breakaway necessary. The order for an emergency breakaway may be given by the commanding officer of either the receiving ship or the delivery ship. Para- mount in ordering an emergency breakaway is the allowance of sufficient time for the ships to discon- nect the rigs in an orderly manner. Fueling rigs are subject to severe damage if not properly released at the breakaway signal, and serious injury to personnel could occur. All emergency breakaway may be accomplished smoothly, rapidly, and safely if personnel at the sta- tion know how and what to do first. V-4 personnel on the refueling sponson should do the following: 1. After the tanker has stopped pumping, close the filling connection gate valve. 2. Clear the area. Below decks personnel will secure the system as normal. SETTLING AND STRIPPING The storage period between receipt of JP-5 on board and delivery to an embarked aircraft is a vital link in the cleaning process required. This settling period, in addition to proper stripping, also will take the load off the other cleaning processes in the system. Therefore, it is extremely important for fuel handlers to be familiar with the settling and stripping proce- dures aboard aircraft carriers. Settling Period Use settling to the maximum degree possible to separate solids and water from fuel. The settling time for JP-5 is 3 hours per foot of product height. To obtain the maximum settling time for JP-5 tanks, the following operating procedures should be followed: 1. NEVER purify JP-5 into an IN USE service tank. 2. Completely empty the in use service tank before taking suction on another service tank. 3. Avoid agitating settled tanks by minimizing the transfer of JP-5 to consolidate the fuel load or to correct the list or trim of the ship. This can be prevented by following the proper emptying sequence and by taking suction from an equal number of port and starboard tanks simultaneously when transferring during normal operations. 4. Coordinate the replenishment date so there is always enough JP-5 on board to top off all service tanks before receiving JP-5 aboard. 5. When transferring JP-5 from storage to service tanks, the tank emptying sequence for any nest of tanks should be scheduled to empty the overflow tanks first, the slack tanks (if any) next, and the tanks that have had the longest settling time last. Rotate the tank-emptying sequence between the different nests of tanks so all tanks are used and not just those that are most convenient to the pump-room operator. Stripping Schedule Serious contamination of JP-5 has occurred on several aircraft carriers, resulting in the loss of aircraft worth millions of dollars and, in some instances, loss of human life. All of this could have been avoided if WATER and SOLIDS in the fuel had not been al- lowed to reach the aircraft fuel cells. This useless waste was caused mostly by im- proper use of the equipment, a lack of understanding of the need for stripping, and in some cases a complete disregard of the stripping equipment and procedure. Therefore, it is imperative that the following stripping schedule and procedure be complied with. Strip the storage tanks with the motor-driven stripping pumps at the following times: 1. Before receipt 2. The day after receiving JP-5 aboard. 3. Weekly thereafter, as applicable 4. The day before purifying into service tanks 5. Immediately before purifying into service tanks Strip the service tanks with the hand-operated stripping pumps at the following times: 1. Daily 2. Just before use 3. Weekly (in port) Stripping Procedure Before any transfer operation, the JP-5 storage tanks concerned must be stripped of all water and sludge by using the motor-driven stripping system. 4-67