RMN Ship off Tioman?

fudgester SG

While I was snorkelling off the coast of Pulau Tioman last week, I spotted an Navy ship in plain sight:

Does this belong to the RMN? Looks awfully familiar to me, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

tankee1981 SG

It looks like some kind of an auxillary ship to me with all the cranes on board. Maybe for resupplying other naval ships out at sea perhaps.

The flag at the front does resembles that of the Malaysian flag with the red and white strips.

By the way is that a ramp i see on the front of the ship? Or is it the front tip of another ship in the background? Very Happy

ChineseJunk SG

She's USS Salvor (ARS-52), a salvage ship.

The red and white flag that looks like a Malaysian flag is not the "Jalur Gemilang" (translated: "Stripes of Glory"). It's the Old Glory, the US Stars n' Stripes.

btw, which of Tioman's beaches did u see Salvor at? Was the water nice? Beach was crowded or sparse? I've never been to Tioman as I don't fancy the long boat ride.

fudgester SG

I was staying at Paya Beach, but for the snorkelling trip I spotted the ship somewhere further north. I'd say it was between the Paya and Tekek beaches.

The water's clear, and while snorkelling I could clearly see the underwater corals. The beaches weren't crowded, for it's not the holiday season.

So that was a US ship that I saw? They're having joint exercises with the RMN or something?

calvin2224 SG

The USS Enterprise was off Trengganu on CARAT with the RMN, that’s why.

fudgester SG

Hmm... ok.

Anyway, that shadow behind the front tip of the ship is actually a support ship. A refueling vessel maybe, but I'm not too sure.

My boat actually passed around the other side of the ship on our way back. Unfortunately, my dumbass digicam chose to malfunction at that point in time. As a result, I couldn't shoot a pic of the support vessel.

Dang. Evil or Very Mad