Retired USS Racine sunk during RIMPAC exercises

U.S. and Japanese truck-mounted missiles hit the decommissioned ex-USS Racine from the shore, and an Australian P-8A Poseidon targeted it from the air Thursday during Rim of the Pacific exercises.

But it was the explosive force of a heavyweight MK-48 torpedo fired from the Pearl Harbor submarine USS Olympia that broke the bow of the 522-foot Racine, sending the tank-landing ship to the deep one hour later in waters 15,000 feet deep 63 miles north of Kauai.

The Los Angeles-class sub Olympia was scheduled to fire a torpedo tube-launched Harpoon missile as a cruise missile weapon, but also was called upon on short order to fire the 3,520-pound torpedo.

The Harpoon and torpedo “successfully impacted the target during the exercise, effectively demonstrating the lethality, responsiveness, and range at which U.S. Navy submarines can conduct anti-ship missions,” said Capt. Bill Hearther, director of the maritime operations center for Submarine Force U.S. Pacific Fleet.

The sink exercise, or “sinkex,” also featured a number of firsts.

The Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force fired four Type 12 anti-ship missiles from a truck launcher at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, and the U.S. Army similarly fired a Naval Strike Missile.

All the missiles found their target, officials said.

Five practice U.S. High Mobility Artillery Rocket System missiles also were launched, and a Gray Eagle unmanned aerial vehicle was used to relay targeting information to an Army AH-64 Apache helicopter, which then communicated with a U.S. firing station.

“There’s a lot of firsts here,” said Col. Christopher Wendland, commander for the shore-based part of the exercise. “First time that the Japanese have ever fired from Kauai, first time the HIMARS have ever (been) flown to Kauai and shot from Kauai, first time the Gray Eagles have actually been here.”

It was also the first time the Army fired a Naval Strike Missile, Wendland said.

The Apache helicopters also fired 30-mm cannon and 2.75-inch rockets at the Racine as the Army increases its shore-based and near-shore abilities to augment the U.S. Navy and Air Force in sinking ships at sea.

The Royal Australian Air Force deployed a P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance and sub-hunting aircraft to RIMPAC, and fired a Harpoon at the decommissioned ship in the first of two sink exercises.

The retired frigate USS McClusky also is scheduled to be sunk during RIMPAC.

“We’ll be conducting operational test and evaluation on the P-8A’s weapon systems by firing a Harpoon missile and torpedoes for the first time in an exercise environment, which will be the highlight of the exercise for us,” Australian Squadron Leader Brian Brown said in a release earlier this month.