ft (2.6 m) and a displacement of 1,102 long tons.

Great Bridge, crew save 101 stranded on boat near Lib