The Official Newsletter for the Divers and Salvors of the United States NavyVolume 5, No. 3 / March 2001

From the Supervisor of Diving ...................... 1In Memory of Eric Glaubitz ............................ 2Pacific Reach ................................................. 3A Day in the Life of an Experimental Diver ... 4USS COLE ...................................................... 5Turbo Patriot .................................................. 9USS LAMOURE COUNTY ............................ 10

In This Issue

From theSupervisor of Diving

CAPT Chris Murray

(continued on page 2)

Operation Determ

ined Response

USS COLE see page 5

ADS pilot Russ DeMille preparing for a dive as the ADScrew moves the suit to the water. See Page 3.

This issue of FacePlate containsarticles discussing the salvageresponse to two very seriousoccurrences, the grounding of theUSS La MOURE COUNTY off thecoast of Chile, and the terroristattack on the USS COLE in Aden,Yemen. The salvage response toboth incidents was outstanding. Inboth cases the response was rapidand professional and a realtestimonial to the readiness of andthe need for our salvage Navy.There is a lot going on with Navydiving as we progress with newequipment and procedures. SDVTeam One is currently conductingfield evaluation tests on a divecomputer, NEDU is looking at coldwater regulators to offer analternative to Poseidon, 1.3 ppO2trials are ongoing for the MK 16, areplacement chamber for thealuminum FADS II chambers isunder construction, and warmwater research continues at NEDU.These are but a few of the issuesbeing worked for Navy diving.

Dive Manual Revision 4, Change AWe expect to have Change A toRevision 4 of the Dive Manual outon CD in April 2001and the hardcopy out in May. An AIG will bereleased that will highlight thechanges and give the effective date(upon receipt) and mandatory usedate (approximately 90 days afterreceipt). The changes include arewrite of Chapter 14, SurfaceSupplied Mixed Gas DivingOperations, warm water divingguidance, chamber air volumerequirements, SCUBA airrequirements, and numerous otherchanges that will be outlined in thechange.

USS MONITOR Expedition 2001The USS MONITOR expeditiongives the Navy an excellentopportunity to perform operational

Command in the Spotlight ............................ 11Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center .. 13Consolidated Divers Unit, San Diego, CA. .. 14MK 25 ........................................................... 17PMS Corner ................................................. 19S EALAB Reunion.......................................... 22The Old Master ........................................... 23

CDR Bobbie Scholley and CWO3 Frank Perna discussDive Ops on the deck of USS COLE. See Page 11

2 March 2001

FACEPLATE is published by the Super-visor of Salvage and Diving to bring thelatest and most informative news avail-able to the Navy diving and salvage com-munity. Discussions or illustrations ofcommercial products do not imply en-dorsement by the Supervisor of Salvageand Diving or the U.S. Navy.

Articles, letters, queries and commentsshould be directed to the Commander,Naval Sea Systems Command, NAVSEA00C, 2531 Jefferson Davis Highway,Arlington, VA 22242-5160. (Attn:FACEPLATE). Visit our website athttp://www.navsea.navy.mil/sea00c.

Captain Bert Marsh, USNDirector of Ocean Engineering

Supervisor of Salvage and DivingNAVSEA 00C

marshb@navsea.navy.mil

Jim BladhManaging Editor

Head, Operations Branch, 00C22bladhjc@navsea.navy.mil

HTCM (MDV) Chuck Young, USNENCM (MDV) Dave Davidson, USN

Fleet Liaison Editorsyoungch@navsea.navy.mil

davidsondl@navsea.navy.mil

F. Scott LassiterGraphic Designer

slassiter@roh-inc.com

(continued from page 1)From the Supervisor of DivingFrom the Supervisor of DivingFrom the Supervisor of DivingFrom the Supervisor of DivingFrom the Supervisor of DivingSurface Supplied Mixed Gas Divingunder some pretty arduousconditions. This year we also arelooking at the use of SaturationDiving as a proof of concept using acivilian SAT system. Mobile Divingand Salvage Unit Two will again beheading up this year’s mission withMDSU One providing a detachmentfor the operation. LOGRON Two willbe providing one and possibly twoARSs to this Summer’s expedition. Thecurrent plan has the USS Grapplesupporting diving in the April- Maytimeframe, a derrick barge for June

and July possibly followed by anotherARS in August.

MDV/CWO Conference 2-4 May 2001This year’s MDV/CWO conference willbe on Panama City, Florida from 2-4May. The conference will be held atNDSTC. For further information refer toAIG 01-02 or our 00C website atwww.supsalv.org.

Drager Dive SorbWe are in the process of approvingDrager Dive Sorb as a substitute forSodaSorb and Sofnolime. This will be

authorized for all diving and forchamber use as well.

Cochran NAVY DecompressionComputerSDV Team One is currently conductinga fleet evaluation for a dive computerfor SEAL use. The evaluation periodcompletes 1 August. After successfulfleet evaluation of the Cochran NAVYDecompression Computer, it will beauthorized for SEAL use. Furtherevaluation will precede use by fleetscuba divers and ship husbandrydivers.

On 17 February 2001, we lost a key mem-

ber of the SUPSALV team.Eric Glaubitz, the ESSMsalvage equipment lifecycle manager died aftersuffering a stroke. Ericwas a true “friend” of thefleet salvor. His influencecan be found in salvageholds and the ESSM sys-tem. He was instrumentalin designing and upgrad-ing all of the fleet’s yellowgear, and was an experton the Almon Johnsonautomatic towing ma-chine. When you rigbeach gear, you can thankEric for introducing thehydraulic pullers into theinventory, replacing thecumbersome and dangerous purchasesystem. He was always ready to helpsolve problems and work with salvorsin maintaining and repairing their equip-ment. Within the SUPSALV organiza-tion, Eric was one of our most versatileengineers. Regardless of the task, healways willingly attacked problems withenthusiasm and completed them in themost professional manner.

Although his job was not an “op-erational billet”, Eric was often calledupon to assist in salvage and pollutionoperations. He was the first SUPSALVrepresentative to arrive in Valdez, for thebig oil spill. He assisted in the CHAL-LENGER, TWA 800 and many other sal-vage operations.We will truly miss Eric.

Eric Glaubitz

March 2001 3

The Deep Submergence Unit, Stolt Offshore and NAVSEA 00C team.

(Continued on page 22)

By: LCDR Peter LeHardy

During the first two weeks of October2000, the U.S. Navy’s Deep Submer-

gence Unit (DSU) took part in a multi-na-tional submarine rescue exercise nearSingapore. This exercise, named PACIFICREACH 2000, was hosted by theSingapore Navy and involved the UnitedStates, Singapore, Japan, and South Ko-rea. During the exercise, three separatesubmarine rescue capabilities were usedon four different submarines. The subma-rines CONQUEROR (Singapore),AKISHIO (Japan), CHOI MOO SUN(South Korea), and USS HELENA (UnitedStates) were each “rescued” by three dif-ferent submarine rescue platforms. Theplatforms were from Japan, South Koreaand a United States/Singapore collabora-tion. For the United States, DSU deployedthe Submarine Rescue Chamber (SRC) andan Atmospheric Diving System (ADS) onthe Motor Vessel Kendrick, a Republic ofSingapore Navy leased vessel of opportu-nity.

The SRC is a one atmosphere cham-ber that “pulls” itself to a downed subma-rine using a down-haul cable that is at-tached to the sub’s escape hatch. Sinceits first dive in the 1930’s, the system hasused either surface supplied air or mixedgas divers to connect the down-haulcable. This method limits the SRC operat-ing depth to the max depth of the divers(currently 300 feet). To extend the operat-ing depth of the SRC and reduce the needfor dangerous air and mixed gas dives, theU.S. Navy recently purchased an ADS.Using this system, Navy ADS pilots candescend to depths of 2000 feet while work-ing in an environment that is pressured toone atmosphere. The pilot can connectthe SRC down-haul cable at a greaterdepth than surface supplied divers with-out the need for time consuming and dan-gerous decompression dives.

At the time of the exercise, the U.S.Navy’s ADS had not been certified for useas an element of DSU’s submarine rescueprogram. To overcome this and still com-plete the exercise, DSU requested assis-tance from a contractor operated ADS. Onthis request, the NAVSEA 00C officetasked its diving services contractor tosubcontract Stolt Offshore’s Hard Suitsystems to provide ADS support for Pa-cific Reach 2000. Prior to this exercise,ADS technology had not been used tosupport the SRC in submarine rescue op-erations.

In preparation for Pacific Reach 2000,the ADS units were transported from Loui-siana to Singapore and loaded aboard theM/V Kendrick. Also aboard this vesselwas the SRC, operated by members ofDSU. With the SRC and the ADS onboard,the M/V Kendrick was transformed into astand alone submarine rescue platform.

Each submarine in Pacific Reach 2000required a unique fitting to allow the ADSto attach the SRC cable. The Japanese

submarine required a “split speltersocket,” the South Korean sub needed a“Maryland socket” and the Singaporesubmarine called for a standard SRC hook.Each of these fittings had to be slightlymodified so that the ADS manipulatorscould operate the fittings.

During the underway period, theADS was used extensively throughoutthree separate series of submarine rescuedrills with each submarine. Operating 200nautical miles north east of Singapore, inabout 270 feet of water, the Kendrick beganthe first series of SRC operations on theJapanese AKISHIO. After two days ofsuccessful drills, the Singapore submarineCONQUEROR moved in and conducteddrills with the Kendrick. The final series ofrescue drills were conducted between theKendrick’s SRC/ADS team and the SouthKorean CHOI MOO SUN. During eachseries, the ADS located the downed sub-marine and attached the SRC down-haulcable to the sub’s escape hatch. The SRCthen traveled down this cable and mated

4 March 2001

With a mission statement that reads “test and evaluate diving and

hyperbaric life support systems and pro-cedures, and conduct biomedical researchand development,” one could certainly

wonder just what goes on at the Navy Ex-perimental Diving Unit (NEDU), PanamaCity, FL. It certainly sounded high-speed/low-drag and the place to be for the latestdevelopments in diving technology whenI received my orders. I quickly found outthat the truly unique part of the job wasthat you would be subjected to humantesting and would probably be poked andprodded more than you would like to dis-cuss. After all, the mission also required“assignment as an experimental humantest subject with a high risk of decompres-sion sickness or oxygen toxicity.”

There are probably multitudes of ru-mors and perceptions that surface whenyou tell someone you are an experimentaldiver. To shed some light on what reallygoes on, I conducted an interview withone of the first class/saturation divers atNEDU. BM1 (DV) Troy A. Larck was the“guinea pig” for this study. He is theLeading Petty Officer of the Life SupportDivision in the Engineering Department.On board for just six months, he has al-

By: LT Tim Liberatore

ready plunged headfirst into some of ourmost demanding protocols like the WarmWater Diving study and the MK16 1.3ATA PO2 table validations. In addition hehas completed qualification as Chamber

Support Operator(CSO), a critical OceanSimulation Facility(OSF) watch station pri-marily responsible tothe Dive Watch Super-visor for compression,decompression, anddepth control of theOSF chamber. The Life SupportDivision’s primary re-sponsibility is maintain-ing the operationalreadiness of the OSF.The OSF is the world’slargest, most complex,man-rated, hyperbaric

diving system which is capable of simulat-ing depths to 2,250 FSW and able to sus-tain extended duration saturation divingfor 10 divers. It is truly the centerpiece ofthe command and is three stories tall with acommand/control room and data acquisi-tion room rivaled only by NASA’s missioncontrol in Houston.

Now on with the interview:

LT: What were your expectations ofNEDU coming from SubDevRon-5 DetDiving?

BM1: I expected NEDU to be like anyother shore-based command, good divingand flexible working hours. I received mywelcome aboard package and was sur-prised to see how large their mission state-ment was. I knew that I would be asked toparticipate in human testing, but the mis-sion statement also included a lot of equip-ment testing. The rest didn’t really con-cern me. I certainly wasn’t expecting theprotocols at NEDU to be comprised of

mostly human experimentation.

LT: What’s a typical diving day like atNEDU?

BM1: That depends upon the diving pro-tocol being conducted. We dive in ourtest pool or in the OSF. Some experimentsare even done in our recompression treat-ment chamber. The most demanding div-ing days so far have been the “Hot” Wa-ter Study being conducted for SpecWarand Fleet Diving. Each test subject divesat most twice a week in the test pool. Thenight prior to the dive you eat an MRE be-fore going to bed and make sure you hy-drate until you’re pretty well bloated. Youalso have to take a urine specimen bottlehome with you. This is for you to fill inthe morning. Upon waking you are notsupposed to eat or drink anything untilyou get to work where they (the vampires)take 4 vials of blood. The diving side willbe briefed and then it’s time for you to getsuited up. You eat another MRE and drinkuntil you’re bloated.

Next is the morning weigh-in prior toinstrumentation. Upon completing thatritual you move on to installing a coretemp monitor in your rectum and an exter-nal catheter, nicely equipped with a handyurine bag and tube. ECG (electrocardio-gram) monitors are the next thing put onyou, consisting of four leads on yourchest and a 2-pound transmitter bagaround your shoulder. Weigh-in againfully instrumented.

The water temperature is varied from90 to 99 degrees F. Depending on the dayyou could then put on a dive skin, drysuit or just shorts. The diving rig is theAqua-Lung OXY/LUNG UBA, which is aclosed circuit 100% oxygen rebreather.Your time in the water is set at a max of 4hours and of course you are exercisingthe entire time riding a prone position cycleergometer. And yes, they do monitor yourRPMs and work rate. Music is played un-

(continued on page 8)

BM1 Larck in drysuit with OXY/LUNG

March 2001 5

By: CWO3 Frank Perna

MDSU 2 Det Alpha Lends a Hand to AWounded Warrior

USS Cole sits ready to begin her long journey home aboard the Blue Marlin.

(continued on page 6)

On 12 October 2000, USS COLE (DDG67) was refueling in the port of Aden,

Yemen when the ship was attacked by ter-rorists. A small boat packed with explo-sives was detonated along the portside ofthe ship killing 17 sailors, wounding 39,and ripping a hole approximately 40’ by40’ in the hull.

Mobile Diving and Salvage UnitTWO (MDSU-2) Detachment Alpha wasin Bari, Italy on a six-month deploymentaboard the USNS Mohawk (T-ATF 170) asthe ready diving and salvage team. Newsof the bombing spread fast and the divingdetachment was placed in standby. On 13October 2000, Detachment Alpha receivedorders from COMSIXTHFLT to deploy im-mediately to Aden, Yemen. Our taskswere to locate the missing sailors, assistwith stabilizing the ship, recover evidence,and perform structural inspections. Closeto 100 investigators, diving and salvageexperts, engineers, and support teamsmade up the Crisis Response Team.

On 14 October, twelve members ofDetachment Alpha touched down at theairport in Aden, 22 hrs after receiving or-ders to deploy. Armed soldiers and mili-tary police surrounded the plane and twovehicle-mounted fifty-calibermachineguns were pointed in our direc-tion. CDR Keenan and LCDR Longgreeted us. CDR Keenan, Officer inCharge of Ship Repair Unit, Bahrain,headed all of the salvage operations sur-rounding the Cole. The two officers hadalready performed a quick damage assess-ment on the COLE’s hull. CDR BobbieScholley, Prospective Commanding Officerof MDSU 2, arrived later with senior engi-neers from SIMA, Norfolk and NorfolkNaval Shipyard workers. After our pass-ports were checked and dive systems x-

rayed and inspected, our equipment wasloaded onto transport trucks. Soldiersmixed among us on the small and crampedbuses that took us on our way. Before ar-riving at the ship, we passed throughthree Yemeni checkpoints and a U.S.checkpoint protecting access to thestricken COLE.ENCS (MDV) Lyle Becker, BMC (DV)David Hunter and I boarded the Cole. Ourfirst glimpse of the ship that night will beforever fixed in our minds.

The ship was blackened by the ex-plosion, listing slightly to port, and with-out electrical power. Our first objectivewas to determine which locations tosearch, identify a centralized location tosetup dive station and determine how tosafely enter those spaces.

The crew of the USS COLE had per-formed super human feats under arduous

conditions since the attack, but on 15 Oc-tober, they were unable to stop the flood-ing into Main Engineroom-2 (ME-2), theonly remaining operational engine room.As several divers investigated the causefor ME-2 flooding, the rest of the diveteam setup the Light Weight Dive System(LWDS) on the 01 level, portside betweenthe forward and aft stacks. The report onthe flooding: AMR-2 was completelyflooded, and flooding was progressinginto ME-2 through a ruptured bulkheadshaft seal on the starboard side. Measure-ments taken of the port bulkhead shaft-seal provided us with the dimensionsneeded to construct a rope seal from 3-inch Sampson braid line. All normal ac-cesses to the engine and machinery roomswere impassable. The dive team routed theMK 21 helmets and umbilicals throughAMR-2 escape trunk hatch on the 03-level.

OPERATION DETERMINED RESPONCE

6 March 2001

EN2 (DV) Mike Shields routing umbilicals through the engine room vent duct.

The divers were equipped with Divers Un-derwater Camera Television System(DUCTS) and Divers Helmet MountedLighting System (DHMLS). EmergencyGas Supply (EGS) with a 150-foot whipwas used instead of man-carried bottles toreduce the diver’s profile in the water.This allowed them to reach all areas of theengineering spaces. For added protectionagainst chafing and cuts, the umbilicalswere wrapped inside 2 ½-inch fire hoses.We monitored the divers’ fatigue and hy-dration levels very closely. Air tempera-tures of 100-110 degrees kept water tem-peratures around 90 degrees and wet suitswere worn to protect the divers.

HT2 (DV) Bret Husbeck and EN2(DV) Mike Shields located the rupturedshaft seal very quickly and installed thetemporary rope seal. A layer of electricalputty filled in small crevices and effec-tively stopped all flooding into ME-2. In-spection of AMR-2 revealed no visiblebreeches in the hull or bulkheads. All ac-cesses into the space were intact and pro-vided a satisfactory flooding boundary.At this time, it was felt that a tear in thehull had opened into AMR-2, but thedivers were unable to locate it due to thelayout of the compartment.

On 16 October, The COLE’s dieselgenerator stopped running, and due to arupture in the starting air piping systemthe ship’s engineers could not rechargethe high-pressure air flasks. The Engi-neering Officer requested that divers locateand secure the Diesel Air Starting Valve(AHP-V-67) in Supply Store Room No.1, inorder to isolate the damaged section andreroute air to the flasks. ETC (DV) TerryBreaux and IS3 (DV) Greg Sutherlandfound entering the spaceeasy, but had a very dif-ficult time navigatingthrough the wrecked andflooded supply spaces.The portside and for-ward bulkheads wereblown inward, all non-water tight doors hadbroken from their hinges,filing cabinets lay scat-tered across the deck,and visibility was re-duced to less than 3inches.

While the diverswere searching for the airvalve, plumb and drainvalve (WD-V-342) was

also located and closed. With thesevalves secured and the damaged pipingsystems isolated, the inspection of thesupply spaces continued. A tear in thehull near the port forward corner of thesupply storeroom was located accountingfor the flooding of the space.

With the ship’s immediate stabilityconcerns met, the next underwater taskwas to inspect the blast area, gain accessinto ME-1 and search the surroundingworkshops. These were the last known lo-cations of the missing COLE sailors. Thediver’s staging area was moved to a smallboat positioned just aft of the blast hole,and divers were required to climb down apilot’s ladder from the 01-level and “hatup” in the boat before entering the water.

The blast area was nothing less thandevastating; noticeable to the world wasthe immense opening in the hull. Themost disturbing sight was the extensivedamage inside the ship. The blast from theexplosion had torn 30-35 feet into the cen-ter of the ship. The width of the exteriorbreech was approximately 70 feet and in-volved 3 decks. Half-inch steel bulkheadshad shredded and vertical and horizontalstructural supports had snapped from theforce of the blast. Work spaces closest tothe explosion no longer existed. Thosespaces that escaped total demolition wereunrecognizable. In their place was atangled mess of broken equipment, piping,and wires.

STG2 (SW/DV) Donald Schappert is tended by EN2 (DV) MikeShields in the main engine room.

(USS COLE continued from page 5)

(continued on page 7)

March 2001 7

HMC (DV) Don Adams and GM3(DV) Sean Baker entered the blast areafrom outside the skin of the ship. Theyplaced a large rubber mat over the en-trance of the blast-hole to protect them-selves and the diving equipment from theknife-like metal plating. As they madetheir way around the blast area, their um-bilicals fouled every few feet despite allefforts by additional tenders and divers.Very slowly and carefully, the divers in-spected every inch of the blast area look-ing for signs of the missing sailors andany evidence of the explosive device. TheFBI was keenly interested in anything thatmight help their investigation to identifythe terrorists or the composition of thebomb.

All attempts to enter ME-1 and theReverse Osmosis (RO) Shop werethwarted by a tangled mass of impen-etrable debris. At our request, NorfolkNaval Shipyard (NNSY) workers cut awaya section of decking, allowing us to con-tinue our search and recover one of themissing sailors.

It had become apparent that thedivers could not gain access to ME-1 fromoutside the ship or any of the normal ac-cesses. We decided the best way to enterME-1 was from the engine room vent ductwithin the intake/uptake compartment.This was not an easy task, as the floodedwalkway of the upper level of ME-1 wastwo decks down, and the vent duct didnot offer us a safe way down. Heavy fuelvapors coming from the engine room over-whelmed the team; fuel tanks had rupturedspilling a large amount of fuel into the wa-ter. Free communication from the engineroom to the sea allowed a “washout” ofthe space and lessened the heavy con-centration of fuel in the water. Severalmeasures had to take place before diverscould attempt an entrance into ME-1. Nor-folk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) provided gasfree services, certifying the space free ofan explosive atmosphere, and provided in-terior lighting to illuminate the upperspaces. Space ventilation was set up us-ing RAMFAN, a water driven blower topull the fumes out of the engine room.Without any significant reduction in fuelvapors, the diving tenders wore Self-Con-

tained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) tosafely tend the divers from within the engi-neering space. As a preventative measureand for ease of mind, several AFFF con-tainers were emptied into the floodedspace. Wooden ladders were constructedfor each deck within the ventilation ductto ME-1 upper level walk way.

On 17 October, I entered ME-1 alongwith BM2 (DV) Mike Allison. The smallsize of the ventilation duct forced us toclimb down without our MK 21 helmets onand to “hat up” on the walkway withinME-1. Even though we were very familiarwith the engine room layout, engineersfrom the USS COLE and USS DONALDCOOK guided us as they observed ourprogress on the DUCTS television. As wemoved through the water column, wecould feel the change in densities betweenfuel and water. Metal shavings sparkled asour underwater lights scanned the engineroom. Diving in this enclosed space wasextremely dangerous. Sheared bulkheads,buckled decks, broken pipes and wires cre-ated an immense “spider web” of destruc-tion. Everything fouled our umbilicals.Pieces of broken equipment fell from theoverhead as we disturbed their delicatebalance.

We located and recovered three moreof the missing sailors. Additional dives inME-1 on 18 October by HT2 (DV) BretHusbeck and GM2 (DV) Roger Ziliakbrought up large amounts of personalitems. All attempts to shut a 10-inch fuel

oil transfer valve (FO-V-53) went unsuc-cessful due to a large expansion tankblocking operation of the valve.

On 19 October, the dive team wasable to assist the FBI more directly bysearching the ship’s compartments thattheir agents had deemed too dangerous toenter. At this point, the team safely lo-cated and recovered two more sailors.All of the missing Cole sailors were recov-ered and were given full military honors asthey were escorted off the ship to begintheir long journey home.

With the recovery phase completed,the dive team began preparing for themany inspection dives. Naval engineersneeded to determine how much of theCOLE’s structural strength was lost and ifthe ship would be able to handle the dock-ing evolution without the need for addi-tional strengthening. From 20 October to24 October, detailed structural and damageinformation in ME-1, AMR-2, SupplyStorerooms and hull plating was providedand documented. Of particular importancewere the vertical stanchions and I-beamsupports, each inspected for deformationand signs of weld cracking. Measure-ments taken of the blast hole were drawnon a graph to show the shape and size ofthe blast hole (location, direction andnumber of cracks that radiated out). Thedivers then drilled holes at the end of eachcrack to prevent them from increasing insize and further weakening the hull.

To ensure the keel had remained

IS3 (DV) GregSutherlandprepares to divein the mainengine room.

(USS COLE continued from page 6)

(continued on page 8)

8 March 2001

straight and undamaged, keel deflectionmeasurements were taken at twenty-footintervals. A Kevlar line (360 feet long)connected between forward and aft Tugitswas stretched the length of the keel. Twowire rope bridals fastened at the sonardome and the inboard propeller riggingtunnel held the Tugits in place. Approxi-mately 3 tons of tension applied to theKevlar line made it taut. Divers then mea-sured the distance between the line andthe keel. With slight sag calculated intothe measurements, the keel had remainedundamaged.

The Blue Marlin, a 700-foot-longNorwegian heavy lift transport ship, re-ceived the contract to lift and transportCole back to the United States. To accom-modate the COLE, Blue Marlin was fittedwith docking blocks with two large guide-posts to maintain COLE in the proper posi-tion over the blocks. For stability, the keelblocks were shortened and two largeholes were cut into the deck allowing thepropellers to drop below the main deck ofthe transport ship. The Cole was posi-tioned 19 degrees off center on the deckso the sonar dome could hang over theside of Blue Marlin’s deck.

USNS Catawba (T ATF 168) towedCole out of the harbor on October 29 to

deeper waters, approximately 23 miles offthe coast of Yemen. Loading Cole ontoBlue Marlin required a depth of at least 75feet and calm seas. The transport ship par-tially submerged as COLE was maneu-vered by tugs into position over BlueMarlin’s deck. Three SCUBA dive teamsguided the damaged destroyer as the BlueMarlin raised up in the water to meet theship. The forward dive team reported onthe sonar dome’s position and forwardkeel block, while two aft dive teams re-ported on the propellers as they enteredthe cut outs, the aft keel block and portand starboard side blocks. The entiredocking evolution took almost 24 hours tocomplete. Blue Marlin with the COLE se-curely held on its deck made the transitback to the United States. The COLE willundergo extensive repairs at Ingalls Ship-building and Drydock Co. in Pascagoula,Mississippi.

Salvage and recovery operations arealways a team effort. No one person canaccomplish them alone. I was grateful tohave such fine and experienced diving andsalvage officers as CDR Keenan, CDRScholley and LCDR Long on the side.They provided invaluable guidance andcommon sense. I am indebted to and ex-tremely proud of the divers in Detachment

Alpha who made it all possible. The re-covery of fallen shipmates was difficultand mentally exhausting, as were thetreacherous dives performed withinCOLE’s flooded and damaged compart-ments. Thirty-seven dives were con-ducted with over 76 hours of bottom time.Besides the diving, these divers with their“can-do-attitudes” assisted the salvageefforts in many other ways. They helpedto get the diesel generator back online, re-routed the ship’s starting air system, setupand operated emergency dewateringequipment, and provided air rechargingservice to the FBI and EOD divers.

The following U.S. Navy Deep SeaDivers performed these heroic efforts:ENCS (MDV/SG) Becker, BMC (SW/DV)Hunter, ETC (SG/DV) Breaux, HMC (DV)Adams, HT2 (DV) Husbeck, GM2 (SS/DV)Ziliak , STG2 (SW/DV) Schappert, IS3(DV) Sutherland, EN2 (DV) Shields, BM2(DV) Allison, GM3 (DV) Baker.

CWO3 Frank Perna is the Officer In Chargeof Detachment Alpha, Mobile Diving andSalvage Unit TWO, homeported in LittleCreek, Virginia. Prior to beginning his tourat MDSU-TWO, CWO3 Perna completed atour as Master Diver at SIMA Dive Locker,Naval Station, Norfolk, Virginia.

derwater and hopefully you are with threeother guys that like the same music. I hateclassic rock - heard all the songs a milliontimes. Every hour you are given a manualdexterity test and a comprehension test(called SINDBAD for System of Investiga-tion of Navy Diver’s Behavior at Depth)while still trying to pedal. You can comeout any time you want to but they wouldprefer if you maxed your body out. Thedata collected is what is important. Thedive will be aborted if your core tempreaches 104.9 oF or if you are above 104 oFfor 5 minutes. It happened to me and itwasn’t pleasant.

The dive day is not over yet though.After getting out of the water, you givefour more vials of blood and try to hydrate

again. Then the SOF(Special OperationsForces) Mission RelatedPerformance Measurestesting begins. This testconsists of a timed M-4carbine (a shorty M-16)disassembly and assem-bly, hand grip strengthtests till muscle failure,running steps with a 44-lb weighted ruck-sack for1 minute, max pull-ups,M-4 target shooting with50 pop-up targets, andfinally a comprehensionbattery on a laptop com-puter. This had better

(continued on page 16)

(A Day in the life of an Experimental Diver continued from page 4)

BM1 Larck installing new EBA system at OSF ManualOperating Panel

(USS COLE continued from page 7)

March 2001 9

By: LT Mike Teates

Members of Underwater ConstructionTeam ONE and TWO recently com-

pleted Exercise TURBO PATRIOT ’00 inCamp Pendleton, California. TURBO PA-TRIOT was a Joint Logistics Over theShore (JLOTS) exercise conducted in Sep-tember 2000 by the United States Trans-portation Command.

“Logistics over the shore is the pro-cess of discharging cargo from vesselsanchored off-shore or in the stream, trans-porting it to the shore and/or pier, and mar-shalling it for movement inland. LOTS op-erations are conducted over unimprovedshorelines, through fixed ports not acces-sible to deep draft shipping, and throughfixed ports that are inadequate without us-ing LOTS capabilities.”

The Underwater Construction Teams(UCT) are a key component in the Off-shore Petroleum Discharge System(OPDS) portion of the United StatesJLOTS capabilities and assist in othercomponents of the JLOTS mission by pro-viding hydrographic and sub-sea soilanalysis for the Elevated Causeway Pier,underwater ship husbandry services andunderwater salvage services.

The OPDS is capable of providing1.2 million gallons of fuel a day to forcesashore from a Military Sealift Commandtanker moored up to 4 miles offshore andis installed jointly by the UCTs and theAmphibious Construction Battalion(ACB). The OPDS consists of severalcomponents: a 839-ton barge measuring57' x 150' that when ballasted to the bottombecomes a Single Anchor Leg Moor(SALM), a beach termination unit to re-ceive and distribute fuel upon its arrival onthe beach, a specially configured tankerthat stores and offloads the SALM, OPDSflexible conduit, and several small craft toinstall the system and fuel. The OPDS canbe installed and provide fuel to the beach

in 7 days using 24 hour operations.Prior to the tanker arrival, the UCTs

assist in determining the installation siteby performing a beach, hydrographic, andgeotechnical survey to determine a suit-able location for the SALM and conduitpath. When the tanker arrives it lists 12degrees to discharge the SALM, which istowed into its final position by severalOPDS Utility Boats (OUB). The UCTsconnect the submarine hose and conduitpigtail hoses to the SALM which is thensunk by controlled ballast tank flooding.As the SALM sinks to the bottom the 55-ton main mooring buoy attached to theSALM becomes positively buoyant anddetaches from the SALM. With theSALM on the bottom, the floating hosefrom the tanker is connected to the subma-rine hose and the pigtails are connected tothe main conduit. The main conduit is thenpulled to the beach and connected to thebeach termination unit by the ACB. Thetanker can then use the SALM’s main

mooring buoy as a single point moor. Theconduits are sunk to the bottom and mustbe stabilized and inspected prior to pump-ing fuel ashore. Once the OPDS opera-tion is completed, the process is reversedand the UCTs raise the SALM by floodingthe ballast tanks with air.

Two UCT detachments led by a jointcommand and control element mobilizedone air detachment Table of Allowance(TOA) to Camp Pendleton and establisheda command center in the JLOTS camp. Asmall crew sailed with the MSC Chesa-peake from San Francisco to CampPendleton to prepare the tanker, SALMand install a MK-3 LWDS and a TRCS ona specially configured OUB. Upon thetankers arrival, the SALM was sunk 2miles offshore at a depth of 100 feet. Dueto the depth and the work requirements onthe bottom, both “No decompression”dives and “Surface Decompression usingOxygen” dives were used during theOPDS installation.

(Continued on page 20)

Diagram of Salvage Operations

10 March 2001

By: CWO2 Riendeau

Master Diver Scott Heineman, HTC Mike Lutz, and GM2 Chad Dillon lowering concrete on atrolley line to diver in the water.

A puff of smoke rolls off the tires of anAir Force C-5 Galaxy as it completes

a 12 hour flight from Norfolk, Virginia toAntofagasta, Chile. The oversized cargotransport carries nearly 100 tons of diving,salvage and oil pollution control equip-ment as well as 19 divers from Mobile Div-ing and Salvage Unit TWO. Led byCWO4 Tom Ross and Master Diver ScottHeineman, this team of Navy diversjoined forces with NAVSEA diving and oilpollution control contractors to completeone of the largest peacetime ship salvageoperations in US Naval history.

Eight days earlier, the USS LAMOURE COUNTY (LST 1194), as part of aUNITAS deployment, was conducting aroutine amphibious exercise that wouldlaunch eight Amphibious Assault Ve-hicles (AAV) and send 240 marines ashoreon a remote Chilean beach. The LST, homeported in Norfolk, was making a pre-dawnapproach to the beach when the 522-footship ground to a halt.

Battle stations were quickly mannedas the crew set to work to save their ship.Three repair lockers worked frantically tostabilize buckled decks and frames, as wellas control the flooding of fuel into the for-ward and after troop berthing compart-ments. Meanwhile the ship started tobroach increasing the damage to her portside. The Chilean tug, Galvarino, on sta-tion to support the exercise came alongside and the crews of both ships workedto get the towing hawser passed. Soon,encouraging pops and cracks came fromthe straining synthetic towline and theship began unleashing her grip on therocky bottom. In about 90 minutes the LAMOURE COUNTY was afloat and undertow to anchorage in nearby CinfunchoBay.The ship was not yet out of danger. Al-though stability of the ship was not agreat concern, the risk of structural failure

and additional flooding due to the mas-sive damage to the keel and ship’s bottomwas serious. The remote location mademobilization of salvage forces difficult.The crew spent the next eight days per-fecting their damage control skills whileChilean Navy divers worked tirelessly in-stalling wedges, patches, and underwaterepoxy in the myriad of holes along theship’s hull. Over the course of the comingweeks, the Chilean divers, using justscuba, were able to apply rudimentary ex-terior patches on every hole in the hullexcept the largest hole at the keel.The CINCLANTFLT Salvage Officer,LCDR Jess Riggle, arrived a few daysahead of the MDSU team and began as-sessing damage, formulating a rough sal-vage plan and working with the Chileandivers. The strength of the ship was a bigproblem that was only being made worse

by the severe hogging caused by theflooding of all the forward tanks. Thisflooding left the bow trimmed six feetdeeper than normal. Ultimately the salvageplan focused on three main areas:, oil pol-lution control/prevention, structural re-pairs, and buoyancy restoration. Each areawas important and interrelated. All ac-tions had to be carefully coordinated tosupport the operational commander’s de-sire to offload the Marine AAVs from thetank deck to support follow-on UNITASexercises. Fuel spills and transfer of fueland oily waste were managed by theNAVSEA ESSM contractor, Global PhillipsCartner. Welding and fabrication of mas-sive structural stiffeners were the job ofthe NAVSEA diving contractor, PhoenixInternational. The task of buoyancy resto-ration fell to the divers of MDSU-2, whosefirst assignment would be an intensive un-

(Continued on page 18)

March 2001 11

When Jim Bladh asked me to do anarticle for Command in the Spot-

light, he was expecting me to do one onMobile Diving and Salvage Unit TWO.As proud as I am of this command, Ithought I would take this opportunity tohighlight a different organization. I wantto pay tribute to the many Military Diversinvolved in Operation Determined Re-sponse after the October 2000 bombing ofthe USS COLE in Aden, Yemen. This di-verse group contributed significantly tothe stabilization and protection of theCOLE and assisted in her safe departurefrom the Port of Aden. This operation is asuperb example of the teamwork that Mili-tary Divers are known for.

Operation Determined Response wasexecuted by a Joint Task Force (JTF) madeup of the USS TARAWA AmphibiousReady Group (ARG), several ships fromthe USS GEORGE WASHINGTON BattleGroup, and other organizations. The JTFwas composed of organizations fromCINCPACFLT and CINCLANTFLT. Therewere many different diving organizationsinvolved and assigned missions in almostevery major area of the Operation. In addi-tion to the Mobile Diving and SalvageUnit TWO Detachment Alpha (see articlepage 5), there were Divers from EODMUTWO, THREE, SIX, and ELEVEN,EODMU EIGHT DET Bahrain, SEALs,Marines from 1st Battalion Reconnais-sance, and the Salvage EDOs from CTF 53.Each team of Divers brought unique skillsand equipment to the table and providedsupport to the other teams when needed.

On the day of the bombing of COLE,a small group of EODMU Eleven Diverswere on the scene. This team, includingCDR Holly from COMFIFTHFLEET andENS Ron Zitzman from EODMU 3, was inYemen conducting humanitarian de-min-

ing support. Immediately followingthe bombing, EODMU 8 DET Bahrainand EODMU 6 DET 8 Divers were dis-patched to Aden to assist. The arrivalof the TARAWA ARG broughtEODMU 3 DET 9 with much appreci-ated relief. During the course of theoperation, several of the EOD Officerswere reassigned to the headquartersstaff to assist with force protection,while the rest of the detachments setup SCUBA operations to search forevidence for the FBI’s Evidence Re-covery Team. These teams providedan array of skills that included morethan diving support and that were criti-cal in finding valuable evidence in thewaters surrounding the COLE.

The Salvage Engineering DutyOfficers from CTF 53 arrived on thescene almost immediately after thebombing. With only hours to prepare,CDR Pat Keenan and LCDR MattLong provided the leadership and ex-pertise essential to the success of theoperation. The importance of the workperformed by these two officers can notbe stressed too strongly. After makingSCUBA dives on the damaged area, CDRKeenan and LCDR Long quickly put to-gether an appropriate salvage and stabili-zation plan. Working closely withNAVSEA 00C, they identified the how,who, and what needed to be done to keepthe ship afloat. They provided excellentguidance on how to best search for andrecover the missing crew members. Theywere the Docking Officers responsible forthe precision “at sea” docking of the COLEon BLUE MARLIN. As far as we know,this was the first “at sea” docking of avessel this size and the event went with-out a hitch.

Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit

TWO Detachment Alpha played a keyrole in the stabilization and victim recov-ery efforts aboard USS COLE. As theSixth Fleet Salvage asset, they were thequickest and safest means of getting sur-face supplied divers into the interiorspaces of COLE. CWO4 Frank Perna,ENCS (MDV) Lyle Becker and the rest ofthe detachment (BMC Hunter, HMCAdams, ETC Breaux, HT2 Husbeck, GM2Ziliak, STG2 Schappert, BM2 Allison, EN2Shields, GM3 Baker and IS3 Sutherland)brought a critical mix of talent that madethe operation a success. Not only was theteam experienced in underwater ship hus-bandry, but several of them had recentlybeen stationed at SIMA Norfolk and haddived on COLE or one of her sister ships

(Continued on page 12)

Mobile and Salvage Unit TwoBy: CDR Barbara Scholley

CDR Barbara Scholley, Commanding Officer ofMDSU 2

12 March 2001

before. This helped immensely whensearching through flooded space that hadbeen damaged by the blast. This teammade heroic efforts to accomplish divesthat are above and beyond what is nor-mally expected and persisted until everyvictim was recovered. The team’s experi-ence in diving on dry dock blocks was alsoessential during the docking of COLE onthe BLUE MARLIN,

You might not think of the ReconMarines of 1st Battalion as part of a salvagedive team, but they too provided valuablesupport during the operation. Capt BruceSoltire and his team of divers providedboth equipment and personnel supportduring the docking evolution on BLUEMARLIN. To accommodate the earlymorning start to dive the blocks, the Re-con Divers transferred to USNS Catawbawhere MDSU TWO DET Alpha was al-ready embarked. CATAWBA has limitedberthing space, but Marines are incrediblyflexible and of course had their own cotsto set up on deck. Capt Soltire, SGT

Dixon, SGT Rardon, SGT Sanchez, SGTSpannuth, SGT Wasik, CPL Moser, CPLRudig, CPL Thomas, and LCPL Peters werereal team players and even taught us a fewtricks.

There were also several members ofthe SEAL Team community in the opera-tion, but their main focus was force pro-tection. There were two other groups ofnon-divers that provided invaluable sup-port for the diving operations occurringaboard COLE. MDSU TWO DET Alphawas embarked aboard CATAWBA formost of the operation and for a week oftransit to debark in a safer port. CAPTJohn Pope and the crew of CATAWBAwere exceptionally cooperative, providingsmall boat support, flexible meal hours, andexcellent hospitality the entire time. CAPTPope was also responsible for the safe andsuccessful tow of COLE from the port tothe BLUE MARLIN. Towing a battle dam-aged ship is always risky and a nerve rack-ing experience but towing it in a poten-tially hostile environment adds even more

complications. CAPT Pope and his crewproved to be real professionals and ac-complished the risky tow superbly.

During the course of the operation,the CATAWBA and the MDSU dive teamwere assigned a small USMC componentas a security force. Led by SGT May, theeight man force was responsible for all theshipboard security as well as for accom-panying the dive team on the daily 60minute small boat transit to and from theCOLE. SGT May, CPL Mayo, CPL Mor-gan, CPL Lawson, LCPL Anderson, LCPLChavez, LCPL Dykes and PFC Williamsquickly became valued members of theMDSU team. We were happy to have thisprotection and even happier that it wasprovided by such a dedicated and profes-sional group of young Marines.

As you can see, there were manyDivers that deserved recognition duringOperation Determined Response. Unfor-tunately, I did not have the names of eachand every one of them, but they were allessential to assisting our COLE shipmatesduring this tragic event. Whether theywere Navy or Marine Corps, EOD or Sal-vage, Officer or Enlisted, each Diver con-tributed significantly to the success. Dur-ing a dangerous and emotional operationin a hostile environment, each Diver dis-played the highest degree of Honor, Cour-age and Commitment. HOOYAH MilitaryDivers!

CDR Scholley is currently the CommandingOfficer of MDSU TWO. She was the PCOfor MDSU TWO when she accompaniedMDSU TWO Det Alpha during OperationDetermined Response. Prior to this tour,CDR Scholley was Supervisor of Diving andCO, USS BOLSTER (ARS 38).

Part of the Operation Determined Response Dive Team. This part of the team includes theMDSU II Det Alpha divers and the First Battalion Recon Marines and and members of theUSMC Security Team

(Command in the Spotlight continued from page 11)

March 2001 13

By: LCDR Jim Bredemeier

The Naval Diving and Salvage TrainingCenter (NDSTC) located at the

Navy’s Coastal Systems Station in PanamaCity Beach, Florida, is the latest facilitysupporting a long history of U.S. Navy

diving training. In 1882, the U.S. Navy es-tablished a diving school under retiredChief Gunner’s Mate Jacob Anderson atNewport, Rhode Island. The schooltrained divers to descend to 60 feet to re-cover exercise torpedoes. The school wasclosed at the outbreak of World War I, asall available divers were needed in thefleet. In 1927, the diving school was re-es-tablished at the Washington Navy Yard inWashington, D.C. The curriculum in-cluded training with hand and power toolsincluding underwater burning with oxy-gen-hydrogen and oxygen-arc torches.The Navy Yard school was closed in 1980.The current facility, under the cognizanceof the Chief of Naval Education and Train-ing (CNET) opened in 1980 and was de-signed from the ground up to be the cor-nerstone of U.S. Navy diving training. Atthe Panama City location enlisted person-

nel, officers, and civilians from the Navy,Marine, Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, andallied foreign countries are trained in allphases of diving and ship salvage. Withthe exception of Special Warfare forces, all

military personnelreceive initial andadvanced trainingat NDSTC. The center issituated on St. An-drew Bay’s Alliga-tor Bayou andcovers approxi-mately 155,000square feet.NDSTC’s engi-neering, craft, cur-riculum, medical,supply, and mate-riel logistics de-partments providethe comprehensiveframework andsupport for all

high-risk training (approx 10,000 dives an-nually) performed at NDSTC. As the hubof U.S. Navy diving and training, all as-pects of diving and life support require-ments are addressed, fromdeep salvage to routine hullmaintenance. Twenty-fourdifferent courses encompass-ing all phases of diving, shipsalvage, combat diver(USMC) and submarine lock-out are taught to approxi-mately 1,400 students annu-ally. Typically, courses rangefrom 5-26 weeks in duration.Qualifications are made to adepth of 300 feet. NDSTC’sCommanding Officer, CDRMark T. Helmkamp, wasamong the first to completetraining at the Panama City

location. He initially qualified in the spun-copper MK V helmet, synonymous withdeep sea diving and prominent in the re-cent hit movie “Men of Honor” starringRobert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jr.

Technology and curriculum used atNDSTC include diving medicine andphysiology, diving procedures and opera-tions, decompression techniques and ap-plications, diver navigation and tracking,diver tools, gas dynamics and chemistry,hyperbaric systems, manned and un-manned hyperbaric testing, nondestruc-tive testing (NDT), thermal protection, andcontaminated atmosphere breathingequipment.

SCUBA (including MK16 and MK25re-breathers) and deep-sea surface sup-plied diving are taught at the center’s out-door training pool and three indoor opentanks. After mastering the various divingrigs in controlled environments, the stu-dents perform working dives from opendiving bays on Alligator Bayou. The finalphase of instruction includes open-seadiving in the Gulf of Mexico from one ofthe two Yard Diving Tenders (YDTs) ca-pable of supporting both air and mixed gasdiving. Additional specialized facilities in-

The 33 yard, 12 foot deep, 8 lane dive pool.

YDT 18, one of two Yard Diving Tenders here at PanamaCity, FL.

(continued on page 22)

14 March 2001

Consolidated Divers Unit (CDU) located at Pier 10 on Naval Station, San

Diego California is one of the largest div-ing lockers in the Pacific Fleet. CDU isdedicated to providing quality underwaterships husbandry (UWSH) repairs, lightsalvage and hyperbaric recompressionchamber support to Commander, Navy Re-gion Southwest. CDU divers are the on-site technical experts for waterborne re-pairs conducted on the carriers, surfacecombatants, submarines, and supportships and craft of PACFLT.

In 1979 COMNAVSURFPAC createdthe San Diego based diver consolidationplan as a pilot program to determine ifconsolidation of Navy divers would bettereffect utilization of diving assets and pro-vide cost savings to the Fleet. The firstyear of the program was a success, and inAugust 1980 the diving unit was officiallycommissioned as Harbor Clearance UnitOne Detachment (HCU 1 DET). The unit’sname was later changed to Mobile Divingand Salvage Unit One Detachment(MOBDIVSALU ONE DET).

This consolidation plan was vali-dated when the number of dives and bot-tom times doubled without increasing per-

BY: CWO3 RICK ARMSTRONG

sonnel or cost. In addition the West Coasthull-cleaning program was created, savingthe Navy over $80 million dollars in fuel

costs annually.

The technical expertise com-bined from a variety of Navydive lockers (USS CAPECOD, USS ACADIA, andUSS JASON) resulted in thedevelopment of new under-water work techniques for un-derwater repairs on variousclasses of Navy and CoastGuard ships. These includedwaterborne propeller and CPPblade change outs, maskerbelt replacements, AuxiliaryPropulsion Unit (APU)swaps, shaft re-laminations,and underwater wet welding,Also, a central database wasestablished for underwater

work and hull cleaning performed on WestCoast based ships and submarines.

On October 1, 1986 MOBDIVSALVUONE DET was disestablished and Con-solidated Divers Unit (CDU) was estab-lished. The command’s primary focus be-came underwater ship husbandry with thetransfer of salvage responsibility to Mo-bile Diving and Salvage Unit One (MDSU-1) located in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

With the decommissioning of the lastsubmarine tender in the Southwest region(USS MCKEE), CDU was tasked with pro-viding waterborne maintenance toSUBPAC assets. A 12-person dive detach-ment was established in October of 1999and continues the quality underwater re-pair work that has been the legacy of sub-marine tender divers Navy wide.

With some of the finest divers in theNavy, CDU handles a variety of tasks fromchanging out 40-ton propellers on nuclearcarriers, Auxiliary Propulsion Units on

Hollywood premier of “Men of Honor” from left to right bottom row, CDR Kelly Eley, CO,CDU, IT1 (SW/DSW) Dave Gove, HM1(DV) Aaron Levy, top row; EM1(SW/DV) MikeWelsh, CWO3 Rick Armstrong XO, CDU, Master Diver Carl Brashear, FilmDirector George Tillman, EN1(SW/DV) Steve Willis.

A mixed crew of Puget sound divers and CDU divers divngon a double screw change on USS STENNIS (CVN 74),from left to right, HT2(DV) Bucky Baker, yardbird rigger,HT2(DV) Travis Richardson and unidentified Puget SoundNavy divers.

(Continued on page 15)

March 2001 15

surface combatants, Secondary Propul-sion Motors on nuclear attack submarines,to installing cofferdams on a carrier in sup-port of a major yard availability. CDUdivers excel in all facets of these water-borne repairs. Each repair performed in-water saves the Navy thousands of dol-lars in dry-dock costs.

CDU is commanded by CDR KellyEley and led by Chief Warrant Officers andMaster Divers including CWO2 RolandBissonnette, CWO2 Steve Rienagel,BMCS (SW/DSW) Kyle Gaillard, HTCS(DSW) Boy Kayona and HTCM (SW/DSW) Brick Bradford.

Recently five divers from CDU tookleave to assist with filming of the movie“MEN of HONOR”. These divers pro-vided technical support, acted as extras,and made a majority of the dives seen inthe final take of this movie depicting thelife and times of BMCM/Master Diver CarlBrashear. CDU was invited to the Holly-wood screening of the film at the “DorothyChandelier Pavilion” and the reception atthe Conga Room.

CDU is also the West Coast bendswatch coordinator, overseeing 14 DivingMedical Officers, 16 Diving Medical Tech-nicians, 11 Master Divers and all regionalFirst and Second Class Divers. This di-verse group responds to any diving re-lated casualty and/or clinical hyperbaricoxygen treatments that are initiated withinthe Southwest region.

CDU trains divers for the Navy’s onlyNAVSEA certified wet welding program.Developed in 1991 and headed by HTC(SW/DV) Bob Barker, this team is ready todeploy worldwide for any underwater re-pair requiring this unique technique. CDUhas been involved in many complex wet-welding jobs (utilizing fillet and groovewelds) and NDT projects on both Pacificand Atlantic fleet units. Application ofthese skills cover removal and installationof ropeguards during propeller replace-ments, zinc replacements, installation ofwelded cofferdams for maintenance or de-activating of Navy vessels, and stresscrack repairs.

CDU sponsors a Royal Navy ChiefDiver for a two-year tour of duty utilizingthe Navy Personal Exchange Program(PEP). This successful program allows U.S.Navy divers to work with their Royal Navycounterparts and British divers to learnU.S. Navy fleet repair techniques that canbe employed on NATO vessels upon theirreturn to duty in the United Kingdom.CDU’s PEP member is CPO (D) Strangewho has relieved CPO (D) A.J. Wheeler asof November 15, 2000.

As America moves into a new cen-tury, Navy divers remain a viable, cost effi-cient tool that Fleet commanders can callupon to repair any vessel afloat at a tre-mendous cost savings in their limited re-pair funds. Commands such as Consoli-dated Divers Unit are on the cutting edge

of underwater repair technology. The 65superb officer and enlisted divers thatmake up this outstanding Command arethe future leaders within the Navy divingcommunity, Specifically: HTC (SW/DV)Carter, IT1 (SW/DSW) Gove, DC1 (DV)Hellwig, DC1 (DV) Annon, BM2 (DV)Wiltshire, HT1 (SW/DV) Alexander, EM1(SW/DV) Welsh, EN1 (SW/DV) Smith,HT2 (SW/DV) Valentine and HT2 (DV)Richardson. Consolidated Divers Unit’smotto “Excellence under Pressure” contin-ues to set the standard for others to emu-late.

CWO3 Armstrong served as a Master Diver atConsolidated Divers Unit (CDU) from 1991until commissioned a CWO in 1994. Heserved as the R-6 division officer, shipsdiving officer, and decommissioning officeron USS DIXON (AS 37) and USS MCKEE(AS 41). In December of 1999, he reportedto CDU as the Repair Officer. He is currentlyserving as the Executive Officer of CDU.

Two divers on the fin stabilizer,BM3 (DV) Mike Aviogne, HT2 (DV)Jeff Pitts.

(Consolidated Divers continued from page 14)

16 March 2001

be worth their data points!

LT: What’s a typical workday like in yourdivision?

BM1: Monday, Wednesday, and Fridaywe muster outside at 0700 for PT. It isusually about 30 minutes and then we allbreak off to either go to the gym or go fora run. Tuesday and Thursday PT is leftup to the individual. I like to hit the gymas much as possible and run only once aweek. After that, I work in Life Supportdivision. Our division is responsible forrepair, maintenance, and modifications tothe OSF. Currently we are working on in-stalling an emergency breathing apparatus(EBA) system in case of a building fire.This will make our limited number of ScottAir Packs obsolete and save money on re-certifying them. We don’t actually fightthe fire but the watch section would needto be able to have time to surface a dive.This piping system is currently taking upmuch of my time. PMS and diving andgetting qualified on the various watch sta-tions are always present. For a shorecommand we are pretty busy all the time.The good thing is we still get good liberty.Duty is usually only once a month. If youhave a diving emergency and call ourphone number after hours, you might bespeaking to me.

LT: What are your collateral duties?

BM1: Currently I’m the division 3M Coor-dinator, Command Urinalysis Coordinator,and a member of the Executive SteeringCommittee.

LT: What is expected of you with regardto qualifications?

BM1: All opportunities are open to youno matter your rank. Dive Watch Supervi-sor for a saturation dive is the highest(and expected of E-7 and above within 12months of checking onboard). Others in-clude Chamber Support Operator, LifeSupport Operator, Atmosphere AnalysisOperator, Control Technician (Electrical/Communication Systems Operator), GasKing, Chamber Supervisor, SCUBA Super-

visor, Test Pool Supervisor. These are themain ones and you are expected to accom-plish them all. They are very lengthy andchallenging. By the time you are throughwith all the quals you know every inch ofevery system.

LT: What are your thoughts on Quality ofLife and your work environment?

BM1: I can’t really complain about thequality of life or my work environment.My job here keeps me busy and is veryrewarding. Even though the different pro-tocols sometimes make me a little nervous,I can see that they have real world appli-cations for the diving navy. If NEDUdidn’t exist, who would be doing this re-search? It’s better for all that the divecommunity is directly involved. Catchphrase – “Cutting-Edge Technology.”

LT: Did you anticipate being a humantest subject?

BM1: Yes I did. I didn’t have any idea ofthe scope to which this would be donethough. I anticipated more research beingconducted on diving systems and rigs.This doesn’t seem to be the case. I’vebeen here only six months but have seenno research other than biomedical/physi-ological. The downsizing of the Navy inconjunction with the decommissioning ofdiving ships seems to have causedNAVSEA to send their budget moneyaway from hardware. These are only myopinions, but they do have something todo with my attitude about being a humantest subject.

LT: What do you think of the opera-tional tempo of the unit?

BM1: The tempo is quite high for a shore-based unit. We have overlapping experi-mental diving protocols and still have tofind time to do maintenance. All person-nel at the unit put in a lot of time coordi-nating between their collateral duties anddiving. There are approximately 80 militaryat the command. This number might seemto be a lot, but the command is structuredsimilarly to a naval shipyard. Compartmen-

talization seems to be the key to our suc-cess. We have the capability to drawupon just about any resource needed tocomplete a job.

LT: Does the command support yourprofessional development?

BM1: Yes, the command supports off dutyeducation and MWR in a lot of ways. Tu-ition Assistance is paid 100% as long asyou pass the course. Our Career Counse-lor is top-notch and works hard to makesure you are taken care of. I don’t believethe unit can do anything more to helppeople make rank. Awards are given forspecial achievements and qualificationsare there for the motivated.

If you are looking for an opportunityof a lifetime and a truly unique experience,I highly recommend accepting orders toNEDU. Obviously, it is not a job for thefaint-at-heart and there are some risks as-sociated with the experiments. To mitigatethese risks, all of the protocols are in-tensely scrutinized by a Committee for theProtection of Human Subjects and re-viewed by more doctors and divers thanyou can shake a stick at. NEDU has cer-tainly been the most challenging and re-warding duty that I have been assignedand has surpassed my expectations as astate-of-art research facility. The unit pro-fessionalism, camaraderie, and esprit decorps are unmatched. The unit is well rep-resented from a wide spectrum of divingcommunities including: Fleet Divers, Satu-ration Divers, SEAL, EOD, SEABEE, EDO,CEC, and of course a large contingent ofDMOs/UMOs and DMTs to keep us frombending one another. For more informa-tion regarding NEDU please refer to thefollowing website: http://www.nedu.org/.

LT Liberatore is a qualified Seabee CombatWarfare Officer and Basic Diving Officer.He has been assigned as the EngineeringOfficer at NEDU since August 1999.

(A Day in the life of an Experimental Diver continued from page 8)

March 2001 17

By: LCDR Loring Crepeau

(Continued on page 20)

U. S. Navy Special Warfare personneloften use the MK 25 closed-circuit

underwater breathing apparatus (UBA)during shallow, clandestine diving opera-tions. Because the MK 25 is a pure oxy-gen (O2) UBA, the divers must breathe sig-nificantly elevated partial pressures of oxy-gen (PO2) for hours at a time. This canlead to mission-limiting lung damagecaused by pulmonary O2 toxicity (PO2T).Investigators at the Navy ExperimentalDiving Unit (NEDU) are working to de-velop a way to prevent PO2T.

Oxygen’s toxic effect on the pulmo-nary system relies on free O2 radicals.Briefly, the theory points the finger at su-peroxide (O2

-), a corrosive agent that isnormally produced in small quantitiesthrough normal metabolism. Before it canaccumulate in sufficient quantities to causedamage, superoxide is metabolized intohydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and after react-ing with another enzyme becomes water.

Breathing oxygen-rich gas producesmuch more O2

-, ultimately overwhelmingthe body’s capacity to metabolize it.When this happens, oxygen and hydro-gen peroxide can react with biochemicalson cell surfaces, inducing changes thatcause these surfaces to change shape.These events can ultimately cause the cellto rupture and die.

Other components in cells (genes,transport mechanisms and power plants)can also be damaged by free radicals, lead-ing to cell death. Proteins can also be-come free radicals, losing their uniquestructure and special activity.

Oxygen toxicity can induce whiteblood cells to accumulate in the lungs ad-hering to the inner lining of the blood ves-sels. When this happens, blood vesselsleak, cellular debris accumulates in lungtissue, and fluid collects.

The potential for inducing lung dam-age increases as PO2 and exposure in-crease. Symptoms of PO2T include a burn-ing as you inhale, cough, shortness ofbreath, and chest tightness or pain. Evenin the absence of symptoms, PO2T can di-

minish lung function, so pulmonary func-tion tests (PFTs) are conducted to deter-mine whether divers exposed to high PO2suffer silent lung damage.

In our quest to find a way to reducePO2T’s risk, we searched the literature andfound a candidate agent that divers couldtake before conducting MK 25 missions.Melatonin is a naturally-occurring hor-mone synthesized and released by the pi-neal gland in the brain. It is normally re-leased during the evening and nighthours, and plays a role in sleep among allvertebrates. Melatonin is also used as anover-the-counter sleeping aid, taken nearbedtime, usually in 5 milligram (mg) orsmaller doses.

More interesting to us, melatonin hasbeen shown to serve as a powerful antioxi-dant, which means it scavenges oxygenfree radicals so they’re prevented fromdoing damage. Administering large dosesof melatonin to rats markedly reduced orcompletely eliminated all indicators of O2-derived cellular, lung, and brain damage.We hypothesized that we could use mela-tonin to protect MK 25 divers from suffer-ing lung damage.

While melatonin’s protective role inrats was encouraging news, the dose thatthey received was roughly 150 times whatpeople normally take to induce sleep. Theliterature on melatonin’s effect on humansis confusing. While numerous studieshave reported that taking large doses didnot cause any side effects, other studiesfound relatively small doses during thedaytime can induce sleepiness, and createbrain wave activity akin to what’s exhibitedduring sleep. We were also concerned thatlarge doses of melatonin would reduce oursubjects’ alertness levels and mental func-tion as they did in some of the low-dosearticles, ultimately proving more mission-limiting than oxygen-induced lung dam-age.

Before trying to evaluate melatonin’scapacity to prevent oxidative lung injuryin divers, we first sought to determinewhether the doses we hope to use would

materially diminish motor function andneuropsychological status, or causesomething surprising, such as nausea ordizziness. If a high dose of melatonin com-promises warfighters’s combat capabili-ties, its ability to protect them from oxida-tive lung damage is irrelevant.

We had 10 subjects take 150 mg ofmelatonin that had been dissolved inabout a tenth of an ounce (one to two ml)of ethyl alcohol and mixed in a glass of or-ange juice. One hour after each adminis-tration, we measured their motor perfor-mance (including grip strength, finger tap-ping, and high stair stepping) and neurop-sychological status using the AutomatedNeuropsychological Assessment Mea-surement (ANAM) test battery. This bat-tery measures the subject’s rating of sleepi-ness, simple reaction time, mood state, andability to match cubic patterns, solve mathproblems, maintain short-term memory,and identify letters from a memorized list.

None of our subjects experiencedany adverse reactions that kept them fromtaking the second dose of melatonin fourhours later, or completing a regular day atwork. Melatonin did exert subtle and tem-porary effects on all subjects, with a widerange of individual differences amongthem. Two subjects exhibited a marked re-duction in performance on at least one ofthe ANAM tests at one hour post-admin-

CWO 3 Danny Miller exhales forcefullyduring pulmonary function testing one dayafter eight continuous hours of hyperbaricoxygen exposure.

18 March 2001

HTC Mike Lutz, GM1 Chad Dillon, SM2 Jorge Guillen, and HT2 Andrew Cowan hand mixingconcrete aboard the Chilian Tug, Galvarino.

(USS LAMOURE COUNTY continued from page 10)

(Continued on page 21)

derwater survey.Petty officer John Golden held the

end of the measuring tape. Petty OfficerEverett Hairston swam the reel aft beneaththe hole that previously held the keelbeam and flat hull plating. Now, all that re-mained was jagged metal and the black-ness of the ship’s internal fuel tanks.“Thirty-five plus feet” came through thediver’s communication box. The hole waswide enough to drive two large carsthrough. Two days of diving revealed se-vere damage to nearly all fuel tanks andbottom compartments forward of the mainengineroom, a keel that was not only sev-ered but crushed to the overhead of thetank, and a hole measuring 37 feet long by40 feet wide. With this information thesalvage engineers put the NAVSEA divingcontractor to work constructing three boxbeams that would be placed under thecrippled ship to effectively replace thebroken keel and give her enough supportto survive an open ocean tow. Each beamended up as a box made of one-inch steelthree feet by three feet by seventy feetlong, sealed at each end to allow its 16tons to be floated into place.

The most urgent priority was to re-

duce the stress on the hull by restoringbuoyancy forward. Removal of the AAVsfrom the middle of the ship would make thehogging worse so their offload had to waituntil the bow was raised. Storage spacefor fuel and fuel-contaminated water re-covered from the forward tanks was limitedand located aft where the added weightalso increased hogging stresses. Thesefactors led to a strategy that called for theMDSU divers to enter tanks through un-derwater access holes cut in the tank bot-toms after fuel had been stripped off thetanks, to use concrete to back up the exte-rior patches applied by the Chileans, andto isolate internal piping and seal the tankvents to allow compressed air to be usedif necessary. It was ironic that saving theship required adding more holes in thebottom! Entering the tanks from the bot-tom saved the divers from much fuel con-tamination and greatly reduced the fuel-contaminated water that would later haveto be pumped. To strip the tanks, a spoolpiece with a gate valve was mounted oneach tank top using friction stud weldingwhich spins each threaded stud so fastthat it welds itself in place. A “hot tap”machine mounted on the spool cuts

through the tank top and then water pres-sure under the tank “floats” the fuelthrough the valve to a hydraulic pump.

With no time to spare, the divers fo-cused their attention on the four largestforward tanks referred to simply by theframe number of their forward bulkhead:32, 41, 73 and the Forepeak. Divers went towork mapping each tank and void. Visibil-ity was less than six inches due to fuel andfloating contamination. Each pipe wasidentified by size, and location and tracedhand over hand from entrance to exit fromthe tank. Suction and discharge pipingwas blank flanged and all bilge pockets in-spected for even minor damage. Each tankhad unique problems. The Forepeak wasripped wide open at the stem with an addi-tional six-foot tear directly under the keel.Tanks 32 and 41 not only had a buckledbulkhead allowing free access betweenthem, but the wedges, metal patches, andepoxy installed by Chilean divers to closethe massive tear across the bottom wouldnever survive an open ocean tow. A buck-led bulkhead in 73 was the most challeng-ing because sea pressure acting on an ad-jacent inaccessible tank made sealing thecrack hard if not impossible. Taking intoconsideration that the ship would undergoan open ocean tow to a safe port, everyrepaired area no matter how small neededto be reinforced.

“Concrete—metal reinforced con-crete!” was the word that came from Sal-vage Central. It was identified as the onlyfeasible solution to each problem. Thedive team realized that the mortar wouldhave to be carried through the water col-umn into the spaces and placed in key lo-cations to bring the leaks to a manageablecondition. Teams could then enter thetanks from inside the ship to make final re-pairs. The concrete mixing team measuredout each batch with precision. Trash bagsof mortar were placed on a trolley line andlowered to the green diver, Petty OfficerShane Keebler, at the tank entrance. Div-ing supervisor, Petty Officer Jeff Annon,went through voice commands in greatdetail to ensure that this was a timely evo-lution. “Haul it up” came back from Greenand the trolley line was retrieved and filledwith another load of concrete. Waiting for

March 2001 19

PMS Corner“Service to the Fleet”

Buoyancy Compensators: The following BC’s initially were added to MIP 5921/023. They will be covered under 5921/011with Force Revision 2-01. Seaquest Model Black Diamond, US Divers Seamaster

CPV/Tech Products Valves: Due to recent incidents involving failures to older CPV valves, maintenance is now in place toperform a visual/operational inspection and periodic lubrication. This maintenance is covered under MIP 5921/034 and ap-plies to CPV and Tech Product valves. If there are any indications of abnormalities in valve operation, i.e. excessive binding,stiffness, or bronze residue on stem, the valve should be disassembled and inspected.

Flex Hoses and Diving Umbilicals: Tag requirements for Flex hoses and Diving Umbilicals have been clarified and are avail-able under MIPS 5921/033, and 5921/039.

Sanitizing Agents: Recent changes in state and federal EPA laws have prompted changes to the types of disinfecting agentsused to sanitize diving equipment. Currently the use of WESCODYNE is authorized until exhausted. Changes to the followingMIPS have deleted WESCODYNE and the replacement agents are listed. Affected MIPS: 5921/019, 5921/159, 5921/162, 5921/172, 5921/177, and H-012/006.

Hot Water Heaters: Maintenance for Diver Hot water Heater (various models) is under development. In the interim, utilizemfg. tech manuals to perform maintenance.

Technical questions, Logistics problems, Supply requests, Personnel issue? Call or contact ANCHOR DESK 1-877-4-1-TOUCH or www.AnchorDesk.navy.mil

Welcome aboard to BMCS/DV(RET) Duffy as the NAVSEA Diving Equipment In-Service Engineering Agent. He is now fulltime as a civilian at NEDU and is available to answer any planned maintenance questions. Mr. Kerry Duffy/ISEA 059 Comm:850-230-3100, DSN 436-4351 or duffykp@nedu.navsea.navy.mil.

SEALAB Reunion: Old Timers Re-unite

The weekend of 9-11 March saw the2001 Sealab Reunion at Panama City.

Divers and friends from all walks of lifeshowed up for their annual get togetherwith attendees from as far away as Spainto the east, California to the west, theFlorida Keys to the south and Washing-ton state from the North. Some of the no-tables who attended were Scott Carpenter,Sir John Rawlins, Jack Ringelberg, BruceBanks, Dick Long, and a long-time attend-ees, Jim Bladh and Herman Kunz. BillMeeks came in from his home in Marbella,Spain. It had been many a year since Billhad made it back to the States, and we

were all glad to see him. Master Diversfrom the past were in attendance, were ac-knowledged and applauded. All in all, wehad about 105 attending this get together;I know of no better feeling than being awitness to men and women who get to seeeach other and talk about old times. That’swhat reunions are all about. On Friday ofthe weekend reunion, NDSTC (Navy div-ing school) put on an old fashioned cook-out for the reunion attendees. All who at-tended saw the famed school hospitality inaction. CDR Mark Helmkamp, CO of thedive school was also guest speaker at thereunion banquet on Saturday night.

This reunion is now history and theCalifornia reunion group has started think-ing what they plan on doing next year. Wehave one reunion in Panama City and thenext in San Diego. For all attendees whomade their way to Panama City for thispast reunion I thank you all for making it agood one. Bob Barth and committee.

20 March 2001

istration, but most subjects’s performancereturned to baseline levels an hour later.Generally, subjects described melatonin’seffect as similar to taking over-the-counterantihistamine cold medicine and becominga little foggy or groggy. Most describedthe second dose’s effects as much lesspronounced, suggesting they rapidly de-veloped tolerance.

Having established the safety of ourdose regimen, we started a study to deter-mine melatonin’s effectiveness in reducingPO2- induced oxidative lung damage. Weare exposing subjects to eight hours of es-sentially continuous 2.0 ATA oxygen ontwo separate occasions in our hyperbarictreatment chamber. On one of those expo-sures, subjects take a 150 mg dose of mela-tonin just before being pressed to depth,then take another dose four hours later.On the other occasion, they consume aplacebo drink following the same adminis-tration and oxygen exposure schedules.The melatonin and placebo are adminis-tered double-blind, which means that nei-

ther the investigator nor the subjectsknow what’s in that glass of juice until af-ter the experiment is completed.

To track cognitive performance, weadminister the ANAM test battery everyhour at depth using the same tasks usedduring the first study.

To assess oxidative stress and mela-tonin metabolism rates, we will measuresome biochemical markers in blood andurine samples collected just before thedive, one hour after taking the first dose,halfway through the dive, an hour aftertaking the second dose, then right aftersurfacing. We will assay the bloodsamples ourselves for superoxidedismutase and have an outside laboratoryassay the urine samples for cyclic 3hydroxymelatonin, 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine, 6-hydroxymelatonin sul-fate, and melatonin.

To assess melatonin’s protective in-fluence on lung function, we determine oursubjects’ baseline, immediate post, andsubsequent post-dive pulmonary function,

using three measures: Forced vital capac-ity, that shows how well the subject canforcefully blow out all the air in his lungs(see Figure 2); slow vital capacity, that de-fines the subject’s maximum useable lungvolume; and diffusion capacity, that illus-trates how well your lungs deliver oxygento the body.

If melatonin effectively reduces oxi-dative stress without causing mission-lim-iting side effects, we may recommend us-ing this agent in the fleet where divers en-dure extended O2 breathing periods, suchas Special Warfare MK 25 UBA opera-tions, or during emergency decompres-sion using O2 in a disabled submarine sce-nario.

LCDR Loring J. Crepeau, MSC, USN,earned his Basic Diving Officer pin at theNaval Diving and Salvage Training Centerin 1991. He recently transferred to NRDMiami, where he serves as a MedicalPrograms Officer Recruiter.

The installation of the OPDS duringTURBO PATRIOT was a challenge due toone pigtail becoming trapped under theSALM on the bottom. With the pigtailtrapped it was impossible to connect thepigtail to the main conduit and completethe installation. As the OPDS system hastwo identical pumping systems, it was de-cided to connect the second pigtail to theSALM on the seafloor. The UCTs werefaced with the difficult task of connectinga 320-foot, eight inch diameter conduitthrough a closed chock to a 8-bolt flange,underwater at 100 feet, at night. Althoughthis evolution had never been performedduring previous OPDS installations, theUCTs utilized Seabee CAN DO and diverHOOYAH spirit to connect the conduitand proceed with the remainder of theOPDS installation.

UCT ONE and TWO will send de-tachments to participate in operationTURBO CADS 01 in Korea in May 2001where they will again participate in JLOTSoperations.

Story by LT Mike Teates, UCT ONELT Mike Teates is the Executive Officer andDiving Officer of Underwater ConstructionTeam ONE. He is Seabee Combat Warfare

Qualified and is a Registered ProfessionalEngineer.

(Turbo Patriot continued from page 9)

CUCM Marty Hierholzer (SCW/MDV), EA2 Blair Mercado (DV) and CM1 Daryn Holty (SCW/DV) stand on the deck of the SALM prior to sinking it to the bottom.

(MK 25 continued from page 17)

March 2001 21

(USS LAMOURE COUNTY continued from page 18)

the surge to assist him, the green diverpassed the 25-pound bag to his buddy,Petty Officer Jorge Guillen who had takenup five hours of residency in the tankhand-packing concrete and rebar aroundprotruding wedges. This procedure wenton for several days in each tank. Althoughthe divers were only a few feet from thesurface, it seemed like another world far re-moved from the activities going ontopside.The first real test came just ten days afterMDSU divers arrived. The USS TORTUGAarrived to take the Marine AAVs and thepressure mounted to get the bow up. Af-ter applying air pressure to carefully pushas much water as possible out of the tankbottom and then sealing the access hole,the 32 and 41 tanks seemed to be ready.The massive air pocket would lessen thewater/fuel mixture that would require re-moval once the tank was opened. Expecta-tions were high as the dive team stood bywith salvage pumps ready and airline res-pirators charged. A sound like a jet engineechoed within the ship as Petty OfficerNeil Wolfe opened the hot tap valve tovent the tank. As the roar of the escapingair dwindled, the manhole covers werequickly removed and the pumps insertedand fired up. It was soon clear that thepumps could keep up, but the leaks werebad enough that before long we would runout of storage space for the oily waste.As soon as the fuel and water were downto waist deep, “tank divers” crawled intothe space and began chasing leaks. Aconcrete mixer donated by the ChileanNavy came alive with one pull of itsstarter. As in earlier rehearsals in the water,a trolley line was rigged into the space andbuckets of mixed concrete were lowered tothe divers. Locating holes that squirtedlike drinking fountains became common-place, patching them however, was moredifficult. Over the course of a very longand frustrating night the fuel soakeddivers finally developed a reasonable tech-

nique of channelingleaks into vent tubes,pouring concretearound the vent tubeand plugging the endof the tube after theconcrete had set. (Justlike in the Salvor’sHandbook but it’s a lotharder than it looks).

The efforts of thatnight were enough toallow offloading theAAVs the next day.This gave us confi-dence that we wouldsucceed, but it wouldbe many more days andmany tons of concretebefore we could claimthat the 32 and 41 tankwere secure, and over amonth before the re-maining tanks were fin-ished. “Mas Cemento!” the Spanishtranslation of “more concrete” became therallying cry of the divers who kept havingto go back into dirty fuel tanks and wereputting more hours on the airline hosemask than the MK-21.A few days later, a coastal tanker arrived,easing our storage problem and allowingus to empty the massive dracones (float-ing fuel bladders) that we had been usingsince USS TORTUGA delivered them fromthe ESSM base. The first of the massivebox beams arrived as well and the contractdivers worked around the clock for thenext several weeks assembling the beamsections, rigging the beams into position,fitting them up and building up the thou-sands of linear feet of underwater weldbead necessary to fix them in place. Asbuoyancy restoration work wound downin the weeks that followed, the MDSUdivers turned their energies to rigging theLAMOURE COUNTY for tow. When allthe repairs were complete the MDSU team

led by MDV Jim Mariano connected thetowline of the Chilean Icebreaker OSCARVIEL for the long-awaited tow to safety inTalcahuano, 700 miles to the south.

Navy divers had been on the scenefor six weeks and had installed 22 steel re-inforced patches, plugged more than 50holes, poured 27 tons of steel reinforcedconcrete, and restored 700 tons of buoy-ancy to the crippled ship. By a tremen-dous cooperative effort the Navy divers,NAVSEA ESSM, and diving contractorshad kept LA MOURE COUNTY afloat anddelivered her safely to port.

CWO2 Riendeau served as LCPO of MDSU-2 Detachment BRAVO prior to hiscommissioning as Chief Warrant Officer. Asa CWO he is currently assigned as one ofthree Detachment OIC’s at MDSU-2.Special thanks to the Commander in ChiefAtlantic Salvage and Special OperationsOfficer CAPT. (sel) Phillip Beierl for hisinvaluable assistance in this endeavor.

Members involved in the Operation:

CLF: LCDR Jess RiggleCNSL: LCDR Rich BlankMDSU2:CAPT (sel) Philip BeierlCWO4 Tom RossHTCM Scott HeinemanBMC James MarianoMMC Roger RiendeauHTC Mike LutzBMC Rueben FingerBM1 Jeff AnnonEN1 Neil WolfeHM1 Everett Hairston,QM1 Geoffrey IvesHT1 Anthony MabryEN2 John GoldenGM2 Chad DillonHT1 Anthony MabryEN2 John Golden

HT1 Anthony MabryEN2 John GoldenGM2 Chad DillonSM2 Jorge GuillenGM2 Shane KeeblerGM2 James UrbanHT2 Andrew CowanHT2 Larry LangdonDC2 Bryan ClarkNAVSEA:Mike DeanLCDR Scott MattinglyLCDR Greg BaumannLT Rob McCLellanDenise BrownJim Ruth

22 March 2001

(NDSTC continued from page 13)

clude three hyperbaric complexes that al-low simulated dives to 600 feet, a 347,000-cubic foot gas farm to support hyperbaricdiving operations and a medical facilitywith limited laboratory and emergency ca-pabilities.

The school recently received deliv-ery of YDT-17 Neptune and YDT-18Poseidon—the newest class of divingsupport vessels in the U.S. Navy. Each$7M craft is 131 feet in length with a 27foot beam. The aluminum-hulled shallowdraft vessels are equipped with dual die-

sel-driven water-jet drives and through-hull bow thrusters. They are capable of 18knots and cruise at 15 knots. The YDTsreplaced WWII vintage craft and have anexpected service life of 40 years.

The center also works closely withthe Navy Experimental Diving Unit, lo-cated across the bayou, and Navy fleetdiving units to keep its courses up-to-dateand relevant to the diving community.“We need to remember the heritage andinvestment we have here,” notes CDRHelmkamp. “The relationships we share

with Coastal Systems Station and theNavy Experimental Diving Unit representan unbeatable group when it comes to theadvancement of naval, salvage and com-mercial diving.”For more information, visitNDSTC’s website at: www.cnet.navy.mil/ndstc.

Lieutenant Commander Bredemeier wascommissioned through Officer CandidateSchool, Newport Rhode Island in Feb 1987.He now serves as the Executive Officer forNDSTC.

(Pacific Reach continued from page 3)

The 2001 MDV/CWO Conference will be held at NDSTC on 2-4 May 2001. Details of the conference have been promulgated inDiving Advisory 01-02 or you can visit the web site at http://www.supsalv.org/conferences.html. Also, a summary of the 1999conference action items is viewable from the ‘What’s New’ to the right. There will be five working groups covering Salvage,UWSH, Personnel and Training, EOD/SPECWAR/USMC, and CWO. All MDVs and Diving CWOs are encouraged to submitpoint papers of interest. An electronic point paper submission form is available at the web page, and is the preferred method forsubmission of point papers. Deadline for submission of point papers is 13 April 2001. An agenda for the conference as well asthe review of submitted point papers will be added to the web page prior to the conference.

MDV/CWO Conference2-4 May 2001, Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center, Panama City, Florida.

MDV ReunionThe MDV Reunion will be held at the CSS marina, Panama City Beach, FL on 5 May 2001 starting at 1000. If you have ques-tions call Joe Gray @850-230-9217 or e-mail him at jgrayretmdv@knology.net.

with the submarine. After the SRC re-turned to the surface, the ADS discon-nected the down-haul cable. The averagetime required by the ADS to descend tothe sub and connect the SRC cable wasapproximately 30 minutes. Additionally,the ADS assisted SRC operations by ob-serving and relaying information on themating process to the SRC topside person-nel. After a week of successful drills, theADS has proven itself to be a reliable toolfor SRC submarine rescue operations.

Pacific Reach 2000 successfully dem-onstrated many different ADS capabilities.First, the “fly away” capability of the sys-tem was exhibited. Packed into two, rela-tively small, containers, the ADS systemarrived in Singapore two days after depart-

ing the United States. Also evident inthis exercise was the system’s ability tooperate from vessels of opportunity. Witha footprint of roughly 700 square feet, thesystem needed very little space to operate.The ADS demonstrated its ability to workwith the SRC, successfully connecting anddisconnecting three unique fittings tothree different submarines. Many otherbenefits of the ADS system were dis-played, but perhaps the most importantcapability of this contractor-operated sys-tem was its ability to be seamlessly inte-grated into a military operation. Throughsix days of intensive submarine rescue ex-ercises, the Hard Suit team and the Navy’sDSU personnel worked side by side, de-veloping a strong sense of teamwork.

ADS involvement in submarine rescue ex-ercise Pacific Reach 2000 was a completesuccess.

LCDR Peter K. LeHardy (USNR) is amember of NAVSEA Detachment 1006.Prior to joining the reserves, he served overten years on Active Duty, first as a SurfaceWarfare Officer and then as a SpecialOperations Officer. After completing DiveSchool in 1994 and Explosive OrdnanceDisposal (EOD) School in 1995, he wasassigned to EOD Mobile Unit THREE, inSan Diego, California. While there, heserved as the EOD Detachment Officer inCharge (OIC) aboard USS KITTY HAWKand as the OIC for the Marine MammalSystems Detachment. His final tour onActive Duty was as the OIC of the EODDetachment at Naval Weapons StationEarle, in Colts Neck, New Jersey.

March 2001 23

I’m writing this as I prepare to transfer tothe fleet reserve after 22 years in our

great Navy. Since entrance into the divingcommunity in 1982, I have learned whatINVESTING can do for you. Investing forDivers? Let me explain. As divers we re-ally don’t work in our rate. Occasionallywe fix a diesel engine or braid a line, butthat’s not what appears on the advance-ment exams. Now is the time for INVEST-ING your time and resources to make rate.Investing study time, getting orders toduty that enhance your experience, takingtime to ask the right questions all lead toachievement. First of all the thing youwant to achieve is rate. You do so by set-ting goals. More study time, schools, TADto ships, etc. Finally after time the IN-VESTMENT pays off. You make that nextrate.

Diving is the same way. You INVESTthe energy and fortitude to make itthrough Second Class Dive School andbecome a Diver for the Fleet. With thatachievement comes extra money and re-sponsibility. Not satisfied as a SecondClass Diver, you want to increase yourvalue to First Class Diver. This means youagain have to increase the INVESTMENTof time, study, and effort to attain thatgoal which equates to more money and re-sponsibility.

After making First Class Diver andINVESTING your time and energy intomaking Chief, you are ready to go the finalstep toward Master Diver. The road hasn’tbeen easy, but it really hasn’t been thathard either. The years of experience, time,and effort have prepared you to make thatnext step. The INVESTMENT pays offwhen you get the “FAT PIN”. It takestime, energy, persistence, and discipline toachieve your goals. The great news is thatthey do pay off and the hard work andmotivation are worth every painful nightstudying, every pull-up, every run and ev-ery late night on the side.

I wish someone had told me that the

By: ENCM(DSW/SW/MDV) Robert D. Carmichael

INVESTMENT part of becoming a MasterDiver also applies to investing money. If Ihad put even a fraction of my SecondClass Dive Pay away in a savings account,mutual fund or IRA, I wouldn’t be lookingfor a job as I retire from this great Navy.Just think of what we could do after 20years if we INVESTED a little each time aswe made rate or the next grade of Diver.Shipmates, I want to emphasize some ofthe things that you can do to lead a fulfill-ing Navy Diving career as well as a pros-perous one.

Starting this year the National De-fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year2000 authorizes a Thrift Savings Plan (TSP).This is a way for you to save a portion ofyour base pay in a special account. Themoney placed in this account and its earn-ings is not taxed until it is withdrawn.

This plan is offered to assist you inachieving your financial goals. There arenumerous ways in which to put awaysome of that Dive pay for future use, suchas IRAs (individual retirement accounts),CDs, Mutual Funds, and other safe waysto start an INVESTMENT plan.

Just as you climb the Navy ladder asa Diver and Sailor, start climbing the finan-cial ladder as well. I just wish that when Iwas an EN2 (DV) that someone wouldhave made me realize how much money Iwasted that I could have saved. By IN-VESTING in your career as a Navy Diverand in your and your family’s financial se-curity, you will be much better off after 20years.

Finally, I would like to use the last re-maining space to say “Thanks to the Div-ing Community”. I have had a rewardingand exciting career, and it all comes fromthe family known as Divers. I want you allto know that it has been an Honor to servewith you and an even greater Honor toserve for you.

Master Diver Carmichael has spent tours onUSS Safeguard (ARS-25), USS Bolster(ARS-38), USS Conserver (ARS-39), SubasePearl Harbor, USS Canopus (AS-34),MDSU-1 Pearl Harbor, Ship Repair FacilityYokosuka, and will retire from SPAWAR(formerly NOSC) San Diego.

Master Diver Robert Carmichael

24 March 2001

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVYSEA 00CNAVAL SEA SYSTEMS COMMAND2531 JEFFERSON DAVIS HIGHWAYARLINGTON VA 22242-5160

Official Business