Controllable Pitch Propeller Changes to DDG Class Ships

Women Divers Hall of Fame

What is ESSM?

USS New Orleans (LPD 18) Collision Repair

In This Issue...

Controllable Pitch Propeller Changes to DDG Class Ships

Women Divers Hall of Fame

What is ESSM?

USS New Orleans (LPD 18) Collision Repair

The Official Newsletter for the Divers and Salvors of the United States Navy Volume 14, No. 1 / March 2010
2 March 2010
March 2010 3

I

n our last Faceplate, I listed some examples of recent accomplishments 

by Divers and Salvors throughout the 

Navy. In this issue I will provide you 

with a status of our community by the 

numbers. It is instructive to see how 

many Navy Divers are on duty and 

how much diving you do.

On the enlisted side, there are 

currently 1,164 Navy Divers (ND rating), 108 Seabee Divers, 1,015 EOD 

Technicians, and 2,036 SEALS on 

active duty. For those of you with a 

statistical bent, our 88 Master Divers 

represent less than eight percent of 

the enlisted diving (ND) community. 

To you young Divers aspiring to be 

Masters some day, the numbers reveal 

that this is a significant challenge, but 

no worthwhile goal is easy to achieve. 

Stay focused and keep studying!

The total number of Officer Divers 

in all diving communities is approximately 1,160. We are fortunate to have 

specific Warrant Officer career paths 

for Divers, EOD, Civil Engineering 

Corps (UCT), and SEALs. If your goal 

is to attain a leadership position with 

a specific technical expertise, you may 

want to inquire about Warrant Officer 

commissioning programs. At the top, 

in recognition of the vital work they are 

doing, the SEAL and EOD communities now have multiple flag officer billets. The Chief Engineer of our Navy, a 

Rear Admiral, is an Engineering Duty 

Diving Officer.

During FY 2009, U.S. Navy Divers (military and civilian) performed 

80,224 dives accumulating 71,699 

hours of bottom time. Breakdowns of 

Navy FY 2009 diving are provided in 

the following charts. (Note: Data for 

these charts comes from the DJRS 

(Dive/Jump Reporting System) and 

only dives conducted at training commands are categorized as training).

Young Divers who are doing the business of keeping our fleet operational 

or performing salvage, SPECWAR, 

EOD, and UCT missions should 

take every opportunity to learn from 

the experienced, older folks in your 

lockers. Don’t hesitate to ask them 

questions, but also do not be bashful 

about making suggestions. Often, the 

insight on how to best perform a job 

will come from the junior person on 

the team who has spent the most time in 

the water and is closest to the problem.

Dive Supervisors, Master Divers, 

Warrants and Diving Officers, please 

remember that one of your primary 

responsibilities is to teach. The knowledge and experience that you pass 

along to new Divers will benefit our 

Navy long after you have moved on.

Keep up the great work. I look forward to seeing you around the fleet.

In salvage and ship husbandry, our 

active duty forces are supported by 

roughly 50 Navy Divers in various reserve status and 80 civil service Divers 

who work primarily in industrial facilities.

Captain Patrick Keenan, USN

Supervisor of Salvage and Diving
4 March 2010

What do you do when the Controllable Pitch Propeller (CPP) system 

blade bolts on 19 Arleigh Burke Class destroyers (DDG 51) are found to be loose 

or missing? Answer: You check them all! 

At 80 bolts per ship this is no small task. 

DDG 51 Class Advisory 03-2009 requires 

that all 59 Arleigh Burke class destroyers 

be inspected to ensure that the material 

type and torque of each blade bolt are 

within specification. So what does all 

of this mean to you? “Divers...Go to 

work!” That’s right, because 42 of these 

ships are currently planned for in-water 

inspection/repair. With only 18 months 

to complete all the inspections, nearly 

every dive locker will splash on this job.

Knee-jerk reaction? Not at all. 

Loose or missing propeller blade bolts 

greatly impact the integrity of the propeller blade-to-hub joint. If left unchecked, this could result in bolt failure 

and the catastrophic loss of a propeller 

blade. Such a failure could place the 

remaining blades and hubs at risk and 

compromise propulsion. In addition to 

verifying the material condition of our 

fleet, the data obtained while performing these inspections will give designers 

the data necessary to better understand 

the cause of failure (i.e. loss of preload).

For each inspection a Naval Sea 

Systems Command (NAVSEA) representative and an Emergency Ship Salvage Material (ESSM) mechanic from 

the Supervisor of Salvage and Diving 

(SUPSALV) will meet your dive team 

at the pier with the equipment necessary 

to complete the job. As you may have 

guessed, opening a “can-of-man” and 

pulling on a socket wrench with a 6-foot 

“cheater” won’t do the trick. To ensure 

that the blade-to-hub joint is sufficiently 

tight (in compression), each of the eight 

2.25 inch diameter Inconel bolts must 

be stretched 0.007-0.009 inches. To 

achieve this “stretch”, up to 3,500 ft.-

lbs. of torque (nominal) must be applied 

to each bolt. For this reason a hydraulically powered Hytorc wrench must be 

used. In conjunction with torquing the 
March 2010 5

bolt, ultrasonic equipment is used to simultaneously measure the actual stretch 

of the bolt. At a minimum, each of the 

80 bolts will be torqued twice. The first 

torque sequence (2,350 ft.-lbs.) ensures 

that the bolts have not loosened beyond 

the minimum criteria and identifies candidates for material failure. The second 

torque sequence (3,500 ft.-lbs.) is used to 

positively torque each bolt to the upper 

end of the specification. Because clear 

communications and coordination are 

necessary between the Divers and topside personnel, the use of MK-21/37 helmets is recommended. To ensure a safe 

and expeditious inspection, the NAVSEA representative will discuss lessons 

learned and best working practices with 

the dive team upon arrival.

Typically, all parties should allocate 

two weeks for the inspection of a single 

DDG. This schedule provides additional 

time to perform the removal, liquid dye 

penetrant test (NDT) and re-installation 

of any questionable bolts, as well as minor repairs to CPP seals should oil leaks 

be discovered during the inspection. If 

the bolts exhibit sufficient preload, and 

no new work is discovered, the inspection can be safely accomplished in just 

three days (~24 hours of diving). 

Such stellar performance was 

demonstrated by the Puget Sound 

Naval Shipyard (PSNS) and Intermediate Maintenance Facility 

(IMF) Detachment Dive Locker 

in Everett, Washington. Although 

the CPP inspection of the USS 

SHOUP (DDG 86) was originally 

planned for two weeks, the PSNS 

& IMF Divers found it feasible to 

complete the USS SHOUP and 

the USS MOMSEN (DDG 92), as 

well as their biannual Diver Operational Readiness Assessment 

(DORA) during the same period. 

Hoo-Yah! These two jobs demonstrate the efficiency that results 

from the proper preparation, and 

conducting procedural training 

prior to SUPSALV’s arrival.

HYTORC wrench hydraulic pump.

Figure 2: HYTORC wrench and probe set up on blade bolt #6.

As the bolt is torqued, the stretch (or lack 

there of) can be observed on the NDT instrument located topside. That’s it. This 

basic sequence is repeated for each and 

every bolt. Easy day right?! Yeah right!

Article Cover Picture: U.S. Navy Diver 

exits the water after torquing blade bolts 

onboard USS MOMSEN.

Figure 1: One of the eight star-headed blade 

bolts that can be found on all Advanced Technical 

Design (ATD) blades.

LCDR Joshua J. LaPenna is a Engineering 

Duty Officer and a Deep-sea Diver stationed 

at NAVSEA 00C, working as an Underwater 

Ship Husbandry Project Manager.

Here’s a quick visual tour of the job. 

Figure 1 shows one of the eight starheaded blade bolts that can be found on 

all Advanced Technical Design (ATD) 

blades (DDG 52, 79 and follow), the ultrasonic probe (transducer), and the NDT 

instrument. After the blade bolt caps are 

removed from the blade, the probe is 

threaded into the hole on the top of the 

bolt to be worked. The socket and Hytorc 

wrench are then placed on the bolt and 

the NDT instrument is connected to the 

probe via a simple Marsh Marine type 

connection. When it’s all put together it 

looks like the configuration in Figure 2. 
6 March 2010

I

n today’s world of marine casualty response, pollution is almost always incident to salvage operations and requires 

some form of control or cleanup. The 

modern day Salvor should understand 

environmental regulations and know 

that failing to prevent spills can easily 

lead to a salvage operation being shut 

down by officials until corrective action is taken. This 

can result in significant cost and schedule overruns, not to mention negative 

publicity. Responders must be cognizant 

of the potential pollution problems that 

can occur at a salvage site and prepare 

by having the right spill response equipment standing by. Predicting worst case 

discharge scenarios and “most likely” 

discharge scenarios to develop an adequate response strategy is an integral 

part of the salvage planning process.

Understanding the regulations is the 

first step to ensuring your salvage operation is carried out free from environmental hang-ups. First and foremost, federal 

law requires that oil and hazardous substance spills be immediately reported to 

the National Response Center (NRC) at 

1-800-424-8802 or 202-267-2675 and 

that immediate, direct action be taken 

to minimize the effect of the spill upon 

the environment. Criminal penalties exist for failure to report and properly respond to spills regardless of cause. For a 

summary of the specific Federal environmental laws and regulations, DoD and 

Navy policies, refer to OPNAV Instruction 5090.1C, the Navy Environmental 

and Natural Resources Program Manual, 

which can be found at http://www.navy.

mil/oceans/5090_1C_Manual.pdf (Chapter 12 covers Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Planning). Particularly, Fleet salvage forces are instructed 

to “take all reasonable precautions to 

reduce the threat of oil and hazardous 

substance pollution during salvage operations.” The state and local environmental laws of a particular salvage site 

should also be investigated during the 

planning phase to ensure there are not 

more stringent requirements or protected 

areas that could be affected by a spill.

In accordance with OPNAVINST 

5090.1C, the Office of the Director of 

Ocean Engineering, Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV) is responsible for providing technical support 

and resources to the Navy Fleet and 

shore establishments under the Oil and 

Hazardous Substance (OHS) Spill Response Program and is the Navy’s response team for Worst Case Discharge 

(WCD) type spills. SUPSALV may also 

provide spill response assistance to other federal 

agencies, upon request of 

the On Scene Coordinator (OSC).

SUPSALV maintains a large inventory of spill response equipment through 

its Emergency Ship Salvage Material 

(ESSM) System, which is a managed 

network of warehouses strategically located to provide rapid response to Navy 

incidents. This pre-positioned pollution 

equipment includes spilled oil recovery gear, casualty offloading tools, and 

ancillary support equipment such as 

pumps, hydraulic power units, generators, lighting systems, etc. Experienced 

field managers, operators, and mechanics can meet the equipment at the site, 

mobilize the equipment, operate it, and 

provide for maintenance and demobilization, if necessary. Small boats, deployable field command posts, berthing vans, 

communications systems, portable rigPollution response efforts during the Juliett 484 submarine refloating operation in Providence, RI in 

2008. Left: Rope mop and sorbent pads used to clean up the boomed-off oil. Right: Protective boom used to contain oil spilled from the submarine.
March 2010 7

ging shops, and maintenance shops are 

available to support the logistical aspects 

of a salvage/pollution operation as well.

All of this equipment is designed for 

rapid mobilization via airlift or trucking 

and most is packaged “ready-for-issue” 

in ISO 20-foot containers, which do 

not require wide-load permits for road 

transport. The “Salvage Support Skimmer System” is a van specially designed 

to be an all-in-one salvage support container with gear such as boom, small 

skimmers, an oil mop kit, storage bladders, and even a 15-foot inflatable boat 

with outboard motor. This usually meets 

the pollution prevention and response 

needs of any light salvage operation. A 

recent salvage operation which made 

use of this van was the Juliett 484 submarine refloating in Providence, RI during the summer of 2008. Though the 

casualty was not expected to contain 

any significant amount of pollutants, 

Left: Divers from MDSU 1, SWRMC, 

and pollution response experts from 

SUPSALV supporting the U.S. Coast 

Guard to assess the remaining petroleum products aboard the ex-USS 

CHEHALIS. Right: Two light weight 

hot tap systems shown, which will 

be the type of tool used during the 

offloading operation.

Left: Oil leaking from the USS MISSISSINEWA, prior to patching efforts in 2001.

Middle: Divers removing hot tapping assembly from the MISSISSINEWA’s inverted hull during the oil removal operation in 2003. 

Right: Mk 21 helmet covered in oil following a dive in the #4 starboard tank of the MISSISSINEWA.

once dewatering commenced oil began 

flooding out. Due to proper planning, 

a protective boom had been laid and 

clean-up materials were available onsite 

and immediately deployed in response 

to the spill. The spill was properly reported and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management official who came to inspect the site was 

more than pleased with response efforts.

Access to the ESSM equipment 

is on a cost-reimbursable basis. There 

is no retainer charge. The SUPSALV 

website, identified below, may be useful during the salvage planning process. 

Information such as detailed equipment inventories broken out by location, equipment descriptions, and other 

system specifications is available at 

www.supsalv.org/essm/. The ESSM Operations tab provides guidelines for requesting SUPSALV assistance.

Only in recent years has the removal 

of the pollution hazards become of paramount importance in any salvage operation. Due to this shift, it is imperative 

that Navy salvors are knowledgeable in 

the safety requirements of environmentally focused salvage and of handling 

large quantities of petroleum products. 

Because of an increasing sensitivity to 

the environment, removal of a potential 

source of pollution may be the primary 

reason for undertaking a salvage operation that would otherwise be bypassed. 

The problem of potentially polluting 

sunken shipwrecks from the World War 

II era has long been discussed and recent incidents around the world have 

caused government agencies to look 

proactively at preventing catastrophic 

oil and other chemical releases from 

these long submerged vessels.

An example of one of these wrecks 

that was brought to the Navy’s attention in 2007 is the ex-USS CHEHALIS 

(AOG 48), a PATAPSCO class gasoline 

tanker that sank off the coast of American Samoa nearly 60 years ago. The people of American Samoa were concerned 

about the potential source of pollution in 

their pristine fish and wildlife environment. Since then, the U.S. Coast Guard 

tasked the Navy to assist in surveying the 

wreck to estimate the amounts of petroleum products remaining aboard and has 

now moved into planning the offloading 

phase of the operation for early next year.

Continued on pg.28
8 March 2010

ANU Submissions 2009

I t em ANU 

Item #

A NU

Sec t ion CAT M o d el # M a n u f ac t ur e r S p o n s o r 

COMBATANT DIVER’S VEST 

(CDV), USMC 1.1.15 Life Preservers I

P/N 769171

(W/ CYL), 

769176

(W/O CYL)

Aqualung

(US Divers)

Marine Corps System

Command (MARCORSYSCOM, PM RAR)

DIVATOR MK II UNDERWATER BREATHING APPARATUS & DP1 SURFACE 

SUPPLY SYSTEM

1.3.20

Cylinders, 

Manifolds, and 

Backpacks, 

SCUBA

I Divator MK II & 

DP 1 Interspiro

Mobile Diving and Salvage 

Unit (MDSU) 1&2, Underwater Construction Team 

(UCT) 1&2

COMBAT DIVER FULL FACE 

MASK (CDFFM), USMC 1.6.5

Regulators, 

Special Service 

Full Face Mask

I P/N 805-165 Kirby Morgan Dive Systems Inc.

Marine Corps System 

Command (MARCORSYSCOM, PM RAR)

COMBAT SWIMMER’S 

HARNESS (CSH) 1.7.9

Special 

Accessory 

Items

I P/N 495506 Aqualung 

(US Divers)

Naval Special Warfare 

(PMS NSW)

COMBAT DRY SUIT 2.2.14 Dry Suits III Viking Combat 

Dry Suit Trelleborg Viking, Inc. Special Operations Command (SOCOM)

TRANSPORTABLE RECOMPRESSION CHAMBER 

(TRCS) ILLUMINATION 

SYSTEM

3.5.2

Diver Battery Powered 

Lights, Helmet 

and Handheld

II

MDL 3000 

Generation II 

(LED bulbs only)

Hydrotech 

Enterprises

Naval Special Warfare 

(PMS NSW)

AQUACOM MK-IV 3 DIVER 

INTERCOM 3.6.15

Communications Systems 

and Accessories

II MK IV Ocean Technology Systems (OTS)

South West Regional 

Maintenance Center 

(SWRMC)

KM EAR & MICROPHONES 

(SUPER MIC) 3.6.16

Communications Systems 

and 

Accessories

II

Band Mask 

Communication 

System (KM Ear/

Microphone)

Ocean Technology Systems (OTS)Naval Diving and Salvage 

Training Center (NDSTC)

GAS BOOSTER PUMP & 

CHARGING CASE 5.1.7

HEO2

, O2 Pump 

Transfer SystemsI

P/N HS121055M2 & 

HS-032628M2

Highstar Industrial TechnologiesNaval Special Warfare 

(PMS NSW)

UNDERWATER POWER 

ACTUATED STUD GUN 9.3.58 Tools II UW10 Hilti North America

South West Regional 

Maintenance Center 

(SWRMC)

UNDERWATER TELEVISION 

SYSTEM 9.2.23

Photographic 

and Video 

Equipment

II UWS-3210, UWS3210D Outland Technology, Inc. Portsmouth Naval Shipyard 

(PNS)

By: Robyn McGinn
March 2010 9

J u s t i f i c a t ion for A NU Inclu sion Equipment De sc ription

USMC sponsored the CDV as a phase replacement for the SECUMAR 

Life Preserver. The CDV is a modified Combat Swimmer Assault Vest 

(CSAV), providing increased capability. 

The CDV is a highly adaptable multi-mission/multi-apparatus diving vest used by Marine 

Combatant Divers that provides buoyancy control during the dive as well as head out/

face up flotation for an unconscious or conscious diver on the surface. The CDV consists 

of an adjustable load harness that weaves through and attaches to a split horse collar 

shaped outer container/ air bladder. The CDV is donned like a jacket and closes in the 

front with side release buckles.

The sponsoring commands had an operational need for more portable 

lightweight diving equipment that was capable of rapid deployment to 

remote locations. The Divator MK II and DP 1 provide increased air 

storage capacity with lighter weight than conventional SCUBA. These 

attributes allow for more operational flexibility in particular support craft 

selections. 

The lightweight DP 1 surface supply diving system offers more flexibility to operate either 

as a stand alone SCUBA or augmented by additional SCUBA cylinders which provide air 

through a dual use HP hose/strength member which extend bottom time, increase diver 

safety with a redundant air source, and support deeper dives than traditional SCUBA. 

The DP 1 has two high pressure supply cylinder connections, which each are connected 

to a high pressure supply cylinder or cylinder pack. A shuttle valve allows the attendant 

to change the supply cylinder or cylinder pack during diving operation.

USMC sponsored the CDFFM as a modified version of the KMS 48 Full 

Face Mask. Modifications provide more durability, improved comfort, and 

a wider field of vision without altering functional capability. 

The CDFFM has a larger viewing cavity that is closer to the face and than the KMS 48. 

The original KMS 48 had a single viewing lens, while the CDFFM uses two separate 

lenses, increasing the overall field of vision by 25%. To accommodate the larger viewing 

cavity, the face seal had to be changed. Also, a new head harness was developed which 

has three different buckle options (two types of plastic, one brass black oxide coated). 

The lower cavity component remained the same as the original KMS-48. 

PMS NSW sponsored the CSH for use as an alternate harness with the 

MK25 MOD 2 during combat swimmer missions. The CHS is standardized to better fit the operator.

The CSH was specifically designed for the Special Operations Force Combat Diver. The 

CSH integrates and streamlines the wearing of underwater breathing apparatus (UBA), 

diver weights and mission specific gear. The harness is adjustable to fit a large range of 

body shapes and sizes. 

The Viking Combat Dry Suit was placed on the ANU list in order to provide another dry suit option for divers.

The Viking Combat Dry Suit is made of black EPDM/natural rubber with a flexible polyamide/elastene lining. The suit is equipped with rotating inlet and exhaust calves and a 

medium duty zip. Black rubber reinforcements are also integrated on the suit, covering 

the lower front leg over the knee and across the shoulders. 

PMS NSW sponsored the TRCS Illumination System because there 

were no ANU approved external light sources identified for the TRCS. 

It was pointed out that this item could also potentially be utilized as an 

emergency light on other chamber systems. 

The TRCS Illumination System 3000 Gen II is a portable suitcase chamber lighting 

system consisting of two portable light fixtures on brackets that allow the lights to be positioned above the chamber view ports. The lights can be used one at a time or together 

by use of the storage battery. Only LED bulbs are authorized (vice Halogen bulbs) as to 

limit the heat exposure to the viewports.

SWRMC sponsored the Aquacom MK-IV as an alternate to the Hydrocom Underwater Communication System, model HCOM 1001000 (ANU 

item 3.6.1), which is no longer manufactured. The MK-IV provides more 

durability, requires less maintenance and is easier to repair (mainly 

because repair parts are more readily available).

The Aquacom MK-IV 3-Diver Intercom allows open "round robin" communications 

through intercom lines among a surface tender with a headset and up to three divers with 

earphone/microphone assemblies. All users can speak and listen simultaneously, without 

the need for a push-to-talk system. 

NDSTC was experiencing high failure rates of the Kirby Morgan communication systems in the MK21 and KM37 (85 ear sets & 60 microphones 

in 12 months). The OTS KM communication system was sponsored 

because it is completely sealed and lasts longer than the existing communication systems. They were considered more durable, more reliable, 

and less expensive to maintain over the life of the system. 

The OTS KM Ear/Microphone system is a piezoelectric design being utilized to replace 

earphone and microphones for the Kirby Morgan helmet and band masks. They are 

waterproof, rustproof, and floodable, lasting longer than mylar earphones. 

NSW sponsored the Highstar Gas Booster and Charging Case because 

it was lighter in weight and more durable by comparison to similar ANU 

items.

The Gas Booster and Charging Case was specifically designed to support NSW commands in the charging of MK-16, MK-25 and breathing oxygen bottles. It incorporates 

Haskel oxygen booster pump, Type 15/20 (MDL 28007), relief valves, regulators, and 

pilot switches; these are the same components utilized within the ANU approved 26968 

and 55016 pump assemblies, but piped differently in order to fit within a Pelican case. 

SWRMC sponsored the Hilti Stud Gun as an alternate for the Ramset 

2000, which is currently on the ANU list but no longer in production. 

The Hilti UW10 Stud Gun enhances capabilities by offering a multi shot 

capability versus the single shot Ramset unit.

The UW10 Hilti Stud Gun is a high-performance, high velocity power-actuated tool which 

was designed especially for ship repairs. The UW10, which can be fired above and below the water, is primarily utilized to nail patch plates over areas where a ship has been 

damaged. 

PNS Divers sponsored the UWS-3210 & UWS-3210D as an alternate 

for the UWS-3010 (ANU item 9.2.20) which is not longer manufactured. 

The UWS-3210 series is the next generation of underwater televisions 

from Outland Technologies, providing more durability and requiring less 

maintenance.

The UWS-3210 provides a camera and light (via umbilical) for one diver while the UWS3210D provides cameras and lights (via umbilical) for two divers. It’s highly portable in a 

case configuration with AC power and internal electrical protection.
10 March 2010

Navy missions often require demanding exertion which, depending on 

the tactical situation, may range from 

an “explosive” short-term effort to long 

lasting activity. These efforts are mostly 

dictated by the need for locomotion, that 

is, to move a certain distance running on 

land or swimming at or below the surface. A special case is presented by the 

need to move at high altitude. All these 

conditions pose marked challenges to 

breathing. These challenges are due to 

the need to ventilate the lungs while often using breathing gear that causes increased work of breathing as does the 

breathing gas when inhaled at increased 

pressure. Likewise, swimming at the 

surface requires inhaling against a hydrostatic pressure on the chest which is 

higher than the air pressure in the lungs 

and breathing at altitude, where the 

oxygen pressure is low, necessitates a 

larger lung ventilation than at sea level. 

The idea

This article describes how specific 

training of the breathing muscles cangreatly increase your ability to perform 

Sustained Submaximal Exercise (SSE) 

of the kinds mentioned above. In our 

laboratory the respiratory muscle training (RMT) is performed in two complementary ways, one increasing the 

strength of the breathing muscles and 

the other their endurance. We refer to the 

strength training as resistance respiratory 

muscle training (RRMT) and to the other 

as endurance respiratory muscle training (ERMT). In a publication referring 

to the effects on the respiratory muscles 

of these two types of training Drs. D.H. 

Leith and M. Bradley (a former Navy researcher) referred to trainees becoming 

“respiratory weight lifters” or “respiratory marathoners”. However, it was Dr. 

U. Boutellier and coworkers who, using 

ERMT first in sedentary subjects and 

then in competitive bicyclists showed 

that breathing muscle training could improve SSE, regardless of the initial physical fitness of the subjects.

 How RRMT is done and the results

For RRMT a small mouth piece assembly is used. It has one spring loaded 

valve on the inspiratory side and one on 

expiratory side (Fig.1A), both with opening loads of 60 cm (~ 24 inches) of water. A training session consists of taking 

a full inspiration followed by a complete 

expiration every 30 seconds (paced by 

a metronome) for a total duration of 30 

minutes. This is repeated once per day, 3 

days per week for 4 weeks. The training 

result can then be maintained by doing 

only 2 training sessions per week. 

The ERMT is performed with the 

same breathing device to which a rebreathing bag has been added and the 

valve springs have been changed to offer a minimal resistance (Fig. 1B) The 

rebreathing bag and function is similar 

to that of the “drop-down” mask and 

bag used in airplanes to supply oxygen 

during emergencies. For ERMT use, the 

breathing bag volume, which is adjustable, is set at ~ 60% (say 3.0 liters) of 

the trainee’s vital capacity (the largest 

breath he can take); a metronome is set to 

signal for a breath to be taken every two 

seconds. Breathing on the mouth piece 

the trainee will be taking 30 breaths per 

min in and out and with a breath volume 

that somewhat exceeds the bag volume 

(say by about 0.2 liters). The breaths in 

and out will automatically exceed the 

bag volume somewhat so as to open the 

valves towards the end of inspiration and 

expiration and provide sufficient oxygen 

supply and carbon dioxide elimination. It 

happens without the trainee’s noticing it 

and is due to the body’s normal sensitivity to carbon dioxide. In this example, he/

she will be breathing a total of 3.2L x 30= 

96 L/ min. This intense breathing is carried out for 30 minutes each day, 3 days 

a week for one month. For beginners, a 

ventilation of 90-100 L/min is usually 

the most they can sustain for the entire 

30-minute training period. This lung 

ventilation corresponds to the breathing 

during heavy exercise. Yet, the oxygen 

consumption and therefore carbon dioxide production are only slightly higher 

than during resting. The modest increase 
March 2010 11

in oxygen and carbon dioxide 

exchange is due to the heavy 

work imposed on the relatively small breathing muscles 

(the big muscles in legs and 

arms are still resting). The 

role of the rebreathing bag is, 

as the name implies, to “give 

back” during inspiration 

some of the carbon dioxide 

that was expired in the preceding breath. This prevents 

too low a carbon dioxide level 

in the brain and protects against the dizziness that would be experienced if one 

were hyperventilating without having the 

carbon dioxide production that calls for 

the large ventilation during whole body 

exercise. A further improvement of the 

training effect on the respiratory muscles 

is achieved by, each training day, increasing the breathing frequency by one 

breath per minute. Thus, for instance, the 

total ventilation on the 10th training day 

would be 3.2L x (30+1x9) = 124.8L/min 

(versus 96L/min the first day). When the 

breathing frequency becomes uncomfortably fast, it can be reduced by increasing 

the rebreathing bag volume setting which 

allows the frequency to be reduced while 

achieving the same or increased training ventilation. This method has, during the four-week training protocol, allowed our trainees to reach ventilation 

levels more than double what they could 

sustain when they started the training. 

The testing of SSE was performed 

before and after respiratory muscle 

training. It was done at our center, 

both at the surface in the 60 

meter circumf e r e n c e p o o l 

(Article cover 

photo) and submerged at different depths in 

the dive chamber (Figs. 3 and 

4). The level of 

exertion in the 

pool is set by 

a traveling light 

signal at the bottom, which the 

s w i m m e r h a s 

3 hours. Assuming no “head or tail” current, this would, for instance, mean that 

the swimmer has to be deployed from a 

swimmer delivery vehicle at a distance of 

1.5 nautical miles from a mission target 

if, without prior rest, he will be required 

to swim an equal distance returning. By 

contrast, when respiratory muscle training has increased the time he can continue to swim by 50- 85% (depending on 

depth, see Table I and Fig. 5) the deployment distance could be increased to between 2.3 and 2.8 nautical miles. Another 

way of looking at these advantages is that 

we have found that when swimmers, who 

have not done RMT, give up due to exhaustion caused by fatigued breathing/locomotor muscles, divers who have done 

RMT can cover the same distance with 

much less breathing and locomotor muscle fatigue. In other words, they are in 

better condition and can continue swimming or perform land based exertion 

such as running. Alternatively, the RMT 

trained diver can sustain a higher (submaximal) exercise level, i.e. swim faster, 

and arrive at the target in a shorter time. 

Increased speed has been demonstrated 

by our elite runner subjects who, on the 

average, shortened their 4 mile running 

time from 29 min to 27 min and two of the 

trainees, who were marathoners, cut their 

times by 10 and 15 minutes, respectively. 

Similarly, higher speeds have been obtained after RMT by cyclists and rowers. 

Another important gain from RMT, 

and part of the reasons for the improvements mentioned above, is that the ventito keep up with. The speed 

of the moving light and the 

diver can be controlled to require any desired percentage 

of his maximal oxygen consumption. In the chamber, the control 

of the swimmer’s oxygen consumption 

is achieved by an adjustable weight and 

pulley system that the diver swims on so 

as to keep the weight off the bottom (Fig. 

3). The diver’s ability to sustain a certain 

SSE is measured as the time he is able to 

keep the weight off the bottom. The tests 

of SSE during running were performed in 

a treadmill at a speed and up-hill tilt also 

requiring a certain submaximal oxygen 

consumption. The same approach was 

used in the altitude chamber altitude, although the exercise load was, for space 

reasons, imposed by an exercise cycle. 

The altitude, simulated by partial evacuation of the chamber, was 10,000 feet.

Results

The reason for performing these tests 

at submaximal effort is that that effort is 

in the range (60-85%) of maximal oxygen uptake where most Navy activities 

requiring exertion are likely to be carried out. Our 4-mile speed test (not being a typical endurance activity) was performed at an exertion level of 95% of the 

runners’ maximal oxygen uptakes. All 

the other tests were made at an average 

of about 75% of maximum (range 70-

80%). This relatively high exertion level 

was chosen to put the effect of RMT to 

a more severe test than would have been 

posed by using an exertion level of only 

60% of maximum. SEALs are typically 

trained to swim at a speed of one knot, requiring 60% of maximal oxygen uptake 

which can usually be sustained for about 

Figure 4
12 March 2010

lation and oxygen consumption of the divers 

were lower after RMT 

at the same exercise 

effort. This would not 

only save oxygen and 

breathing gas when on 

open circuit gear, but 

could reduce the risk 

of oxygen toxicity by 

reducing the exertion 

during swims. Another 

potential issue for divers is that it has been 

shown that they either 

voluntarily or due to 

circumstances, underventilate (hypo-ventilate) to save gas and 

over a period of time 

develop an insensitivity to the increased 

CO2

 that results (they 

become CO2 retainers). Our studies have 

shown that RMT can 

“normalize” CO2

 sensitivity while sustaining a low ventilation 

and CO2 production. 

How does RMT work?

It is worth noting that some studies 

have found only small or non-significant 

effects of RMT on exercise endurance. It 

is clear that these studies suffered from 

deficiencies in training methods and/

or the testing protocols. These studies 

tested the trainees’ exercise endurance a 

day or two after the series of RMT had 

been completed. That early, after vigorous RMT, the breathing muscles are still tired from 

the training which hides much 

of the beneficial training effects. 

It is no more surprising than 

that, if somebody does a training marathon run the day before 

a competitive run, his/ her time 

in the competition will not be 

very good. When we tested our 

runners the day after the end of 

a month long series of ERMT 

bouts there was a 29% improvement in exercise endurance 

while, when the test was repeated 

five or seven days later there was 

an additional 50% improvement 

(for a total of 79%), (Table I). 

Other reasons for faulty results 

are that compliance with the 

training schedule has not been assured, or that the training devices 

or protocols have not been adequate, which contrasts with the 

studies showing improvement,

RMT will, as mentioned 

earlier, not only improve a sedentary person’s ability to sustain 

submaximal exercise but has also 

been shown to be quite effective 

in physically well trained persons 

like competitive runners, swimmers, and 

rowers. The reason that physical training 

such as regular 5-mile runs does not maximally enhance running endurance is that 

the training runs typically are performed 

at less than 75 % of the person’s maximal 

oxygen uptake. At that level of work-out 

the exercise ventilation is less than half 

of the maximal ventilation that the person can achieve. As the run proceeds past 

5 miles, the breathing muscles gradually 

become fatigued. It is common that the 

runner slows down or stops, not because 

he/she feels that the breathing muscles 

are tired but because the leg muscles feel 

heavy and fatigued. This can be explained 

by the fact that, as the breathing muscles 

work during the run, they accumulate 

lactic acid which gradually increases the 

blood flow through them.This increase in 

blood flow is achieved at the expense of 

the blood flow through the leg muscles 

which then give up (this is known as the 

“stealing” phenomenon). The effect of 

Table I. Performance times (averages) before and after RMT 

Condition Pre-RMT Post RMT Improvement

Minutes Minutes Minutes %

(1) Running

(a) Treadmill

ERMT, 5 d/wk 38.0 79.1 41.1 108

(b) 4 Miles

ERMT, 5 d/wk 29.8 27.6 (-) 1.2 4

(2) Cycling, Stationary

(a) Sea Level

ERMT, 5 d/wk 12.5 22.1 9.6 77

(b) 10,000 ft of altitude

ERMT, 5 d/wk 14.0 23.2 9.2 66

(3) Fin Swim, Surface

RRMT, 3 d/wk 25.5 38.3 12.8

RRMT, 5 d/wk 32.0 42.3 10.3

ERMT, 5 d/wk 35.4 48.9 13.5

(4) Fin Swim at Depth, Stationary

(a) 4 ft. of Depth

RRMT, 3 d/wk 25.5 48.0 22.5 88

(b) RRMT, 5 d/wk 19.0 31.6 12.6 66

(c) ERMT, 5 d/wk 20.3 25.7 5.4 27

(d) 55 ft. of Depth

RRMT, 5 d/wk 31.3 49.9 18.6 60

(e) 120 ft. of Depth

RRMT, 5 d/wk 26.4 49.4 23.0 87

Figure 5
March 2010 13

Dr. Lundgren is a State University of New 

York Distinguished Professor Emeritus and 

Dr. Pendergast is Professor of Physiology and 

Biophysics at the Center for Research and 

Education in Special Environments (CRESE), 

School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, 

University at Buffalo, NY. 

the RMT is to increase the respiratory 

muscles’ strength and efficiency (less 

oxygen needed for a given muscle effort) 

and therefore a greater share of the total 

blood flow from the heart can be delivered to the leg muscles and delay the exercise fatigue. To try, as an alternative to 

RMT, to train the breathing muscles by 

running so hard as to achieve maximal 

ventilation will cut the run short because 

of insufficient blood flow from the heart 

and this will stop the runner before the 

breathing muscles have time to reach a 

ventilation level that is sufficiently high 

to effectively strengthen them.

Why is RRMT more effective for exertion at depth than ERMT and why does 

the latter type of training show somewhat 

better effects when swimming at the surface (Table I, Condition 3c compared to 

3b)? The ventilatory work that the breathing muscles perform at depth is considerably higher than at the surface because, 

during submersion, the work of breathing is very high due to flow resistance in 

breathing gear and the effect of high gas 

density both on the gear and the lungs. 

Hence the marked benefit of RRMT 

when the Divers were submerged (Table 

I, Conditions 4 a, b and d). It is noteworthy that the effects of RRMT performed 

5 days/week, when tested on swimming 

endurance, were less effective than when 

the RRMT was limited to 3 days/week 

(Table I, Conditions 3b and 4b compared to 3a and 4a). A likely explanation is that the 5 days/week schedule 

caused what is known as “over-training” 

in sport physiology. The advantage of 

ERMT over RRMT for surface swimming may be that the surface swimmer’s lung ventilation depends more 

on sustaining a rapid ventilation for 

which the ERMT is a more appropriate 

breathing pattern. Thus, the “respiratory 

marathoner” excels at the surface and 

the “respiratory weight lifter” at depth. 

Nonetheless, both forms of training confer marked advantages in both kinds of 

pressure environments (Table I, Fig. 5), 

(note that only ERMT has been tested 

so far in runners and at altitude (where 

an exercise cycle was used).

From the point of time saving, it is 

noteworthy that the performance improvement (gained after 4 weeks of 3 

training sessions/week could be preserved for months on end by only 2 

training sessions per week (Fig. 5). 

Maintenance of the 88% gains in swimming endurance obtained in Condition 4a was preserved at over 80% 

when RRMT was performed only 2 

days/week and the effect retested once 

each month over three months.

A particularly attractive aspect of 

RMT is that it can be performed in an 

indoor setting with minimal space requirements (e.g. in a submarine) and, 

since it can be done in the sitting position, some trainees have found that it 

can be combined with other moderately 

demanding activities such as watching 

TV or even reading. Moreover, preliminary observations suggest that RMT hastens recovery of fitness when recuperating from injury or illness.
14 March 2010

What is a TPL? It is a Towed Pinger Locator system... A hydrophone 

towed at depth used to detect and localize the acoustic signal from underwater 

beacons (pingers) that are commonly 

attached to commercial and military aircraft. It is an important tool that assists 

accident investigators in finding aircraft 

and critical components that are lost in 

the ocean. The first TPL was designed 

for the USN in 1976. Currently, the Navy 

maintains two TPL systems capable of 

worldwide deployment on short notice. 

The U.S. is the only country that actively 

maintains this capability and is often requested by other countries to assist, such 

as: Indonesian Adam Air KI-574, Australian H60 Blackhawk near Fiji, and Air 

France 447 in Brazilian waters. A TPL 

acoustic search is roughly 8 times faster 

than a comparable side-scan sonar search. 

The ‘pinger’ is designed to survive 

fire, impact, and pressure associated 

with an overwater aircraft accident. It 

is saltwater activated emitting a 37.5 

kHz chirp every second with a minimum battery life of 30 days. All commercial passenger aircraft have at least 

one mounted to the flight data recorder 

(blackbox) and many military aircraft 

from H-60 Blackhawk helicopters to 

F-18 Super Hornets have them as well.

Surface and diver handheld pinger 

locating devices have been successfully 

TPL:

Air France

By: Mr. Ric Sasse

used to triangulate pingers up to a depth 

of 1,000 feet and can hear an active pinger 

(without triangulation) to a depth of 2,400 

feet. But a TPL is the best method and the 

only method for deeper depths. 

Being a towed system, the TPL has 

the ability to get closer to the acoustic 

signal, down below the thermocline and 

away from the ambient surface noise, 

significantly improving performance. 

The TPL consists of three sub-systems: 

the towed body (towfish), the winch 

with cable, and the surface electronic 

components. The system can be flown 

anywhere in the world and mounted 

on a vessel-of-opportunity (VOO) to 

conduct a search within the 30 day active window of the pinger.

The TPL acoustic detection range 

is 2,000 meters and greater depending 

on environmental conditions. The towfish are 20,000 foot rated and are depth 

limited only by the amount of cable. A 

typical deployment has a winch with 

22,000 ft. of cable. At tow speeds of 1 

to 3 knots, using a cable out scope of 

2.5 to 1, provides an effective bottom 

depth of 13,500 feet. At these greater depths with over 6 km of cable out, 

turns can take up to 10 hours.

To localize the pinger, the TPL is deployed and parallel search lines are towed. 

Once the pinger is heard, the operator 

monitors signal strength and plots the location associated with the highest value. 

Then a reciprocal line is towed with that 

line’s highest signal strength also plotted. Next, a perpendicular line is towed 

between the highest signal strengths of 

the first two lines. This is followed by 

another reciprocal on this new line. The 

four highest signal strengths define the 

box where the pinger is and normally 

provides enough resolution to capture a 

side scan sonar image of the wreckage 

on the first or second pass. Additional 

TPL lines can be towed to provide higher 

triangulation if necessary.

The TPL-20 is an analog system 

sending power down two conductors to 

an omnidirectional hydrophone with the 

acoustic signal returning along the same 

copper pair. Every three seconds a pressure transducer transmits the depth of the 

towfish. The towfish electronics are contained in a one atmosphere stainless steel 

housing mounted on the underside of a 

triangular fiberglass depressor wing to 

provide hydrodynamic stability. The topside is a standalone electronics console 

with audio speaker, depth gauge, signal strength meter, and multiple acoustic gain and filter settings. 

The newer TPL-40 is a digital system using fiber optics to achieve a higher 

bandwidth of data. The towfish has an 

omnihydrophone plus three directional 

transducers along with improved telem-
March 2010 15

etry of pitch, roll, heading, and depth. 

The towfish’s pressure tolerant electronics are packaged in light weight oil 

filled cavities, eliminating the need for a 

pressure housing, and placed inside of a 

free-flooding torpedo shaped towbody. A 

laptop with a spectrum analyzer is used 

for topside control to assist the operator 

in detecting the pinger signal.

The French Government requested 

assistance searching for Air France 447, 

an Airbus A330 lost June 1, 2009 en 

route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. In response, the USN Supervisor of Salvage 

& Diving (SUPSALV) shipped both TPL 

systems from Dulles, VA to Natal, Brazil 

aboard a commercial DC-10. The systems were mobilized on board two anchor handling tug vessels, the Fairmount 

Expedition and the Fairmount Glacier. 

During the 26 day period from June 15 

through July 10 both vessels combined 

to search an approximately 60 nautical 

mile by 60 nautical mile box.

No pinger was heard and the wreckage for Air France Flight 447 was not 

found despite the best efforts of several 

countries. Even so, this search represented 

several accomplishments for SUPSALV: 

This was the first time two independent 

TPL systems were deployed simultaneously, the area covered of 3,500-nm2

 is 

a record and orders of magnitude greater than a normal search, and both systems had an operational up time of 94% 

over the 26 days of searching.

The TPL-40 proved its mettle by 

surviving an impact with the bottom and 

continued the search once repairs were 

made onboard the vessel. The TPL-20 

towfish was lost when its cable parted 

during end of mission recovery. Since 

then, a replacement towfish has been 

built from spare parts returning the TPL20 to ready-for-issue status.

Based on lessons learned from the 

AF447 search, a new version of the TPL 

is being designed to combine the best 

elements of the TPL-20 and TPL-40 

into a new and improved single design 

system. Efforts are still ongoing to find 

AF447.

TPL Search Vessel

TPL Search Vessel After Deck

Loading Equipment on Aircraft

Mr. Ric Sasse is the Deep Ocean 

Search & Recovery Program Manager for NAVSEA 00C.
16 March 2010
March 2010 17

USS MOMSEN

(DDG 92)

USS MOMSEN is the 14th Flight IIA ARLEIGH BURKE class guided missile destroyer and the Navy’s first ship to honor Vice Admiral Charles Bowers “Swede” Momsen, who is best known for his efforts in the successful rescue of 33 

crew members and the subsequent salvage of submarine USS SQUALUS after she sank in 240 feet of water in May 1939. He 

received a commendation from President Franklin D. Roosevelt for these actions.

Charles Bowers Momsen was born in Flushing, Long Island, New York, on 

21 June 1896. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating with the Class 

of 1920 in June 1919. Following initial service in battleships, he was trained 

as a Submarine Officer and commanded three submarines in 1923-27. Following those commands, Momsen was assigned to the Bureau of Construction and 

Repair. In 1929-32 he was actively engaged in the development of a submarine 

escape breathing apparatus that came to be known as the “Momsen Lung”.

During the remainder of the 1930s, he held positions in submarines and surface ships and was in charge of Navy Experimental Diving. In 1939, Commander 

Momsen was involved in the salvage of the sunken submarine USS SQUALUS 

(SS 192). During World War II, he led two Submarine Squadrons, including 

service at sea as a “Wolf Pack” commander, and held other important staff and 

training positions. Captain Momsen was commanding officer of the battleship 

USS SOUTH DAKOTA in December 1944 - July 1945. During 1945-51, Rear 

Admiral Momsen administered the Japanese merchant marine, was Commandant 

of the Naval Operating Base at Guam, served on the Navy’s General Board and 

was Assistant Chief of Naval Operations for Undersea Warfare. In May 1951, he took command of the Submarine Force, 

Pacific Fleet, holding that position until June 1953, when he became Commandant of the First Naval District. He was 

Commander, Joint Task Force Seven from April 1954 until September 1955, when he retired with an increased rank on the 

basis of combat awards. Vice Admiral Charles B. Momsen died on 25 May 1967. Source http://navysite.de/dd/ddg92.htm

Go to http://www.supsalv.org

under ‘Publications’ click on ‘Letters to the Editor’

FACEPLATE appreciates feedback on 

our entire publication. So if you want 

to sound off about something we have 

published, please do!
18 March 2010

Okay, after 24 years working with 

Navy Divers, I think I know how 

you think. And your first question is going to be “Women Divers Hall of Fame? 

What is it? And is there a Man Divers 

Hall of Fame?”. And then you’re going 

to ask, “Why do I care about the Women 

Divers Hall of Fame?” Well hopefully I 

can answer all those questions and provide a little bit of a perspective of the 

diving world outside of Navy Diving. 

I’m a member of the Women Divers Hall 

of Fame (WDHOF) and since retiring 

from the Navy, I’m now the President 

of WDHOF. That won’t surprise any of 

you who have worked with me in the past 

and know how bossy I can be. However 

trying to lead 166 women Divers is quite 

a bit different than leading Navy Divers, it’s actually much harder! 

What is WDHOF? The Women 

Divers Hall of Fame is an international 

non-profit professional honor society 

whose member contributions span a 

wide variety of fields including: The 

Arts, Science, Medicine, Exploration & 

Technology, Marine Archeology, Business, Media, Training & Education, 

Safety, Commercial & Military Diving, 

Free Diving, and Underwater Sports. 

WDHOF was created in 1999 and 

incorporated in 2001 by six founding sponsors: Beneath the Sea, Inc., the 

Underwater Society of America, the 

Women’s SCUBA Association, Women 

Underwater, Hillary Viders, Ph.D., and 

Capt. Kathy A. Weydig; WDHOF, Inc. 

was granted its 501(c)(3) status in 2002. 

See WDHOF’s Mission Statement. The 

members of WDHOF are an elite group 

that includes the most notable women 

leaders and innovators in the diving community. It became the goal of its founders to recognize and honor, while raising 

public awareness of these women’s exceptional contributions. There are currently 166 members in the WDHOF, hailing from 29 U.S. states and Territories 

and 11 countries worldwide. New WDHOF Members are selected on an annual 

basis. And it’s very impressive to note 

BTS 2004 Awards Dinner. Pictured (left to right) CDR Lori Yost, CAPT Bobbie Scholley,

CAPT Torie Cassano, CAPT Karin Lynn, CDR Rene Hernandez, CDR Gina Harden, and CDR Karen Kohanowich.
March 2010 19

that of those 166 members, 18 of them 

are US Navy Divers. See a listing of the 

US Navy Divers on page 20.

There are many civilian organizations that recognize men and women in 

the diving community, such as the Beneath the Sea (BTS) Exposition’s Divers 

of the Year, the Academy of Underwater 

Arts and Sciences’ NOGI Award and 

the International SCUBA Hall of Fame. 

These organizations having been recognizing leaders in the diving community 

for decades, including a few women, 

but it became apparent that they were 

missing the contributions of numerous 

women Divers. So the WDHOF founders decided to have a special recognition 

of “The Best Women Divers of the 20th 

Century” at the Beneath the Sea Conference in 2000. But it soon became apparent that there were far to many women 

to recognize all in one celebration, so 

the original founders continued to work 

to turn this into a permanent honor society that would recognize new members annually. The WDHOF honor their 

new members every year during the Beneath the Sea Awards Dinner held the 

last weekend of March in Secaucus, NJ 

(http://www.beneaththesea.org/index.

html). They will have a special 10th Anniversary Celebration at BTS 2010 that 

will show case the last decade and highlight all the members’ careers.

Where Is WDHOF? There is no 

physical location that houses a plaque or 

monument to WDHOF. But each year, 

the members of WDHOF attend various 

consumer diving expositions, the DEMA 

(The Diving Equipment & Marketing Association) show (for diving professionals 

only) as well as symposiums, conferences, seminars, and special events throughout the United States. These venues allow our members the opportunity to give 

presentations/seminars about their areas 

of expertise and allow our members to 

meet and speak directly with the public. One of the ways in which WDHOF 

members try to give back to the diving 

community is through education, including our scholarship and training grant 

program, lectures, and mentoring.

Scholarships and Training Grants. 

WDHOF provides educational, mentorship, financial, and career opportunities 

to the diving community throughout the 

world. WDHOF awards multiple scholarships and training grants that offer financial and/or educational assistance to 

individuals of all ages, particularly those 

who are preparing for professional careers that involve diving. Scholarships 

and training grants are awarded yearly. 

Scholarship applications are available 

online in September, must be submitted by mid-November, and are awarded 

at the Beneath the Sea Exposition each 

year. Scholarships range from underwater archaeology; journalism, graphic arts, 

or photography; and marine conservation 

to undergraduate marine research internships in marine biology. Training grants 

include: junior dive training; certified 

hyperbaric technician; training grant to 

assist the disabled to dive; marine sciWDHOF Mission 

Statement

 WDHOF’s two-part mission is to:

•	 Recognize women divers who

have made outstanding contributions to the exploration, understanding, safety and enjoyment

of our underwater world and

•	 Support the underwater world

and its associated careers

by promoting opportunities

for women and men in diving

through scholarships, internships and mentorship opportunities and a worldwide network

of industry contacts.

ence, oceanography, 

or ocean engineering; and dive training. 

For more information 

on and applications 

for the scholarships 

and training grants, 

as well as a complete list of previous 

recipients, visit the 

W D H O F w e b s i t e 

at www.wdhof.org.

Why do I care 

about WDHOF? That’s the hardest 

question. After 24 years in the US Navy, 

I was very surprised to find out that there 

was a huge civilian diving community 

out there that I knew very little about. 

There are hundreds and hundreds of Divers that are doing incredible things in the 

underwater world that I had never even 

heard of. In this age of outsourcing and 

teaming with other agencies, it’s important to realize that we aren’t the only 

professionals in town. In WDHOF alone, 

there are Divers who are the legends such 

as Zale Parry, the first women skin Diver 

(who also happened to be the female diver in the TV series Sea Hunt, for those of 

us who are old enough to remember Sea 

Hunt) and Dr. Sylvia Earle, a reknown 

marine biologists who led the first team 

of women aquanauts (Saturations Divers) in 1970 and holds the record for solo 

diving to 1,000 meters. Then there are 

the leaders in Equipment and Commercial Diving, such as Connie Lyn Morgan 

(who many of you know), the President of Kirby Morgan Dive Systems, 
20 March 2010

The WDHOF members at the DEMA 2009 Awards Party. You can see CAPT(ret) Karin 

Lynn bottom row, first person on the left and CAPT(ret) Bobbie Scholley, back row, first 

person on the right. Legend of the Sea Zale Parry and Dr. Sylvia Earle are next to CAPT 

Lynn. Photo by Alese Pechter

CAPT Bobbie 

Scholley is a 

former CO, USS 

BOLSTER (ARS 38), CO, MDSU TWO 

and SUPDIVE. She retired to Annapolis, MD after 24 years of Naval Service. 

• CAPT Debra Bodenstedt, Special Operations Officer

• EMCM(MDV) (Ret.) Mary Bonnin, Fleet Diver

• CAPT Bette Bolivar, Special Operations Officer

• CAPT(Ret.) Victoria Cassano, Medical Corps

• CAPT Gina Harden, Reserve Diving Officer

• CAPT Martha Herb, Reserve Special Operations Officer

• LCDR(Ret.) Linda Hubbell, SCUBA Diver

• CDR(Ret.) Darlene Iskra, Special Operations Officer

• CAPT(Ret.) Marie Knafelc, Medical Corps

• CDR(Ret.) Karen Kohanowich, Special Operations Officer

• CAPT(Ret.) Karin Lynn, Civil Engineer Corps

• CAPT Erica Sahler, Civil Engineer Corps

• CAPT(Ret.) Bobbie Scholley, Special Operations Officer

• CAPT Heidi Stefanyshyn-Piper, Engineering Duty Officer 

and Astronaut

• CAPT Kathryn Sullivan, Reserve Diving Officer and 

Astronaut

• Donna Tobias, Second Class Diver

• CDR(Ret.) Sue Trukken, Special Operations Officer

• CAPT Lori Yost, Reserve Diving Officer

WDHOF US Navy Members: Inc and Tammy Brown, a 

commercial Diver and currently the President/CEO of 

Divers Academy International. There are the women 

who are leading the way in 

education, science, research, 

conservation, medicine, arts, 

and safety. I can’t list all 166 

women here, but it is truly 

amazing for me to hear about 

what each of them have 

done already and continue to 

do. Being able to meet some 

of these icons of diving has 

really been a huge honor for 

me. You can see our members’ roster with bio’s on the 

WDHOF website.

But another reason I’d 

like you to know about WDHOF is so that you’re aware 

of an organization that continues to honor new members. Anyone can nominate 

a woman for consideration 

as a new member, you don’t 

have to be a WDHOF member to do so. The nominations are due by November 

30th of each year and include a nomination form plus two letters 

of recommendation. The full nomination 

process is done electronically and can 

be found on the WDHOF website, along 

with a list of qualifications that the selection board is looking for in new members. Although we already have 18 US 

Navy Divers inducted into the WDHOF, 

I know there should be more. I just don’t 

know who those others are. So if any of 

you know of a woman Navy Diver, either 

past or current, that may fit the qualifications to become a WDHOF member, 

please submit her for consideration. And 

if you’re not sure, just contact one of 

the Navy Divers that are already members and ask for their help.

Of course I still think that US Navy 

Divers are the best Divers in the world! 

And part of my agenda as President of 

WDHOF is to convey that message to 

everyone I can. Most civilian Divers 

don’t know much about us and my retirement mission is to educate them about 

all of you. Every chance I get, I tell stories about the amazing missions that US 

Navy Divers do 

and I get a very 

positive response 

from everyone 

I speak to. So, 

keep doing all the 

great work that 

you do everyday 

and most importantly stay safe. 

We a l l a p p r e -

c i a t e w h a t y o u 

d o t o s u p p o r t 

our country and 

protect our freedoms. UPDATE: 

E A C ( S C W /

DV) Roseanne 

Oliveros, from 

UCT TWO, has 

just been selected 

as a new member 

by WDHOF. Her 

f o r m a l i n d u c -

tion ceremony -

will take place at 

BTS Expo, March 

27, 2010. Congratulations Chief 

Oliveros!
March 2010 21

Crossword Puzzle

U.S. Navy Dive Manual: Chapter 7 - SCUBA Air Diving Operations

Photo Credits: Doug Elsey www.DougElsey.com

Crossword answers on pg.29

Doug Elsey

DougElsey.com

ACROSS

2. When a cylinder valve without an air reserve (K valve)

is used, the SCUBA regulator must be _____ with a 

submersible pressure gauge.

4. _____ cubic feet is the minimum size SCUBA cylinder 

authorized.

7. Closed-circuit underwater breathing apparatus is the 

_____ method of performing SCUBA decompression 

dives.

10. Approved Scuba regulators are located on the _____.

12. Any buoyancy compensator selected for Navy use

must have an over-pressure _____.

14. An _____ is an additional single hose second stage 

regulator connected to the Diver's first stage regulator.

15. The knife and _____ must not be secured to the

weight belt.

16. Air reserve mechanism lever in the up position places 

the valve _____.

17. The rate charging SCUBA cylinders must be controlled to prevent _____.

18. _____ is the fastest and most efficient method for 

charging SCUBA tanks.

19. Tie wraps, tape, and _____ are not authorized to marry

strain reliefs on charging whips.

20. SCUBA cylinders designed to Navy specifications 

must be _____ tested at least every five years.

DOWN

1. A movable _____ in the second stage regulator is linked 

 by a lever to the low-pressure valve, which leads to the 

 low-pressure chamber.

3. During _____ inspection, the Diver shall breathe the 

octopus to ensure it is working properly.

5. A rough-surfaced sheet of _____ makes an excellent 

writing slate for recording data.

6. If the Diver will be working under conditions where the 

suit may be easily torn or punctured, the Diver should 

be provided with additional protection such as coveralls 

or heavy _____ chafing gear.

8. Expired air is dumped from the low pressure chamber 

to the surrounding water through the _____ valve.

9. A _____ should be used when necessary to exchange 

signals, keep track of the Diver’s location, or operate in 

limited visibility.

11. The life preserver must be of sufficient volume to raise 

an _____ Diver safely from maximum dive depth to the 

surface.

13. Submersible Cylinder Pressure Gauge should be 

tucked under a shoulder strap or otherwise secured to 

avoid its _____ with bottom debris or other equipment.
By: Robyn McGinn

22 March 2010

Cold water environments 

are exceptionally hazardous to Divers, requiring 

special equipment and operating procedures to ensure 

safety. One of the most important aspects to the success 

of cold water diving operations relates to the selection 

of proper, safe, and effective 

equipment. Therefore, it is 

important that performance 

data continues to be collected on regulators, buoyancy 

compensators, and dry suits 

in cold water applications. 

Since 2008, cold water regulators in particular have come 

under review by NEDU and 

SEA 00C and continue to be 

at the forefront of ensuring 

safety in waters below 37°C. 

The Authorized for Navy 

Use program lists cold water regulators based on recommendations from Naval 

Experimental Diving Unit 

(NEDU) which are supported by the regulator’s performance during unmanned 

testing. Usually, cold water 

regulators do not go through 

a manned testing evolution 

prior to approval because of 

the logistics that would be 

required to access the proper 

testing conditions. Fortunately, an NEDU representative 

was given the opportunity 

to partake in the Smithsonian Institution’s dive expedition to Antarctica in October 

2008. The details of this event 

are outlined in the July 2009 

Faceplate article, “Cold Water Regulators – Smithsonian 

Institution’s Dive in Antarctica.” During the expedition, 

manned test data was gathered for several regulators 

that were commercially designated for cold water service. 

Some regulators performed 

well in the polar conditions 

while others experienced free 

flow issues due to the effects 

of pressure reductions and temperature 

drops in the breathing gas. With this information, the ANU program began a 

systematic review of all regulators that 

were designated for cold water service 

for the United States Navy. 

With the information obtained from 

the Smithsonian expedition, SEA 00C 

limited the use of the Mares Proton Ice 

Extreme to water temperatures above 

37°C (ref: Diving Advisory 09-07) because it suffered multiple free flows during the manned diving evolution. Following the removal of the Mares Proton 

Ice Extreme, SEA 00C tasked NEDU to 

perform unmanned testing on commercial 

cold water regulators purchased directly 

from local diving equipment providers to 

confirm the safety of the current configurations of the cold water regulators currently on the ANU list. The specific regulators that were tested are listed below:

• Sherwood Maximus, SRB7600CE

• Sherwood Blizzard, SRB7900

• Mares V32 Proton Metal

• Mares Proton Ice Extreme

• Poseidon Extreme

• Apeks TX50

NEDU concluded testing in the summer of 2009 and in response SEA 00C 

reaffirmed the restriction of the Mares 

Proton Ice Extreme to general service 

use in water temperatures above 37°C 

(ref: Diving Advisory 09-13). With 

the data collected by NEDU, the commercial regulators that can be utilized 

for cold water applications were narrowed down to the following:

• Poseidon Odin, P/N 3960-80 or 

2960-80

• Poseidon Odin Octopus, P/N 

29700000

• Poseidon Cyklon 5000, P/N 3950 or 

2950-80

• Poseidon Cyklon Octopus, P/N 

2981000

• Poseidon Thor, P/N 2940-80

• Poseidon Cyklon 300, P/N 2980-80

• Poseidon Xstream Dive, P/N 4791-

GY

• Apeks TX 50, P/N AP0500

• Interspiro Divator MK-IIG and MK 

20

• Kirby Morgan EXO BR MS, P/N 

300-036MS

Icing of Mares Cold Water 1st Stage Regulator during on-site testing.
March 2010 23

By: MDV Henry Stark

One factor influencing the expected 

performance of cold water regulators is 

the discrepancy between the commercial 

testing requirements and NEDU’s testing 

requirements. Several manufacturers test 

regulators to the BS EN 250:2000 standard, which outlines the requirements, 

testing, and marking of respiratory 

equipment and open-circuit self-contained compressed air diving apparatus. 

For cold water regulator testing, the EN 

250 standard requires fresh water testing 

for 5 minutes without free flow at 2-4°C, 

50 bar tank pressure, an RMV of 62.5 

L/min and a depth of 165 ffw. For cold 

water regulator testing, NEDU requires 

sea water testing for 30 minutes at -2°C, 

1500 psi (~100 bar) tank pressure, an 

RMV of 62.5 L/min and a depth of 198 

fsw. NEDU maintains a more rigorous 

test plan which is intended to capture the 

most extreme conditions that a military 

diver could be exposed to.

Due to the extensive use of the 

Mares Proton Ice Extreme in the Fleet 

and with free flow failure data that could 

not be ignored, SEA 00C put together a 

plan to visit the Mares manufacturing 

facility. The first objective of the visit 

was to perform an ISO 9001:2008 Quality Assurance audit, a requirement of 

the ANU program for CAT I & II equipment manufacturers. The second objective was to determine 

the cause of the free flow issues 

that occurred with the Mares 

Proton Ice Extreme.

In September 2009, representatives from NEDU, SEA 

00C4 (Certification), and SEA 

00C3 (Diving) visited the 

Mares regulator production facility in Rapallo, Italy. During 

SEA00C’s site visit, it was concluded that the Mares’ Quality 

Program fully supported their 

operations in conjunction with 

the ISO 9001:2008 standard. With respect to European diving standards and 

auditing agencies, Mares was also found 

to be in compliance with EN 250 and 

CE. Through the cooperative research 

between Mares and SEA00C, the root 

cause of the Proton Ice Extreme’s 2nd 

stage free flow issue was determined 

to be from a design change made to the 

2nd stage valve seat before the regulator went into full production. Mares exhibited strong determination to solve 

the problems the U.S. Navy was experiencing, performing several iterations of 

unmanned testing while SEA00C was 

visiting their facility. Their dedication 

during testing exhibited their commitSecond Stage

Regulator Design

Ms. Robyn McGinn is currently serving 

as the ANU Coordinator at NAVSEA 00C, 

while providing engineering support to the 

Diving programs.

ment to ensuring the safety of U.S. Navy 

diving operations. The Mares Proton Ice 

Extreme continues to be authorized under the General Service section (1.3) of 

the ANU List. Currently, NAVSEA 00C, 

NEDU and Mares are working cooperatively to supply the U.S. Navy Fleet with 

the most suitable replacement options for 

the Mares Proton Ice Extreme. 

Diving waivers are a request from the Commanding Officer to OPNAV N873 via NAVSEA 00C for technical review and 

are for situations that are outside of the normal guidance of the OPNAVINST 3150.27B and the U.S. Navy Dive Manual.

DO:

1. Read OPNAVINST 3150.27B.

2. Ask yourself is a waiver required?

3. Give compelling justification why the waiver is required.

4. Outline the Operational Risk Management and mitigation plan. 

5. Include mission start and completion date.

6. Have Commanding Officer or Acting must sign the waiver.

7. Contact NDCM (MDV) Stark @ 202-781-3388 for guidance, prior to submitting the waiver request.

8. Scan to PDF and email to OPNAV N873 jamie.cook2@navy.mil and NAVSEA 00C henry.j.stark@navy.

mil. No hard copy required.

9. Keep it unclassified if possible, if not, send via SIPRNET. Send a note via NIPRNET requesting we 

check SIPRNET for incoming waiver. Using Naval Message takes longer!

10. Submit waiver request as early as possible, when feasible! 

DO NOT:

1. Wait until the last minute!

2. Have the waiver signed “By direction.” 

Remember, the more information provided and the earlier it is submitted, the better the chance the waiver will 

receive a favorable recommendation and approval. HOOYAH!

References:

Dr. John Clarke, Faceplate article “Cold 

Water Regulators – Smithsonian Institution’s Dive in Antarctica.” 
24 March 2010

Well we will start off this story just like all good stories should. Keep 

in mind this is a Deep Sea story that is 

completely true with most of the details 

embellished, as it should be.

So there we were finishing up a routine week of maintenance on the waterfront, if you can ever call what we do 

routine. A job came up for a preliminary 

inspection of the bow planes before cofferdams could be put on. So like any 

other day we pulled the boat forward 

of the unit not knowing what we were 

about to get ourselves into. USS VIRGINIA (SSN 774), First of a Class and 

Leading the Way, was the dive platform 

and the “sup de jour”, ND1 (DSW/

SW) Smith was ready to put divers in 

the water. Divers made their way to the 

project starting with starboard side bow 

plane. Finding no problems with starboard side the divers rogered up, “No 

problems starboard side, clear for sealing surface” topside came back over the 

coms,” Roger that move on to port side”, 

“Roger that Sup”... roger that.

Ah, port side. That whispering old 

lady she was. As divers made their way 

down to the project coms grew silent 

and topside began to resemble more of 

a library than a dive side. Coms crackled to life when red Diver rogered up. 

“Topside, red Diver... you’re gonna 

wanna see this.” Everyone on the side 

was silent as coms repeated back “Send 

it red.” Red reported back with the following: “Portside bow plane has about 

thirty feet forward to aft going ten feet 

deep of missing MIP (Mold In Place) directly through the sealing surface. Depth 

of MIP is about four inches.”

Topside reported back and had a 

camera sent down to take a closer look 

at the project, but the visibility was so 

bad and the area was so big they couldn’t 

get a feel for where and how big the area 

was. So we had to do it the old fashioned 

way, grease pen and clip board style. 

When the Diver reached surface and 

handed the clipboard up to the sup you 

could almost hear the sup’s thoughts as 

his eyes got wide and mouth dropped 

open. All at once we all knew we were 

in for a task never undertaken by NSSF 

dive locker, maybe even any dive locker. Our task was to create an artificial 

sealing surface for the approximately 

10x10ft, 30,000lb. cofferdam to rest on 

with minimal leaks and reliable enough 

to put our word against everyone else’s 

that we could make it happen, and with 

MDV Winter running the show nothing 

was going to stop us. But first we had 

to make a plan... and a plan is exactly 

what we made, whether or not it was going to work was the question.

By now word of our plan had spread 

around the command and to the unit itself. Everyone thought it was impossible. 

We were told it wasn’t going to happen, 

even around the locker there were bets 

being placed for the cofferdams imminent failure. “If I was the one crawling 

down that box, big navy better be ready 

to pay up” was one common phrase or 

at least something close to that. Walking 

past smoke decks you could hear sailors 

and civilians alike betting odds against 

whether or not we could make it work, 

with the overall view being that we were 

going to fail miserably. So here was our 

plan, we were going to use some MIP 

plates ESSM had laying around to create a smooth surface for the cofferdam 

to seal on. The problem was holding all 

the plates in long enough for the glue 

we were using to set. So our final solution was to use five fifty cord and wood 

screws to distribute pressure to the areas we needed it in and after the gluing 

had been completed use ratchet straps to 

give good even pressure throughout the 

whole thing. By the time we were done 
March 2010 25

RBP Cofferdam Assembly.

we had the front of this fast attack nuclear submarine looking like a spider web 

wrapped up in a shoelace factory that 

just got hit by the biggest wrinkle bomb 

of the century. For the forty eight hours 

all this rigging gear was on the boat to 

allow the pf944 to cure the USS VIRGINIA was officially the USS IF THIS 

WORKS SOMEONE IS GETTING A 

RAISE. If you looked at it from topside 

you would have thought MDV had lost 

it. Sure enough though once those forty 

eight hours were up the rigging gear was 

removed and we had our sealing surface. 

Now it was time to do what we normally do, rig up the cofferdams, get a seal, 

pump em’ down, and still make it out 

the door for beer thirty. We still had a lot 

of work ahead before we could call this 

one just another Deep Sea day.

Finally the fateful day came. 

Around 1800 we began rigging up starboard side cofferdam. Once we got both 

cofferdams hanging on the two pairs 

of two 10-ton chain falls we began to 

pump both sides down simultaneously. 

Starboard side was pumped first and 

had zero leaks. Port side followed with 

significant leaks. Divers worked tirelessly till 2300 with Bintsuke to patch 

the leaks coming from the top and sides 

where there were creases in the MIP 

plates. Once we reached a reasonable rate 

topside support were able to install flood 

alarms and set pumps to auto. Around 

2345 MDV called it job complete and we 

broke down station. We had concluded 

the job no one thought we could do, not 

even ourselves. To put it in perspective, 

when the port side cofferdam was initially pumped down the pump was still kicking on every ten seconds to disperse the 

water, once we had completed our patching and plugging the pump would kick on 

once every twenty two minutes to pump 

out residual water for a maximum of 

five seconds. That is the way it remained 

throughout the maintenance conducted 

by the ship and outside contractors. A few 

weeks later after a total accumulated bottom time of over eighty hours, with little 

celebration we removed the cofferdams 

in less than an hour and hoisted them 

on to the YD for cleaning, breakdown, 

and shipping back to ESSM.

Everyone always says “Oh you work 

at NSSF, you know what SSN stands for 

don’t ya?” and trying to be courteous we 

respond, “Saturdays, Sundays, Nights”. 

Well there’s more.... Like every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year... we 

just don’t have any witty letters to explain 

those. MDV always says this is the best 

time of your life and the most responsibility you will have as a 

Second Class Diver in your 

career. We work constantly 

in a hostile environment, 

in tight spaces, and within 

close tolerances. When other divers hear our stories of 

breaking ice to get in, even 

they wince and wonder how 

we do it. Well the answer 

is easy; we are NSSF Dive 

Locker... Pride of the East 

Coast... Gem of the Sub 

Force... and we are the leading dive locker for development and implementation 

for new maintenance procedures for our submarines as 

well as the hardest working 

dive locker in the US Navy. 

Crew:

ND2 (DSW) Luoma graduated dive school 

with class 08-10-2C, and was assigned to 

NSSF in February 2008.

Photo above & Cover: Installation of RBP 

Cofferdams on USS VIRGINIA.

• ND1 (DSW/SW) Jason Smith (Supervisor)

• ND1 (DSW/ SW) Alexander Larsen

• ND1 (AW/NAC/FPJ) Nelson Trevallion

• ND2 (DSW) Michael Baum

• ND2 (DSW) James Duffey

• HM2 (FMF/DMT) Kevin Knott

• ND2 (DSW) Wade Luoma

• ND2 (DSW) Matthew McGrath

• ND2 (DSW) Jonathan Scalise

• ND2 (DSW) Joseph Simpson

• ND2 Christopher Stimmel

• ND2 Christopher Green

• ND2 Calum Sanders

• ND2 Sean Lewis

• ND2 Andrew Pinegar
26 March 2010

we spent several days worth of bottom 

time troubleshooting and fixing a fouled 

towed array inside of MBT 5B. After the 

unforeseen prerequisites were met, with 

the assistance of a NUWC engineering 

Diver and NUWC topside support, NSSF 

Divers managed to change two towed array motors, a salinity sensor, pinch rollers, a refurbished upper containment, 

and various parts of the OA-9070 towed 

array system. To sum things up, everything but the stowage drum, but I’m getting ahead of myself...back to the rigging. This meant bringing the chain falls 

down, the boot straps and lever hoists, 

and removing the ICCP. around the grate. 

One new thing our NUWC guys brought 

were some high speed ballast tank lights, 

which we mounted in each corner of the 

ballast tank. It may not seem like much, 

but these lights proved instrumental 

in the completion of the job. It was always interesting at the start of a day, diving down to the project and seeing light 

pouring through the grates.

When we finally lifted the first motor which was back by the capstan, we 

installed rounded, stainless steel metal 

plates with holes in the ends, on each foot 

which extended out about two inches on 

either side, to protect the feet and also 

something we could use to guide the motor out of the grate. The actual movement 

of the motor was the easy part, shifting 

the weight between chainfalls to move 

it, and rigging in the different points to 

rotate the motor. It really only gave us 

trouble when moving behind the stowage drum, and bringing it down the corner of the ballast tank. There were support beams every two feet that the motor 

would get hung up on, 

which to correct, we 

would have to take 

up on the chain falls, 

and adjust the motor 

to get it back in position. So we finally got 

it to the grate. Here is 

where the real problems came. We have a 

1,100 lb. motor, about 

three feet wide, and a 

grate opening that’s 

about three feet two 

inches wide. If that 

were the only problem 

we would be good to 

go, but we also have a 

quarter inch thick bed 

plate we need to get 

the feet of the motor 

under, angle irons to 

rotate around, and four oil compensators 

we have to worry about shearing off. Did 

I mention the fact that in this same hole 

we are pushing this motor through, we 

also have two umbilicals and two EGSs, 

which needless to say we can’t pinch. 

Oh- and if you come in at the wrong 

angle you can get it stuck, but will not 

know it’s at the wrong angle until it gets 

stuck...but I’ll get into that later.

So there we were with the motor at 

the grate. To get it through we have to 

approach the grate with the motor horizontal, and once under the bedplate we 

have to rotate the motor at a downward 

angle and inch it on out until we can get it 

vertically hanging outside the grate. For 

the first motor, we did just that. It took us 

only four hours to do it. I know it doesn’t 

seem like it should take that long but with 

only one inch of play on both sides and 

a new obstacle every inch to overcome, 

tedious doesn’t even begin to describe it. 

Right: The motor in drydock at Electric Boat, going through the grate.

Left:The motor seen here with the bedplate obstruction.

They said it couldn’t be done...

but tell that to the guys who did it.

W h e n N S S F 

sent us down the 

road to Electric 

Boat to learn how 

to change out the 

motors on the OA9070 system, we just 

thought it would be 

one of those things 

that we learned, but 

were never given 

the chance to apply. Going there for 

the better part of 

the week gave us a 

feel for some challenges we might 

face when doing this 

job waterborne, but 

only some. It’s completely different lowering a 1,100 lb. motor 

out of a grate, in a dry environment and 

onto a pallet four feet below, than having 

to lower it out of a grate, bring it thirty feet 

through the water column, up and over, 

and still have all the electrical fittings remain dry. There was word going around 

that it couldn’t be done waterborne... but 

we showed them otherwise.

When told we would actually be doing the job in August, the three of us who 

had the chance to see it in dry dock were 

ecstatic. This job had never been done 

before on the VIRGINIA class submarine and these kinds of jobs mean only 

one thing ...more bottom time.

The NSSF dive locker ended up 

working hand in hand with Naval Undersea Warfare Center, the technical experts 

on the system. They had a good idea of 

what to do, and we were there to do it. 

The first thing we had to do was to get 

the ballast tank prepared for the lifts. 

But before rigging could even be started 

Command in the Spotlight.....
March 2010 27

New London, Connecticut is home 

to the Naval Submarine Support 

Facility Dive Locker. These Navy Divers may only reach a maximum depth of 

35 feet but assure you they are the best 

at what they do; repairing nuclear powered submarines. No matter the season 

or weather condition this dive locker 

can be seen maxing out set after set of 

divers and burning the midnight oil. 

Recently the Dive Locker performed 

the first waterborne replacement of a Secondary Propulsion Unit (SPU). With the 

advent of the Virginia Class Submarine it 

was only a matter of time that this would 

arise. We did it, not once but twice. The 

first time it was done in less than 10 days 

and the second time in less than 6 days. 

Since this was the first operation of this 

and the procedures and equipment had 

not been validated we had all the engineering and technical support that any 

dive side could ever want. 

The dive started on a Monday June 

22, Dive side was as follows: Dive Supervisor: ND1 Jacob Schonacher; Red 

Diver: ND2 Matt McGrath; Green Diver: ND1 Jason Counts; Yellow Diver: 

ND2 Sean Lewis; Tenders: ND2 James 

Duffey, ND2 Andrew Pinegar, ND2 John 

Roth; CL/Air: ND2 Truett Griffin.

Due to the preliminary nature of this 

job, there was a mystery leak just after 

the cofferdam seal, making it impossible 

to move on with the job without a good 

seal. After 2 days of searching, ND2 Duffey found 2 pipes that required DC plugs, 

ND2 Andrew C. Murphy graduated Dive 

School in October 2007, and has been Stationed in Groton for two years.

Once the motor was out of the tank, 

it went pretty smoothly. We hooked the 

motor into the crane and had to pay out 

on the chainfall while the crane took up 

the slack. Needless to say the first motor 

was not pretty. It had scratches, dents and 

a serious amount of missing paint, but it 

was out. The next obstacle came with removing the second motor. This motor is 

hanging upside down, twenty feet up in 

the tank and you only have one way of 

getting above it, which is a ladder alongside it which gives you limited access 

above the motor to rig it. But that was 

not the problem. We got it down and by 

the grate in less than an hour. The problem was getting it out of the grate. If you 

remember that wrong angle I was talking about earlier, we got it in the wrong 

angle, and we got it stuck, and four hours 

later were out of bottom time, with 1,100 

lbs. of metal and wires between us and 

the exit. What had happened was that the 

motor had gotten halfway out of the 

grate, two oil compensators out of the 

grate, and two oil compensators in the 

grate, and the motor had shifted that inch 

we didn’t have. So now the oil compensators are keeping the motor from going out of the tank, and keeping it from 

coming back in the tank. Oh and to make 

matters worse, remember those EGS’s 

in the opening with the motor...well 

there was one less now. It makes for a 

very interesting time as you’re adjusting a motor, trying to get out of a tank 

knowing you’re already on decompression time, and you suddenly hear a pop 

and see all the water around you bubble 

as a heavy mist fills the tank around 

you. A third Diver was splashed to give 

us eyes on the outside of the tank, and 

another EGS, and in a matter of 30 minutes got the motor back in, more or less 

in an acceptable condition and proceeded 

follow our table and schedule to finish 

out our decompression dive.

With all that done and a new understanding and respect for the motors we 

were moving, we finished removing the 

second motor. Now we had to get two 

back into the tank, except this time we 

couldn’t scratch or ding them. In fact if 

we damaged the feet at all, it could throw 

off the alignment with the shafts, causing 

more rework and potentially making the 

motor unusable. We also couldn’t damage the shaft at all, because that too could 

throw off the alignment as well. With 

all this in mind, we had to take a look 

at what we could improve. The answer 

came down to one thing. It was the three 

point bridle we had on the motor, which 

was used as the main rigging point. The 

problem we had was that it was too long. 

With a shorter bridle, we would have 

more control over the motor’s movement, 

and more room to maneuver it. Once we 

had the new bridle on, getting it in the 

tank was a three hour process, with one 

diver on the outside as eyes, while two 

were inside manning the chain falls and 

lever hoists. Both motors were finally installed with both in excellent condition. 

The shafts lined up and all measurements 

were good. The Flex couplings were 

back on, all bolts were torqued down and 

all electrical connections were installed 

and all tested satisfactory...eventually. 

The job had been completed.

It’s easy to say this can be done or 

this can’t be done as an outsider looking 

in. But we are Navy Divers. If you tell us 

we can’t do something, we are going to 

do it just to prove you wrong. I do have to 

say that my favorite part about this job is, 

since it had never been done before, our 

NUWC support knew as much and as little about procedures as we did, therefore 

they were constantly bouncing ideas off 

of us, looking for our input and using it. 

We contributed as much to the success of 

this job as the guys who have engineering 

master’s degrees, and often times, finding 

ways around problems that they couldn’t. 

How many other professions out there let 

you go thirty feet underwater and swing 

a 1,100 lb. motor around a ballast tank? I 

can only think of one. Hooyah Deep Sea.

Lead Divers BT:

• ND2 Murphy: 49 hrs

• ND2 (DSW) Bates: 32 hrs 

• ND2 (DSW) Nonnenmann: 33 hrs

• ND2 (DSW) Elbert: 12 hours

• ND1 (DSW) Persinger (Supervisor)
28 March 2010

SPU entering the water for re-installation

the bottom sounder vent hole and the 

cover plate bolts. On day four, the cofferdam was installed and bubble was solid, 

so we began dismantling the cow tongue, 

installed the motor rigging fixture, 4 

chain falls with a level 4 point pick. 

This was an aluminum cradle with lifting eyes which aided in lowering, rotating, and yard and staying the motor from 

inside the cofferdam onto the pier. Once 

on the pier the motor was meggered and 

found to be SAT. After replacing the A 

phase cable the motor was mounted back 

on its column. Once the inside of the 

tank was reassembled and the grounding strap was replaced and the submarine was ready for sea trials. 

One week later the phone rang with 

the message “The SPU on the VIRGINIA has grounded out.” During sea trials 

two of the cables were damaged causing 

a ground indication. In order to ensure 

that the ship could make its 

maiden deployment, it was 

decided to replace the motor 

and all three power cables. 

Once again the Alpha Dive 

Team assembled and this 

time within one day had 

the cofferdam installed, all 

leaks secured as well as the 

rigging hanging for the motor. On day two the Alpha, 

Bravo, and Charlie Phase 

Cables were removed and 

on the pier along with SPU 

the Dive team was turning 

and burning. The SPU was 

waterborne again and hanging from the 4 chain falls 

within the cofferdam on day 

three. The three 100-pound 

cables each hanging from 

the electronic hull fitting, and ready to 

be attached to bring life to the new unit. 

On day four the SPU team had the motor hydrostatically tested and applied the 

final torque on the column bolts. By day 

five the dive team was de-rigging the 

cofferdam and sending all the materials 

topside. Finally the cofferdam hit the 

pier and the motor had tested satisfactorily on all accounts. Some may have 

thought that this could not be done once, 

much less twice, but for the NSSF Dive 

Locker it was just another day at work 

under difficult conditions.

ND2 (DSW) Matthew J. McGrath enlisted in 

the U.S. Navy in April 2007. Upon completion 

of initial training, Petty Officer McGrath was 

assigned to Naval Submarine Support Facility 

New London in December of 2007. 

Another historical case of environmental salvage was the USS MISSISSINEWA (AO 59) a U.S. Navy oil tanker that 

was a silent war grave for over 50 years 

until it began leaking oil into the Ulithi 

lagoon in August 2001. Though the Navy 

was able to plug the oil leaks from exposed piping, the possibility of a greater 

release seemed imminent. This prompted 

a formal request from the Yap State GovPollution Response: A Key Salvage 

Enabler - Continued from pg.7

ernment for the U.S. Navy to offload the 

oil. Offloading operations were successfully completed in February 2003, with 

an estimated 1.95 million gallons of oil 

being pumped from 21 tanks, the engine 

room, pump room and pipes.

Environmental protection is such a 

sensitive issue that well-intentioned authorities may lose sight of the hazards to 

the vessel in their efforts to prevent pollution. It is the charge of salvors to be 

professionals in dealing with emergency 

situations. They have the responsibility to 

ensure a balance between salvage action 

and environmental protection.

Stephanie Brown is the Oil Spill Response 

Program Engineer in the Salvage Operations Division of the Navy Supervisor of 

Salvage and Diving Office (SUPSALV) 

where she serves primarily as the life cycle 

manager of SUPSALV’s pollution equipment inventory. 

Article Cover Picture: SPU Cofferdam entering the water for installation. 

SPU cofferdam entering the water for installation
March 2010 29

Reviewing past issues of Faceplate 

magazines, I have noticed we are 

due for an update from 00C5 Underwater Ship Husbandry Division. Several new personnel have joined the 

NAVSEA team over the past few years 

alongside our seasoned veterans. Bill 

Reid (00C5) is the Director here at the 

Washington Navy Yard (WNYD) with 

the following personnel making up 

the supporting cast. They are listed by 

Code, specialty and location: 

35 million dollars. How many dive 

boats could you buy with that? As most 

of you probably answered, ”Enough”. 

This is the dollar amount in dry-dock 

cost avoidance savings; conservative and 

loosely figured, based solely on FY09 

major underwater repair efforts. Cost 

avoidance figures are not easily computed. Dozens of variables affect costs 

of each docking, which is why I use the 

term ”loosely figured”. A dry-docking 

cost analysis is also in progress that will 

be available for future use. Fleet Divers 

have logged hundreds of hours of bottom time and repaired scores of vessels, 

all on a reduced budget, with aging support craft. In an effort to help alleviate 

demanding maintenance requirements 

for these support craft we are investigating procurement of new dive boats. 

We currently have other initiatives that 

will provide one or two boats but many 

vessels have surpassed their service life 

and need to be replaced. Your needs are 

not being ignored, we just request patience and continued support.

Among many other irons in the 

fire: ERR, BDR, and ANU have all been 

getting due attention. You know what 

ANU stands for, but what are BDR and 

ERR? Battle Damage Repair (BDR) and 

Equipment Requirements Review (ERR) 

are familiar to some of you. BDR is a 

task in which Southwest Regional Maintenance Center (SWRMC) has become 

heavily involved along with Puget Sound 

Naval Shipyard (PSNS) and Pearl Harbor 

Naval Shipyard (PHNSY). The goal is to 

provide equipment and train personnel to 

support emergent repairs to battle damaged vessels wherever local assets are unavailable. Further details are contained in 

Pacific Fleet Operational Orders. ERR is 

a term borrowed from the Salvage Division. We conduct these reviews to ensure 

sufficient equipment is available to supCWO3 Timothy Axline (00C501) UWSH Projects & Operations, WNYD

Scott Heineman (00C502) Marine Operations Specialist, San Diego, CA

Russell Mallet (00C503) Marine Operations Specialist, Norfolk, VA

Rich Schoenweisner (00C51) Submarine Unique Systems, WNYD

Jeff Zook (00C53) Underwater Welding Engineer, WNYD

Geoff Healy (00C54) Cofferdams, Shafts & New Ship Class Designs, WNYD

Tom McCue (00C55) Hull Cleaning, Paints, Cathodic Protection, WNYD

LCDR Joshua Lapenna (00C56) UWSH Projects & Operations, WNYD

LT John Bauer (00C58) UWSH Projects & Operations, Currently on IA

Justin Pollack (00C59) Propellers, APU and Bearings, WNYD

Marty Sheehan WSQ-9 Manager, Panama City, FL 

port repairs without having to ship gear 

from one side of the country to the other. 

End user feedback is also collected to 

ensure equipment functions as designed. 

Finally, we recently approved the use of 

the Hilti UW-10 Underwater Tool. It is 

listed in ANU under section 9.3 Tools. 

In service since 1990, this tool will assist 

divers in repair efforts on vessels damaged in battle or any situation where emergent underwater repairs are required. We 

are also working on approving a new GFI 

and water blaster.

I have one final note related to equipment. LCDR 

Lapenna and I are your go-to 

guys when it comes to securing UWSH equipment from 

ESSM. Soliciting ESSM may 

get you some valuable information but nothing moves 

unless it comes through 

00C5. We have a busy year 

ahead starting with the DDG 

51 Class CPP Bolt Torque 

Inspection requirements. 

This story can be found on 

page 04 of this issue. See 

you in the Fleet.

CWO Timothy Axline is currently 

serving as UWSH Project/Operations Manager at NAVSEA 00C.

Crossword Puzzle Answers

Across:

2. Equipped

4. Fifty

7. Preferred

10. ANU

12. Relief Valve

14. Octopus

15. Scabbard

16. Closed

17. Overheating

18. Cascading

19. Marlin

20. Hydrostatically

Down:

1. Diaphragm

3. Predive

5. Acrylic

6. Canvas

8. Exhaust

9. Lifeline

11. Unconscious

13. Entanglement
30 March 2010

USS NEW ORLEANS (LPD 18)

Collision Repair

By: LCDR Jay A. Young, USN, PE

On 20 March 2009, USS NEW ORLEANS (LPD 18) collided with 

USS HARTFORD (SSN 768) while transiting through the Strait 

of Hormuz. Immediately following the collision, ship’s force reported flooding in Fuel Oil Storage Tank (8-63-1-F), Compensating Ballast Water Tank (8-73-1-W), and Main Ballast Water Tank (8-95-0-W). Ship’s force 

also reported fuel oil leaking from the starboard side in the area of frame 70. 
March 2010 31

I

n the moments following the collision, NEW ORLEANS lost an estimated 30,000 gallons of fuel oil into the 

sea through 

a rupture in 

8-63-1-F and 

approximately 20,000 gallons of fuel 

oil remained 

in the top of 

the tank due 

t o h y d r o -

static pressure. Without 

knowing the 

full extent of 

the damage 

to the underw a t e r h u l l 

or the structural integrity of the damaged tanks, 

New Orleans immediately proceeded 

to Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain for inspection and repair. 

Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance 

Center Detachment Bahrain (MARMC 

DET Bahrain) coordinated and executed 

all inspections and assessments upon 

the ship’s arrival with support from 

Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit Two 

(MDSU TWO) and the Supervisor of 

Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV). NEW 

ORLEANS arrived at Mina Salman 

Pier in Bahrain on 21 March 2009 anticipating an extensive repair period.

Navy Divers from MDSU TWO 

were standing by to complete the damage assessment when NEW ORLEANS 

arrived in Bahrain. MDSU TWO Divers commenced diving operations on 

22 March 2009 and focused the initial 

damage assessment around the known 

damaged locations. The external inspection revealed extensive damage to the 

shell plate and bilge keel in the vicinity 

of frame 70. A thirty foot section of the 

starboard bilge keel was crushed, broken, 

and pushed inside of the fuel oil tank. 

The submarine had punched a fifteen 

foot long by sixteen foot high gash in the 

fuel oil tank and ruptured the bulkhead 

separating the fuel oil tank from the compensating ballast water tank. 

Following the initial inspection of 

the external damage in the vicinity of 

frame 70, the divers moved aft to assess 

the damage to Main Ballast Water Tank 

8-95-0-W. The Divers reported a fifteen 

foot scrape running forward and aft approximately twenty feet off centerline 

to starboard. Two small punctures were 

identified in the shell plate of the Main 

Ballast Water Tank and in line with the 

existing scrape. One of the punctures 

was eight inches long by three inches 

wide, and the other puncture was nine 

inches long by three inches wide. No 

further damage was identified in the 

vicinity of either location.

The Divers spent several dives detailing the external damage to the fuel 

tank and the two ballast tanks and measuring the extent of the damage in relation to various reference points on the 

underwater hull. Once all of the external damage was properly documented, 

the divers entered the damaged fuel oil 

tank to complete 

an internal structural inspection. 

The fuel oil 

tank was twenty 

three feet long, 

three decks high 

a n d e x t e n d e d 

twelve feet inboard from the 

e x t e r n a l h u l l . 

Divers crawled 

over and around 

the mangled shell 

plate and stiffeners to get into 

the tank. Once inside of the tank, Divers 

maneuvered to all corners of the tank to 

inspect and document the structural damage to the internal frames, 

b u l k h e a d s , 

t r a n s v e r s e 

s t i f f e n e r s , 

l o n g i t u d i -

nal stiffeners, and piping systems. 

Divers spent 

several hours 

i n s p e c t i n g 

s t r u c t u r a l 

d a m a g e , 

m e a s u r i n g 

the extent of 

all structural 

damage, and 

documenting all of the damage using an 

underwater video system. The ship repair community used the detailed structural assessment and underwater video 

to determine the proper repair procedure. 

Navy Divers completed the detailed 

damage assessment which included damage to the ship’s external hull and internal structure. Aware of the extent of 

the damage, U.S. Navy leadership pondered whether to complete a temporary 

waterborne repair or to complete a permanent dry dock repair. The ship repair 

community weighed the advantages and 

disadvantages of the waterborne and dry 

dock repair options and concluded that 

a hybrid repair using both waterborne 

and dry dock repair phases was the best 

course of action to save time and cost. 

Figure 2

Figure 1
32 March 2010

The first step in the waterborne repair phase was to defuel the fuel oil tank. 

Before damaged material could be cut 

away from the hull, the residual diesel 

fuel contained in the fuel oil tank had 

to be removed. Since the fuel tank top 

was located below the waterline, a large 

amount of fuel was trapped at the top of 

the tank. The ship estimated that 20,000 

gallons of diesel fuel remained in the 

fuel oil tank. Ship’s force could not 

defuel the tank using the installed suction 

system because the suction was located at 

the bottom of the tank below the fuel-towater interface and could not defuel the 

tank through the tank top because the tank 

was pressed up as a result of hydrostatic 

pressure. The fuel needed to be pumped 

out through the hole in the side of the 

hull. 

SUPSALV pre-positions Emergency Ship Salvage Material (ESSM) and 

equipment in the Fifth Fleet Area of 

Responsibility to support and augment 

Fifth Fleet capability in the areas of salvage, diving, pollution response, and 

underwater ship husbandry (UWSH). To 

safely remove the diesel fuel from the 

damaged fuel oil tank, MDSU 2 Divers assembled and installed two 2-Inch 

Hydraulic Submersible Pumps from the 

ESSM Pollution Equipment inventory 

under the water outside of the damaged 

fuel oil tank. Divers routed the pump 

discharge hoses to an empty fuel barge 

moored outboard of NEW ORLEANS. 

The Divers attached suction hoses to 

the hydraulic submersible pumps and 

routed the suctions through damaged 

hull to above the fuel-to-water interface. The fuel was pumped from the fuel 

oil tank through the hole in the ship’s 

hull to the fuel barge on the surface. 

The Divers continued to feed the suction hoses farther into the tank to stay 

above the fuel-to-water interface until 

all of the diesel fuel was removed from 

the tank. Approximately 20,000 gallons 

of diesel fuel were pumped from the 

tank in three and a half hours. 

SUPSALV contracted Divers from 

Phoenix International to remove the 

damaged material from NEW ORLEANS. Once the fuel was pumped 

from the fuel tank, Phoenix Divers continued the waterborne repair phase by 

removing the majority of the damaged 

shell plate, longitudinal stiffeners, and 

transverse frames. They worked around 

the clock for six days and removed all 

of the damaged material from the area 

around the fuel oil tank (8-63-1-F) and 

the compensating ballast water tank 

(8-73-1-W) using an underwater arc 

gouging system (Figure 1). 

Figure 4

Figure 3

Once all of the mangled steel was 

cut away from the hull, Divers cropped 

out the surrounding steel to minimize 

the stress concentration areas in the 

hull. Divers removed 275 square feet of 

shell plate, 72.5 square feet of bulkhead 

plate, 134 feet of longitudinal stiffeners, 

and 32 square feet of framing from the 

compensating ballast water tank and the 

fuel oil tank during the waterborne repair 

phase (Figure 2 and Figure 3). 

Removing the damaged material 

waterborne served two purposes. First, 

waterborne removal of the damaged 

material reduced the amount of rip-out 

required once the ship was dry docked 

and effectively reduced the total time 

spent in dry dock. Waterborne damage 

removal also allowed Navy engineers to 
March 2010 33

The U.S. Navy production team 

worked hand-in-hand with their contractor counterparts to overcome barriers, 

complete the emergent repairs, and keep 

the production effort on schedule. Once 

undocked, NEW ORLEANS continued 

assigned missions on deployment in 

the U.S. Fifth Fleet Area of Operations.

accurately identify 

the material requirements in advance. 

Engineers correlated 

the removed material to the ship’s construction drawings to 

generate the material 

list used by the shipyard to prefabricate 

replacement shell 

plate, framing, and 

stiffeners. The emergent nature of the repairs resulted in limited time to procure 

the required materials which made an 

accurate damage assessment and material list essential for a timely dry dock repair.

T h e s h i p y a r d r e -

moved all of the damaged 

shell plate and stiffeners while simultaneously 

installing stiffeners and 

shell plate in all four damaged areas in only fourteen days, but the critical 

path to completion was 

the repair of Fuel Oil Tank 

(8-63-1-F) and Compensating Ballast Water Tank 

LCDR Jay A. Young is the Engineering 

Duty Officer and Salvage Officer who 

led the NEW ORLEANS repair operation 

while assigned to CTF 53 / MARMC DET 

Bahrain. LCDR Young is a 1998 graduate 

of the U. S. Naval Academy and specializes in Ocean and Mechanical Engineering. 

Figure 8

Figure 7

Figure 6

Following the waterborne repair 

phase, NEW ORLEANS was dry docked 

in Bahrain in the Arab Shipbuilding and 

Repair Yard (ASRY) graving dock on 25 

April 2009 along with MV VIRGINIAN 

and the ENSCO 97 Oil Platform (Figure 4). 

The damage assessment in the dry 

dock revealed even more damage to 

the underwater hull than previously 

identified during the waterborne assessment. The damage in tanks 8-63-1-F 

and 8-73-1-W matched the initial damage report (article cover photo), but the 

damage in tank 8-95-0-W was more 

extensive than reported during the underwater inspection. The shell plate 

surrounding the documented punctures 

and scrape was dished approximately 

four inches and extended out approximately ten feet in all directions and damaged the ship’s keel plate (Figure 6). 

The rip-out and 

structural assessment completed during the waterborne 

repair phase greatly 

reduced the time to 

complete dry dock 

repairs. ASRY permanently replaced 

111 feet of framing, 

227 feet of longitudinal stiffeners, and 911 

square feet of shell plate ranging from 10 

mm to 42 mm in thickness. The shipyard also replaced a 30 foot section of 

the starboard bilge keel which included 

200 square feet of steel plate. 

The onsite production team consisted of members from MARMC Detachment Bahrain, MARMC Norfolk, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Arab Shipbuilding 

and Repair Yard, Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit Two, Supervisor of Salvage and Diving, and Phoenix International, 

but numerous commands from 

around the world provided outstanding support to ensure the 

success of the repair operation. The total repair operation 

spanned fifty four days, and numerous individuals worked day 

and night to execute a quality 

repair on schedule. The repair 

operation tested the capability 

and responsiveness of the Navy’s ship maintenance community and leveraged the talents 

of both divers and dry docks to 

create an effective repair team. 

Mission Accomplished!

(8-73-1-W (Figure 

7). 

The Arab Shipbuilding and Repair 

Yard completed all repairs on 11 May 2009 

(Figure 8), and NEW ORLEANS was 

undocked on schedule on 12 May 2009.
34 March 2010

Over the last 31 years I have seen many changes, hell Divers becoming a rating was talked about 31 years ago when I went to SCUBA school in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. There are many things I would like to address here Leadership, Accountability, Professionalism, to name a few, but I wanted to take the first couple paragraphs and tell you the world according to Master Diver Winter.

 It has been my distinct honor to serve with the very best men and women the Navy has to offer, Navy Divers. If you think you’re 

not the very best look at any major diving Command, do you see any Trident or Crab wearers walking around? Now look at any EOD 

or SEAL Command, they all (or a majority of them) have NDs. Why is that? Does a MDSU require an EOD tech or SEAL to accomplish its mission? Does any underwater ships husbandry Command require an EOD tech 

or SEAL to accomplish its mission? Here is the reality, Navy Divers are the world’s 

underwater experts. We are the standard by which all other underwater qualifications are 

measured.

 Navy Divers have always been engaged in the conduct of their primary duty, we 

have not been exercising or practicing, we have been diving. We have honed our skills 

on countless missions. We have kept our surface and submarine forces battle ready. We 

have braved the cold, dark depths and picked up the twisted, broken pieces of ships, 

submarines, and aircraft, commercial, private, and government owned. We have operated 

internationally. We have operated inter-service and we have operated for both local and 

state agencies. Wherever there has been a major catastrophe involving water, Navy Divers have been there. 

 Deck Plate Leadership, leading from the front. In my career I have never asked or 

ordered one of my Sailors to do something I have not, would not, or could not do. There 

are those that call themselves Deckplate Leaders but could not find the deckplates at high 

noon on a sunny day with a GPS and an armed escort. I believe that leadership is not 

something that can be taught in some class or through an online course. It is something 

that is shouldered by an individual through time, experience, and sometimes through 

circumstance. 

 Consistency and Purpose. Consistency in holding yourself to a higher standard, instilling those standards into those in your charge and holding yourself and your sailors accountable. Purpose in understanding your Command’s mission and communicating how best you can support that mission to your troops. Purpose in taking an active role in molding 

your troops through training, OJT, and real world experience to fully prepare them to take your place. This will allow them the best 

chance for success, in many cases the best thing you can do for an individual sailor is in direct conflict with what that sailors desires. 

That is where you as the Master Chief, Master Diver, or senior leadership must take a stand and hold your ground. That Sailor will not 

understand it then ... But I guarantee that sailor will call a few years later and say thanks for making me do that ... I get it now.

 Standup for what you believe in, do not accept blindly or willingly all that you are told or ordered to do. Nothing is impossible 

for the man that doesn’t have to do it. Be prepared to go to General Quarters with those over you to protect your Sailors, even to the 

point of risking your career, if you truly believe in what you’re fighting for. Pick your battles. Just because you may not feel it’s right, 

doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have to be done and will most likely be done by someone else, eroding the confidence of your superiors in 

your ability to lead.

 Plan for the worst and hope for the best, (or the 7 P’s - Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance) always be one step 

ahead, know your contingencies and be prepared to make course corrections immediately. Having an alternate plan of action allows 

you the flexibility to continue to move forward with minimal confusion and stress to your troops. This instills confidence in your Sailors 

in your abilities to lead them safely through the most arduous and dangerous missions. Your Sailors may follow you to the gates of hell, 

but without a clear and well communicated plan you may just lead them there.

 Patience. Remember YOU were once that young sailor. Where would you be today if that Master Chief or Master Diver hadn’t taken 

the time to see and understand the things you did well and the things you had to do over and over? What I’m trying to say is, don’t forget where you came from. Find your Sailors’ strengths and emphasize them. Harness and utilize them to build the Sailors’ confidence in 

themselves while continuing to work on their weaknesses.

 Character, Integrity, and Trust are the cornerstones of good Leadership. To the best of my limited abilities I have described these. 

There is also that which is intangible, indescribable, We in the Diving Navy know it as HOOYAH!! The overwhelming desire to be and 

do your very best, to rise above surroundings and circumstance to push past limits and expectations and hopefully to raise your troops 

with you, making them see that they are capable of more than they ever thought possible.

 This is what I believe. By the time you read this I will have retired. Thanks to all those who have provided me guidance, support, 

and advice over my career. I will never be able to repay you. If you find yourself in Tennessee in the future look me up. There will be a 

warm meal and a cold beer waiting for you, on this you have my word.

HOOYAH DEEPSEA!! 

Master Diver Winter is currently serving at 

Naval Submarine Support Facility

New London, CT.
March 2010 35

I wrote this article in my office at the Washington Navy Yard. As I was writing it I got an email from my boss, Mr. 

James Fenner, the Director of Diving 

Programs at NAVSEA 00C. The email 

said, “SUPDIVE, handle this!” It was a 

naval message from an operational Fleet 

unit, asking permission to conduct diving 

operations with a foreign Navy. That is 

what I do and I love it! My job encompasses other things but helping the Fleet 

do theirs is the most important. A young 

and hungry Lieutenant, out on the pointy 

end of the spear, eager to get himself and 

his team wet doing the job he was trained 

to do, sends me a message asking for 

permission to do it! The only better job 

I can think of is being on that Lieutenant’s team. I lead with that and ask each 

of you to ask yourself what is it that I do 

for a living? I’ll tell, “You dive!” 

“Know your job, be good at it, and 

take care of your people,” words by Admiral Hyman Rickover. I did not know 

Admiral Rickover but I know what he 

says is right. Many things have been distracting us all from getting in the water 

as much as we’d like to but I ask each of 

you to try hard to get wet as often as you 

can. We need to be good at diving all the 

time and in any condition. It is our ride 

to work. As you come off the mountain 

tops and out of the deserts, think about 

that special pay you’re getting and then 

go get better at it! HOOYAH!

I love naval history, tradition, and 

good quotes! I hope that all of you have 

access to Master Diver Gove’s emails of 

“This Day in Diving History.” His pieces 

are brilliantly timed, well written, informative, and fun to read! Thank you Master Diver Gove for taking lots of your 

personal time to keep naval diving history alive and for passing it on to us young 

guys. I want to include naval history, tradition, and good quotes like those provided by the Master Diver in future editions 

of Faceplate. So send them in!

We are hoping to get a U.S Army 

Master Diver stationed here at NAVSEA 

00C in the Diving Programs office. Once 

he’s feeling comfortable, maybe even 

slide him into 00C4 Certification for a 

while. We have been working closely 

with our Army “Buddies” for years now 

and I think it is high time that they be 

represented here at NAVSEA 00C. The 

Army invited me, Master Diver Stark of 

00C3, and Mr. Mike Frey of 00C4 to attend their annual diving conference held 

at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. I was honored to attend and learned a great deal. 

I think the Army-Navy team has really 

found some common ground and hope 

2010 is the year SUPSALV gets a Master 

Diver called “Master Sergeant!” I never 

did see any water at Fort Leonard Wood 

though? HOOYAH! Go Army! 

SUPSALV will host the 2010 Diver 

Working Group (DWG) in San Diego, 

CA from 4-6 May 2010. This year we 

want as many “Working Divers” as we 

can get to attend. We want to hear from 

the Fleet how we can better serve the 

“Warfighters.” This is the best forum to 

talk through those issues that all Divers 

have in common and those issues that are 

unique to your community. I have said 

this before, we are all Divers and all share 

the same core diving knowledge and experience. Standing by to support!

HOOYAH Navy Diver!

Never mind that this diver is wearing two watches (one is actually a dive computer) and 

that he is wearing a wetsuit in the pool. Pools are cold too! Time proves experience and 

cunning beats youth and good-looks every time! NAVSEA 00C is providing DP-1 training 

to MDSU TWO Divers at the NSW Combat Swimmer Pool in Little Creek, VA.

Commander Michael Egan, USN

Supervisor of Diving

SASEBO

S , U

SINGAPORE

S

LIVORNO, ITALY

S

BAHRAIN

S, , P U

WILLIAMSBURG

S, , ,D P U

PEARL HARBOR

S, , ,D P U

PORT HUENEME

S, , P U

ANCHORAGE

S,P

NAVSEA/SUPSALV: UIC#56600

Naval Sea Systems Command

1333 Isaac Hull Ave., SE Stop 1070

Washington Navy Yard, DC 20376-1070

Telephone: (202) 781-1731 (press 2 at prompt) 

Fax: (202) 781-4855

DSN: 326-1731 (press 2 at prompt) 

NAVSEA Duty Officer: (202) 781-3889

Alaska ESSM Facility: UIC#3293A

ESSM Facility 

Bldg. 800/1st and Warehouse

Fort Richardson, AK 99505

Telephone: (907) 384-2963 

Salvage Officer: (808) 474-1027/5490

Duty Officer: (808) 471-3201

California ESSM Facility: UIC#68697

Naval Base Ventura County

CBC, Patterson Road, Bldg 1163

Port Hueneme, CA 93043 

Telephone: (805) 982-4463/5473

Virginia ESSM Facility: UIC#68696

Naval Weapons Station Cheatham Annex

C Street, Warehouse 12

Williamsburg, VA 23185-5830

Telephone: (757) 637-9000

Hawaii ESSM Facility: UIC#47750

ESSM Facility

Bishop Point, Bldg 54

Pearl Harbor, HI 96860-5055

Telephone: (808) 423-7100

Salvage Officer: (808) 474-1027/5490

Duty Officer: (808) 471-3201

Bahrain ESSM Facility

NSSA Det Bahrain

Banz Warehouse, #1 Juffair Ave.

Manama, Bahrain

Salvage Officer: 011-973-1785-3917

Duty Officer: 011-973-3961-7457

Italy ESSM Facility 

Combat Equipment Battalion Livorno 

ESSM Base Depot Bldg #55091 Via Aurelia

Leghorne Army Depot

Livorno, Italy 56018

Salvage Officer: 011-39-081-568-7911

Duty Officer: 011-39-081-568-3873

Japan ESSM Facility

Officer in Charge, ESSM Facility

U.S. Naval Ship Repair Facility

Tategami-Cho Bldg 141

Sasebo Navy Base

Sasebo City, Japan 857-0063

Salvage Officer: 011-65-6750-2436/2474

Duty Officer: 011-65-6750-2594

DSN: 315-421-2436/2474

SALVAGE (S) - Red

POLLUTION (P) - Orange DIVING (D) - Black

UWSH (U) - Purple

Singapore ESSM Facility

Officer in Charge, ESSM Facility

U.S. Navy ESSM Warehouse

NRC Singapore

PSA Semabawang Terminal

Bldg. 7-4, Deptford Road Singapore 759657

Salvage Officer: 011-65-6750-2436/2474

Duty Officer: 011-65-6750-2594

DSN: 315-421-2436/2474
36 March 2010