supsalv sends t - navsea.navy.mil€¦ · view of the salvage industry, incident command structure...
TRANSCRIPT
2 J u l y 2 0 0 5
In This Issue
FACEPLATE is published by the Supervisorof Salvage and Diving to make the latest andmost informative news available to the Navydiving and salvage community. Discussionsor illustrations of commercial products do notimply endorsement by the Supervisor ofSalvage and Diving or the U.S. Navy.
Articles, letters, queries and comments shouldbe directed to the Commander, Naval SeaSystems Command, NAVSEA 00C, 1333Isaac Hull Ave. SE Stop 1070, WashingtonNavy Yard, DC 20376-1070. (Attn:FACEPLATE). Visit our website at http://www.supsalv.org. To view an electronicversion of Faceplate in PDF format go to ourwebsite and click on the word “Faceplate”located in the left hand column. This link willdirect you to our list of Faceplate issues.
Captain Jim Wilkins, USNDirector of Ocean Engineering
Supervisor of Salvage and DivingNAVSEA 00C
Captain Mark Helmkamp, USNSupervisor of Diving
Editor In [email protected]
LCDR Jim Bladh, USN (Ret.)Managing Editor
BMCM(SW/MDV) Fred K. Orns, USNFleet Liaison Editor
Zoya GorbunovaProduction Manager
Otto C. AdamsGraphic Designer
The “Salvage Triad”. Ever hear of it? It’sthe bones around which the muscle of
the diving and salvage community is built.“Triad” – ‘cause like a 3-legged stool, if youtake one part away, it doesn’t work well. Sowhat are these three foundational elementsof the Salvage Triad?People: Navy Divers…first and foremost.Platforms: Our salvage ships…the venerable“junk boat fleet.”Equipment: Our specialty “kit”…for bothdiving and salvage.
Every now and then, it’s worthwhile totake internal inventory and see how healthyour Triad is.
People: A new Navy Diver rating (and,as well, an EOD Tech rating) is just aroundthe corner. You’ve been hearing about it formonths, but it is soon to be reality. The Centerfor EOD and Diving (Capt Windhorst andMDV Wiggins) has been leading the fight onthis initiative, and is on the very verge ofofficial victory. But the rest of us can’t sit onour laurels…if we ever take for granted thatwe are as good as our headlines, we’ll find outsoon enough how mortal we all are. DiveLocker leadership (yeah – I’m talking to you1C Diving Supervisors) should each take around-turn on personal leadership, safety,technical training, and procedures. When’s thelast time you ran a challenging, surprise, never-thought-about-that-happening-before kindadrill? Don’t overestimate how far Hoo Yah willcarry you. Lead and train.
Platforms: It’s true – the ARS 50s aretransferring to Military Sealift Command(MSC) (two in FY06 and two in FY07). Butthey’ll still be in the U.S. Navy. And they’llbe operated by extremely competent pro-fessional mariners who will be going throughsalvage training side-by-side with our MDSUdetachments. In fact, because of MSC policy,each T-ARS will be available for operationsfor an entire extra quarter each year (270 daysvs. 180 days per year)…which at least in termsof operational days is the same as having sixvice four ARS 50s. So our inventory of ARS50s will be more effective. Add that to the T-
SUPSALV Sends ........................................... 22005 National Maritime Salvage Conference 3From the Managing Editor ............................. 3Diving Requalification .................................... 4Historical Diving Society ................................ 5Underwater Post-Blast Course ...................... 6Naval Undersea Museum .............................. 9
SSN 688 Class: Diving Restrictions Revisited,Diving within 50 feet of Active Sea Suction . 10Mark V Monument ....................................... 11Divers and Their Rides ................................ 12Divers and Their Rides Index ...................... 16Transition into Commercial Diving ............... 16Truman Propeller Change ........................... 18
Salvaging M/V LEE III .................................. 20Command in the Spotlight ........................... 22Deepest Open Sea Dive .............................. 24Robert Kutzleb Obituary .............................. 24The Pipe ...................................................... 25Topside; Red Diver...From SUPDIVE .......... 27
ATFs, and we retain a strong population ofU.S. Navy salvage vessels. Fair enough. Butnow we need to train in all the manycapabilities that the salvage vessels bring tothe fight…salvage fire-fighting, debeachingops, heavy lift, beach gear, multiple-pointmoors, emergency tows. Got any idea whenand how to use the ARS 50 for a tidal lift?Know how to rig for it? Salvage Lockerleadership (yeah – I’m still talking to you 1CSalvage Supervisors) should each break outthe ship’s salvage operations manuals andmake sure you know your ships well. Theyare designed with enormous capability andflexibility and they’ll be around for a while.Stand ready to use them.
Our mission requires us to be ready forour Navy and our Nation at a moment’snotice…take a local readiness inventory,identify gaps in readiness, and exercise theweaknesses into strengths.
Equipment: Our salvage ships andMDSUs are outfitted with yellow gear that’sup to the tasking, and the USN EmergencyShip Salvage Material (ESSM) Pool is anational asset of specialty equipmentwarehoused and maintained ready forimmediate issue and use. And we’re about toundertake a baseline review of our ESSM“inventory objective” (basically…how muchstuff we really need). But do we know whatall of our issued gear is, and what it’s for?When’s the last time your salvage team brokeout and reeved a pair of 4-sheave blocks? Howmany of your newly reported salvors couldidentify a carpenter stopper, know how they’resized and how many are needed for a leg ofbeach gear? While you’re at it, break out a fewof the recently republished pocket-sized USNSalvor’s Handbooks, and run a few numbers.Do you know where your issue of USNSalvage Manuals is? (Hint – check theSUPSALV Tech Doc CD issued August 2004).The experiences (good and bad) recorded inour Salvage Manuals are based on decades ofoperations. Although nothing beats personalexperience, the second best option is to be ableto study lessons learned from someone else’ssuccesses and failures.
Front Cover Photo: D/B CAPPY BISSO and D/B LILI BISSO completing the lift of the supply vessel LEE III.
SUPSALV SENDS
SUPSALV SENDS
J u l y 2 0 0 5 3
MMMark your calendars to plan to attendthe 2005 National Maritime
Salvage Conference, sponsored by theAmerican Salvage Association (ASA),November 1 through 3, 2005 in NewOrleans, LA.
The first day, Tuesday, November 1,will offer a training seminar focusing onmarine salvage, wreck removal, and harborclearance operations as they relate to portsecurity.
The conference program forWednesday, November 2 and Thursday,November 3 will include a discussion ofmaritime security, wreck removal, harborclearance, firefighting contracting, U.S.salvage regulations and the internationalview of the salvage industry, incidentcommand structure (ICS), responderimmunity, salvage and the environment,places of refuge, training and safety, andmore.
Details on the program and agenda canbe found at www.americansalvage.org.
Associate ASA Members:VADM James C. Card, USCG (Ret.)ADM Robert E. Kramek, USCG (Ret.)RADM Joel D. Sipes USCG (Ret.)RADM Paul J. Pluta USCG (Ret.)RADM Robert C. North, USCG (Ret.)CAPT Jim Wilkins, USNCAPT W.F. “Bill” Searle, USN (Ret.)CAPT Eugene B. Mitchell, USN (Ret.)CAPT J. Huntly Boyd, USN (Ret.)CAPT Robert B. Moss, USNR (Ret.)CAPT William N. Klorig, USN (Ret.)CAPT Colin M. Jones, USN (Ret.)CAPT Charles S. Maclin, USN (Ret.)CAPT Richard P. Fiske, USN (Ret.)CAPT Chip McCord, USN (Ret.)CAPT “Bert” Marsh, USN (Ret.)Miles Atchison, Marine EngineerChristopher P. Constantine, MaritimeSolutions, Inc.J. Kenneth Edgar , Marine ResponseConsultantsFrank Igaz, Ocean River, Inc.CAPT Mark T. “Reef” Perkins, Key WestHarbor Service, Inc.CAPT Jack Ringelberg, P.E., JMS, NavalArchitectWilliam I. Milwee, Jr., Milwee Associates, Inc.
General Members:American Marine CorporationBisso Marine Company, Inc.Crowley Marine Services, Inc.Donjon Marine Co., Inc.Foss Maritime CompanyGlobal Diving & Salvage, Inc.Marine Pollution ControlOcean Group, Inc.Parker Diving ServiceResolve Marine GroupSMIT Salvage Americas, Inc.T&T Marine Salvage, Inc.Titan Maritime LLCWeeks Marine, Inc.
This issue of Faceplate has a lot tooffer. The EOD community has
provided material that is current and is awelcome addition to the publication.
For those of you who are planning anew or second career in Diving andSalvage, the article “Transition intoCommercial Diving” on page 16 will beof particular interest. There is also a noticeof the National Maritime SalvageConference, November 1 through 3, inNew Orleans, (see above). The ASAmembership consists of all of the majorSalvage and Diving Companies in theUnited States. You will note that the currentand all former Supervisors of Salvage areAssociate Members. If you want to meetthe key players in Salvage and Diving, thisconference is a must. I hope to see manyof you in New Orleans.
I am happy to report that yourcontribution of articles has been superb.At present, we have a backlog. Your article,
From the Managing Editor
In the August 2004 issue of Faceplate,Jim Bladh challenged Divers out there toprovide an older Dive School certificate.Here is one from Clyde Ernst from 1933!
Captain Mark Helmkamp, SUPDIVE
To the Managing Editor fromSUPDIVE
if selected, will be published in a futureedition of Faceplate. Again, thank you foryour support.
Jim Bladh
Associate Corporate Members:BMT Salvage Limited (The SA)PCCI, IncMarine Hazard Response
The American Salvage Association isa trade association promoting profession-alism and improving marine casualtyresponse in American coastal and inlandwaters. For additional information contactDick Fredricks, ASA, (703) 373-2267 [email protected].
4 J u l y 2 0 0 5
I
I recently completed diving requalifi-cation at the Naval Diving and Salvage
Training Center (NDSTC) and felt that itmight be of value to others if I put downmy experience in writing. This articlesummarizes my AT conducted at the DiveSchool to regain my qualification whichhad lapsed when I was honorablydischarged from active duty in 1994.
Diving requalification must bep e r f o r m e d i n a c c o r d a n c e w i t hMILPERSMAN 1220-260.
When the member’s diving qualifi-cation has lapsed for more than 3 years,the diver must successfully complete thephysical screening test described inMILPERSMAN 1220-170 and success-fully retake the following portions of thediving course that would bestow the divingqualification desired. All classroomportions relating to diving physics and/orgeneral diving procedures, and portionsrelating to diving medicine, practicalportions relating to recompressionchamber operations, and practical portionsrelating to diving equipment in which theindividual has not been previously trained.
For me this meant taking thecomputer-based interactive course inDiving Physics and Medicine, andrefresher courses in the MK 20 MOD 0,MK 21 MOD 1, and Mixed-Gas Diving.These and other courses are available inthe schoolhouse computer lab,and they require at least an 80%on the comprehensive final exam,after which a certificate isavailable to be printed. A copyshould be provided to theNDSTC Training DepartmentFleet Master Diver for entry intoyour record.
The following are the NavyDiver physical screening testrequirements. See the NDSTCwebsite or MILPERSMAN1220-170 and MILPERSMAN1220-100 Exhibit 1 for the detailsof performing each exerciseproperly as, while I found thestaff and instructors at NDSTC to
be very professional and accommodating,exercises performed improperly will notbe counted.1. Swim 500 yards non-stop utilizing theside or breaststroke in 14 minutes followedby a ten-minute rest period.2. Perform 42 push-ups in 2 minutesfollowed by a two-minute rest period.3. Perform 50 sit-ups in 2 minutes followedby a two-minute rest period.4. Perform 6 pull-ups with no time limitfollowed by a ten-minute rest period. (Notethat you cannot let go of the pull-up baronce this exercise begins.)5. Run 1.5 miles in 12 minutes 45 seconds.
To perform the test, I was placed withtwo classes that started the day I checkedin on AT, these were a BDO (Basic DivingOfficer) class and a 2nd Class Diver class.At 44 years old, the physical screening testwas the most challenging part ofrequalification. Especially considering thatI was, by far, the oldest person performingthe test, and that most of the otherparticipants were less than half my age!
I offer a word or two of advice here,if you are not already in peak physicalcondition, start a “high volume” physicalfitness program at least 6 months prior togoing for requalification. I was threepounds overweight by Navy standards inlate 2003 and I worked out nearly everyday for 6 months losing over 20 pounds
with a program that included cardio-vascular training (NordicTrack andswimming), running, calisthenics,weightlifting, and proper nutrition. Myprogram paid off tremendously in manyways, and I passed the test with noproblems.
Another critical area for requali-fication is that of the Diving MedicalExamination. I am not a DMO (DivingMedical Officer) so I do not claim to knowall of the nuances of this specialty, butbased on my experience, I was required toundergo a complete physical examination,which had to be marked “for dutiesinvolving diving”, and it then had to bereviewed and approved by a DMO priorto my arrival at NDSTC. This was by farthe most important requirement, as the lastthing you want to have happen is for youto show up at the Dive School only to findout that you are “NPQ” (not physicallyqualified) due to medical reasons.
I recommend that you start themedical process at least three months priorto going for requalification, and workclosely with a DMO to identify therequirements that must be met. I wasfortunate enough to be in close proximityto the NAVSEA 00C DMO located at theWashington Navy Yard. He reviewed mymedical exam, and even called the DiveSchool DMO to verify that all of the
requirements were met.This was an excellent wayto go, as I knew beforearriving in Panama City thatI was medically “PQ.”
Once I had successfullycompleted all of the pre-requisites, it was simply amatter of reporting aboardNDSTC and working withthe Training Department toperform my four requiredrequal i f icat ion dives .Note that requalificationdives must be performedi n a c c o r d a n c e w i t hMILPERSMAN 1220-100Exhibit 5, and the U.S.MK20 Pier Side Diving.
J u l y 2 0 0 5 5
Navy Diving Manual. I was fortunate inthat there were two 2nd Class Diver classesin progress at various stages of theirtraining, so I was able to fulfill all of myrequalification dives in a few days. I shouldgive credit to 04-40-2C and 04-50-2C byname, as both of these classes wereexceptionally professional and cohesivediving units. We also received extensivehelp and training from 04-20-1C, 04-50-1C, and many others. It is nice to witnessfirst-hand that Navy Divers are still “a cutabove.” Bravo Zulu to all of you!
I started out with two MK 21 divesin the open tanks, which allowed me toregain familiarity with this equipment. Ithen joined up with another “2 chuck”class, diving for several days aboard oneof the two YDTs (Yard Diving Tenders)that the Dive School maintains. I was ableto get several surface supplied air divesin the MK 21, as well as a mixed-gas HEO2
dive in the MK21, including a Sur-D O2
dive, which gave me some time in theYDT’s recompression chamber. Then Imoved back to the other “2 chuck” classand was able to dive the MK 20 pier side.
My NDSTC-issued PerformanceInformation Memorandum is for requali-fication as a Mixed-Gas Diving Officercertified to a depth of 190 fsw. The schooldives a variety of equipment almost everyday so you are sure to find the requalifica-tion level you are looking for. PerMILPERSMAN 1220-260, diving
qualificationextends for ap e r i o d o f 6m o n t h s , s otake this intoa c c o u n t f o ryour next re-qualification.
My times p e n t a tNDSTC wase x t r e m e l yvaluable as Iregained skillst h a t I h a dnot used inmany years,r e k i n d l e ds o m e o l d
friendships (some of the junior officerand petty officers I knew back in thelate 80’s and early 90’s are now the CO,Master Divers, and senior CPOs at theDive School), and I know that 10 yearsfrom now I’ll look back on my divingrequalification with fond memories.Requalification also allows me to fulfill abillet with my reserve unit, NR NAVSEA
MK21 Open Tank FAM Dive.
MK21 with EGS Up and Over.
Det 1006, which is a Washington, DCreserve diving detachment assigned toNAVSEA 00C.
More information on NDSTC anddiving requalification can be found onthe NAVDIVSALVTRACEN websiteat: http://wwwnt.cnet.navy.mil/ndstc/.
LCDR Mike Foster is the TO/PAO at NRNAVSEA Det 1006.
The Historical Diving SocietyUSA is a non-profit educationalcorporation formed in 1992. It hasmembers in 37 countries andpub l i shes the award -winn ingquarterly magazine HISTORICALDIVER, which covers many aspectsof diving history, including the U.S.Navy.
Among Society Advisory Boardmembers are distinguished Diverssuch as Dr. Christian Lambertsen,Bob Barth, Scott Carpenter, SurgeonVice Admiral Sir John Rawlins, BevMorgan, Phil Nuytten, and AndreasRechnitzer.
For more information on how tojoin the Historical Diving Society,please contact [email protected].
P.S. NDSTC celebrated its 25th anniversaryin Summer 2005. If you haven’t been therein the past few years, I recommend thatyou pay them a visit. The school has addedseveral new wings and now hosts theCenter for EOD and Diving and the MarineCombatant Diver (MCD) program. Theyconduct more than 20 training coursesgraduating over 1,300 divers a year, andthey welcome alumni with open arms.
Thanks and a hearty HOO-YAH tothe instructors, staff, and students atNDSTC!
6 J u l y 2 0 0 5
A
A super-tanker is moored offshore at an offloading facility delivering fuel
to the thirsty automobiles of SouthernCalifornia. The facility is located in thePacific Ocean - a short distance off therunways of Los Angeles InternationalAirport.
As the tanker is offloading fuel, acommuter pulled over along a nearbyroadside observes several men unloading asmall motor boat from a trailer parkedillegally along the beach. He watches asthe boat speeds out to sea in the directionof the tanker.
A short time later he sees anexplosion off shore, and notifiesthe authorities using his cell phone.Authorities determine that the tanker hasnot been hit but there is some debris on thesurface of the water in the area pointed outby the first witness, whose story is latercorroborated by the statements of otherwitnesses. It is quickly determined that avessel has exploded but the circumstancesare unknown. All activity at the fuelingstation is halted, as is incoming traffic atthe nearby Port of Los Angeles/LongBeach. Air traffic at LAX is interrupted.Authorities at large commercial ports allaround the country are notified and placedon high alert.
A thorough and proper underwaterinvestigation needs to commenceimmediately in order to re-open thefueling station and return the ports andairports to normal operating conditions.
Despite the significant resources andattention that are focused on port security
today, the abovescenario – taken from atraining scenario basedon the USS THESULLIVANS and USSCOLE incidents inAden, Yemen - cannotbe overlooked. Thistactic has been triedrepeatedly and hasbeen proven effective,suggesting it will likelybe tried again.
Should a similarattack occur again, theensuing underwaterinvestigation will needto quickly determineseveral very importantthings:
1. Was the explosion of the small boat aninnocent accident, or did it result fromexplosive materials intentionally placedonboard the vessel?2. Did the operators of the vessel intendto attack the super-tanker?3. What type and quantity of explosives, ifany, were aboard the vessel?4. What type of device was intended totrigger the explosion at the tanker?
These and many other questions willbe asked in the aftermath of such anincident, and their answers demandedquickly.
Law enforcement dive teams must betrained and equipped specifically for thistype of complex underwater crime sceneinvestigation. This was the idea behind afirst-of-its-kind course developed andtaught jointly by bomb technicians fromthe Los Angeles Federal Bureau ofInvestigation (FBI), Los Angeles PoliceDepartment Bomb Squad, Los AngelesSheriff’s Department Arson ExplosivesDetail, and the U.S. Navy ExplosiveOrdnance Disposal (EOD) Unit at PointMugu, California.
Kelly Sandell (left) Los Angeles Police Department Dive Teamand Bob Scheerle (right), FBI Los Angeles Dive Team watchas Instructor Greg Everett (center) of the Los Angeles Sheriff’sDepartment Arson Explosives Detail offers insight into theoperation of the exploded IED using items located andrecovered by Sandell and Scheerle’s team of student Divers.
The first class to graduate The Underwater Post-Blast Investigation Course.
Terrifying Precedent
Preparting Dive Teams for MajorInvestigations
J u l y 2 0 0 5 7
The week-long course was pilotedOctober 4-8, 2004 at Castaic Lake,California. During their course planning,instructors recognized that, while manypublic safety divers are well-trained in theprocessing of routine underwater crimescenes, most lack a robust trainingcurriculum or certification for thespecialized skills associated withmajor underwater crime sceneslike those resulting from the useof an explosive device.
The course would partnerpublic safety divers with diver/bomb technicians so thatevidence collected or located bydivers could be quickly andadequately analyzed by thebomb techs – both in the waterand along shore – in order toadvance the work of theinvestigators and resolve thesituation.
Attending the 40-hourcourse were public safety andmilitary divers from agencies including theLos Angeles Police Department, the LosAngeles Sheriff’s Department, the FBI, theOrange County Sheriff’s Department, andthe United States Coast Guard (USCG).
During the course divers wereintroduced to concepts related to
underwater bombscenes throughb o t h l e c t u r eand prac t ica lexercises. Thel e c t u r e s p r o -vided an intro-duction to basicu n d e r w a t e re x p l o s i v e stheory, trainingon the recog-nition and iden-t i f i c a t i o n o fmanufacturedlimpet and seamines as wellas improvisede x p l o s i v edevices (IEDs),
an introduction to DC electronicscommonly employed in IEDs, and crimescene management. Divers were alsointroduced to an overview of skills usedin post-blast fragmentation analysis.
By Tuesday afternoon the divers werein the water applying what they had learnedin the classroom. Divers from several
different agencies and departments werepurposely placed together in teams ofsix to eight in order to foster inter-teamworking relationships. Over the next threedays the divers were put through a seriesof exercises of increasing complexityleading to the final, all day scenario.
On Wednesday each of the four teamswas given an underwater area to search for
evidence of an exploded device. Courseinstructors had detonated a series of IEDsunderwater in a controlled environment (alarge concrete tank) prior to the class. Thelocation and pattern of debris was recordedfor each device and items of evidence(fragmentation) were placed into the lakein the exact condition and pattern they hadtaken when exploded in the controlledenvironment.
Each team was then tasked withlocating the exploded device and itscomponents. The teams were required toprocess the device components distributedacross the bottom as though they wereworking a real crime scene. They usedvideo and still photographs where visibilitywould permit, and documented debrispatterns through a sketch on an underwaterslate – a drawing that might later provecrucial to bomb technicians conducting thepost-blast fragmentation analysis.
Finally, after the documentation andrecovery phase of the operation, the teamsthen took the evidence into the classroomlab, where they were required to developa reconstruction of the device from therecovered components and to describe
the manner in which it hadfunctioned, causing the explosion.During this phase of the course thedivers learned valuable lessons onapproaching such an underwatercrime scene, as well as what tolook for and how to handle,recover, and analyze it. Not onlyis each item important, but itslocation and position relative tothe other items is also extremelyrelevant to the reconstruction ofsuch devices.The teams presentedtheir findings to the instructorsand class, with their conclusionssupported by recovered items ofevidence as well as appropriate
and logical analysis.
On the final day, the divers arrived atthe site and were immediately confrontedwith several witnesses who began tooutline the details of the scenario describedat the beginning of this article. With onlygeneral prompting from the instruction
Students reassemble the components of an underwater exploded IEDin the hope of determining its mechanism of action, on the way toidentifying the perpetrator. Information is fed into a computer for alater presentation to a prosecutor who assisted with the class.
The LASD ROV is deployed from the beach in search of itemsof evidence lying on the lake-bed.
Classroom Training and Field Work
A Simulated Attack
8 J u l y 2 0 0 5
staff, the divers were required toset up a multi-agency “UnifiedCommand” and begin the processof assigning tasks and meetingthe requirements of the scenario– as though it were a real crimescene.
Since the divers did notknow the exact location orcondition of the sunken boatdescribed by witnesses, the teamleaders decided to organize anunderwater search operationbased on witness information.During the search, teamslaunched two ROVs operated bythe Los Angeles Sheriff ’sDepartment and the FBIUnderwater Search and Evi-dence Response Team. Divers eventuallylocated the sunken boat using aKongsberg-Simrad 650 sector scanningsonar deployed aboard the FBI’s DeepOcean Engineering Phantom 2+2 ROV.
After locating the sunken boat, thePhantom ROV was used to conduct a videosurvey of the boat and the surroundingarea. By beaming the video image topsideto the team’s support vessel, the team wasable to determine that the vessel was ladenwith additional, undetonated explosives,and that there was at least one victim stillonboard.
After conferring with bomb techni-cians who were viewing the ROV’s video
topside, the team used the ROV’s manipu-lator arm to recover what appeared to beone piece of explosive material that hadbeen thrown clear of the vessel during theexplosion.
The ROV then returned to the surface.While the bomb technicians examined theunexploded material, the divers reviewedthe ROV’s videotape and telemetry dataand formulated a dive plan to recover thevictim, process the scene, and recover theexplosive material and the boat.
The ROVs proved extremely valuablein providing an accurate and detailed sitesurvey to the divers, as well as in servingas a remote means of recovering potentially
hazardous mate-rials and devices– including twou n e x p l o d e db a c k p a c k -borne IEDs thatpresented an ob-stacle to diveoperations andneeded to be ren-dered safe priorto divers enter-ing the water.
D u r i n g t h eIED recove ryoperation, theROV were usedto attach cablesto the devices.
Dive Teams raise the suspect’s boat utilizing lift bags. The boathad been surveyed and videotaped by the ROVs prior to thestudent divers processing it on the lake bottom. Once allunderwater crime scene processing was completed by Divers,the boat was recovered for further examination.
The cables were used to drag eachbackpack near shore, wherebomb technicians were able to re-trieve the cable end, while the IEDwas safely underwater at the op-posite end of the cable. The IEDwas then examined by a waitingPAN disruptor; a device devel-oped by bomb-disablement expertChris Cherry in the early 1990sto help keep bomb technicianssafe and disable bombs non-explosively so that valuable evi-dence can be retained.
The divers then executed adive plan to recover the victim, theunexploded material, and the boat.Still photographs and sketcheswere used to further document the
scene and the locations of relevant itemsof evidence.
Finally, the divers used lift bags toraise the vessel and had it towed to shore,where a more detailed examination of theblast damage could be conducted.
Overall, both instructors and studentsbelieve this pilot course was a success andwere very happy with the level of instruc-tion that was provided. Instructors havealready begun with modifications to theexisting curriculum in order to take intoaccount the comments of students whoattended the first course.
If you have any questions about thecourse or are interested in attending, pleasecontact FBI Los Angeles Special AgentBomb Technician Greg Rabinovitz([email protected]), Special Agent Rob-ert Chacon ([email protected],310-996-4397), FBI USERT TeamLeader Special Agent George Carr([email protected], 818-779-3190),or Los Angeles County Sheriff ’sDepartment Detective Bomb TechnicianGreg Everett (562-946-7222).
FBI Dive Team members operate the Deep Ocean EngineeringPhantom 2+2. The ROV utilized its Kongsberg 650m sectorscanning sonar and video camera to locate the sunken boatdescribed by witnesses.
Special Agent Bobby Chacon is anAssistant Team Leader for the FBI‘sUnderwater Search and EvidenceResponse Team.
Improving the Curriculumfor Future Courses
J u l y 2 0 0 5 9
One Sunday morning at theNaval Undersea Museum in
Keyport, Washington, a four-year-oldboy raced ahead of his father, turneda corner, and let out a cry: “A mon-ster!” He dashed back to the safety ofhis father’s arms. Together they ven-tured around the corner where his Dadfound the museum’s display of a MKV diving rig, complete from helmet tocanvas dress to heavy shoes. Whenyou are four years old, not too tall, andall alone, a sudden encounter withfully rigged Jake can make a bigimpression.
Opened in 1993, the NavalUndersea Museum collects, preserves,and interprets all aspects of Navy underseaheritage, science, and operations. Itsexhibit floors and storage areas hold morethan 15,000 undersea artifacts, and thelibrary has more than 6,000 books,technical manuals, and photographs. It isan official U.S. Navy museum and hasachieved accreditation by the AmericanAssociation of Museums.
Diving is one of the museum’s mostimportant interests, and visitors will finddiving exhibits everywhere inside andoutside. In the lobby, two larger than lifegleaming silver silhouettes depict a man
and woman swimming into the deep. Theypoint toward a grotto. One side of the grottodisplays the materials from animal skinsand wood to plastics and composites thathave improved diving technology. On theopposite side, a timeline depicts morethan 2,000 years of diving and underseaheritage.
The Ocean Environment room chal-lenges visitors to think about charac-teristics of the ocean that divers know byheart: buoyancy, pressure, oxygen, light,and sound. The blue and green lights bathevisitors in the colors of the upper ocean.
Interactive exhibitschallenge them toexperiment with thephysics of movementin the sea.
On the maine x h i b i t f l o o r i sa display of ninesignificant divinghelmets, beginningwith a Snead from1906 and continuingchronologically to themodern Superlite 17.S u r r o u n d i n g t h ehelmets is an ex-hibition of 20 largephotographs, most incolor, of divers atwork. In a photo of a
diver working on the hull of USSCHARLESTON in 1888, a helmetprevents us from seeing the expressionon the diver’s face, but the NavySCUBA divers leaping into the sea inDiego Garcia in 2004 are obviouslyhaving a good time.
Appropriately, the largest singleartifact in the museum is a SubmarineRescue Chamber. Two large cutawaysin its hull let visitors see the operatingmechanisms and cramped quarters thatpermit the SRC to bring people to thesurface in times of distress.
The museum is not all divingexhibits, but it did win the NautiekAward from the Historical Diving
Society of England in 2000 for havingdone the most to promote the public’sknowledge of diving history. The museumoffers extensive exhibits about the oceanenvironment, naval undersea weaponssuch as torpedoes (ten are on display),submarine technology, and mine warfare.
Outside the main building visitors cansee DSV I, DEEP QUEST, the sail fromUSS STURGEON (SSN 637), and the endbell from SEALAB II.
The museum is currently developinga major new diving exhibit about thepeople, work, and techniques of the USSMONITOR salvage in 2000 and 2001. Itcontinually seeks items both old and newconnected with diving heritage, importantevents, or everyday common use.
The museum is open from 1000 to1600 seven days a week June throughSeptember. From October through May itis open 6 days a week and closed onTuesdays. Admission to the museum isfree. People wishing to make donationsor to get more information about the NavalUndersea Museum may call the curator at(360) 398-5517 or visit the website athttp://naval.undersea.museum.
The Ocean Environment exhibit helps visitors understandpressure, buoyancy, temperature, salinity, and othercharacteristics that divers routinely encounter under water.
Bill Galvani is the Director of the NavalUndersea Museum in Keyport,Washington. Photo credit - U.S. Navyphoto/Joyce Jensen.
Helmets representing more than 100 years of divingheritage attract visitors to a photo exhibit of modernNavy diving.
1 0 J u l y 2 0 0 5
For years U.S. Navy Divershave been performing critical
waterborne maintenance onnuclear submarines. Their abilitiesto accomplish these jobs havesaved the Navy millions of dollarsin avoiding drydock costs alone.Great timesavings that directlyimprove operational readiness arealso generated. Reduced budgetsand increased operational tempohave forced Naval Sea SystemsCommand (NAVSEA) to look atall maintenance activities andprocesses to ensure furtherefficiencies and cost savings. Oneprocess identified for suchimproved efficiencies is that ofdiving near active main andauxiliary seawater suctions of SSN688 Class nuclear submarines.
The U.S. Navy Diving Manualspecifies that diving within 50 feet of anactive sea suction greater than 50 gal/minand located on the same side of the keel isnot authorized unless it is an emergency;in such a case, the Commanding Officersof both the repair activity and tended vesselmust authorize the dive. This restriction
was developed following numerous divingaccidents that had resulted in serious injuryor death. However, when this restrictionwas developed, no consideration was givento the size of openings or to flow rates.
Normal ship husbandry jobs andsecurity swims are non-emergent. Undercurrent guidance, waiting for equipmentlineups to be completed and red tags to be
placed and verifiedcosts many man-hours for not onlydivers, but also sup-porting personnel.To become more ef-ficient and to im-prove operationalreadiness, naval en-gineers have lookedclosely at this restric-tion against divesnear active mainseawater (MSW) andaux i l i a ry (ASW)suctions of SSN 688Class submarines.Engineers, includingNavy Diver LCDRKeith W. Lehnhardt
at Portsmouth Naval Ship-yard, calculated that divingin the vicinity of activeMSW/ASW sea suctions,even when these are greaterthan 50 gal/min, does notpose a safety threat to divers.Although the flow rates ofthese suctions far exceed 50gal/min, their openings are solarge that the actual flow andpressure differential acrossthe grate is low.
NAVSEA 00C taskedthe Navy ExperimentalDiving Unit (NEDU) toverify these calculations andevaluate the feasibility ofdiving around active MSW/ASW sea suctions. Desig-
nated as Project Officers for this task,CWO3 Rick Strynar and LCDR NeffAnastasio drafted a protocol for unmannedand manned diving. Once completed, itwas sent to various ship husbandry lockersfor review and support. With the help ofDiving Officer CWO3 Dan Mikulski ofthe Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet(COMSUBLANT), the Naval SubmarineSupport Facility (NSSF) Groton DiveLocker and the USS MIAMI (SSN 755)were scheduled as platforms to execute theprotocol.
This protocol consisted of two un-manned and one manned phases. The firstphase entailed attaching a differential pres-sure gauge to the suction screen, startingthe MSW/ASW pump, and recording pres-sure readings. Recorded readings werethen compared to the engineering calcu-lations. Results showed that actual read-ings were slightly less than the predictedvalues. The second phase consisted ofplacing NEDU’s manned weighted mani-kin — dressed in standard underwater shiphusbandry attire, including a MK 20 un-derwater breathing apparatus (UBA) —over a sea suction, running the pump for 5minutes, and checking the manikin for
Divers retrieving NEDU man-weighted manikin followingunmanned testing phase.
NSSF diver EN1 (DV) Andros prepares to leave surface toapproach active sea suction.
J u l y 2 0 0 5 1 1
LCDR Neff Anastasio is currently theNEDU Senior Projects Officer. CWO3Rick Strynar is the currently the NEDUCommand Diving Officer and FleetProjects Officer.
signs of suction dam-age. This phase wasconducted three times,with the manikin po-sitioned differentlyover the grates eachtime to maximizegrate coverage. Afterthe three dives, thismanikin showed noadverse effects frombeing placed over thegrates.
S a t i s f a c t o r yresults from the firsttwo phases allowedtesting to continue tothe third phase, inwhich one MK 20 andtwo MK 21 divers slowly approached theactive suction screen and placedthemselves over it. CWO Strynar andNSSF Master Diver ENC (MDV) RodneyAtherton, with ETC (DV) ChristopherWeaver as dive supervisor, led this high-
risk evolution. Divers for this task wereHT3 (DV) Michael Fuzy, HT1 (DV) BrianWurm, and EN1(DV) Timothy Andros.PH2 (DV) Christopher Staten, HT3 (DV)Adam Cook, OS3 (DV) John Seagraves,QM2 (DV) Nikki Knoepfle, and TM3(DV) Paul Melchert provided topside
support. The Commanding Officers ofNSSF Groton and USS MIAMI, as wellas LCDR Anastasio, acted as safetyobservers for the evolution.
One at a time, each diver was directedto approach the active suction. Once at thescreen, they were directed to place theirhands, arms, legs, and then torsos over thescreen — and then to remove them. Diversreported that little to no water movementwas evident and little to no additional effortwas required to perform directed tasks.Results were recorded and provided toNAVSEA 00C for review and action.In the near future NAVSEA 00C willrelease an AIG outlining guidelines andprocedures to allow diving aroundsubmarine active MSW and ASW suctions.
This evolution required outstandingcoordination between the Commander ofthe Atlantic Fleet (COMLANTFLT),COMSUBLANT, NSSF Groton, andNEDU. The endeavor was well worth theeffort: the results of this testing will savethe Navy hundreds of man-hours andmillions of dollars in accomplishingsubmarine maintenance and securityswims.
Recovering HT1 (DV) Wurm following diveat active sea suction.
The SSN 688 suction dive team.
Mark V Monument at the
An Experimental DivingOrganization was establishedat the New York Naval Ship-yard in 1913 and formallydesignated as the NavyExperimental Diving Unit(NEDU) in 1927 whenit was relocated to theWashington Navy Yardto centralize all NavyDiving research.
The Navy Diving School wasestablished in 1926 in Building 146 at theWNY and was renamed Deep Sea DivingSchool (DSDS) in 1928. The Navy SalvageSchool was moved to the WNY fromBayonne, NJ in 1957.
NEDU relocated to Panama City, FLin 1975 and the Diving School followedin 1980. There is currently nothing at theWashington Navy Yard that tells thishistory. The Mark V Monument we planto erect there will change this.
Donation Request
This monument is dedicated to Diversfrom around the world who gave their life’swork to underwater construction and thesalvage of ships lost at sea. Their methodof training and development of equipmentset standards adopted by the internationaldiving community. Their traditions will lastforever.
Please accept this opportunity tosupport this project in remembrance ofthe unsung heroes who labored in themurky depths to save lives and improveknowledge of the world underwater.
Please send your tax-deductiblecontribution to:
Mark V Monument17314 Panama City Beach PkwyPanama City Beach, FL 32413
A certificate of appreciation will bemailed to each donor. Please makecheck payable to “Mark V Monument.”
C o n t a c t B o b B a r t h a [email protected] or Doug Hough at(850) 235-4101 or [email protected] you have any questions.
Your support is greatly appreciated byeveryone in the Navy Diving community!
Washington Navy Yard
A Brief History
1 6 J u l y 2 0 0 5
Your EAOS is approaching. You havebeen wondering what you are going
to do for a second career after the Navy.Whether you plan to leave with less thansix years or will be retiring with 20 ormore years, commercial diving may fitinto your plans. If you have graduatedfrom a Navy diving school as a SecondClass or First Class Diver, the commercialdiving industry may be your ticket forcontinued employment in your chosenfield.
While commercial diving is a unique,diverse, and independent industry knownto few outsiders, the industry itself com-prises two distinct employment areas:Inland Diving and Offshore Diving.
Inland Diving is performed in coastaland inland waterways, lakes, bays, sounds,harbors, and other shallow coastal areas.Most of this work is done in less than 100feet of water and uses air diving proce-dures. Bridge and dam inspections, mu-nicipal water towers, power plants, shiphull repair and cleaning, and pipe and cableinspections are but a few of the many
different types of work done by inlanddivers.
Inland diving work is primarilyrelated to the construction trades. Workis steady and the entry level diverutilizes his or her own individual con-struction skill sets to support the con-tractor’s requirements. Nationallybased underwater contractors allow adiver to work closer to home.Entry level divers enjoy an earlier“break-out” (less time spent as a ten-der).
Pay varies with geographicallocations and upward mobility may belimited. Weather conditions in northernclimate may limit work on a year-roundbasis. Work sites in remote areas havelimited logistical support.
Offshore Diving primarily supportsthe oil and gas industry and is concentratedin the waters off Louisiana and Texas.These states provide over half the com-mercial diving opportunities in the UnitedStates. Offshore diving is performed indepths ranging from a few feet to over
1,000 feet. Deep diving requires substan-tial sophisticated surface support equip-ment operated by well-trained crewsconsisting of topside support personneland technicians. The diving is performedby divers, usually in their late twenties tomid-thirties, using helium and oxygenmixtures for deep diving. However, aconsiderable account of offshore diving isdone in water less than 180 feet usingstandard surface-supplied air divingtechniques.
Divers and Their Rides Index
Transition Into Commercial Diving...continued on page 17.
1. Mike Heiny’s I944 SNJ-5 (USN Trainer)2. SUPDIVE’s 1973 BMW 20023. HT2/DV1 Mark Briggs’ 1962 Lincoln4. Ret CWO4 Mike (Gunnr) Fennewald with
his 2003 100th Anniversary Edition FXSTDHarley Davidson Softail Duce
5. Front (L-R): HMC Jerry Falls, Mark Tochterman , Ret MDV Don Curtis, EN2
Robert Grochowski. Middle: CDR JimBredemeier, Eric Godbold, unknown, RetLCDR Jack O’Rourke, LCDR TrevorMathis, BMC Troy Jones. Back: CWO LaryButler, Dave Sullivan, CWO John Beckman,Ret CWO Gunner Woody Woodward, BillRaimey, Ret MDV Mike Einhellig and hisgrandson Billy, Martin Brickford
6. Ret MMC (MDV) Jack Schmitt 1967 FordMustang
7. Ret HMC (DV) Larry Stokes on his 1935frame off, ground up restored BMW
8. Ret HTCM/DV Charlie Moser’s PorscheBoxster
9. Ret MDV Frank De La Oliva’s 1988 Silverado
10. Ret Capt David Engman’s 1956 Chevrolet11. David Ball in front of his ‘vette12. Ret HTCM/DV Charlie Moser’s with his
2003 50th Anniversary Corvette13. Ret MMC(MDV) Jack Schmitt’s 1932
Ford Roadster 35014. SUPDIVE’s newly restored 1990 Porsche
Carrera 215. Ret Navy Diver Kellard Jansen on his 1947 Indian Chief Replica16. Jim Bladh’s 1970 MG Midget (for sale!)17. MDV Bettua on his Harley18. Dave and Judy Sullivan with 1997 Fatboy19. Chris Gizzi on his 2002 Heritage20-21. MMC/SS Micheal Hill’s kids (Anthony
and Teresa) on 04’ Suzuki Volusia22. Ret ENCS (DV) Tom Lenz’s 2004 cus-
tom Harley Davidson23. Ret Sat MDV Mike Nichol on his Harley
(now stolen!)
24. Ret MDV Frank De La Oliva’s airbrushed murial on the bed cover of his 1988 S-15
25. LCDR J. Trevor Mathis’ son Keiran on a 1967 Ural Sport (Russian, 650cc, top speed 45 mph, easily carries 3 men
and a case of beer)26. The Army training team 04-70-SC class
pics with five bikes in front of them. SSGValencia, Chris (Army) on a 2004 Big Dogchopper, SSG Flack, Jason (Army) on a2002 Triumph Dytona 995i, SSG Lopez,Jose (Army) on a 2004 Suzuki GSXR 750,SGT Walker, Ernest (Army) on a 2000Yamaha R1, and CM1 Karr, Kenneth(Navy) on 2000 Suzuki GSXR 1000
27. Bob Barth on his John Deere28. GSEC (SW) F.K. Quarles’ 1999 Fatboy29. Ret CWO Gunner Woodward’s ride30. MMC/SS Micheal Hill’s ‘04 Suzuki
Volusia31. Bill King’s “ride”32. LT Dan Tostevin riding in New Mexico
License Plates (L-R)1.) SUPDIVE GMC K1500 2.) SUPDIVE 1999 BMW 528i 3.) Captain Dave Balk’s 3-series BMW 4.) Captain Dave Balk’s “CB DIVR” standfor “Seabee Diver” - “as the senior UCT bubba” 5.) Gunner Woodward’s plates
J u l y 2 0 0 5 1 7
Offshore work schedules range fromthree-day jobs, up to three weeks to threemonths or longer. Most large-scale divingcompanies provide (free) berthing andmessing on boats, ships, or barges. Workis normally divided into 12-hour shiftsseven days a week with time and a half forovertime over 8 hours.
The pay is higher after a diver “breaksout”, this includes depth pay. Divers havea better chance of employment longevitywith an established diving contractor.Upward mobility provides the diver achance to gain the experience to divemixed gas leading up to saturation diving.Other positions available to divers are Lifeand Saturation Support Technicians, whilesupervisory and management positions aremore readily available. Most diversworking in the support of the oil and gasindustry usually relocate to the Gulf states.
The pay for entry level divers isgenerally lower and the initial break-outperiod is longer with offshore diving thanwith inland diving. Work schedules arearduous and can impact family life.
What are the training requirements toqualify as a diver recognized by the U.S.Coast Guard and the Occupational Safetyand Health Administration (OSHA)? In theUnited States, there are two recognizedstandards:
The American National StandardsInstitute/American Commercial DivingEducators (ANSI/ACDE) Standard 01-1998 and
The Association of Diving ContractorsInternational (ADCI) Standard ConsensusStandard.
Both of these organizations issuecertification identification cards that areacceptable proof of adequate training andexperience that meet OSHA’s Test ofCompetency. For the most part, if youintend to seek employment in the inlanddiving industry within the United States,these tickets will suffice as proof of yourdiving experience and qualifications,however, neither are recognized by theinternational diving community.
The majority of global oil companiesand international diving contractorsemploy divers with International MarineContractors Association (IMCA) and/or
John Paul Johnson is a retired NavyDiver.
Health Safety Executive (HSE) certi-fication for work done outside of theUnited States. IMCA, in general, onlyrecognizes divers that have successfullycompleted commercial diving courses thatcomply with British Health SafetyExecutive (HSE), Canadian StandardsAssociation (CSA), or the equivalent.Unfortunately, because the United Statesdoes not have standards that comply withinternational standards nor is there a U.S.Government organization to audit thestandards (school house inspections), U.S.commercial and military trained divers donot qualify.
Okay…Now what? The big questionis, how do you convert your military divetraining and experience into qualificationsthat you can use to earn either an AmericanStandard or an international certificate.
The Association of Diving Con-tractors International offers a Navy-Trained Divers Commercial CertificationCard program (see April 2004 Faceplatearticle, page 8) that can provide manyNavy-trained divers with ACDI certi-fication.
The only method of obtaining anunrestricted international diving certificateis by successfully completing a com-mercial diving course by an accreditedcommercial diving school that providesinternational certification.
Presently, there are only three schoolsin North America (two in Canada and onein the United States) that offer this type of
international recognition. Divers Instituteof Technology – the only American schoolthat offers international certification – isthe only school in North America that canprovide the international ticket as well asthe U.S. certification (ACDE).
Each of these three outstandingschools provides an in-depth PriorLearning Assessment that is fullyrecognized by the Divers CertificationBoard of Canada (DCBC). Uponsuccessful completion of the assessmentprocess, the DCBC will issue the diver acertificate that complies with the CanadianStandards and is recognized by IMCA andHSE as an international diving certificate.
The assessment process is anevaluation that determines your militarydive training and experience equivalencyfor credit to international competencies,and saves you time in the transition to yourcommercial diving career while elimi-nating repetitive training.
The assessment process uses a validand reliable assessment of the knowledgeand skills you learned through non-formaleducation, training or experience such as:
Work experienceOn-the-job trainingTraining courses from the Navy and
private organizationsSeminars and workshopsIndependent studyVolunteer workCommunity activitiesWhile many of the subject areas can
be satisfied with your previous divetraining and operational experiences, somecompetency areas may have to be either“tested out” or satisfied with the com-pletion of a course of instruction for thatparticular area. In the event that the diverdoes not have sufficient deep diveexperience, DIT also offers supplementaldeep dive courses that will satisfy theinternational standards.
U.S. Navy Divers are among the besttrained in the world. Before leaving theservice, why not see if your hard-earnedNavy training can help you establish acommercial diving career.
1 8 J u l y 2 0 0 5
O
On 3 September 2004, Mid-AtlanticRegional Maintenance Center
(MARMC) Dive Locker was tasked byNAVSEA propeller group (05H) toperform a Visual Technical Inspection(VTI) of USS HARRY S TRUMAN(CVN 75) starboard outboard (#1) andport outboard (#4) propellers. Severalweeks earlier, Seaward Marine Services,Inc discovered a condition known ascavitation erosion during routine hullcleaning and inspection on #1 and #4propellers. This data raised concernswithin the maintenance community andrequired further inspection and evaluation.
VTI results were immediately sentelectronically to COMNAVAIRLANT,NAVSEA 05H, and 00C. On 4 September,the recommendation was made to replaceboth propellers immediately. The situationwas exacerbated by the fact that TRUMANwas scheduled to deploy the followingmonth.
NAVAIRLANT requested 00C formu-late a plan to replace both propellers andbe completed by 30 September. 00C as-sembled a team comprised of MARMCdivers, Phoenix International, Inc. (Phoe-nix) divers, and GPC/ESSM mechanics.Additionally, Southwest Regional Mainte-nance Center (SWRMC) Dive Locker pro-vided their NAVSEA certified welding
team to wet-weldrope guards.
Since both diveteams would be work-ing the job concur-rently on 12-hourshifts, two completesets of aircraft carrier(CV) propeller equip-ment were assembledand sent by truckt o N a v a l S t a t i o nNorfolk from ESSMWilliamsburg, VA andESSM Port Hueneme,CA. All equipmentarrived on 15 and 16September and wasloaded on a contractor barge and a U.S.Navy YC provided by Naval Station Nor-folk Port Operations (Port OPS).MARMC and Phoenix divers spent twodays assembling the jigsaw puzzle ofequipment on their respective barges.Major components included the CV Bal-last Tank, I-Beam, 50 metric ton hydraulicchain-hoists, boss and pilgrim nut handlingfixtures as well as a myriad of wire ropes,shackles, tools, and the hydraulic powerunits to drive them.
Both barges were placed alongsideTRUMAN by Port OPS tugs on 17
S e p t e m b e r a n dthe crews went towork replacing the61,500 lb propel-lers. The new pro-pellers had arrivedthe day before andMARMC VTI’swent to work per-forming the re-ceipt inspectionand making thepropellers readyfor installation. A-Frame assembliesthat were placed oneach barge wereused to send andretrieve all equip-
ment using air powered tugger winches.The winches used were 10,000 lb capac-ity with ¾ inch wire rope. The tuggers al-lowed divers to install equipment weigh-ing as much as 3,500 lbs each. Needless tosay, working smarter, not harder, was theorder of the day.
As with any job of this scope, Murphywas there on dive station and runningamok. #4 boss nut would not come off.Phoenix divers had to rig the 50 metric tonchain hoist to take a pull on the boss nutwrench. It finally broke loose and movedone half inch with a pull of 31,000 lbs.Needless to say, this was way more thanwas expected. Keep in mind thesepropellers were original equipment,installed on the ship in 1994 and thepropellers were manufactured/refurbishedin 1993. That refurbishment in 1993proved to be a game breaker.
Once both dunce caps and boss nutswere removed, divers discovered that eachpropeller only had two, 4½” withdrawalstud holes instead of the required eight, 3¼” holes. This meant that we could onlypressurize the pilgrim nut to 8,100-psi vicethe required 16,200-psi. How much of adifference is that? Well, 8,100-psi wouldprovide 545 long tons of force. We needed735 long tons to break the propellers offthe taper. Not even close. Both dive teamsapplied the 8,100-psi force with no luck.MCPO Hunt briefing the team.
#4 propeller.
J u l y 2 0 0 5 1 9
We even left one of the pilgrim nutspressurized overnight; hoping a long“soak” would do the trick. Murphy wasn’thaving any of it. Once we found thatthe propellers were notconfigured correctly, MikeDean (00C5) dusted offthe procedure for usingexplosives to help unseatthe propeller. Keep in mindthat this procedure isonly authorized with 00Capproval. The procedureis quite simple; gettingauthorization to use ex-plosives underneath anuclear powered aircraftcarrier in port is a wholeother ballgame.
We assembled an-other team to accomplishthis task. EODGRU 2provided salvage demo-lition divers from MDSU 2and explosive safety observers fromEODMU 2. The detonating cord wasobtained from TRUMAN’s OrdnanceHandling Officer (OHO). An ExplosiveEvent Waiver was generated byTRUMAN’s OHO with assistance from00C, NAVSEA 08, AIRLANT, MDSU 2,Port OPS, and Naval Station Safety andsent to Commander Fleet ForcesCommand (CFFC) for approval.
Approval was granted and theprocedure was underway. After both shafts
were covered with 3 inches of manila line,MDSU 2 divers applied three concentricwraps of 42-grain/ft detonating cord,which was held in place by the leftover
tallow from the dunce caps. #1 waspressurized to 8,100 psi and the electricshot was initiated. High order detonationwas achieved, but the propeller didn’tbudge. At the same time, 00C engineerswere doing the math to figure out how highwe could pressurize the pilgrim nut. Theword was given to pressurize to 10,000 psi.Three minutes after we applied 10,000 psi,#1 was unseated. Soon after, #4 waspressurized to 10,000 psi and the primercord detonated in the same fashion. #4
unseated as well. The procedure
for rigging thepropellers fromthe shaft, to thebarge beam andt h e n t o t h efloating crane(YD) is a sight tosee. Once thepropeller is readyto be yard andstayed to thebeam, the ballasttank is filledw i t h w a t e r ,approximately50,000 lbs of
water is pumped in to help maintain list ofthe barge. Once the transfer is complete,the barge is moved by tug to the YD. TheYD takes the weight of the 50 metric ton
chain hoist from the beam andaway it goes. Once the propelleris out of the water, the propelleris rotated so the forward end ofthe hub is facing down so it canbe placed on the pier.
Throughout this evo-lution, we had to keep our eyeson the many hurricanes brewingoff the coast of Florida. Yes, wehad to have a storm evasionplan, including moving the shipand our two barges to safehaven. One by-product of thisweather was bad visibility,which was reduced to sixinches. At 2400 on 29 Sep-tember, the NAVSEA ProjectManager and five Phoenixpersonnel had to assist Port
OPS in moving the barge from its mooringoutboard TRUMAN to safe haven threepiers away. Pier 14 was experiencing threeto five foot seas with 30-knot winds. Thebarge was returned to TRUMAN eighthours later. All in a day’s work, a 20-hourday that is.
Both teams were in automatic now, allthe bugs had been worked out of thesystems, and each diver knew his job. Theweather was a nuisance at times, but didn’tkeep us from progressing. By 4 October,the new propellers were on, the ship hadfour new rope guards welded on (#2 and#3 were deteriorated as well), and theteams were demobilizing from pier 14.
In all, both teams completed 177accident free dives accounting for 343.9hours of bottom time. TRUMAN sailed ontime to play a major role in the Global Waron Terrorism. This repair event provedonce again that active Navy and NAVSEAcontractor dive teams can work togetherseamlessly and provide the fleet withunmatched expertise and service.
Scott Heineman is currently theUnderwater Ship Husbandry OperationsSpecialist.
Overhead shot of the SIMA Barge.
CWO3 Zagursky blasting #1.
2 0 J u l y 2 0 0 5
Five mariners onboard the offshoresupply vessel Lee III died after their
ship capsized following a collision withthe container ship Zim Mexico III in theMississippi River. The 178-foot, 183-tonLee III, used to deliver people and suppliesto offshore oil rigs, was heading to PortFourchon, a major oil and gas port in southLouisiana, when it collided with the 534-foot long Container ship Zim Mexico IIIinbound for New Orleans. The incidenttook place at about 5:20 AM on February21, 2004 in near zero visibility due to thickfog. The site was 50 miles south of NewOrleans, Louisiana on the Southwest Passof the Mississippi River. The Lee III turnedover instantly and partly sank showingonly its bow, and blocking the onlyentrance to the river for large oceangoingvessels.
The Supervisor of Salvage was askedto assist USCG MSO New Orleans toensure that the Heavy Lift and removal ofMV LEE III, which was blocking theshipping channel into New Orleans, wasconducted properly and with engineeringanalysis. NAVSEA 00C responded to theMississippi River marine disaster bysending an engineering team of SUPSALVEngineers, Mr. Rick Thiel (Team Lead),CDR Brian Murphy, LCDR Nef Anastasioand LT Judd Southworth to model thevessel and analyze the varying conditionsfrom its current capsized position throughheavy lift. Expertise from MDSU 2 was
added when CWO4 Rick Armstrong andMDV Mike Babin joined the team.NAVSEA 00C Engineers used the Programof Ship Salvage Engineering (POSSE) tomodel conditions and assess hull strengthas a decision making aid to the SalvageCrew.
It was unusual to model the vesselcompletely upside down and with a ground
point or “pinnacle” where thetransom was touching thebottom. The damaged (red) areaswere modeled based on reportsfrom the divers and updated oncethe Lee III was pulled to the sideof the channel and more detaileddamage estimates could bemade.
The first response wasUSCG search and rescue andenvironmental cleanup. Nosurvivors were found, butenvironmental response workersrecovered 630 gallons of diesel
fuel using skimmers and absorbent boom.About 30,000 gallons of fuel were aboardthe Lee III.
The sunken ves-sel’s owner, Houstonbased Ocean RunnerInc., hired a salvagecrew and divers fromBisso Marine to lookfor bodies aboard thepartly submerged ves-sel and to remove theship from the channel.I m m e d i a t e l y, t h eBISSO MARINE sal-vage, logistical, and
contractual teams constructed a salvageplan, coordinated logistics and worked outthe contractual details of the operation.BISSO MARINE crews mobilized to thesite where they used the 700-ton and 600ton A-frames D/B CAPPY BISSO and D/B LILI BISSO as well as the 250-ton off-shore derrick D/B BOAZ to salvage thevessel.
Divers recovered 3 of 5 crewmenfrom within the Lee III. A fourth crewmenwas located downstream of the accident.Crews on scene encountered five-knotriver currents, high winds, rain and fog as
they prepared the Lee III to be moved fromthe middle of the channel.
U.S. Coast Guard hearings revealedthat Zim Mexico III was traversing upriver
at 11.5 knots.Lee III didnot show upon the radarscreen of ZimMexico III un-til it was lessthan a mileaway from thebigger ship.Both the mas-ter and the pi-lot aboard theZim Mexico
Lee III in the middle of the Southwest Pass.
POSSE model of this condition.
Diver from Bisso Marine prepares tosearch the wreckage of the Lee III.
Two A-frame cranes lift the Lee III.
J u l y 2 0 0 5 2 1
The Force of the collision is evident to onlookerssurveying the hull damage as MV LEE III is lifted.
III said that Lee III was quitenear to an oil terminal on theeastern portion of the bankriver. The proximity to theshore might indicate why thesupply vessel did not show upon radar until it changed courseand started heading toward ZimMexico III. The master said theradar was set to pick up images2.5 miles away. The two ves-sels established radio contactonly 37 seconds before the col-lision. The bow lookout testi-fied that he didn’t see anythinghit the ship. The first indicationof the collision came when theship shook from the impact.
The salvage plan included a 4-pointlift from the two A-frame cranes (700-tonand 600 ton) and landing the Lee III as-is,on an outfitted barge for removal from thearea. The barge was set to receive thevessel upside down. A wooden cradle wasbuilt to account for the relatively weakdeckhouse structure that would be bearingsome of the weight to provide stabilityduring transport. Once landed and lasheddown, the Lee III was transported toAmelia, La., for accident analysis and thendisposal.
This lift was modeled in POSSEusing 8 “pinnacles” as the lifting points toevaluate the midsection strength as adecision making aid to the salvage crewleader. The hull strength was sufficientfor the lift provided that the cranes
maintained even tension and lifted slowlyenough for the water to drain out.
The lift was successful yet solemn. Asthe vessel was raised the details of thedamage were revealed. Onlookers can onlyimagine what the force of the collision musthave felt like when hit by a vessel with 100times your momentum.
Gary LaGrange, Executive Director/CEO of the Port of New Orleans said theriver closure impacted both cargo andcruise ship operations for vessels callingthe Port of New Orleans and the entireMississippi River system. The affected
cargo includes consumer goods,raw materials used in manufac-turing, petroleum products, andgrain exports. “A closure, such asthe one we have today, impactsthe nation’s economy. Sixty-twopercent of America’s commerceis shipped on the MississippiRiver. This alternate route to theGulf of Mexico must be main-tained,” said LaGrange. The MVLee III incident cost approxi-mately $3 million for each daythat the local Port of New Orleanswas disrupted. There were 51 ves-sels waiting to transit northboundand 52 waiting to transit south-
bound through the pass, according to theCoast Guard, primarily bulk and containerships. The majority of cruise ships affectedby the closure have been able to arrangealternate port calls at Gulfport, Mississippiand Mobile, Alabama.
Diver from Bisso Marine prepares to search the wreckageof the Lee III.
At one point, about 40 ships werebacked up; including at least threelarge cruise ships carrying some7,900 passengers. But the Grandeurof the Seas, with 2,600 passengers,was too big to leave its New Orleansdock by any other route. TheGrandeur had been scheduled toleave Sunday. The delay was fine forpassengers who wanted to seeparades during the weekend leadingup to Mardi Gras, but not for thosewho booked the cruise to escapeMardi Gras frenzy. The cruise shipswere full because of the Mardi Grascelebration: “It couldn’t havehappened on a worse weekend,” said
Gary LaGrange, chief of the Port of NewOrleans.
I n c o n c l u s i o n , NAV S E A 0 0 Cprovided technical analysis to supportdecision making by the BISSO MarineSalvage Team and to provide assurance of
proper salvage oversight to the USCGMarine Safety Office New Orleans. Allparties involved communicated in an openand professional atmosphere with BISSOMarine showing their expertise andprofessionalism by mobilizing to the site,recovering 3 crewmen and completing thesalvage in 6 1/2 days, despite heavy fog,48-degree water and 5 knot currents. Theirsuccess allowed one of the world’s busiestwaterways and the United States’ mainarteries for trade to return to normaloperations.
POSSE model of the 8 lifting points.
CDR Brian Murphy is currentlySubmarine Program Manager andAtlantic Fleet Diving and Salvage Officerat Fleet Forces Command MaintentanceDirectorate, N43.
2 2 J u l y 2 0 0 5
One January evening during chow,USS SAN FRANCISCO (SSN 711)
collided with a sea mount approximately350 miles south of Guam. The initial re-port indicated a speed reduction on theorder of flank to less than 4 knots in just afew seconds. By early Saturdaymorning, 8 January, the NavalSea Systems Command had beennotified and the command centermanned. Shortly after, NAVSEA00C was notified to assemble adiving contingent and coordinatediving assets in support of anypossible combination of damagecontrol and stabilization tech-niques. At this point the damagesustained was unclear; however,USS SAN FRANCISCO wasunder her own power and beingescorted to Apra Harbor, Guam.
The Supervisor of Salvageand Diving, Underwater ShipHusbandry Director selected LTWilliam Hagan and Mr. Tom McCue toact as on-site technical representatives.SUPSALV immediately commencedmobilizing equipment to support anypossible combination of damage controland stabilization techniques. NAVSEA00C engineers, Hagan and McCue, fromWashington, D.C., and divers from Bayou
Vista, Louisiana, immediately departed fortheir journey to the other side of the world.Equipment, including twelve lift bags, anassortment of rigging gear, and four 8’ x10’ boxes containing the diving andwelding systems were shipped from the
Emergency Ship Salvage Materials(ESSM) bases in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, andCheatham Annex, VA.
NAVSEA 00C on-site representativesprovided coordination with the NavalSupervising Activity (NSA), which in thiscase was a Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyardresponse team lead by Captain Chuck Doty.
Understandably, the NSA’sinitial concerns were for safetyof the reactor compartment,which was found to be com-pletely intact with no apparentdamage. After this deter-mination, NAVSEA 00C waspermitted to initiate divingoperations with the two diveteams consisting of 00C contractand USS FRANK CABLEdivers. NAVSEA contract diverssupplied a well-trained team offully qualified underwaterwelders led by Mr. Lance Shupe,while Master Diver Tom
Stogdale lead a highly motivated andequally competent dive team from USSFRANK CABLE.
Wednesday morning, LT Hagan andEN2 Langley were the first divers to enterthe water under close supervision from IT2
Stover and Tom McCue. Divingwas authorized only after amajority of the ship’s potentiallyaffected systems had been taggedout for precautionary measures toensure diver safety due to thecondition of the ship. The diversshared the underwater videocamera, recording over 2.5 hoursof video on the initial dive andrecover a large piece of a porouscoral rock lodged in one of the portside torpedo doors. Throughout theinitial survey dives, USS FRANKCABLE divers were able to recordmore than 15 hours of videodirectly to DVD and take more than50 still pictures.
The initial inspection revealed moredamage than expected. The damaged areaextended from the port side torpedo doorsto the keel area of the most forwardelliptical bulkhead; most of the sonar domewas missing. The sonar sphere, a criticalconcern within the submarine intelligencecommunity, although unrecognizable,remained firmly attached to the ship, butshifted several feet to starboard. Diversalso discovered the ship’s mooring linesprotruding from the sonar sphere accesstrunk. Divers finally found a point ofreference when they traced out the sonardome mating ring, which led aft at a 70degree angle and ended near the verticalbulkhead inside main ballast tank 1B.Upon further inspection, large holes givingvisual access to main ballast tank 2B wereidentified as well as a small hole in theupper portion of 2A. At this point theNAVSEA 00C technical representativesbegan to consider options for underwaterrepairs.
Divers removing the sonar dome.
USS FRANK CABLE divers hard at work installinglift bags.
USS FRANK CABLE Divers Shine InUSS SAN FRANCISCO Emergency Response
By: LT Will Hagan
J u l y 2 0 0 5 2 3
Further inspection and many longhours studying video provided severalpossible solutions to the problems at hand,all of which were proposed to the NSA.The NSA decided to first address the ship’sstability with the aid of diver resources andconcurrence of NAVSEA 00C salvageengineers and Pearl Harbor navalarchitects. The second goal was to removethe weapons from the torpedo room
including two weapons in the tubes. Inconjunction with the first two goals, thedivers were charged with restoring as muchbuoyancy as possible without addingweight and to remove obstructions hangingfrom the hull to make the ship as stable aspossible for transit to the drydock.
In order to gain buoyancy forthe weapons off loading, NAVSEA00C reps proposed a plan to installtwelve 10-ton lift bags on theforward end of the boat to gainapproximately two feet offreeboard. The first two lift bagswere installed by attaching riggingto selected ballast tank flood grateopenings. Rigging for the afterbags was secured to the sub-marine’s sail with wire slings andwere rigged under the submarineto anchor the lift bag on theopposite side of the boat. PearlHarbor naval architects andNAVSEA structural engineersadvised USS FRANK CABLE hull techni-cian on the placement of eight topside pad eyes in order to secure the rigging forthe remaining eight lift bags.
Additionally, divers installednumerous flat patches to the hull with
welded screw dogs. This method wasemployed on MBT 2A and 3B.Concurrently, divers prepared the interiorsurfaces of the hull and twenty-five gallonsof underwater epoxy putty was applied tothe more obscure hull forms where flatpatches would not be effective. Withtwelve lift bags, most of MBT 2A restored,and approximately half of MBT 3Brestored, the dive teams obtained three feet
of freeboard and significant shipstability.
One of the largest operationsthe divers conducted was removalof the sonar dome. Throughunequalled prowess with under-water hydraulics and sheerdetermination, USS FRANKCABLE divers were able to drill4-inch diameter holes through4 inches of sonar dome rubber andfiberglass in a matter of hours.Accompanied by the underwatercutting team, who cut away the
connecting point between the submarineand the sonar dome, the damaged domewas removed and laid on the pier withthe help of a floating crane.
On Saturday, 22 January, the care-fully orchestrated off-load of all weapons
from the torpedo room aboard USS SANFRANCISCO became one of manycompleted milestones. Divers went backto work to remove the lift bags inpreparation for transit to the drydock atGuam Shipyard.
Early Wednesday morning, USS SANFRANCISCO left the pier under tug powerand headed to Guam Shipyard’s drydock,“Big Blue.” A difficult docking experienceensued due to unexplained currents surgingthrough the drydock. The docking teamfinally cradled the ship by the bow andgently set her down on the blocks. Navydivers quickly swam the blocks to ensurecontact with all blocks while a local diveteam inserted the two after most keel
blocks. The dock was then raisedto make the submarine “hard onthe blocks” and divers again swamthe blocks to pull block tags,ensuring for a second time that allblocks had solid contact. Overall, the three dive
teams working as one cohesiveunit, were responsible forremoving eight damaged ballasttank flood grates, installing twelvelift bags, twenty-five gallonsof underwater epoxy both onthe inside and outside of the ballasttanks, eight patches welded tothe hull, removal of the remainingportion of the sonar dome, andexpertly laying the USS San
Francisco to rest on the blocks in thedrydock.
Starboard side lift bags in place.
USS FRANK CABLE Dive Locker posing on the dome.
LT Will Hagan was until recentlyUnderwater Ship Husbandry ProjectEngineer at NAVSEA OOC5.
Remains of the sonar dome.
2 4 J u l y 2 0 0 5
Bob Kutzleb, a retired U.S. NavyOfficer and a pioneer in the field of
underwater search and recoveryoperations, recently passed away after atwo year battle with cancer.
Bob began his Navy career as aseaman recruit at the onset of World WarII, and spent the war years serving onsubmarines in the Pacific theater.Following the war, he remained with thesubmarine force, receiving his commissionas a Limited Duty Officer and serving asMissile Officer. He attended the U.S. NavySchool of Diving and Salvage in 1959,where he was certified as a Mixed-GasDiving Officer. He served as CommandingOfficer of two submarine rescue vessels,USS PENGUIN and USS KITTIWAKE,prior to his retirement as a LieutenantCommander in 1964.
After a two-year stint as projectcoordinator for submarine construction at
Robert (Bob) Kutzleb
Newport News Shipbuilding and DrydockCompany, Bob joined Ocean Systems, Inc.as Operations Manager in 1966. Ocean
4-4-4... OBITUARIES ...4-4-4
Systems was the first of a series of firmscontracted to provide commercial searchand recovery expertise to the U.S. Navy’sOffice of the Supervisor of Salvage andDiving (SUPSALV).
For the next 20 years, Bob continuedto support the SUPSALV office, personallydirecting over 200 search and recoveryprojects worldwide. These projectsincluded a number of high visibilityoperations, including the search for KALFlight 007, the search and recovery of thesubmersible Alvin, the search and recoveryof the Space Shuttle Challenger, thesearch for an Air India 747, and the searchand inspection of the ore carrierM/V EDMUND FITZGERALD in LakeSuperior.
During this time, Bob co-foundedSeaward, Inc. and founded SteadfastMarine, Inc., two well respected firms inthe marine services industry.
The deepest depth ever reached in theopen sea by U.S. Navy men . . . . On
22 April 1970, M.T. Bell (DCC), D.C. Risk(BM1), F.L. Reanda (MR1), and L.K.Goacher (BMC) dove and worked at 650feet for two hours, using the Mark I DeepDive System. LCDR McDermott, PCO ofASR 21, was in charge; OPCON wasunder COMSERVGRU ONE, San Diego.Submarine/Diving Medical Personnelfrom EDU and SUBDEVGRU ONE werein attendance.
The dive was performed from thedeck of the USNS GEAR (ARS 34),moored in the lee of Anacapa Island offPort Hueneme, California. The divers,working at 650 feet, had no difficultywhatsoever. They were kept warm by hotwater supplied from the surface to open-
circuit hot water suits. Communicationsfrom divers to the Personnel TransferCapsule (PTC) and to topside wereexcellent. The two working divers (one
man tended from inside the PTC) worenewly developed life support equipment— one wore the Kirby-Morgan BandMask; another wore the Mk 1 Mod 0mixed-gas SCUBA. The divers weresaturated at 60 feet before descending inthe PTC. After the working dive, they werebrought back up in the PTC and transferredinto the Deck Decompression Chamber(DDC). At the time of this writing, theycontinue saturated in the DDC, undercareful observation of medical personnel— awaiting more and possibly deeperdives.
A significant aspect of this dive is thetotal success of a deep working dive of thisduration, but surface based and without theexpense associated with bottom habitation.
J u l y 2 0 0 5 2 5
I leaned against a bulkhead as our smallboat set out of the harbor and went
North along the coastline. A light windfrom the West drifted in and ripplesformed here and there on the smoothwater. The morning sun was low on thecloudless horizon promising a warm dayfor our diving operation. Frank Donohueand Ramsey Parks were dressing into theirwetsuits as Ramsey explained the job.
“The pipe is about 2,000 feet long by10 feet in diameter. The engineers thinkthat part of the pipe has sand in it and ourjob is to find out how much sand is inthere.”
I glanced at the breathing equipmentthey were going to use. Twin seventieswith a single hose regulator and pressuregauge, and piggy-back, a single seventywith a one hose regulator mounted on it.
Ramsey continued, “There won’t beany current in the pipe so we’ll have toswim the full distance. Usually, they havea little current to help push the diverthrough the pipe but not on this job. Whenwe start, we’ll be heavy, so that at the endof the dive we’ll be neutral when the air isused up from our bottles.”
Each of the full seventies weighedabout six pounds more when full so theywere starting the dive with about 17 or 18pounds more weight from the air in theirbottles than at the end of their air supply.In a single seventy, this is not so notice-able, but it be-comes an impor-tant factor whenthe diver is wear-ing 200 plus cubicfeet.
“The pipejoints are 20 feetapart, so every fivejoints I will stopand fill one ofmy sample bottleswith the sandthere, and continueon. This will givethe engineers alook at the typeof sand that is inthe pipe,” saidRamsey.
The boat slowed as the operator easedback on the throttle and we came alongside
the buoy that marked the off-shore end of the pipeline. Thesight of the buoy brought backmemories of other dives I hadmade in pipelines. I have neverbeen completely comfortable infreeswimming gear in a pipeline.The specter of equipmentmalfunction, though remote,always seemed to hang over myhead just prior to an insidepipeline swim, especially if it wasalone, one like the one Ramseyand Frank were going to do. Iknew what was on the other endof that buoy chain. The pipelineterminates its offshore run andabruptly turns up to an elevationof about 15 or 20 feet off thesandy bottom, ending with a roof-like structure having horizontalintakes around the pipe under theroof. I had always entered one ofthese structures cautiously and
had always given a thought or two as towho was standing over the pump controlsto make sure they were not turned on atthe wrong time or in the wrong direction.
I helped Ramsey and Frank into theirtriple bottle set-ups and handed Ramsey
his bag of sample bottles.They sat on the gunnel afew moments, nodded toeach other and rolledover backwards into thewater with their heavybottles. They kicked afew feet to the buoy andstarted down the chain. Iwatched as they rapidlydisappeared from sightinto the murky water.Visibility was six toeight feet, and withhis excessive weight,Ramsey effortlesslydrifted down the anchorchain. The pressure ofthe water compressed
his suit causing an acceleration in his speedalong the chain. He kicked his fins slightlycausing his body to go horizontal and re-sist the downward acceleration slightly. Heglanced over his shoulder to see Frankswimming down behind him. Frank lookslight, he thought to himself, noticing Frankhad to swim to stay with him on the de-scent. Well, it’s not important, he thought,we’re here and we’ll get the job done.Ramsey noticed the change in angle on thechain and soon the lower end appeared infront of him. He waited for a moment, forFrank to catch up, then eased into one ofthe big intake holes. He flipped on his lightand dropped to the bottom of the tower.Frank was there next to him and Ramseynoticed that his buoyancy seemed to beokay now. They glanced at each other’sequipment, running their flashlights overthe spare regulators, weight belts and har-nesses. Everything was in order, so theystarted their long swim down the pipe to-ward the beach. Ramsey counted fivejoints in the pipeline indicating they hadtraveled about 100 feet. He stopped to in-spect the bottom of the pipe which hadFrank Donahue.
Bob Meistrell tends Frank Donahue.
2 6 J u l y 2 0 0 5
about two feet of sand in it. He filled hissample bottle as Frank inspected the area.Then, they moved on. It was absolutelyblack now except for their hand lights.Ramsey looked behind him and could notsee even the faintest trace of light comingfrom the tower. This is the moment whenthe cave diver and the pipeline swimmerrealize they are truly on their own and thisis the moment when the planning and theequipment must do the job. But there is notime to dwell on equipment and planning.It was important not to hesitate. They onlyhad a certain amount of air, and they mustdo their job and make the end of the pipewith plenty of air in reserve.
The bag that Ramsey carried thesample bottles in actually had twocompartments. The empties were all in oneand as he filled them he would place thefull bottle into the other compartment. Hehad twenty bottles and the sampling wasevery five joints of pipe or every 100 feet.He could reach down into his sample bagand count the bottles as he swam from onesampling station to the next. When all 20were filled he would be at the end of thepipe. Actually, the job was boring withseemingly endless length of pipe, whichwas gray and drab, with a fine silty sandon the bottom. The only life to be seen wasan occasional crab who would scurry alongthe sand to the pipe wall and disappear intothe darkness along the edge of the sand.Ramsey counted ten full bottles in hissampling bag and realized they were abouthalf-way through the pipe. He pulled hispressure gauge into view and read 1400pounds. Good, he thought to himself. Hestarted with 2400, was halfway throughand had 1400 left. He was home free, orso he thought. On his way to the nextsampling station, he noticed that Frank wasgetting extremely light and was swimmingmore than he should have been able to staynear the bottom for his inspections.Ramsey, being weighted heavy, washaving an easy swim along the bottom,using his hands to walk with from stationto station. He actually could pull himselfalong with his arms and travel veryeconomically with this system.
After the next sampling station, orperhaps the one after, he felt Frank hanging
onto his piggy-back tank in an effort to staynear the bottom on the pipe. He swungaround and looked at Frank and asked withhis hands, if everything was okay. Yes,Frank nodded, go ahead, he indicated withhis hands. As Ramsey swam on to the nextinspection site, he kept being lifted off thebottom by Frank’s excessive buoyancy.That, being combined with an increasedswimming effort, made Ramsey a little bitmore than slightly apprehensive. After acouple of more inspection sites, Frank’s
hanging onto Ramsey with his buoyantcondition became intolerable, and hedecided to tell Frank to swim on along thetop of the pipe and that he would finishthe inspection along the bottom. About thistime, Frank let go of Ramsey, and floatedtoward the top of the pipe. Ramsey turnedaround and saw that Frank had droppedhis light and it was dangling by the wristcord from his arm while he was busilyfumbling about his neck and shoulders.Ramsey shined the light toward Frank andrealized that he was very low on air fromhis main two bottles and was attemptingto find the single hose regulator from hispiggy-back bottle which had somehowcome off the neck cord and was behindhim. Ramsey quickly swam up and handedhim his spare regulator which Frankpromptly shoved into his mouth and tooka couple of relief breaths. With all theexcessive swimming with Frank holding
on and now this latest commotion, Ramseydecided he had better check his own airpressure. His gauge was down to 500 psibut that at least put him 500 psi in twoseventies, ahead of Frank at his point. Hequickly looked at Frank, who had becomeorganized, and indicated to Ramsey thathe was through inspecting and was goingto swim the remaining way along thepipeline since he was on his reserve air.Ramsey shook his head in agreement andset about to follow him.
Frank, being light, had turned upsidedown and was swimming and walking withhis hands along the top of the pipe. Frankis a big man with long legs and he wasmaking the most of it toward the end ofthe pipe. Ramsey was heavy and wasfollowing Frank along the bottom of thepipe. The water inside the pipe, since therewas no motion from waves, was slightlyimproved in visibility and Ramsey couldsee Frank’s light, perhaps twelve to fifteenfeet away. Ramsey reached down andcounted his full sampling bottles, he had16. This meant they were closer than 400feet to the end of the pipe and could makeit quite easily on the air they had. Onceout, they could get more air and come backin for the remaining four samples that wereneeded. Ramsey felt relieved and glad thattheir problems were no more serious thana scuffle to find Frank’s reserve airregulator. Ramsey settled into keeping upwith Frank and started counting the pipejoints that came up every 20 feet. Henoticed he was breathing heavily to keeppace with Frank. He had counted 10 jointsof pipe when his regulator started drawinghard. He didn’t know if it was due to hisincreased breathing efforts or if he was outof air on his doubles. He tried to swim upand grab Frank’s fins to have Frank helphim with the change-over to his emergencyregulator in the event that he could not findit. But there was no catching Frank. Theextra effort to try to grab his fins onlycaused Ramsey to draw harder on theregulator and make it seem harder to getany air out of it. He decided to stop andmake the change-over while he still hadsome air left in his doubles.
(To be continued in the next issue.)
Ramsey Parks.
J u l y 2 0 0 5 2 7
I noticed long ago that many Navy Deep-Sea Divers are at their core, gear-heads.
Probably one of the worst cases of nitro-methane insanity is found in our own ENCMVern Geyman who devastated all burnoutcompetition challengers at the NDSTCsanctioned event a few years ago. His canary-yellow ’34 Ford three-window coupe, withexposed big-block blower motor “smoked thehides” from the flag pole directly in front ofthe school until alongside the salvageground tackle display. A well-preparedsmall block Z-28 Camaro and a GTO – wellactually, a LeMans conversion – wereformidable, but lacked the huffer and werewell short on torque by comparison. Manystudents, instructors and me (the CO at thetime) were brought to tears of pure,unadulterated joy at the sight of thatfearsome display of raw, uncorkedhorsepower.
But there’s more: Jerry Pelton, a.k.a.“Mr. Corvette”, has been known to shredasphalt back by the non-mag area in PanamaCity – but shhhh, don’t tell anyone. AndSandy Bacia still spends every weekend atthe drag strip. Of course, there are divers atthe other end of the spectrum, too, like roadwarrior BMC P.T. Moore’s van, a veritablemobile Super Fund site. And while HarleyDavidsons can be found in any Navy DiveLocker parking lot, more and more youngdivers are opting for hot sport bikes and nitrousfed “tuner” cars instead of push-rod V8motivated Detroit iron. Still, divers’ taste forquick metal remains constant; it’s just therecipe to satisfy that hunger that has changed.Enjoy our four-page spread on “Divers andTheir Rides” on pages 12 through 15.
Topside; Red Diver...From the Supervisor of Diving Captain Mark Helmkamp, USN
American Thunder – and more...
Next Generation Diving System Update
NNavy Experimental Diving Unit(NEDU) continues to progress in its
development of components for the NextGeneration Dive System (NGDS) forsurface-supplied air diving.
The Oxygen Regulating and ControlAssembly (ORCA), a central component of theNGDS hardware, was successfully man-testedin Apra Harbor, Guam, on 7 – 17 October 2004,hosted by the Commander of Naval Forces
Marianas (COMNAVMAR), and supportedby the COMNAVMAR Dive Locker. (SeeFaceplate, February 2005, page 3).
TDM with “ruggedized” components:PanasonicToughbook computer, new pressure transducer,underwater electrical connector, and power cord inlid of container for connection to ship/shore power.If no power exists, there are two 12V batteries (leadacid) in bottom of container.
Volunteer divers from six commandscompleted 84 dives to depths from 80 to 190fsw and with bottom times from 11 to 49 minusing MK 21 MOD 1 breathing rigs with airor oxygen supplied from a MK III lightweightdive system via the ORCA and 3/8-inch, 300–foot umbilical. To support these dives,NAVSEA provided the procedures and tablesfor decompressing divers in the water on
oxygen. These tables were calculated with theThalmann VVal-18 Algorithm. The ORCA waseasily able to support both the air and in-wateroxygen requirements of up to three divers (twoworking and one standby divers) using theseprocedures with little discernable breathingresistance. Draft ORCA operating andemergency procedures were also exercisedwith divers providing valuable feedback formodification and simplification of several ofthe procedures, as well as of certain ORCAhardware features.
The ORCA was accompanied by a proof-of-concept version of the Topside Decom-pression Monitor (POC-TDM), which willeventually provide real-time decompressionprescriptions for all supported divers based onthe actual depth-time profiles experienced bythe divers. Pressure sensor and com-munications failures prevented the POC-TDMfrom providing these prescriptions in the
Guam dives, but divers were able to use theaccompanying Thalmann Algorithm WindowsDive Planner to analyze dive data from theDive Charts. The divers were readily able togain appreciation for the advantages of real-time calculation of decompression obligationsas they compared Planner and Tabledecompression prescriptions for given dives.
Overall, the VVal-18 tables prescribed atotal of 896 minutes of decompression for the84 man-dives completed in this series. Whenthe actual dive depths and bottom times were
entered into the Dive Planner, the Plannerprescribed a total of 550 minutes ofdecompression, a 39% savings of 346 man-minutes.
In more recent work, the Planner hasbeen modified to support U.S. Navy divingmissions other than those using surface-supplied air, and forwarded to PMS-NSWfor completion of the formal Verification,Validation, and Accreditation (VV&A)process required for approval for Navy use,and trial distribution to selected fleetusers under NAVSEA waiver.
Development of a prototype TDM ison track for open-water testing late thiscalendar year. This updated TDM will sporta graphical user interface (GUI) that waspresented in a preliminary form to aworking committee of operational divers atthe 2005 Working Divers Conference inKeyport, WA. Again, participants provided
valuable feedback about the content and formatof the information that they want displayed inthis GUI; feedback that is being incorporatedinto the prototype. The prototype alsoaddresses failure modes that were encounteredin the Guam dives: A new pressure transducerand underwater electrical connector for each
Close-up of the transducer connection.
2 8 J u l y 2 0 0 5
Marathon Man: Is it safe?
“The Pipe”
A special “Thank You” toBev Morgan who allowed me tore-print his 1967 short story The Pipe.You will all have to skip-breath untilnext issue to learn the fate of diversFrank Donahue and Ramsey Parks –sorry, get over it.
Topside; Red Diver... (continued)
supported diver are considerably more ruggedthan those that failed in these dives. Finally,channels have been opened with the NavySafety Center to interface the TDM inputrequirements and recording capabilities withthe pending internet-based Dive ReportingSystem to reduce current logging andpaperwork requirements on the dive side.These are all vital first steps to the ultimateobjective of safe and efficient tablelessand paperless diving by computer in the U.S.Navy.
It has been over ten years now since a 36year-old EOD officer died after a standard,
no decompression requalification dive inGuam. The officer had arrived at the divelocker early in the morning of the dive afterflying five hours from his duty station. He hadonly four hours sleep in the previous 30 hours.The dive team assembled, equipment wasissued, and pre-dive checks completed. TheDive Supervisor conducted the mandatorybrief. The Supervisor asked the officer if hewas uneasy about diving to 120 feet after eightmonths without diving. The officer respondedthat he was ready to dive.
The dive team arrived at the dive site inthe early afternoon and moored to a buoymarking a wreck. The officer and another diverdressed out and were inspected by theSupervisor. The divers entered the water andswam to the descent line, descended to thewreck, and then began their ascent after a four-minute bottom time. Both divers surfaced andreported “OK” and swam to the boat.
The officer had a little trouble getting intothe boat and upon squaring himself away onceaboard, the Supervisor asked him, “Are youOK?” The officer replied that he was OK andthen promptly slipped to one knee. TheSupervisor, sensing trouble, had the officer siton the side of the boat and even while theofficer still insisted that he was OK, his chinsank to his chest. His blank stare and apparentweakness confirmed to the Supervisor and theofficer’s dive partner that the officer wasnot OK. The Supervisor’s immediate diagnosis
Even as professional NavyDivers, with our extensiveprocedures, maintenance, and thehigh quality of our gear, divingremains a high-risk activity. DivingSupervisors daily live “Eternal vigilance is theprice of safety” but even with the greatestattention to detail problems still occur. Thinkabout other accident-causing factors beyondprocedures and equipment and consider thepersonalities of your crew and then re-read LTPaul O’Connor’s article regarding non-technical causal factors (See Faceplate,February 2005, page 7).
Think about this tragedy and consider thefollowing:
Don’t dive without adequate restDive Supervisors must be acutely aware
of their divers’ condition and experiencePlan the dive and dive the plan,
including a thorough check of all gear. In thiscase, a simple (final) radio check just beforesplashing the divers could have saved valuabletime before pressing the diver for treatment.
If divers come to your command TADto requalification, verify that their dive physicalis up-to-date and was completed by a DMO.Ensure their dive qualifications are current inaccordance with MILPERSMAN 1220-260.“No ticket; no laundry.”
Divers that have not made regular, recentdives should make shallow, work-up dives toreacquaint themselves with equipment andprocedures. Review the U.S. Navy DivingManual, Chapter 6-11.1.
Conduct a periodic review of yourcommand’s Diving Bill and standard andemergency procedures. Emergency drills willquicken your team’s response to a real lifeemergency.
Finally, govern the “Hoo-Yah” –overly confident divers are a real menace tothemselves and their dive partner.
was arterial gas embolism (AGE) and hehad the officer lay on the deck and administeredO
2. The Supervisor made preparations to
get underway and while doing so, wasunsuccessful in his attempts to raise thedive locker by radio to alert and make therecompression chamber team ready.
Within a few minutes the team hadreturned to the pier – and still had notbeen able to make radio contact with thedive locker. The Supervisor had a crew-member run ahead to notify the chamber crewand get transportation. Eighteen minutesafter surfacing from the dive, the officer wassealed in the chamber and was being com-pressed to treatment depth.
Initially, the treatment went well.However, after about 30 minutes in thechamber, the inside tender reported the officerhad tingling and decreased sensation inhis lower extremities. After several hours,the tingling and decreased sensation worsenedand the officer’s strength diminished. Hispulse and respiration rates were droppingand medical authorities sensed the onsetof cardiac arrest. After more than 49 hoursin the chamber, the chamber crew broughtthe chamber to the surface. The officer had arapid heart rate and no measurable bloodpressure.
The officer was transported to ahospital by ambulance where his bloodpressure stabilized. Upon reaching thehospital, his temperature was 106.9, pulsewas 158, and BP was 98/25. He wasimmediately admitted into the IntensiveCare Unit where further treatment wasadministered. His condition did not improveand ten days after the officer made thisdive, he died. The diagnosis: arterial gasembolism with hypothermia and multipleorgan failure.
Plan your dive, dive your plan. This wasa routine Navy dive so what went wrong?Nobody knows for sure. The young officerwas properly trained for the dive and wasin excellent physical condition. A proper ascentrate of no more than 30 feet per minute wasexecuted and the team arrived on the surfaceon time. What is known however is that theofficer suffered an AGE.
The 2005 Salvage Executive Steering Committee meeting is scheduled for26-27 of July, 2005 at the Washington Navy Yard. Please visitwww.supsalv.org for more information.