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