S.D.-based cruiser rescues 52 at sea

The crew of the San Diego-based guided-missile cruiser Lake Champlain rescued 52 people who had been adrift in the Gulf of Aden for about seven days, the Navy said yesterday.

The ship's SH-60B helicopter was on a routine flight when crew members spotted a skiff in distress in the gulf, which lies between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa. The aircraft crew relayed the information to the cruiser, which was about 30 miles away, and it sped to the skiff's location on Saturday.

When the ship arrived, crew members provided medical care to those aboard the skiff. Seventeen people were transferred to the Lake Champlain immediately and treated for severe dehydration and other medical issues. The others were given food and water, then brought aboard the cruiser later.

“It's fortunate that our helicopter was flying over the right place at the right time,” Capt. Kevin P. Campbell, the cruiser's commanding officer, said in a Navy news release yesterday. He said the ship's chief hospital corpsman reported that a pregnant woman on the skiff might not have survived if help had not arrived.

The skiff had engine trouble and was unable to operate, the Navy said.

The cruiser is part of the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, which is providing maritime security in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.


