U.S. warship pays a brief visit to island

The American naval frigate USS John Hall paid a rare and brief visit to Bermuda last weekend.

The warship rumbled into the Commercial Dock at the west end of the island to re-fuel on Saturday.

She was only in Bermuda for a matter of hours before she headed out into the Atlantic again.

The USS John Hall hit the headlines earlier this year when the ship’s captain, Commander Herman Pfaeffle, was relieved of his command after the ship collided with a pier during a visit to Georgia.

The accident happened on April 16 and caused roughly $160,000 worth of damage to the ship.

Respected

The frigate is part of a fleet of U.S. warships tasked with a Protection of Shipping (POS) mission.

The vessel proudly bears the name of a highly decorated and hugely respected admiral who served in the U.S. Navy.

John Hall was given the nickname “Viking of Assault” by General Dwight Eisenhower for his daring military exploits.

Mr. Hall received Distinguished Service Medals for his role in the North African offensive and the Omaha beach landings in World War II.

The USS John Hall left on Saturday afternoon heading home after a seven-month deployment.

She was replaced on Sunday by the more familiar sight of the cruise ship, Norwegian Spirit.

The west end will have hosted a further four cruise ships by the end of the week – with the Norwegian Dawn scheduled to arrive today.

This weekend will be a busy one with thousands of passengers from the Explorer of the Seas and Norwegian Spirit descending on Dockyard.

The Veendam is making her 17th trip of the year to Bermuda.

Tanker

She is due to arrive in Hamilton this morning after once again dropping anchor just off St. George’s for the night.

The tanker Bertina, which called into the oil docks off the east end last week, is back again tomorrow.

She is dropping off diesel in Dockyard first and will then head back to St. George’s to siphon off fuel for Rubis.

Bertina is scheduled to leave the oil docks on Saturday morning.

The Bermuda Islander is due into Hamilton as per usual tomorrow morning.

Finally, on Friday, the car carrier Salvia is due arrive in Hamilton to drop off the latest batch of 91 new vehicles.

The ship originates in Japan and has toured the Caribbean, dropping off new cars along the way.