Tiny creatures believed to delay carrier TR departure

The carrier Theodore Roosevelt was scheduled to leave Norfolk by 8 a.m. on MondayMarch 9, but was delayed for hours while the crew cleaned out the intakes of sea water condensers. That Bryozoa was the culprit is a "reasonable assumption," said Lt. Cmdr. Reann Mommsen, the ship's spokeswoman. spokesperson. "We will know definitively as we go through the clean-up process."

Mommsen did not know how long the delay would last. Bryozoa delayed the deployment of the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush on Feb. 15, 2014, by about four hours. The delay did not effect the rest of the strike group's deployment.

More than 6,000 sailors serving aboard five ships and nine embarked squadrons of Carrier Air Wing 1 comprise the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group. The guided-missile cruiser Normandy, and the guided-missile destroyers Winston S. Churchill and Forrest Sherman, departed Norfolk on March 9, while the guided-missile destroyer Farragut deployed from its home port of Naval Station Mayport, Fla.

Bryozoa, also known as "moss animals," are inhabitants common in the James River during winter months. In the case of Bush, Bryozoa were sucked up by large intakes under the ship that take in sea water to cool various pieces of equipment. This fouled condensers which, in turn, affected the ships propulsion and electrical power generation. Crew members took off the large condenser covers — some measuring more than 6 feet — and pulled gallons of moss from condenser tubes.