European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 17, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday july 17. 1986 the stars and stripes Page 9 floating dry Dock is massive service facility  . Bureau holy Loch Scotland incredible and unbelievable Are words often used by the skipper of the floating dry Dock los Alamos to describe the ship and its abilities. . Navy it. Cmdr. Lou Eyerly clearly is in Awe of the ship he commands. Whoever designed this ship had his stuff in one sock Eyerly raid As he surveyed in vast bulk from a catwalk so fee above its main deck the los Alamos came into the holy och 25 Yean ago and it has never left said the 40-year-old from sin Diego Calif. While other ships a into Dock Yards for overhauls the overhauls Thi Iship receive take place right out Here in the Middle of the Loch. Usually we Are overhauling ships while we Are overhaul ing  the 513-foot-Long los Alamos misnamed after the site in new Mexico where the first atomic weapon was assembled. Since its arrival it has completed 372 Docking operations including More than 285 dockings by Fleet ballistic missile submarines. Us ship is one of seven sectional Type floating dry docks designed during world War ii to maintain i files in a High stale of readiness by dry Docking them at bases overseas. This Type of Dock was conceived designed built and towed to the South Pacific in Only 19 months. Tholos Alamos built in 1943-44 to accommodate battleships of the Missouri class was under Tow to the War zone when hostilities ended in 1945. Only four of its seven sections Are assembled in the holy Loch. One Section is being used by the . Army corps of engineers in Peru. The remaining two the Smoot 55,000-fcm dry Dock in a Kiwi anchored in the holy Loch Scotland where it he Wen Lor 25 Yean. Are in the United states. The Loi Alamo we Lowed to Scot land and assembled in six months in 1961. It Servo in the holy Loch Home of the Navy s submarine so 14, As part of submarine refit site one. Eyerly said the ship was designed to list for the duration of world War 11. No one dreamed then of nuclear powered ships and thai this ship would Giitl be in commission servicing them 40yean later he said. The los Alamos is the Only Navy dry Dock for subs in Europe. It is also the Navy s largest dry Dock in terms of lift ing capacity. It can till 32,000 Long tons Eyerly said and could lift 70,000 Long tons with All seven of its sections  the floating dry Dock never comes near to using its full lifting capacity he said because the subs it dry Dock weigh Only about 7,500 tons. Drug flow from s. Asia Mideast worries officials Istanbul. Turkey not Ameri can and turkish specialists report that political upheavals in opium producing countries and a Large increase in heroin addiction in Europe have produced allow of narcotics from South Asia and the Middle East Westward through tur key that is increasingly difficult to police. The problem is complicated for euro Pean enforcement agencies by a Compa Rable Rise in the now of hashish. In Addi Tion the growing number of heroin analysis addicts in Western Eum pc they Arenow almost As numerous As in the United states where 500,000 Are estimate to be hard Core users also has created problems for enforcement agencies de spite considerable increase in their Bud gets and  few years ago it was fairly easy to draw up a flow Chart an american specialist said. The Market was in the United Stales we knew where in was grown and refined and the routes it took. Today a Chart would look like a plate of spaghetti.". ,. According to american and turkish drug agents these Are among the Politi Cal Facton that have significantly complicated their wort the near anarchy in Lebanon and the entry of syrians whose country plays dominant role in Lebanon As Maor Lebanon a minor participants in production of heroin an hashish and in International trafficking. The War in Afghanistan and the Large scale production and transport Westward of opium and hashish. A huge outflow of opium from Northwest Frontier province in Paki Stan where the traditionally uncontrollable tribal population has been augmented by hundreds of thousands of afghan refugees. An unwillingness or inability by Iran to halt or restrain an unending Chain of opium and hashish traffic West Ward. Because of the inability of Ameri can narcotics agents to gather information on the situation in Iran american specialists cannot prove their suspicion that important quantities of iranian grown opium also enter the Western  agents consider Pakistan Afghanistan and Iran to be major producers of heroin the source of much of the heroin reaching the United states although the Market share varies from season to season. American officials scythe biggest single source of heroin today is , no longer a significant pro Ducer has instead become the principal country from which hashish heroin and unprocessed opium or morphine or he Roin base Are dispersed to dealers and finally to Western  of the opium or intermediary products reaches Turkey often on horse Back or muleback across its 300-mile Long mountainous Border with Iran. It i processed in heroin laboratories in tur key or other  More important conversion centers have Long been in Lebanon and Italy particularly Sicily. In recent years narcotics agents say new laboratories have sprung up in the Aleppo area of Syria. Middle Eastern refiners receive their supplies of morphine base or heroin base largely by Overland smuggling from  new element of concern to agents is evidence that in the last two years thebe Kaa Region of Lebanon which is largely under syrian control has been producing High Quality opium. The 55,000-Lon vessel is wide enough 120 feet to put two missile carry ing subs Side by Side Between its Low ering slab sided Wing Walls but. In prac Tice Only has one sub aboard at any onetime. Drawing 30 feet the dry Dock Workshy taking on water to submerge itself. This process lakes approximately 90minuics. A sub floats into the dry Dock and is secured then the lot Alamos Jeleti Soiu the water in about two hours to raise itself and the  the ship floods Down is fully ballasted the majority of the Crew of 200will be working underwater some of them 72 feet below the surface said Eyerly who As a submariner is a rarity aboard a vessel where everyone Els comes from the surface Navy. The Workhorse pumps itself up at the Rale of one foot per minute and Dis charges 1 million Gallons of water Ever six minutes in the process much of the Crew s work is spent a Terbl Osting and sandblasting subs hulls and painting them although the Crew also can replace shafts and screws. Teams from the nearby Fleet ballistic submarine Lender Kunley and civilian shipyard workers do the actual repairs Lothe subs. Using the los Alamos saves the government Nuge amounts of Money Ana deployment  Everly said of we in Dock a ship today we will Dock another one within two Days. In emergencies behave unlocked one ship in the morning and taken in another in the  ship s 25-Fbol-thick Wing Waits House the Crew and various work stations. This ship is so different it s incredible. We Are More than a dry Dock. We Are a Docking station for subs  can provide All utilities not Only to ourselves and the sub we have aboard but also to two other ships  so Pho id by Jun jul Bugla wild and Grazy lifestyle the rolling Mead los of Germany s Effel Nutter Haw boar the military Popkin Region present a Bee resistant to some the limit Ted Len behind him my a. Donga oat go with . Air Force Guy Odd continue on Ike Etter Itte ibo. 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