The Official Newsletter for the Divers and Salvors of the United States Navy

Volume 6, No. 2 / November, 2002

USS MONITOR TURRET RECOVERY
2 November 2002

In This Issue

SUPSALV Sends ........................................... 2

USS MONITOR Turret Recovery ................... 3

Navy Saturation Diving .................................. 6

Miner Miracle.................................................. 7

Diving Equipment Issues ............................... 9

PMS Corner.................................................. 10

Ulithi Atoll ..................................................... 13

Change of Command ................................... 14

00C Website Update .................................... 15

00C Welcomes Brendan Murphy ................ 15

Command in the Spotlight ............................ 16

Historical Notes: Sealab .............................. 17

Editor’s Note: The March 2002 issue of FACEPLATE had an editorial error in the Underwater Ship Husbandry Advisory entitled, “Diving

Around ICCP Systems”. The error appeared in the caption of the third photo. The term frequently used to describe this discoloration

above an ICCP anode is “flaming” vice “floating”. The anode depicted shows the typical flaming pattern found on hull coating directly above

an ICCP anode. This is a normal bleaching effect.

MDV Pre-Screening ..................................... 18

The Old Master ............................................ 19

Jake’s Corner............................................... 19

From the Supervisor of Diving .................... 20

FACEPLATE is published by the Supervisor

of Salvage and Diving to bring the latest and

most informative news available to the Navy

diving and salvage community. Discussions

or illustrations of commercial products do not

imply endorsement by the Supervisor of Salvage and Diving or the U.S. Navy.

Articles, letters, queries and comments

should be directed to the Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command, NAVSEA 00C,

1333 Isaac Hull Ave. SE Stop 1070, Washington Navy Yard, DC 20376-1070. (Attn:

FACEPLATE). Visit our website at

http://www.supsalv.org.

Captain Jim Wilkins, USN

Director of Ocean Engineering

Supervisor of Salvage and Diving

NAVSEA 00C

wilkinsjr@navsea.navy.mil

Captain Chris Murray, USN

Supervisor of Diving

murraycc@navsea.navy.mil

Mark Whitaker

Managing Editor

whitakermc@navsea.navy.mil

HTCM (MDV) Chuck Young, USN

BMCM(SW/MDV) Fred K. Orns, USN

Fleet Liaison Editors

youngch@navsea.navy.mil

ornsfk@navsea.navy.mil

F. Scott Lassiter

Graphic Designer

slassiter@roh-inc.com

SUPSALV SENDS

I

t occurred in a location that nobody in

the U.S. had ever heard of – Massawa,

Eritrea, (North Africa). The year was 1941.

The Italian military, then members of the

Nazi axis, were on the run, retreating from

their former naval facility in this small harbor town on the western bank of the Red

Sea after defeat by the British. But inspite

of their hasty retreat, the Italians left an incapacitating surprise. Advance members

of the Royal Navy (who desperately

needed this isolated, protected harbor as a

depot level repair yard for their Mediterranean Fleet) found twelve scuttled (and in at

least one case booby-trapped) ships

blockading both entrances to the port, and

two former floating drydocks – of almost

inestimable value to battle-damaged British warships – lying on the harbor bottom, damaged and sunken. Although the

Italians were retreating in North Africa, the

Japanese were attacking in the Pacific, and

in December of 1941 and early 1942, U.S.

Navy salvage forces were heroically engaged and nearly entirely consumed by

effort to recover from Pearl Harbor, a full

half-world away from Eritrea. With US

forces simultaneously joining the global

war in both the European and Pacific theaters, resources were thin, and only one

salvage officer was sent to Eritrea to assist

in this strategically critical, but little

known, salvage operation. LCDR Edward

Ellsberg, USNR, engineer and diving officer of S-51 salvage operations fame, after

a death-defying transit to North Africa,

found himself the sole military salvage officer in Massawa, with a small band of

commercial salvors and some local Eritrean

natives for his salvage team. With virtually no infra-structure other than the sabotaged and battle-damaged facilities left by

the fleeing Italians, Ellsberg rose to the

challenge, scoped out the situation, developed a plan, and compartment by compartment, ship by ship, drydock by drydock,

accomplished what everyone else declared

impossible – he salvaged Massawa Harbor

within weeks, and opened the port for intheater depot level repairs. The entire

story of this miracle of human ingenuity

and persistence is engagingly documented in Ellsberg’s book Under the Red

Sea Sun.

So why, you’re asking yourself, is the

new SUPSALV starting off his first FACEPLATE article retelling a long-forgotten

chapter from the dusty old Salvage

Chronicles? To inspire us to reach deep

within, and be prepared for the certain salvage heroics which will be required of our

community in the future? Not really –

though that’s not a bad idea. The real purpose is to lay the backdrop for what I’m

thinking about regarding our current preparedness – or lack of preparedness – for

major salvage operations our Nation may

soon require of us.

Our current war on terrorism started

with an attack on one of our warships, and

by a combination of God’s grace, superb

response by the crew and salvage forces,

and extraordinary damage-tolerant design

features, the ship was saved and is back

Cover: ENCS(DV) Vern Geymon prepares to cut the 7” x 14” pine decking during the USS MONITOR turret recovery. Photo by Fleet Combat

Camera, Atlantic.

(SUPSALV SENDS continued on page 12)
November 2002 3

White caps dotted the seas and aslight swell rocked the huge barge.

The divers reported 20-foot visibility and a

2-knot current. Not ideal conditions to lift

the MONITOR’s 140-year-old turret from

its resting place 240 feet below. A tropical

storm was threatening from the south,

promising 50-knot winds and 12-foot seas

that would threaten the eight-point moor

and time was running out. The lift had to

be today.

The USS MONITOR, best known for

its heroic stand against the CSS VIRGINIA

(USS MERIMAC) in the battle of the

ironclads during the Civil War, sank in a

New Year’s Eve storm in 1862. It came to

rest upside down on the sandy bottom 14

miles from Cape Hatteras in what is commonly known as the graveyard of the Atlantic. Since its discovery some 30 years

ago, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has

maintained the site as a historic monument.

Recent archeological surveys showed a

dramatic increase in the hull’s decay. The

recovery of parts of this famous warship

fell to US Navy Divers.

 In recent years NOAA in cooperation with Naval Sea Systems Command

00C3 (SUPDIVE), Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit TWO (MDSU 2), and Navy

Divers from around the fleet have recovered portions of the ship including the

shaft, screw, and steam engine. Once

again this successful team prepared for

salvage of the MONITOR’s most recognizable feature, the 22-foot diameter, nine feet

tall, 160-ton cylindrical turret. Unknown

was the integrity of the eight inch thick

iron turret bulkheads, or the contents remaining inside. High hopes envisioned the

entire turret, two Dahlgren cannons and

other period artifacts being recovered in

one lift.

DOD Legacy funds, allocated by

Congress for realistic military training missions, were appropriated at SUPDIVE’s request. Commanding Officer MDSU 2 was

assigned as On Scene Commander (OSC).

Planning teams went to work and soon a

salvage plan began to take shape. Unique

equipment had to be designed and manufactured, manning for the entire 45 day operation had to been allocated, and diving

procedures had to be identified.

 Diving offshore to 240 feet in one of

the most hostile weather locations in the

world to recover a historic artifact buried

beneath 100 tons of wreckage is no job for

a conventional Surface Supplied Diving

System. Use of one of only three US Navy

certified Fly Away Mixed Gas Systems

(FMGS), combined with a commercially

leased, Navy diver operated Saturation

Diving System would provide the safest

and most effective tools for this project.

Lacking a suitable platform, MDSU 2

looked to Phoenix Marine, the Navy’s

prime salvage contractor, to locate a lift

barge capable of an estimated 300-ton lift

and large enough to accommodate the

salvage and diving equipment. The

Manson Gulf barge WOTAN used last

year during the engine recovery with its

500-ton crane capacity, onboard berthing

and messing, and spacious 300 x 90 foot

deck fit the bill. Since the project’s main

mission was to train US Navy Divers in

(USS MONITOR continued on page 4)

By: Chief Warrant Officer Rick Cavey

Surface supplied diver operating hydraulics on turrent lifting system spider. Photo by Fleet

Combat Camera, Atlantic.
4 November 2002

salvage and diving procedures, MDSU 2

opened enrollment to all fleet diving commands. One hundred and sixty two Divers

from twenty-five separate commands including three from the British Royal Navy

responded to our call. Twenty-one US

Navy saturation (SAT) Divers responded

to provide the commercial saturation system with divers and watchstanders.

Enjoying calm seas and little wind

the WOTAN dropped the first anchor

over the site at 0330, 26 June 2002. Surface

supplied divers splashed the first set of

divers exactly six hours later and MONITOR Turret Recovery 2002 got underway.

Dive teams from both the saturation side

and surface supplied side worked in two

shifts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

While many of the divers rotated through

every two weeks, a core of 12 surface

supplied divers and all the saturation

divers remained for the entire forty-five

day operation.

The immense task of raising the turret to the surface required some “refining”

of current salvage procedures. NOAA scientists and historians required certain archeological procedures be used throughout the entire recovery. Any areas disturbed had to be thoroughly searched for

small artifacts. When found, small artifacts

had to be “mapped in” to the site by taking precise measurements and video.

Large eductors and airlifts, used to remove

over 100 cubic yards of sediment and coal,

had to be discharged into salvage baskets

with an eighth inch mesh to prevent small

artifacts, such as coins or buttons, from

being scattered around the site. Any human remains found would require specific

procedures for removal and shipment to

U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii.

Working side by side, SAT divers

and surface supplied divers worked to

clear the deck and armor belt from atop the

turret. Using a variety of tools, divers cut,

sawed, pried, and hydroblasted decking

and armor plate, hoisting sections as

heavy as 70 tons until the turret was finally exposed for the first time in 140 years.

The elation at accomplishing that phase of

the operation was short lived. The turret

was full of sediment and half-buried in

sand and coal. SAT divers went to work

removing the sediment inside the turret,

while surface supplied divers removed

sediment from around the outside. The

weather forecast called for calm seas for a

short time, so the decision to lower the 25-

ton Spider, an eight-legged claw designed

(USS MONITOR continued on from page 3)

(USS MONITOR continued on page 5)

Surface supplied divers going up and over during an average sea state. Photo by Fleet Combat

Camera, Atlantic.

Tenders worked harder than usual during the

normally heavy currents encountered off

Cape Hatteras, NC. Photo by Fleet Combat

Camera, Atlantic.
November 2002 5

for lifting the turret, and place it around

the turret was made. While internal turret

excavations continued, divers attempted

to sink the claws in and around the turret.

Some of the legs had to sink as much as

four feet into the sand, soil, and coal that

lay against the turret sides. Divers encountered iron plating and stanchions,

which had to be cut using 36-inch

ultrathermic rods and lifted out by cranes.

This work progressed slowly. Hopes were

that the turret would be ready to lift ten

days prior to the deadline date to allow a

cushion for unfavorable weather. These

hopes diminished with the discovery of

human remains in the turret. From the beginning, plans had been in place to ensure

proper procedures were used during the

excavation and removal of sailors trapped

inside the turret during her descent to the

bottom that stormy night. Progress slowed

as divers accomplished the time-honored

task of removing sailor’s remains from their

watery graves for proper identification and

burial.

A few short days before the deadline

the turret was ready to lift off the bottom.

The human remains had been removed

and both Dahlgren cannons were secured

inside the turret. The weather forecast was

grim. Bottom currents had increased beyond the safe working limits of diving, and

surface conditions exceeded the crane’s

capabilities. It was during this lull that the

OSC made a crucial decision. CDR

Scholley ordered the barge to pick up all

eight anchors and reposition

the bow into the forecasted

seas. Hoping bottom currents would diminish, this

new heading would lessen

the movement on the barge

and allow the large crane to

operate safely. Optimism prevailed and on 6 August 2002,

with only three days left in

the schedule and a tropical

storm headed in, bottom currents lessened and the first

of two lifts got underway.

First, the spider with the turret safely ensconced within

its eight legs, had to be

picked up from the bottom

and placed on a platform lying close by.

This critical lift was required to contain all

the contents left in the turret prior to bringing to the surface. Once attached, the spider, platform, and turret would be raised to

the surface and gently placed on deck.

The rigging went taut, Navy Divers,

spectators, and reporters jockeyed for the

best view, the water churned, and for the

first time in one hundred and forty years

the USS MONITOR’s 160-ton turret rose

slowly from the water. Pride, joy, and patriotism washed over the crowd as the

backslapping and congratulations began.

Navy Divers had once again proved their

commitment, versatility, and professionalism in accomplishing one of the most realistic and challenging training exercises

ever undertaken.

Overall, U.S. Navy Fleet Divers completed 507 surface supplied HE-O2

 dives,

accumulating 286 hours of bottom time

and 213 man-days in saturation. They

fought through every adversity and met all

challenges to become part of history by

recovering what some consider the

Mother of the modern naval warship.

HOO YAH DEEP SEA!!!

Chief Warrant Officer Rick Cavey is the

Officer in Charge of Detachment DELTA,

Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit TWO in

Little Creek, VA. He was the project diving

and salvage officer for USS MONITOR

Expedition 2002.

(USS MONITOR continued from page 4)

MDV Mariano directs side during up and over phase. Photo by Fleet Combat Camera,

Atlantic.

Surface supplied divers, affectionately known as sprint

divers, make their way to the turret. Photo by Fleet Combat

Camera, Atlantic.
6 November 2002

BMC(DV) Keith Nelson being launched for a 10-hour bell

dive on the USS MONITOR. He will spend 4 to 5 1/2 hours

actually working in the water during this bell run. Photo by

Fleet Combat Camera, Atlantic.

USS MONITOR Expedition 2002 saturation dive team with the Global

Industries 1504 portable saturation diving system in-transit to the

MONITOR site off Hatteras, NC. Photo by Fleet Combat Camera,

Atlantic.

By: CAPT Chris Murray

Once again the US Navy was given achance to use a commercial saturation diving system on the USS MONITOR.

The system that was used was the Global

Industries 1504 Saturation Diving System;

the same system used to recover the engine in 2001. After completing the engine

recovery in 2001, NAVSEA 00C entered

into a maintenance contract with Global to

maintain the 1504 SAT system to specifications, as outlined by NAVSEA SUPDIVE

and Certification, in order to assist in a

more rapid mobilization for use with the

MONITOR or emergency use.

The SAT system was again thoroughly inspected by NAVSEA Certification, SUPDIVE and NEDU. After inspection and review, a waiver was submitted to

OPNAV for conditional use on the MONITOR. The waiver was contingent on system and operational training and a demonstration dive prior to final approval for the

MONITOR mission. The Global 1504 SAT

System is a two chamber, 1500-foot system

with a two-man bell. Each chamber was

capable of handling 6 personnel. However,

for the MONITOR we had it configured

for four personnel.

During the MONITOR mission, the

SAT system was manned with 21 saturation divers and a SAT qualified Diving Medical Officer. They worked in

twelve-hour shifts in concert with the

surface supplied divers. Each 12-hour

shift consisted of launching a team of

two divers in the bell, and each diver

completing a four to seven hour dive

during their bell run. Between the two

divers, they would average 10 hours of

bottom time per day. The length of each

dive would depend on the task at hand,

environmental conditions, and how the

diver felt. At any one time, there were

at least two 2-man teams in saturation

to provide for 24-hour a day operations.

Each team would generally work for

about nine days prior to being relieved

on the bottom and then decompressing

for 66 hours.

 During the MONITOR 2002 mission,

the SAT divers completed 80 bell runs

and 641 hours of total bottom time.

The saturation diving bell was

launched and diving for all but about

48 hours during the entire mission. The

missed diving time was attributed to either excessive current (greater than 3

knots) or equipment down time. The

Global 1504 system

wasn’t fancy but it

proved to be very

safe and reliable. The

SAT diving increased

the efficiency of the

diver almost 4 to 1 over

surface supplied diving,

when considering the

consistency of a single

dive team, diving everyday for extended periods of time.

 The three Saturation

Master Divers that

made this possible were

MDV Chuck Young,

MDV Bryon Van Horn,

and MDV Lyle Becker.

Without these Master

Divers running the

training and operational dives, the MONITOR turret would still be on the bottom of

the ocean. This year’s iron men were

Chief Keith Nelson and Senior Chief Vern

Geyman. Between the two of them, they

almost accounted for 200 hours of bottom

time. HOO YAH!

Navy Saturation Diving Future

We have an opportunity here. Without saturation diving, missions like the

USS MONITOR recovery would not have

been possible. For the amount of bottom

time and tedious and dangerous work that

was required at 240 feet, it just would not

have been possible with surface supplied

diving alone. A saturation diving system

(Saturation Diving continued on page 18)
November 2002 7

By: LCDR Paul Fleischman

I

t’s wet, cold and dark...a typical Navy

dive? No, because it’s 240 feet underground in a coal mine. This was the situation for nine miners, who were trapped in

the Quecreek Mine, a crosshatch of interconnecting tunnels approximately four feet

high by twenty feet wide, located in western Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh. Late

on the 24th of July, the miners breached an

abandoned mine, which was filled with an

estimated 150 million gallons of water,

trapping them underground.

The water flooded into the mine so

quickly that the miners were unable to

move the 8,000 feet to the mine entrance

before they were cut off by the rising water. As the water level in the mine continued to rise, the miners made a difficult retreat into a captive air pocket at the highest

elevation in the mine. The rest of the relatively horizontal shaft rapidly flooded and

compressed the trapped air pocket exposing the miners to an estimated pressure

equivalent to 40 feet of sea water (FSW).

It was soon realized they would need recompression therapy if removed from their

pressurized air pocket.

Topside, the rescue operation had already begun. Mine engineers surmised

the miners were trapped in the flooded

section, and that if they were alive, they

would be forced to the highest ground.

Accordingly, they started drilling a sixinch air shaft above that point. The mine

engineers also speculated that providing

compressed air down the shaft could prevent the water from rising further, while

providing oxygen and warmth to the miners, since the temperature of the mine and

water was estimated to be 55 degrees

Fahrenheit. When the six-inch drill broke

through, the miners banged on the pipe to

let people topside know they were still

alive. This initial contact motivated the

rescue effort and provided hope to the

families and friends of the trapped miners.

As part of the rescue effort, the Indiana County Special Medical Response

Team (SMART) responded to the site. Dr.

Nick Colovos, a member of the SMART

Team and a Naval Reserve Diving Medical

Officer, contacted the

Navy Bureau of

Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) for

assistance, in case

the miners required

recompression therapy. Following a

conference call between OPNAV and

SUPSALV, all Navy

diving commands

with recompression

assets within 18

hours of Pittsburgh

were alerted.

By 1430 all the

available recompression chambers were

notified to deploy

and the first personnel arrived on site at

2230. The first recompression chambers from the Emergency Ship Salvage

Material (ESSM)

pool at Cheatham

Annex, Virginia arrived at midnight. By

0600 the next morning there were eight

chambers on site

with more than 50

Navy active duty and civilian personnel to

operate them. The equipment was staged

in a large machinery barn on the dairy farm,

where the rescue operation was underway.

The farm owner graciously and unselfishly offered the use of his facilities to the

Navy team.

The equipment included three Transportable Recompression Chamber Systems

(TRCS) mounted in standard modular

CONEX boxes with air banks and air conditioning, four free-standing Transportable

Recompression Chambers (TRC), which

are the single-lock components of the

TRCS, one Mobile Transfer Lock (MTL),

and a standard Navy two-lock chamber in

a CONEX box from UCT ONE. In addition

there were five Emergency Evacuation

Hyperbaric Stretcher (EEHS) units, known

commercially as Hyperlites, which are undergoing evaluation and certification for

Navy use. A mobile civilian recompression chamber had also arrived from Ohio

and was made available to the Navy team

if needed.

The Navy personnel represented

eight different commands and included active duty, reserves, and civilians. The ma-

(Miner Miracle continued on page 8)

Graphic provided courtesy of Pittsburg Post Gazette.
8 November 2002

HM1 Jon Carlson and HM2 Christoper Walker from Underwater

Construction Team ONE performing the initial examination of a miner

prior to evacuation. Photo by CAPT Dale Mole’.

TRCS used on site. Photo by CAPT Dale Mole’.

(Miner Miracle continued from page 7)

jority of the personnel and equipment

were from the Norfolk, VA area.

As the Navy presence grew the rescue effort continued. A 30-inch rescue

shaft was started while huge water pumps

were set up near the mine entrance to begin dewatering the mine. The rescue plan

was to maintain the miners under pressure, rapidly decant them on the surface,

and recompress them in the Navy chambers. Metalworkers fabricated an air lock

on site. This air lock would be attached to

the metal shaft lining the top of the rescue

hole when the drilling was done. A 22-

inch rescue capsule would be lowered

through the air lock and down the rescue

shaft to retrieve the miners one at a time.

At 0130 on the 26th of July, the 30-

inch drill bit broke and it took the next 14

hours to remove it from the hole. Over the

course of the delay, the water pumps continued to decrease the water level in the

mine. The engineers wanted to lower the

water level below the elevation of the estimated breakthrough point to ensure the

rescue shaft would not fill with water. The

drilling recommenced with a smaller 26-

inch drill bit and was stopped approximately 20 feet before breakthrough to allow the installation of a metal pressure

seal on top of the rescue shaft. Upon

breakthrough, the pressure gauge on the

pressure seal showed zero. The dewatering efforts had lowered the pressure in

the air pocket to

one atmosphere

and immediate recompression

would not be required. The mine

engineers calculated the pressure

had been reduced

by one to one and

a half feet sea water per hour, almost

exactly the Navy’s

accepted decompression rate for

saturation diving.

 Once the drill

broke through,

workers on the surface established

communications with the trapped miners,

who reported that one miner had severe

shoulder pain. The miner had a history of

shoulder pain, but it did not normally interfere with his work. He reported the pain

had increased during the second and third

day of entrapment and he believed he

could not use the affected arm. About

seven hours after rescue, the decision was

made to give a test to pressure. The miner was

recompressed in MDSU

TWO TRCS, which had been

moved to the hospital in

Johnstown, PA for just such a

scenario. He experienced significant relief on reaching 60

FSW and was treated on

USN Treatment Table 6.

The diagnosis was decompression sickness, superimposed on a preexisting injury. The increase in pain

during the natural decompression through pumping

down the water, with the considerable relief of pain and return to

baseline during recompression treatment,

supported the diagnosis and treatment.

Fortunately, recompression therapy

on the scale initially anticipated was not

required. However, this does not minimize

the contribution of the Navy personnel

on site. The Navy team provided tangible

contributions including supervised rehearsals of the evacuation and decontamination procedures, provided technical

guidance and equipment to construct the

pressure seal used on the rescue shaft,

and Navy doctors and corpsmen conducted the initial medical assessment of

the miners prior to evacuation to the local

hospitals. The Navy team’s greatest contribution was the most intangible. As

noted by several members of other rescue

organizations, the Navy team’s presence,

timely response, and demonstrated professionalism, provided hope to the family

members and contributed significantly to a

sense of confidence throughout the entire

rescue organization.

Equally memorable to the Navy personnel on site were the skill and dedication of all the emergency response personnel and the generosity of the local people

and businesses, who provided an abundance of food, drink, and equipment. It

was a privilege to be a part of such an effort, and the best reward was the rescue

of all nine miners. To borrow a phrase

from the SeaBee’s, the Quecreek Mine rescue demonstrated again that Navy Divers

CAN DO!

LCDR Fleischman is currently the Assistant

Supervisor of Diving and is the EOD/

SPECWAR liaison officer. His previous

assignments include tours at Defense Threat

Reduction Agency, EODMU FIVE and USS

ROANOKE (AOR 7).
November 2002 9

From left to right on the picture; HT3 (DV) Draper McBride, OSSN

(DV) Andrew Glueck, QM1 (SW/DV) Geoffrey Ives, DC1 (DV)

Jeffrey Poulin, and HT2 (DV) Larry Langdon. Photo by Stuart Yee.

View of the inner lock of the SNDLRCS.

Photo by Stuart Yee.

Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit TWO(MDSU 2) assisted Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) personnel in

testing and certification of the first Standard Navy Double Lock Recompression

Chamber System (SNDLRCS) at Cheatham

Annex in Williamsburg, VA. The

SNDLRCS is certified for treatments using

the U.S. Navy Diving Manual Treatment

Tables for the maximum time required, and

for conducting Pressure Tests and Surface Decompression.

The SNDLRCS consists of a double

lock recompression chamber installed in

an ISO container and an air/oxygen supply system. The recompression chamber

was designed by Fink Engineering and

manufactured by Cowan Manufacturing.

It is 54” in diameter and made of stainless

steel. It has air, oxygen, and mixed gas

BIBS in the inner

lock and air and oxygen BIBS in the

outer lock. It also

has a CO2

 scrubber,

an environmental

conditioning system, communications, and an O2

 and

CO2

 analyzer.

Air is supplied

to the chamber from

an Air Supply Rack

Assembly (ASRA),

the same that is

used with the FADS

III. Oxygen is supplied from 4 bottles

stored in the ISO

container or can be supplied from an external source (an Oxygen Supply Rack

Assembly, for example).

The ISO container is 8’ x 8’ x 20’ and

has a vestibule, which can be opened to

allow more room in front of the chamber

console. It has lighting, heating, and air

conditioning, storage for four O2 bottles,

and reducing stations for air and oxygen.

There is also storage space for an ASRA,

which is used as the chamber’s air supply.

Rollers are provided to allow easy removal

of the ASRA for more working room

within the ISO container.

MDSU 2 personnel participating in

the testing and certification of the first

SNDLRCS were HT3 (DV) Draper

McBride, OSSN (DV) Andrew Glueck,

QM1 (SW/DV) Geoffrey Ives, DC1 (DV)

Jeffrey Poulin, HT2 (DV) Larry Langdon,

SM1 (SW/DV) Mark Cooper, and HTC

(SW/DV) Steve Janek.

NAVSEA personnel involved were

HTCM (MDV) Chuck Young (00C36), Rob

Warren (00C4), Paul McMurtrie (00C46),

and Stuart Yee (00C37).

STANDARD NAVY DOUBLE LOCK RECOMPRESSION CHAMBER SYSTEM

By: NAVSEA 00C Staff Writers

(Diving Equipment Issues continued on page 10)

Kirby Morgan Diving Systems, Inc.(KMDSI), formerly DSI, has advised

us of a potential problem with the regulator

exhaust valve, PN 510-552. As a result of

changing to a different supplier for the exhaust valves, a slight difference in the

elasticity and stiffness of the valve has

been detected. This difference has the

potential to cause a small leakage in the

helmet when in certain helmet orientations.

THIS IS NOT CONSIDERED TO BE A

SERIOUS PROBLEM. However, KMDSI

has offered to replace these valves at no

cost. The valves in question will show the

part number and a mold cavity number, as

opposed to the previous parts which have

no mold cavity number. There have been

no reports of problems with leakage due to

these valves in the Navy. To our knowledge, no parts from this new lot have made

it into the fleet inventory. If you do detect

that you have some of these exhaust

valves in your inventory, you may contact

KMDSI for replacements at (805) 965-8538.

Additional information is available on the

KMDSI web site, www.KMDSI.com.

KMDSI has also issued a safety bulletin relative to the improper installation of

the oral nasal inhalation valve, PN 510-550.

These valves can potentially be installed

UBA MK 21 MOD 1
10 November 2002

• MIP 5921/038, Seatec Life Preserver.

The following correction will come out

in Force Revision 2-02: MRC 8CEB (R3) NOTE 5: the weight variance of the

standard should read +/- 4 grams.

• MIP 5921/036 (MAKO 5409 HPAC)

now contains maintenance to clean and

inspect the final separator semi-annually or in conjunction with filter replacement. It has been reported that on

some purification systems, the top

plugs have been overtightened. Tighten

the top plugs only until the top cap

“Service to the Fleet”

PMS Corner

contacts the cylinder housing. Also reported has been hairline cracks in the oil

filter housing. This is an O-ring seal

and is installed hand tight only.

• MIP 5921-019, SCUBA. Additional disinfectant agents have been approved.

SaniZide Plus, Advance TBE, Bi-Arrest

2, and Confidence Plus have been

added. Wescodyne can still be used as

a substitute, if local hazardous materials policies permit. Also, the R-7, Inspect Regulator and Gauge Hoses,

MRC situation requirement has

changed to perform the maintenance requirement before each diving day. The

R-6, Rinse Regulator and Air Cylinder

Assembly, has changed to accomplish

after each day’s use.

• Various MIPs. To preserve the functionality of the drying/purification cartridges in the MAKO/BAUER filtration

systems, upon completion of charging

evolutions, bleed down the condensation and leave a minimum of 2000 psi in

the system. Periodicities for cartridge

change-out will be revised as follows:

COMPRESSOR PURIFICATION SYSTEMS

(Diving Equipment Issues continued from page 9)

(PMS Corner continued on page 11)

Problems related to compressor purification systems continue to plague

diving commands. These systems consist

of canisters containing desiccant for moisture removal, charcoal to absorb odors,

and a catalyst for carbon monoxide absorption, such as HOPCALITE. These elements, when used properly, provide excellent protection to the HP storage flasks.

If these cartridges are not changed at

proper intervals, the cartridges become

saturated with moisture, potentially leading to a catastrophic failure of the cartridge. Ultimately, this leads to contamination of the HP air system and a very costly

clean up.

Life of the cartridges is a function of

several factors; amount of air run through

the system, humidity of air being compressed, ambient temperature, and system

pressure. It is difficult to predict how long

a cartridge will last because of these various factors, so it is wise to be very conservative when estimating the life of the

cartridge. When changing one cartridge,

all cartridges in the system should be

changed.

Most, if not all, of these systems

have an option for an electronic sensor(s)

that will detect excessive levels of moisture and carbon monoxide. On some of

these systems, exceeding the preset levels

of moisture or carbon monoxide will automatically shut down the compressor. This

is a clear sign that the cartridges must be

changed. MAKO has the Cartridge Monitoring System (CMS) which monitors

moisture level. They are presently developing a carbon monoxide sensor. Bauer

has the Securus which is a moisture detector. They also have a carbon monoxide

monitor. Use of these sensors can allow

you to greatly extend the life of the cartridge. In most cases, these sensors can

be added to an existing system and will

easily pay for themselves in extended cartridge life. Check with the manufacturer of

your purification system to see what is

available for your system.

backwards leading to serious problems if

attempting to breathe using the steady

flow valve. As long as proper procedures

are followed as specified in the PMS and

the UBA MK 21 MOD 1 manual, this will

not be a problem. However, this problem

has been detected by KMDSI on some

diver-maintained (commercial) helmets.

Another caution issued by KMDSI

has to do with the use of lubricants on

the regulator exhaust valve, PN 510-552.

Use of such compounds can deteriorate

the physical properties of the valves and

can attract and hold debris causing the

valve to leak. This caution also applies to

the diaphragm. The UBA MK 21 manual

calls for wetting these valves with water if

lubrication is needed during installation.

The PMS is being corrected to prohibit lubricating these valves with anything but

water.

POSEIDON REGULATORS

The new U.S. Distributor for thePoseidon regulator is Trelleborg Viking, Inc. They can be reached at (800)

344-4458. Their address is 170 West Road,

Suite 1, Portsmouth, NH 03801.
November 2002 11

1. Purification systems without electronic moisture monitoring require

cartridge change-out at 250 hours for

Bauer and 64 hours for Mako.

2. Purification systems with electronic

moisture monitoring, either Bauer

Securus or Mako CMS, require cartridge change-out annually or when

indicated by the moisture monitor,

whichever comes first.

3. Purification systems with electronic

CO and moisture monitoring require

change-out whenever one of the monitors indicates.

Also, the shelf life of these cartridges is

now 3 years.

• MIP 5921/162, MK 21 MOD 1UBA. As

mentioned in the Diving Equipment Issues article, the oral nasal exhaust, water

dump assembly, and installation valves,

should only be wetted with water prior

to installation. Do not lubricate these

valves with grease.

• MIP 5921/034 and other miscellaneous

MIPs: Guidance for the recertification

and inspection of flasks, moisture separators, filter housings, volume tanks/receivers, and purification system housings is being incorporated into a joint

process instruction NAVSEA-00C3-PI005. Until approval and promulgation of

this process instruction use the following inspection criteria:

NAVSEA certified systems:

1. MIL-F-22606 flasks and moisture

separators use NSTM CH 551.

2. DOT kevlar composite flasks require

hydrostatic testing every 3 years with

exception of the new carbon fiber

composite flask which is tested every 5 years. Steel flasks and aluminum cylinders are still hydrostatically

tested every 5 years.

3. For all filter housings, volume tanks/

receivers, and purification system housings, conduct external and internal visual inspection at periodicity on MIP/

MRC. Contact NAVSEA 00C36 for interim inspection criteria for these components.

NAVFAC certified systems:

1. All shore based unfired pressure vessels, specifically ASME and MIL-F22606 HP flasks and ASME LP volume

tanks/receivers, must use MIL-HDBK1152, Inspection And Certification of

Boilers and Unfired Pressure Vessels.

2. DOT kevlar composite flasks require

hydrostatic testing every 3 years, with

exception of the new carbon fiber composite flasks which is tested every 5

years. Steel flasks and aluminum cylinders are still hydrostatically tested every 5 years.

3. For all filter housings and purification

system housings, conduct external and

internal visual inspection at periodicity

on MIP/MRC. Contact Mr. Rob Smith

for interim inspection criteria for these

components.

• Upon receipt of Force Revision 2-02, all

commands should review their LOP and

equipment configuration and update accordingly.

• NAVSEA strives to keep the maintenance

requirements for all DLSS accurate and

limited to that necessary to keep the equipment safe and working well. When problems are found with the PMS, it is almost

always the sailor performing the maintenance on the equipment that finds them

and it is only when the commands using

this equipment provide feedback to

NAVSEA that these problems get resolved. This is accomplished through the

submission of feedback reports. There are

several ways to do this, but probably the

easiest is to submit an automatic

feedback report using the FTSCPAC

web site, www.ftscpac.navy.mil.

Once on the web site, select Integrated Logistics (PMS), then select

Code 401 PMS. Under Services, select Automated TFBR Form. This

works for the 5921, 5971, and H012

series MIP’s. Feedback for EOD

MIP’s can be submitted through the

FTSCLANT web site.

Points of contact:

Mr. Kerry Duffy/ISEA 059 commercial:

850-230-3100, DSN 436-4351 or email:

duffykp@nedu.navsea.navy.mil.

HTCM(MDV) Chuck Young, NAVSEA

00C36, commercial: (202) 781-0960,

DSN: 326-0960, or email:

youngch@navsea.navy.mil.

Mr. Rob Smith, Code 07FH, commercial:

(202) 433-8772, DSN: 288-8772, or email:

hypercert@nfesc.navy.mil.

Dave DeAngelis, NFESC ECDET Code

55DD Shore Based Design/Acquisition

commercial: (202)433-5480, DSN:288-

5480, or email: davebdms@aol.com

Technical questions, logistics problems, supply requests, personnel issue? Call or contact ANCHOR DESK 1-

877-4-1-TOUCH (86824) or

on the internet at http://

www.AnchorDesk.navy.mil.

Military Handbook 1152, Inspection

And Certification of Boilers and

Unfired Pressure Vessels, can be found

on the internet at http://

edlant.navfac.navy.mil/criteria/documents/MH/1152.pdf.

“Service to the Fleet”

PMS Corner

(PMS Corner continued from page 10)
12 November 2002

(SUPSALV SENDS continued from page 2)

in our Nation’s service. But stop and think

for a minute of how many close calls

we’ve had – USS STARK, USS SAMUEL

B. ROBERTS, USS PRINCETON, USS TRIPOLI, and now USS COLE. Whether by

declared acts of war or cowardly terrorism,

we are a Navy at constant risk. The recent

attack on the commercial tanker LIMBURG

is another reminder that our vulnerability

goes beyond just our warships, but also to

the lifeblood of our economy — commercial shipping — ninety percent of our

nation’s commerce is transported by ships.

We could conceivably find ourselves not

just fighting to keep a single ship afloat,

but simultaneously engaged in several different ports thousands of miles from one

another, in the US and abroad, in a desperate battle to recover shipping lanes and

navigable waterways, raising warships

and commercial ships, and battling the environmental pollution that ensues wherever ships are sunk — all the while potentially under enemy fire.

This is our salvage heritage – the annals of World War II and Vietnam are replete with combat salvage and harbor

clearance operations.

Are we prepared for this call? I will

argue no – not sufficiently. Though recent past FACEPLATE issues highlighted

the exceptional success of individual salvage operations (USS LAMOURE

COUNTY, USS COLE, Japanese Marine

Fisheries Vessel EHIME MARU operation, and this issue heralds the MONITOR

Turret recovery), our ability to successfully engage in two or more concurrent

major salvage operations (each with two

or more ships) could place us much in the

position of LCDR Ellsberg in Eritrea... with

a small salvage team of limited resource attempting to accomplish the impossible.

Our people – the strength of our community – are not broadly experienced in major

ship salvage operations. Our planned salvage training exercises are so minor in

scope that we don’t know what we don’t

know. Our commissioned fleet has lost

two thirds of its capability in the past decade, now with just four “junk boats”,

down from twelve not long ago. Our Special Operations (1140) community is focusing on the critical expertise of Explosive

Ordnance Disposal (EOD) as their principal professional capability, with a subordinate focus on salvage operations. This is

a double blow to our four remaining ARS50s as their wardrooms are no longer

“grown” up into salvage, but are learning

multiple point mooring, towing, and

heavy-rigging ship handling skills when

they step aboard. The junior ranks of our

Engineering Duty (1440) divers are greatly

undermanned, bringing a near term deficit

of both engineering talent and experience

to our salvage community. Our Master

Divers and Warrant Officers are the

world’s best, but the few recent major ship

salvage operations and the limited scope

of salvage training exercises give all of us

a false sense of confidence. Our Fleet

Divers are the professional heart and soul

of our salvage community, engrained with

a never-say-die attitude that gives us the

upper hand against adversity, but they,

too, suffer from the same limited experience base in major ship salvage operations. We have a tremendous resource in

our Emergency Ship Salvage Material

(ESSM) bases, but most of our divers are

not as familiar with the ESSM inventory as

they should be, and even fewer have real

operational experience with much more

than ESSM’s compressors and pumps.

The picture is not all bleak...we have

somehow always been able to dig deep

and find a way to get the job done, and

that salvage persistence and ingenuity

that kept LCDR Ellsberg going 60 years

ago is in a sense in our DNA. But we can

be better prepared; we need not rely on

miracles and heroism alone. For instance,

when is the last time we tried to find a way

to “exercise” a broader inventory of

ESSM equipment, even if “just” for training? In 1969, the ex-USS HAKE (diesel

submarine) was intentionally scuttled for

the sole purpose of a submarine salvage

exercise – and it was successful! With the

reduction in salvage operations experience

from the Special Operations community,

should we relook at the purpose of the

Diving Warrant community and shape it to

retain the USN’s corporate salvage operations experience? Or as a Warrant recently

proposed, maybe we should consider the

advent of Diving/Salvage Limited Duty

Officers. Since major commercial ship salvage occurs more frequently than USN

ship salvage, why not “TAD” some of our

MDVs and Diving Warrants and JOs out

to some commercial heavy lift or surfstranding removal using beach-gear or

parbuckling operations so that we leverage that experience into our own salvage

corps?

As I step into this job, and look out

to the horizon, it is not hard to mentally

imagine what until only recently was unimaginable. I solicit your inputs and ideas

for how we can be better prepared for the

foreseeable. As we stand as a Navy, both

in war and ready to go to war, get started

now...review your notes from salvage

training, hold some special training refreshers, forward your good ideas, visit

the ESSM bases to get familiar with our

equipment inventory. Don’t wait for

someone else to do it for you...take action

to improve our salvage readiness posture.

Take a lesson from LCDR Ellsberg’s experience. We must be ready when our Nation

and our Navy calls.

Dive safe and smart,

Captain Jim Wilkins

SUPSALV

“Experience is the toughest teacher. She

gives the exam first, and the lesson later.”
November 2002 13

On February 4, 2002, U.S. Navy Diversfrom Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit

ONE (MDSU 1) and Explosive Ordnance

Disposal Mobile Unit FIVE (EODMU 5)

headed for Ulithi Atoll, Federated States of

Micronesia, where they spent 10 days assessing an oil leak and the condition of the

Ex -USS MISSISSINEWA (AO-59).

The 553-foot MISSISSINEWA, commissioned in May of 1944, was an

ASHTABULA Class auxiliary oiler, displaced 25,440 tons, and had a capacity to

carry 146,000 barrels of fuel oil. On the

early morning of November 20, 1944, the

ship was torpedoed by a Japanese Kaiten

suicide submarine, becoming the first and

only documented sinking of a U.S. Navy

ship by this weapon. The ship burst into

flames and quickly sank taking with it 3 officers and 47 enlisted men. Today, the ship

lies inverted at a depth of 130 ft. in the

Ulithi Atoll.

Ulithi Atoll, 330 miles southwest of

Guam, was a secret anchorage for hundreds of Pacific Fleet ships throughout

WWII. The U.S Naval Base at Ulithi was

for a time the world’s largest and

most active naval facility in the

world and was a major staging area

for the campaigns at Leyte Gulf,

Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Its reef

runs roughly twenty miles north to

south by ten miles across, enclosing a vast anchorage with an average depth of 80 to 100 feet – the

only suitable anchorage within 800

miles.

 About 700 people live on the

atoll, which is made up of 49 islands. It has a land area of 1.79

square miles wrapped around the

fourth largest lagoon in the world

and engulfs 183 square miles.

 Since WWII, the

MISSISSINEWA’s exact position

had been in question, despite numerous attempts by both American

and Japanese dive groups to find

the wreck. On April 6, 2001, an independent dive team from San

Francisco located the wreck and

was the first to dive on the vessel

in nearly 57 years.

Today, the lifeless twisted ship is

home to large schools of fish and other

sea life. The remainder of the ship lies upside down with its bow section separated

and lying on its port side 50 feet forward

of the hull.

The first oil leak occurred when a

storm jarred the wreck on August 6, 2001.

Later that month, a mission was funded by

Chief of Naval Operations Environmental

Protection, Safety and Occupational

Health Division (CNO N45) for divers contracted through the Navy Supervisor of

Salvage (SUPSALV) to stop the leak with a

temporary concrete patch over a deteriorated 4-inch gate valve. The National

Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that the environmental impact from the leak was minimal.

The leak reappeared on 23 December

2001. In early February, a 12-member dive

team from MDSU 1, EODMU 5, along with

four SUPSALV technicians, were deployed

on a contracted salvage ship to again survey the source of the leak.

The Navy dive team, led by MMCM

(MDV) Jim Nickels (MDSU 1) and HTCS

(MDV) Bob Barker (EODMU 5), quickly

By: HTCS (MDV) Bob Barker

(Ulithi Atoll continued on page 14)

Diver going over side.

Collecting sand on uninhabited

island for cement. Ulitihi Atoll.
14 November 2002

found two leaks, one coming from the

ships port wing tank and the other from

the previously patched 4-inch gate valve.

Divers, using surface supplied MK-21,

sealed the leaks using expandable plugs,

epoxy cement and blank flanges. The

presence of fuel

oil contamination

on the water surface caused the

divers to decompress in the water

using the U.S.

Navy Standard

Air Decompression Tables and

procedures.

The Navy Divers

from EODMU 5

and MDSU 1

logged over 86

dives totaling

more than 139 hours of dive time, and reclaimed 3470 gallons of fuel oil.

The Ex -USS MISSISSINEWA was

nearly full at the time of the attack and an

estimated 3 million gallons of fuel oil still

remain in the vessel. This oil represents a

potential economic and ecological disaster

for the island residents of Ulithi, who rely

heavily on the lagoon for their food and

income. Accordingly, the U.S. Navy has

made plans to remove the remaining oil.

Representatives from the FSM and Yap

State governments, as well as U.S. State

Department and appropriate embassy personnel, were advised that the optimal time

frame for the oil offload is between November and May. The oil removal operation is moving forward as planned, with

the actual oil removal operation scheduled

to begin in February 2003. The oil offload

is expected to take approximately six

weeks.

HTCS(MDV/SW) Barker is currently

assigned as Command Master Diver at

Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit

FIVE. HTCS Barker served as on site Master

Diver during the Ulithi Atoll pollution

abatement operation 4-16 February 2002.

For over thirty-five years, the Office ofthe Supervisor of Salvage, USN

(NAVSEA 00C) has quietly transferred the

helm of responsibility for Navy diving and

salvage from one officer to another. August 8, 2002 was just such a transfer, but

this time, for the first time, it occurred with

the full formality of an official Change of

Command, as SUPSALV is now formally

designated a Major Shore Command, reporting directly to Commander, Naval Sea

Systems Command. On the 8th of August

during the inaugural SUPSALV Change of

Command, Captain James R. Wilkins III,

USN, relieved Captain Bert Marsh, USN,

during a ceremony conducted at the Navy

Historical Museum, Washington Navy

Yard. RADM Denny Dwyer, Program Executive Officer for Aircraft Carriers (PEO

Carriers) was the guest speaker and officiating officer. Captain Marsh received his

second Legion of Merit for operations

conducted during his tour as SUPSALV,

including Egypt Air

990, Alaska Airlines

Flight 261, EHIME

MARU, USS COLE

(DDG 67), USS

RADFORD (DD 968),

USS LAMOURE

COUNTY (LST 1194),

and MONITOR Recovery Operations (2001

and 2002). Upon relief

and detachment, Captain Marsh is now serving as the Pacific Fleet

NEMAIS Program

Manager with Navy

Enterprise Team Ships

and SUPSHIP San Diego. This is Captain

Jim Wilkins’ third command assignment,

having recently detached as Major Program Manager of the Amphibious Warfare

Program Office. His previous tours

spanned both a ship design and acquisiCHANGE OF COMMAND

By: CAPT Jim Wilkins

tion career path and three previous tours

in diving and salvage including Commanding Officer of the Navy Experimental

Diving Unit and SEVENTH FLEET Diving

and Salvage Officer.

(Ulithi Atoll continued from page 13)

Dive Station

RADM Denny Dwyer salutes as CAPT Jim Wilkins relieves

CAPT Bert Marsh as the Supervisor of Salvage and Diving.
November 2002 15

The goal for the re-design of theSUPSALV web page

(www.supsalv.org) was simply to add as

much functionality as possible from the

user’s point of view while maintaining a

clean, well-organized, and friendly interface. The various 00C departments and

their functions are listed at the top of each

page, making them easily accessible from

all the main pages of the site. The dropdown menu adds to the “one-click away”

functionality and the ease of use guidelines that we have followed from the beginning. Headed by the search engine, immediately visible in the upper left corner,

the left section lists more general options,

as well as FTP access and Calendar. Finally a “New on our Pages” section flanks

the right section of the page. The main

page is designed to

fit the widely used

800 by 600 resolution which eliminates any left-right

scrolling. For those

who may get lost, a

“you are here” at

the top of each page

indicates the user’s

precise whereabouts.

Mac Alnakari is the

Webmaster for the

00C website and

works as the Web

Design Manager for

ROH Incorporated.

By: Mac Alnakari

00C Welcomes Brendan Murphy

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome Brendan

Murphy to the 00C4 Certification

Division. Brendan was hired in

July as a System Certification

Manager. Prior to his employment

at NAVSEA, Brendan was the Division Manager of the Diving and

Marine Construction Group of J. F.

White Contracting Company, a

major heavy civil construction

company located in Boston, MA.

He was in charge of estimating,

bidding, and executing offshore

and inshore projects throughout

the United States and Canada.

Murphy began his diving career in

1980 completing Second Class

Dive training in Little Creek, VA.

Subsequently he completed tours

at a variety of commands including

Instructor duty at the Second

Class Dive School in Pearl Harbor,

Hawaii, NRL, USS RECOVERY (ARS 43),

MDSU TWO, USS GRAPPLE (ARS 53),

and COMLOGGRU TWO. He retired in

1999 as a QMCM (MDV/SW) after 22

years of Naval service. Brendan’s considerable experience, both in the military and

commercial environments, can only serve

to complement our Certification Team.

Welcome aboard!
16 November 2002

The FACEPLATE Staff has provided mewith plenty of slack on literary license

for this spotlight article, so I would like to

offer readers, unfamiliar with Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) ONE, an

opportunity to see inside the

CINCPACFLT unit. First, let me give you

the quick history lesson. MDSU ONE

evolved from Harbor Clearance Unit

(HCU) ONE. HCU ONE was commissioned in 1966 to provide rapid, highly efficient clearance work in Vietnamese rivers,

harbors, and coastal areas to support conflict requirements. HCU ONE received five

Navy Unit Commendations and one Meritorious Unit Commendation during the

conflict period. In 1979, the unit took on

the responsibility of providing diving services for Pearl Harbor based surface

ships; in 1982 the unit had a name change

to better reflect the scope of missions actually performed. In the mid 1990’s, the unit

continued its evolution into an organization that now had to fill the void left behind when the older ARS, ATF and ATS

ship classes were decommissioned. As the

evolution continues, MDSU ONE, in an

effort to fill this void, has pursued enhancing mobility, reducing footprint, and refining synergistic operations with

CINCPACFLT ARSs, T-ATFs, NAVSEA

ESSMs, and EOD units.

MDSU ONE is currently authorized

88 diver billets. MDSU ONE has Mobile

Diving and Salvage Detachments (MDSD)

that provide a multitude of services as defined by OPNAVINST 3501.133D, Required Operational Capabilities and Projected Operational Environment for

MDSU. MDSU ONE has one active and

one reserve detachment in San Diego,

three active detachments in Pearl Harbor,

and one reserve detachment in San Francisco and Galveston. These detachments

rotate through an Inter-Deployment Training Cycle (IDTC) with the ultimate goal of

rapid, efficient, and effective response to

CINCPACFLT diving and salvage requirements. In an effort to provide missionready MDSDs to supported commanders

throughout the PACOM AOR, MDSU

ONE conducts exercises, deployments,

and peacetime diving and salvage missions. Throughout Exercises NORTHERN

EDGE, FOAL EAGLE, SEA HAWK, and

RIMPAC, seven MDSDs provide Underwater Ship Husbandry (UWSH), diving

and salvage services and respond to diving and salvage scenarios which might be

anticipated in the Naval Coastal Warfare,

Harbor Defense, and Port Security arena.

During the deployment with Task Force

COOPERATION AFLOAT READINESS

AND TRAINING (CARAT), MDSD divers

share knowledge and expertise with divers

and salvors throughout Southeast Asia,

including Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand,

Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines.

Several MDSU ONE divers, as operators in

JOINT TASK FORCE-FULL ACCOUNTING, have had the honor of contributing

to the repatriation of Vietnam era MIAs.

 When MDSDs are not deployed, they

remain actively engaged in training or in

the execution of peacetime diving and salvage missions. Some of the missions inMobile Diving and Salvage Unit ONE

By: CDR Rob Fink

clude exercise minefield maintenance, underwater-sensor range maintenance, harbor clearance and salvage services for

hazards to navigation within Pearl Harbor

and adjacent waters. The Fleet Maintenance Dive Detachment (FMDD) teams

provide Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and

Intermediate Maintenance Facility repair

organizations with two-thirds of their diver

work force for surface ship and submarine

UWSH and inspection work. FMDD uses

dive team rotation to provide a 24/7 response and around-the-clock UWSH to

ensure fleet maintenance requirements are

satisfied. FMDD is also deployable to remote locations for the emergent UWSH

voyage repair.

In closing, if you are interested in a

challenging billet working with other

highly motivated sailors, then

visit the MDSU ONE website at

www.mdsu1.navy.mil and learn more about

our team. Aloha!

CDR Fink is currently the Commanding

Officer of MDSU ONE. He has a Master of

Education Degree in Education and

Training Management from the University

of Florida.

One Japanese and two U.S. Navy divers

hold on to a diving stage that will lower

them to the Japanese fishing vessel

Ehime Maru. U.S. Navy and Japanese

divers are working together to recover

missing crew member remains and

personal effects from the ship. Photo by

Combat Camera, Atlantic.

Detachment ONE in San Diego

preparing to launch divers during pier

repair operations. Photo by Combat

Camera, Atlantic.
November 2002 17

I

n the late 50s there were many different

programs in the US exploring new areas

in science and technology. The space program was beginning to take off, aircraft

design was quickly expanding into the jet

age, ship design was exploring nuclear capabilities, and the world beneath the sea

was becoming more interesting to the science community. In 1957 Dr. George Bond

and Captain Jaques Cousteau began a cooperative effort to develop a method of

sending people under the ocean for long

periods of time. The two did not have the

present knowledge of helium and oxygen

breathing in a saturated state, so they began to draw up plans that would test and

develop such a concept.

In the initial testing to send humans

underwater for long periods, Bond (who

would conduct the physiological testing,

Cousteau would continue with underwater

habitats with his “Conshelf” program)

chose to use laboratory animals, instead

of humans. He chose to use animals because the dangers posed to people in

saturation diving were unknown. At the

time, there was not enough research done

to put people down on the bottom for

very long, so the U.S. Navy continued the

study of helium and oxygen for several

more years. This project was called Genesis and after extensive laboratory testing

with various animals, permission was

given to conduct these tests on humans.

The first tests were done in late 1962 with

no pressure so that divers could exit

quickly if there were any bad side effects.

After success in zero pressure, tests were

done in 100 fsw and then 200 fsw. These

three tests proved that humans could, in

fact, withstand deep exposure using helium.

In 1964, the first SEALAB was built

and was ready for occupation in July. The

chosen site was Bermuda in a depth of 193

fsw next to the Navy structure “Argus Island”. Four Navy divers occupied

SEALAB I for 11 days with no ill effects.

With the success of

SEALAB I, the next

year, 1965, SEALAB

II was built and

placed in 205 fsw

near La Jolla, California. There were 3

teams of ten men

sent for 15-day intervals in the habitat.

This test demonstrated a method of

transferring in a bell

or Personnel Transfer

Capsule (PTC) for

decompression and

changing out team

members. SEALAB II

utilized a wealth of

concepts from underwater weather stations, oceanographic studies, and salvage

to testing of equipment designed to assist

the Navy Saturation Diver. In 1969

SEALAB III was created. The new habitat

was made ready for occupation at deep

depths and placed on the bottom near San

Clemente Island. In February of 1969, the

first team was pressurized to 610 feet and

two Navy divers left the PTC in an attempt

to occupy the habitat. Equipment failures

and the loss of life of one of the two Navy

Divers terminated the program.

Many of today’s diving programs,

techniques, concepts, or diving systems,

owe their existence to the achievements of

the Navy SEALAB program. One of the

most recent projects based on the

SEALAB concept is the NOAA Aquarius

habitat located near Key Largo, Florida.

Aquarius sits at a depth of 47 fsw and has

been a notable place for further study in

the field of oceanology. NASA uses

Aquarius for the training of their astronauts for future space flight programs.

Also in Key Largo is a small habitat, operated by Marine Resources Development

Foundation (MRDF), a foundation that

teaches young and old the art of underwater living.

This past summer, the gun turret of

the historic Ironclad USS MONITOR was

recovered in deep water off the coast of

Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. This required several weeks of saturation and

deep helium and oxygen diving. This salvage was successful largely due to concepts developed in the SEALAB program.

The future of diving is still plunging into

new depths with new equipment thanks to

the Navy’s experimental diving programs

conducted at the Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU), where some of the earlier

SEALAB concepts were established.

These studies continue to place man and

his equipment in places that was once forbidden. Thanks to the Navy SEALAB

saturation diving program we can understand the effects of long periods of time

underwater. Divers may now go into the

deep with greater confidence, knowing

that deep sea diving is not only an art science, but also a science.

By: Scott Lassiter

SEALAB II
18 November 2002

Master Diver Pre-Screening Puts Wannabe’s to the Test

Master Diver. It is one of the mosttreasured titles in the United States

Navy. Diving professionals from around

the world honor the title deeply. They are

the Navy’s technical experts on supervising dives, divers, and equipment. First

Class Navy Divers, who aspire to the

Master Diver (MDV) designation not only

have to prove themselves to their fellow

divers but also in a pre-screening program

administered by Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) TWO, based in Little

Creek, VA, are put to the test by established Master Divers to determine if they

have what it takes to join their ranks.

Four experienced First Class Divers

recently went through the two-week prescreening at Naval Amphibious Base,

Little Creek, and at Patuxent River Naval

Air Station. Five Master Divers ran the

candidates through intense wet, or underwater, scenarios that identified strengths

and weaknesses of each candidate before

their official Master Diver screening later

this year in Panama City, FL.

“This pre-screening is ten-fold the

intensity of anything I’ve done before,

but the intensity is self-imposed,” said Senior Chief Engineman (1st Class Diver)

Barry Thomas of Abington, Mass., who is

one of the Master Diver candidates. “Every day is a learning day.” And Thomas

has been a Navy Diver for 20 years.

Master Diver Russell Mallet, Command Master Chief of MDSU TWO, said

the pre-screening for Master Diver candidates is “not just about procedures and

diving medicine, but we evaluate their

leadership qualities, supervisory skills and

management of the dive team.” The MDV

candidates are debriefed after every scenario to determine why they made certain

decisions and offered feedback on how

they managed the problem. Divers from

various commands perform as role-players

in situation-driven scenarios that challenge the candidates’ experience and

knowledge. One scenario at Pax River featured a diver losing consciousness underwater (later determined to be a heart attack) and having to be brought to the surface, evaluated and receive medical treatment. The MDV candidate had to manage

that while keeping an eye on the challenging ship repair scenario he had been directing. “In that scenario, we evaluated

how they delegate tasks, their reaction time

and the overall safety of the dive team.

Also, we see if they are thinking one step

ahead.”

Becoming a Master Diver has been a

dream of Senior Chief Thomas since he

By LCDR Joe Navratil

Atlantic Fleet Public Affairs

was a teenager. “I joined the Navy to be a

Diver and knew early on that I wanted to

be a Master Diver. It’s the culmination of

your career as a Diver.” But not the end.

Master Diver Mallet has been a Diver for

20 years and a Master Diver for the last 10

years.

Master Diver candidate Jeff Moxley,

a Senior Chief Engineering Aide (1st Class

Diver) from Underwater Construction

Team ONE, did not become a diver until he

had already been a working Seabee for

nine years. The Baltimore native is now at

his first pre-screening for MDV after being

a Navy Diver for 10 years. “My Dad

taught me that if I was going to be a

trashman, to be the best trashman out

there. My occupation is diving and the

pinnacle of that is MDV.”

First Class Damage Controlman

(Diver) Jeff Poulin from MDSU TWO traveled to Pax River to be one of the role players for the scenarios testing the Master

Diver candidates, knowing that someday

he hopes to be one of the MDV candidates. “This is my third time doing a Master Diver pre-screening (as a role player).

It’s a good thing to see and a great training

experience.”

should be considered another tool in the

salvor’s toolbox as is SCUBA and surface

supplied air and mixed gas systems.

In order to maintain a saturation diving capability, the Navy must acquire a

SAT system. Two options exist; one is to

build a Navy owned-system and the other

is to lease a civilian system built to acceptable commercial standards that will be certifiable for use by Navy Divers. A 6-man

portable SAT system with a three-man bell

could be operated and maintained by a

core group of SAT divers based at NEDU.

NEDU could provide the nucleus of the

Navy’s SAT diving expertise. An annual

budget should include funding for mobilization and SAT training proficiency and

maintenance in order to maintain operational readiness. When tasked, a MDSU

detachment could augment the manning of

the system.

Without a validated Fleet requirement to keep an organic deepwater salvage capability, the existing infrastructure

that provides the training pipeline, personnel, and RDT&E support will soon be lost.

In a world where we must maximize resources and increase proficiency, SAT diving is a cost-effective method for conducting underwater salvage and rescue from

100 fsw to 1000 fsw.

(Saturation Diving continued from page 6)
November 2002 19

Jake’s

Corner

By: MDV Chuck Young

Old? I don’t think so! Wise and goodlooking, definitely. Isn’t that what all

Navy Divers see when they look in the mirror? We in the diving community are a

proud bunch and we have every right to

be. If it was easy, anybody could do it! As

we look back over the last couple of years,

it is easy to see that we have accomplished

numerous high visibility jobs having an

enormous impact on our Navy as well as

our nation. CNN, the evening news, in the

movie theaters... we are looking good.

Since the first terrorist attack in history on a U.S. Navy ship (USS COLE), the

condition of readiness within our military

has been increased accordingly. We’ve all

been involved in one way or another. The

workload on the waterfront as well as

throughout the entire diving community

has increased and it seems as though we

are doing much more with less. This

clearly indicates a need to be even more

squared away than ever. We will not cut

corners or compromise equipment and personnel safety. We will answer the call with

an unwavering commitment to any misBy: BMCM(SW/MDV) Fred Orns, Fleet Master Diver

sion, anytime, anywhere, regardless of the danger.

Let’s face it, things happen, and no one expects everything to be perfect all the

time. We should always

strive for it. Whether at a

training command, EOD, IMF,

or on a salvage ship, we need

to maintain our superior

readiness. Be the sought after, recognized expert by improving on all aspects of

your job. Share your knowledge and teach those new

divers how to do the job

right. If you see something

that needs a round turn, fix it

before it bites you. To continue to be the best, we must

work harder for it. More than

likely we’ll hit a few bumps

on the road to success, but it is how you

react to those bumps that really makes a

difference.

BMCM(SW/MDV) Fred K. Orns

ornsfk@navsea.navy.mil

com.202-781-0526

dsn.326-0526

MDV Orns, “I’m going to the Gym!” Photo by Fleet Combat

Camera, Atlantic.
20 November 2002

The past few months have been verybusy for the various diving communities. With the numerous aircraft recoveries,

security swims, emergent ship repairs,

USS MONITOR, USS MISSISSINEWA,

and deployments, it’s hard to think of

much else. With all this going on, we must

also fully engage in Task Force Excel. It is

coming, or should I say, it is here and it is

here to stay. We all need to fully support

all efforts in this endeavor whenever

asked to support. Task Forces Excel will

ensure our success as divers if we fully

support and get it right so it works for

YOU!

USS MONITOR Expedition 2002

The USS MONITOR expedition was

a tremendous success thanks to Mobile

Diving and Salvage Unit TWO, and the

numerous commands that supported this

year’s work. CAPT Bobbie Scholley and

CWO Rick Cavey did an outstanding job

leading the efforts of this tremendous undertaking. The operational experience

gained while performing operational Surface Supplied Mixed Gas Diving under

some very aggressive environmental conditions cannot be understated. Saturation

diving also proved its worth with what

seemed to be unlimited bottom time to

complete the complex tasks called for in

this mission. I would especially like to

thank the three Saturation Master Divers

that ran the SAT dives during this mission

non-stop, MDV Bryon Van Horn, MDV

Chuck Young and MDV Lyle Becker. Without their total dedication throughout the

SAT work-ups and the operation, the USS

MONITOR’s turret would not have been

on deck at the end of this mission, HOO

YAH!

Authorized for Navy Use (ANU)

There seems to be some confusion in

a few of the dive lockers as to the ANU

and how something gets placed on the

ANU. There will be an article dedicated to

the ANU process and what is required to

be on the ANU in the next issue of FACEPLATE. In the meantime, please refer any

questions to my office and talk or email to

LCDR Paul Fleischman, MDV Fred Orns,

MDV Chuck Young or Mike Leese.

LCDR Paul Fleischman

fleischmanpa@navsea.navy.mil

(202) 781-3821

MDV Chuck Young

youngch@navsea.navy.mil

(202) 781-0960

MDV Fred Orns

ornsfk@ navsea.navy.mil

(202) 781-0526

Mike Leese

leesemp@ navsea.navy.mil

(202) 781-0705

Navy Standard Chamber

Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit

TWO used the first of the new chambers

on the USS MONITOR. It proved to be a

pretty good chamber and received some

good reviews. There were some minor improvements that will be incorporated in

the follow-on chambers where practical.

The next chamber should be undergoing

outfitting for delivery later this year.

MDV/CWO Conference

The MDV/CWO Conference is tentatively scheduled for 14-

16 May 2003 and will be hosted by the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center. The conference provides an opportunity for senior enlisted and Chief Warrant Officer leadership

throughout the various diving commands to collectively review and discuss current and future community issues. A

diving advisory will be released later this year providing

more details.

MDV Reunion

The MDV Reunion will be held on Saturday, 17 May 2003, at

the Coastal Systems Station Marina, Panama City, FL starting at 1000. The point of contact for the reunion is ENCM/

MDV(ret) Joe Gray at (850) 230-9217.

By: CAPT Chris Murray