submarine tenders (AS), and SIMAs are shore IMAs.
SIMAs are an outgrowth of the Atlantic Fleet’s Fleet
Maintenance Assistance Group (FMAG) and the Pacific
Fleet’s Development and Training Center (DATC). For
convenience, we will refer mostly to IMAs in this
section, but the information will normally refer to both
IMAs and SIMAs.
While each type of IMA has its special purpose, all
of them have many characteristics and facilities in
common that make them suitable for general repair
work on most ships. Repair ships and tenders perform
battle and operational damage repairs on ships in the
forward areas, and they provide logistic support to ships
of the fleet. They also can provide other services,
including medical and dental treatment, for the ships
they tend. Their shops can handle hull, machinery,
electrical, and ordnance work and they stock parts to
help them deal with most of the repairs they perform.
Ships are assigned to IMAs with a flexible approach that
considers unusual repair requirements and operational
commitments, particularly for ships outside the
continental United States.
Ships are scheduled for regular IMA availabilities
or upkeep periods at certain intervals of time that vary
with different types of ships. The availability periods are
usually planned in advance and they depend upon the
quarterly employment schedule of each ship.
A ship’s commanding officer sends a request for an
IMA availability with a forwarding letter to the TYCOM
or his representative. The request must include job
sequence numbers (JSNs) for work requests in the
Current Ship’s Maintenance Project (CSMP) and a
listing of TYCOM master job catalogue work items.
A reviewing officer with TYCOM will review the
request and make any necessary corrections to conform
to established policies and procedures. Most of the
ship’s work list items will be approved, but the ship may
have to furnish more detailed information on certain
work requests. The reviewing officer will forward the
approved ship’s work requests to the appropriate IMA.
He does this well in advance of the period of availability
so the IMA repair department personnel can prepare for
the work. You should know something about these
personnel before you learn about the arrival conference,
the shops, and the ship maintenance procedures, so we
will discuss them in the following pages.
REPAIR PERSONNEL
Standard Organization and Regulations of the U.S.
Navy, OPNAVINST 3120.32, contains general
information about the relative positions and
responsibilities of IMA departments. Also, TYCOMs
issue standard ship organizations for their type that
describe the organization for every routine function
and most emergency conditions that can exist aboard
ship.
The IMA’s commanding officer is assisted by the
executive officer who also acts as the CO’s direct
representative. The XO is responsible for the daily
functions that affect the IMA as a whole and he
coordinates the activities of the IMA’s departments and
divisions. The following pages explain the roles of the
repair officer, the assistant repair officer, the repair
division officers, the diving and salvage officer, the gas
free engineer, and enlisted personnel.
Repair Officer
The repair officer is head of the repair department
on an IMA. He oversees the upkeep, operation, and
maintenance of the equipment assigned to the repair
department, and the training, direction and coordination
of its personnel. He keeps up with production and
ensures efficient and economical operation of the
production process.
Assistant Repair Officer
The assistant repair officer assumes the repair
officer’s responsibilities in his absence and carries out
responsibilities the repair officer delegates. This officer
usually handles the internal administration of the
department and specifically keeps progress records on
all work.
Division Officers
The division officers have both administrative and
production responsibilities for the actual work that is
done in shops under their supervision. Their
administrative responsibility is in the administration of
personnel in their respective divisions, including the
assignment of berths and watches, and all training and
training records. Their production responsibilities
include oversight of all work requests and review of
progress, requisitions for material, proper operation of
division shops for which they are responsible, safety,
and progress reports to the repair officer.
Diving and Salvage Officer
The position of diving and salvage officer may be a
separate assignment or a collateral duty for an officer in
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