The U.S. Navy Is Supplying Baseball Bats To Its Ships Who Spend Time In The Arctic

An F/A-18F Super Hornet launches from the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, October 19, 2018. US Navy/Mass Comm. Specialist 2nd Class Thomas Gooley

Business Insider/Military.com: The Navy is using baseball bats to smash ice on aircraft carriers in the Arctic

* The Navy is planning on spending more time in the Arctic.
* But it hasn't done sustained operations up there in decades, and it's having to relearn tactics needed for that environment.
* One thing crews will have to deal with is ice buildup, but sailors have an old trick for that.

It's not often sailors get permission to take a baseball bat to a multimillion-dollar aircraft carrier.

But when the Navy's aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman sailed into the Arctic Circle for the first time in nearly three decades, its crew was ordered to do just that.

The Truman sailed into the Arctic Circle on Oct. 19 to conduct operations in the Norwegian Sea. After years of operations in warmer climates, leaders had to think carefully about the gear they'd need to survive operations in the frigid conditions.

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WNU Editor: The joys of being deployed to a cold climate.

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