An american aircraft carrier is on a mission for months with about 5,000 US US sailors on board. It is very vulnerable and therefore there is a high probability of someone dying on board.
The famous flight deck where planes take off and land is also used for funeral ceremonies when someone dies on board. What happens when someone dies in the middle of the sea and why is the burial carried out at sea and not on land? US Navy Burial at sea.
In a scenario where the deceased has to be taken to land while the aircraft carrier is on deployment, the body is placed in a body bag and stored in a freezer known to sailors as a reefer. This storing procedure is to preserve the body until the deceased can be transferred to a morgue. The naval term for transferring a dead body to land is called Personnel Transfer. Unless the vessel is at war or engaged in a battle, the deceased can be Pers-Trans’d to a medical examiner in a couple of days. Otherwise, the body might be preserved for weeks, sometimes months. However, if there is no request to deliver the body to land, the sailor is buried at sea.
There is a standard procedure for a disposition at sea. Everyone attending the funeral must be appropriately dressed in the Uniform of the Day. The adjutant, also known as the Officer of the Deck, announces “All hands bury the dead” to the members of the ship. If possible, the ship is brought to a stop. All colors of flags aboard the ship are then brought to half-mast.
Source: Youtube NAVY Productions
