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October 24, 2000
not a boat.--Stephen V Cole
The October 12th terrorist attack on the USS Cole did enormous damage. The keel was so damaged that the ship cannot even be towed to open water to be loaded on a drydock ship. One reason there were so many deaths was that the bomb went off near the galley, which was blown to the other side of the ship. Many of the dead sailors had to be cut from the unrecognizable tangle of wreckage. One of the two engine rooms was completely flooded, as was one of the auxiliary spaces. The crew performed heroically, sealing off the flooded areas and preventing the ship from sinking. The 250 crew that remain on the ship are now living topside and continuing to make repairs. Several other navy ships have arrived and supply food, laundry service and equipment. Offers to take off Cole crew members for rest on other ships have largely been refused. The crew won't leave their ship until they are sure it will be saved. And this will not happen until the seagoing drydock arrives and lifts the Cole out of the water and takes it back to the US for several hundred million dollars worth of repairs.
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