2 F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5

SUPSALV SENDS

In This Issue

FACEPLATE is published by the Supervisor

of Salvage and Diving to make the latest and

most informative news available to the Navy

diving and salvage community. Discussions

or illustrations of commercial products do not

imply endorsement by the Supervisor of

Salvage and Diving or the U.S. Navy.

Articles, letters, queries and comments should

be directed to the Commander, Naval Sea

Systems Command, NAVSEA 00C, 1333

Isaac Hull Ave. SE Stop 1070, Washington

Navy Yard, DC 20376-1070. (Attn:

FACEPLATE). Visit our website at http://

www.supsalv.org. To view an electronic

version of Faceplate in PDF format go to our

website and click on the word “Faceplate”

located in the left hand column. This link will

direct you to our list of Faceplate issues.

Captain Jim Wilkins, USN

Director of Ocean Engineering

Supervisor of Salvage and Diving

NAVSEA 00C

wilkinsjr@navsea.navy.mil

Captain Mark Helmkamp, USN

Supervisor of Diving

Editor In Chief

helmkampmt@navsea.navy.mil

LCDR Jim Bladh, USN (Ret.)

Managing Editor

jimbladhsr@aol.com

BMCM (MDV) Steve Smith, USN

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

Fleet Liaison Editors

smithss@navsea.navy.mil

ornsfk@navsea.navy.mil

Zoya Gorbunova

Production Editor

zgorbunova@roh-inc.com

Otto C. Adams

Graphic Designer

oadams@roh-inc.com

(SUPSALV SENDS continued on page 6)

First – CONGRATULATIONS to ourSEALAB community on the celebration of their 40th anniversary! As should

quickly be evident, we’ve dedicated much

of this FACEPLATE issue to heralding the

accomplishments of the early “Man-InThe-Sea” Program.

months and received strong endorsement.

The last few months focused on developing the right E7/E8/E9 force structure for

the new ratings recognizing the unique

requirement of a senior enlisted force to

bring mature, operational expertise and

high levels of leadership skills to bear on

our high risk operations. Healthy advancement opportunities through E9 must

be included. Staffing standards are

being developed for both communities

and will be applied throughout the

force by the end of this fiscal year to

determine the proper structure. When

completed, the proposed force structure

will be briefed through the USN chain of

command for approval and implementation as soon as possible.

But as anyone currently in uniform

can tell you, the pace of change in the

Navy today seems staggering...so I

thought I’d use this “SUPSALV SENDS”

as an update on important initiatives in the

Navy Diving and Salvage Program –

ARS 50 Class – Since my last

“SUPSALV SENDS”, the CNO did, in

fact, approve the conversion of the four

ARS 50 Class vessels to become T-ARSs

operated by the Military Sealift Command, beginning in FY06. The principal

reason was to reduce overall cost to the

Navy. The current plan (subject to change)

is for the two East Coast ships (USS

GRASP and USS GRAPPLE) to be

converted in FY06, followed by

PACFLEET’s USS SALVOR and USS

SAFEGUARD in FY07. All of the diving

billets on each of the 4 ships are being

retained and converted to become five

new MDSU ONE and TWO diving

detachments to support deployment on the

T-ARSs much the same as currently

occurs on the T-ATFs. MSC is developing

a robust Salvage Training Program to

integrate their professionals with the

MDSUs to ensure that USN salvage capability is not just retained but improved.

Navy Diver Rating - The Center for

EOD & Diving (CENEODD) continues to

blaze the trail for our new Navy Diver

Rating (as well as an EOD Rating). These

two ratings will replace the current 19

Diver and 22 EOD source ratings. This

initiative has been briefed to a number of

flag officers and MCPON over the past 12

Saturation Diving System – FY06 procurement of the Navy’s CNO-approved

air transportable saturation diving system

(to be known as SAT FADS for Saturation

Fly-Away Dive System) is being planned!

The system will be operated by MDSU

TWO Deep Diving Detachment, augmented by a cadre of NEDU saturation

Divers who also maintain it in readyservice at Panama City both for training

missions (NDSTC) and operational

missions. Start thinking about whether

saturation diving is part of your future!

Diving Warrant Candidate Recommendations – The 2003 MDV/CWO Conference recommended that candidates for

Diving Warrant (1) be qualified at the

highest level of Diving Supervisor at their

current command, and (2) have successfully passed the written MDV course

pre-test administered by NDSTC. A recent

Salvage Executive Steering Committee

approved and forwarded the recommendation to BUPERS. Forewarned is

forearmed for you aspiring DWOs.

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

Next Generation Dive System Update ........... 3

Tom Salmon’s Retirement.............................. 4

Mark V Monument at the WNY ...................... 4

Divers Alert Network New President .............. 5

From the Managing Editor ............................. 5

Daughter of Former NEDU CO and SUPSALV

Brings Home The Bronze .............................. 6

The Non-Technical Causes of Accidents ....... 7

“Papa Topside”, Captain George F. Bond ...... 8

Historical Diving Society USA ........................ 9

One Navy Diver’s “Excellent” Adventure ..... 10

U.S. Navy SEALAB II ................................... 12

Deep Kim Chi ............................................... 15

Navy Divers Find a New Dive Buddy ........... 16

Diving Systems Certification Notes ............. 18

Rapture of the Deep .................................... 19

Hard Hat History .......................................... 20

Command in the Spotlight ........................... 21

The Old Master....(Jake’s Corner) ............... 22

Topside; Red Diver...From SUPDIVE .......... 23
F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5 3

I

n October of 2004, Guam’s

COMNAVMAR dive locker

with Divers from NEDU,

NAVSEA, and area commands,

field-tested the Oxygen Regulating Console Assembly (ORCA).

In addition, some hardware for the

Next Generation Dive System

(NGDS) was tested, such as

transducers, digital depth gages,

and a computer system. The

ORCA enables Divers to decompress in the water using

oxygen delivered at the 30 and 20

foot stops. In order to use oxygen

in the water, NEDU modified

the V-VAL 18 decompression

algorithm to be adaptable for surface

supplied dives capable of receiving O2

 in

the water.

 The ORCA is a transportable console

designed to be compatible with all current

USN Diver air systems. All the Diver’s air,

with the exception of the pneumo, is passed

through the ORCA. For decompression,

HP oxygen is reduced at the ORCA, or an

LP port is available to allow use of a

TRCS O2 rack, and passed to the Diver.

Additional deck space was required for the

ORCA and the oxygen K bottles, but it was

not a serious impingement on the available

workspace. A total of 84 surface supplied

dives were completed using the ORCA,

ranging from 87 to 188 feet. Bottom times

ranged from 14 to 43 minutes. Seventyeight of the dives were decompression

dives, some requiring as much as 24

minutes of decompression. Six oxygen K

bottles were used during the entire

evolution, which was less than anticipated.

The ORCA console worked extremely well and Divers had no trouble

operating it. There were some minor

design change recommendations which we

will most likely incorporate. The OPs were

simple, easy to follow, and the Divers were

never aware of any shifting of gases taking

place topside.

The hardware did not fare as well,

particularly the transducer. It failed to

operate successfully for the full

day because of its fragile electrical

connections. NEDU is looking for a

“Diver friendly” model that can take the

constant punishment that our equipment

goes through.

One additional bit of data that

we gathered was comparing the decompression required from the V-VAL 18

square dive table and schedules to the

decompression obligation computed by

the V-VAL 18 Dive Planner which used

the Diver’s actual depth and bottom time.

The use of the Dive Planner resulted in a

significant saving. For example, a dive that

Part of the ORCA dive team.

is 115/26 must be decompressed

using 120/30 table and schedule

resulting in a decompression

obligation of 15 minutes on O2

at 20 feet. When we put this

information into the Dive

Planner, the decompression

obligation was shortened to just

6 minutes on O2 at 20 feet - a

60% reduction in decompression

time for this particular dive. Use

of the Dive Planner for the entire

mission would have cut the total

decompression time by 38.6%!

On another note, MDV Jim

Carolan from NEDU made his

last Navy dive before retiring

after 30 years of service and MDV

Davidson made his last dive before

converting to the wardroom. In addition,

MDV Stogdale, MDV Shank, MDV

Pratschner, MDV Neely, and I dove on

this protocol.

HooYah MDVs!!!

MDV Carolan’s last Navy dive.

So why do you want to be a Warrant?

(Because we need good #1 tenders, Sir!)

By: MDV Steve Smith

Bottom line is that we, old farts, only

get into the water when it is warm and clear.

Beware if you are planning a dive job in

Bermuda, because we will see you there.

The flip side is, you cold-dark-water guys

can relax, we won’t be there looking over

your shoulder. Brrrrrr, it’s too cold!

MDV Smith is currently Fleet Master Diver

at NAVSEA 00C.
4 F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5

Mark V Monument at the

Mr. Tom Salmon, Director of Salvage(NAVSEA 00C2), is retiring after

34 years of U.S. Navy salvage work. From

early on, Tom felt the call to duty from his

country and was commissioned as a Naval

Officer in 1968. He graduated from U.S. Navy

Dive School in 1969 and was assigned to USS

GRAPPLE (ARS 7) as the Diving Officer,

completing a WESTPAC tour in Vietnam.

After his initial ship tour, he transferred

to Naval Support Facility (NSF) Da Nang for a

12-month tour as the Diving and Salvage

Officer. His time in Vietnam was spent

recovering capsized and sunken boats, barges,

dredges and forklifts, downed helicopters and

planes, performing underwater ship husbandry,

and even recovery of a Naval Academy class

ring. He spent 3 years in the Navy and then

joined the Reserves as the Executive Officer of

the Reserve Harbor Clearance Unit in Long

Beach, California.

He continued his work in Navy salvage

by becoming part of NAVSEA 00C, Office of

Supervisor of Salvage and Diving, in 1975.

Mr. Salmon has provided superior service to

the Navy and the U.S. government over his

entire civilian career spanning 29 years. His

contributions and continuity of 34 years of U.S.

Navy salvage experience provided the basis for

the U.S. Navy to have the rapid response

capability for safe search and recovery of

anything that fell into the water. He was directly

responsible for providing the Navy, Federal,

and other agencies with the necessary expertise

and national response capability to perform any

salvage or oil recovery operation anywhere,

anyplace, anytime.

He was primarily responsible for the

successful search for and recovery of numerous

items from the oceans that were of significant

importance to the Navy and the nation. He

started as one of 00C’s salvage experts and

worked his way to become the Head of 00C’s

Salvage Division. During his illustrious career,

he was responsible for literally hundreds of

successful salvage operations, many of which

had significant impact on the entire nation. Mr.

Salmon is NAVSEA’s and the nation’s primary

authority on deep sea salvage. He has done it

all.

Mr. Salmon participated in, and in many

cases, led the efforts for recovery of components from crashed commercial aircraft

including Korean Airlines Flight 007, Air India

Flight 182, South African Airways Flight 295,

United Airlines Flight 811 cargo door, Alaska

Airlines Flight 301, TWA Flight 800, AeroPeru

Flight 603, Swiss Air Flight 111, and Alaska

Air Flight 261. These recoveries have led to

increased flight safety for the general public.

He was a key participant in the recovery

of oil spilled from T/V EXXON VALDEZ as

well as the recovery of victims from F/V

EHIME MARU. He supported the recovery of

debris and victims from Space Shuttles

CHALLENGER and COLUMBIA. Over the

years, he was responsible for the recovery from

deep ocean depths of material from dozens of

crashed military aircraft and lost weapons

leading to the increased safety of our military

aircraft. During his tenure as NAVSEA 00C2,

one of the recoveries included a Marine Corps

helicopter, which was recovered from a record

setting depth of over 17,200 feet.

When Tom retires, his expertise and

continuity will not only be sorely missed, but

will be a gap hard to fill for many years to come.

Tom Salmon.

An Experimental Diving

Organization was established

at the New York Naval Shipyard in 1913 and formally

designated as the Navy

Experimental Diving Unit

(NEDU) in 1927 when

it was relocated to the

Washington Navy Yard

to centralize all Navy

Diving research.

The Navy Diving School was

established in 1926 in Building 146 at the

WNY and was renamed Deep Sea Diving

School (DSDS) in 1928. The Navy Salvage

School was moved to the WNY from

Bayonne, NJ in 1957.

NEDU relocated to Panama City, FL

in 1975 and the Diving School followed

in 1980. There is currently nothing at the

Washington Navy Yard that tells this

history. The Mark V Monument we plan

to erect there will change this.

Donation Request

This monument is dedicated to Divers

from around the world who gave their life’s

work to underwater construction and the

salvage of ships lost at sea. Their method

of training and development of equipment

set standards adopted by the international

diving community. Their traditions will last

forever.

Please accept this opportunity to

support this project in remembrance of

the unsung heroes who labored in the

murky depths to save lives and improve

knowledge of the world underwater.

Please send your tax-deductible

contribution to:

Mark V Monument

17314 Panama City Beach Pkwy

Panama City Beach, FL 32413

 A certificate of appreciation will be

mailed to each donor. Please make

check payable to “Mark V Monument.”

C o n t a c t B o b B a r t h a t

bob.barth@mchsi.com or Doug Hough at

(850) 235-4101 or momits@bellsouth.net

if you have any questions.

Your support is greatly appreciated by

everyone in the Navy Diving community!

Washington Navy Yard

Managing Editor’s Note

LCDR Brian D. Lawrence is Assistant Supervisor

of Salvage at NAVSEA 00C.

I personally worked with and for Tom

during his entire tenure at the Office of the

Supervisor of Salvage. I have had many

supervisors during my 58 years with the Navy,

40 of these years were within the salvage and

diving community. I rate Tom as one of the best

that it has been my privilege to work for.

A Brief History
F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5 5

After a year-long executive search,Divers Alert Network has named

career Navy officer and research

psychologist Michael D. Curley, Ph.D., as

its President and Chief Executive Officer.

The appointment became effective March

1, 2004. In announcing the appointment,

Acting DAN CEO and President, Dan Orr,

echoed the Selection Committee’s choice.

“Dr. Curley brings a wealth of experience

and expertise to DAN America,” Orr said.

“We are confident that he will lead DAN

into a new era of growth and development

in diving medical research. Dr. Curley will

help DAN continue to promote its mission

in diving safety and foster the dissemination of critical information as a partner in

the global diving community. On behalf of

the DAN staff, we welcome Dr. Curley

and his wife, Elaine, to the DAN family.”

From 1999 to 2002, Dr. Curley

served as medical adviser for Chief of

Naval Operations Submarine Escape and

Rescue Working Group, Navy Medical

Research Scientific Advisory Board, and

Pressurized Submarine Escape Training

Group. During that time, he served as

CEO of a multifaceted biomedical

research, development, training, and

education facility, directing submarine

survival, escape, and rescue initiatives.

From 1997 to 1999, he was the first

Naval Biomedical Program manager for

diving safety and performance, submarine

escape, and rescue.

From 1992 to 1996, Dr. Curley was

technical director for all aspects of the

Naval Submarine Medical Research

Laboratory on the Submarine Base in New

London, CT, where his duties included

resource generation, personnel management, budget execution, program planning, product delivery, and more.

From 1992 to 1994, he was executive

officer of the laboratory. Technical

programs undertaken included the

following: 1) the effects of low-frequency

sound on Divers; 2) submarine-related

decompression problems; and 3) submarine escape and rescue.

From 1992 to 1996, he served as the

U.S. Department of Defense medical

adviser on the effects of low-frequency

sonar on recreational and military

Divers. He led the medical team, which

coordinated all human research and

exposure policy. He was the senior person

and the only medical representative on the

Executive Steering Group, which included

engineers, lawyers, and environmental

experts.

From 1977 to 2002, Dr. Curley was

an active duty Naval Officer. He worked

as research psychologist in the Diving

Medical Department, Naval Medical

Research Institute, Bethesda, MD;

research psychologist, human factors

engineer, Navy Experimental Diving Unit,

Panama City, FL; research psychologist in

the Diving Medical Department, Naval

Medical Research Institute; and as head

of Performance Physiology Division,

Behavioral Sciences Department.

In 1978, Dr. Curley graduated

from the U.S. Navy Diving Medical

Officer Course, and in 1983 he earned

designation as saturation Diving Officer.

He supervised 11 research saturation dives

(depths to 1,106 fsw) and more than 700

experimental, non-saturation dives using

mixed gas or 100 percent oxygen for

breathing. As an experimental Diver

onsaturation, oxygen exposure, decompression table development, and

equipment test dives, Dr. Curley himself

accomplished more than 400 dives.

He also operated the 1-Atmospheric

Diving System JIM, and was a lecturer

at the U.S. Navy Diving School and

Naval Undersea Medical Institute.

Dr. Curley will lecture at several events

this year.

He co-wrote more than 100

presentations and penned 20 technical

papers for NEDU. PADI and YMCA

certified in 1976, Dr. Curley has accumulated more than 200 recreational

dives and is looking forward to more

diving during his tenure at DAN.

From the Managing Editor

This edition of Faceplate is

particularly close to me. It brings

back many fond memories of my past

association with the Diving Navy. I

first met Bob Barth and the SEALAB

Divers during my tour at the then

Mine Defense Laboratory in Panama

City. As the MDL Diving Officer, I

was involved in safety and training

for the SEALAB crew. I had some

exceptionally good Divers in my

Diving Locker. They were so good

that Dr. Bond, Walt Mazzonne, and

Bob Barth recognized their value and

incorporated them into the SEALAB

crew, namely, Wilber Eaton, Paul

Wells, and Don Risk. These Divers

along with Bob Sheets, made the

mission impossible to be anything but

successful.

The Mark V Monument for the

Washington Navy Yard is certainly

worthwhile (see Lee Wolford’s “Hard

Hat History” article in the August

2004 issue of FACEPLATE and page

4 in this issue). I encourage all of you

to contribute to the effort. The

monument is of particular interest to

me since I graduated from First Class

Dive School in October 1954.

The article on Susan Bartholomew-Williams (see page 6) is

meaningful to many of us. I knew

Susan as a small child, from my visits

to Black Bart (Captain Bartolomew).

It is no surprise that Susan has

achieved success at the Olympics. I

remember when Susan’s mother,

Donna, ran marathons. It is obvious

that Susan inherited her competitive

spirit from her parents. A close friend

of the Bartholomew family said: “It’s

too bad Bart wasn’t here to see Susan

win the Bronze medal.” My reply

was: “Bart saw it.”

I wish to thank all of you who

have contributed to FACEPLATE.

Your input is what makes this an

informative account of Navy Divers.

Jim Bladh

Managing Editor
6 F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5

2004 Women’s triathlon bronze medalist

Susan Bartholomew-Williams.

Panama City, FL – Every child has adream, whether it is to play pro ball,

grow up to be the President of the United

States, join the military, or be a teacher,

but for Susan Bartholomew-Williams that

dream was fulfilled when she walked out

to compete with the United States Olympic Team in Athens, Greece last August.

Williams, who started swimming at

the Bay County YMCA, always dreamed

of being an Olympic swimmer. She made

the team, just not for swimming.

“When I was 15, I wanted to be a

swimmer on the U.S. Team. I swam morning, noon, and night but after a while I realized that was not going to happen,” Williams said. “I gave up on my dream and

went to school. I got my degree and went

to work like everyone else, but the bug

was still there. I still wanted to be an

Olympian.”

Williams was introduced to a new

sport – the triathlon – in the mid ‘90s and

fell in love with it. She began to train in

hopes of making the 2000 triathlon team

that went to Sydney, Australia, but she

could not compete as she became pregnant

and had to withdraw.

After her daughter was born, she

went back into training in hopes of making the 2004 Team, a goal she finally accomplished, winning a bronze medal at

the 2004 summer games.

Susan Bartholomew-Williams speaks at the

Panama City Beach Aquatics Center ground

breaking ceremony held on September 21,

2004. Susan’s father was Commanding Officer

NEDU from 1977 to 1980 and Supervisor of

Salvage and Diving from 1985 to 1990.

Williams had to start somewhere and

that place was right here in Panama City,

FL. Her father, Captain Charles Bartholomew, was Commanding Officer of the

Navy Experimental Diving Unit from

1977 to 1980. The Panama City area, she

says, is where she discovered and fell in

love with swimming but only had the pool

on the base to swim in. That’s why she returned to Panama City Beach on September 23, 2004, for the ground-breaking of a

new Aquatic Center at Frank Brown Park.

“Every time I come here, something

is different. It’s amazing how the

community has been built up since the late

‘70s and early ‘80s. I am little sad to see

the small hotels gone and it is strange to

look up in the skyline and see the big

buildings but it is nice that the community

is involved and wants to help the kids,”

she said. “This Aquatic Center will give

them an advantage that I never had as a

child and who knows, maybe some day

down the road, Panama City will see

another Olympian standing at the podium

receiving their medal.”

“I am still on cloud nine. I have still

not realized that I won a medal, that I was

able to compete for my country and that

my dream has been accomplished,” she

said. Susan now is going to concentrate on

coaching and her next goal is to help her

husband compete in the triathlon on a

SUPSALV SENDS

(continued from page 2.)

CWO & MDV Salvage Training – Another Salvage Executive Steering Committee initiative is to send Diving Warrants and

MDVs through formal salvage training at

NDSTC enroute to either MDSUs or (for

the short term) ARS 50 Class. This training

is particularly targeted at Warrants and Master Divers who never received formal

salvage training during the several years

when the First Class Diver curriculum did

not include salvage training. Though the

curriculum is now revised, the formal training is still required. This recommendation

has been sent to the Fleet for endorsement.

Journalist Third Class (SW) Michael Misfeldt,

NSA-PC Public Affairs.

USN Diving Manual (Revision 5) – After

2 years of labor, the next revision to the

USN Diving Manual is soon to be issued.

I’ve run out of room to summarize the main

changes, except for saying that it focuses

again on providing the Diving Supervisor

increased operational options (and responsibility) through appropriate use of Operational Risk Management. Rev 5 was

reviewed and endorsed during the inaugural

meeting of the Senior Enlisted Advisory

Team (SEAT). BMCM (MDV/SW) Fred

Orns is POC. Stay tuned!

Contaminated Water Diving Manual –

Finally issued! We plan to add to and

improve this manual over time, as it still

leaves a lot unanswered...that’s because

there aren’t many solid answers which

exist for the toughest challenges of

“contaminated water.” Feedback appreciated...particularly from those of you

actually working the dirty water side of the

business.

Working Divers Conference 2005 – To be

held in Keyport WA, during the last week of

March 05. Like last year, we’ve added a

number of practical training workshops to

bookend the week. Every USN dive locker

should attempt to send at least one senior

and one junior Diver to make sure as much

training gets exported back to the entire

locker as possible. See you there!

In closing... CONGRATULATIONS

to Project GENESIS and SEALAB I, II, &

III pioneer and aquanaut CWO4 (ret) Bob

Barth, who’s retired after decades of USN,

government, and commercial diving

service. Hoo-yah Deep Sea, Bob! We’ll

never forget. Up and over, Red Diver!

 SUPSALV SENDS

professional level.
F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5 7

I

n Washington, DC, Air Florida Flight 90

plunged into the ice-covered Potomac

River killing 81 people on 13 January

1982. The causes of this accident included

the flight crew’s failure to use engine antiice during ground operation, the decision

to take off with snow/ice on the airfoil

surfaces of the aircraft, and the captain’s

failure to reject the takeoff during the early

stage when the co-pilot had called his

attention to anomalous engine instrument

readings.

During the early morning of 26 April

1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

in the former USSR (now Ukraine), a chain

reaction in one of the reactors went out of

control and created explosions and a

fireball. The accident immediately killed

more than 30 people, and the resulting high

radiation levels forced 135,000 people to

evacuate. This accident was attributed to a

poor safety culture, inadequate training,

poor communications, and violation of

safety procedures.

culture, poor leadership, bad decision

making, inadequate risk assessment,

inexperience, and fatigue.

These accidents illustrate the risks of

failing to understand the human and

organizational dimensions of accident

causation and prevention. Significant

failures in human factors, or non-technical

skills such as communications, decision

making, situation awareness, and

leadership, are not confined to those

accidents described previously. Research

has shown that approximately 80% of all

accidents are caused by human error.

High-risk industries such as aviation,

medicine, nuclear power generation, and

offshore oil production have acted to

improve their ability to identify and head

off potential non-technical causes of such

accidents. Can the Navy learn from these

techniques for identifying and mitigating

human causes of diving accidents?

Although Navy diving is remarkably

safe, accidents and mishaps do occur

because of the high-risk environment in

which the Divers work. The U.S. Navy

diving community is adept at identifying

and mitigating technical problems.

However, as in other industries, the Navy

is not as adept in dealing with the nontechnical causes of accidents.

NAVSEA Deep Submergence

Biomedical Development has funded

NEDU to provide a better understanding

of the non-technical skills required for safe

and effective diving operations and learn

how to use this knowledge to improve both

safety and productivity. Borrowed from

other industries, the techniques to be used

are specifically tailored for military diving.

Currently we are one year into the threeyear project and have been examining

diving mishap reports, interviewing

Divers, and collecting questionnaire

responses. Although these data are still

being collected, it is possible to draw

conclusions from the information gathered

to date.

Our analysis of dive mishap reports

shows that the causes of the majority

(70%) of the mishaps were classified as

unknown; human factors accounted for

23% of the mishaps. Five reports of fatal

diving mishaps were also examined.

The most common causes identified

from the reports include poor leadership, poor situation awareness (particularly environmental awareness and

anticipation), poor risk and time assessment, and lack of personal resources

(coping with stress and fatigue).

When we interview Divers about

accidents or near misses in which they have

been involved, our preliminary results

show that they identify failures in situation

awareness, communications, decision

making, and leadership as causal.

Responses to our attitude questionnaire show that 1st Class Divers are more

likely to deny that personal limitations

affect their performance than 2nd Class

Divers. Furthermore, 1st Class Divers have

a significantly higher belief in the authority

of senior team members than 2nd Class

Divers and Diving Officers. We also asked

respondents to list what they believe to be

the three main causes of diving accidents.

“Complacency” was the most commonly

identified cause, followed by “fatigue” and

“training.”

Although data collection is not

complete, it seems to indicate that the

training of 1st Class Divers or Diving

Supervisors as well as of Diving Officers

could benefit from incorporating

instruction in diving-specific leadership,

developing and maintaining situational

awareness, and assessing how risk, time,

and personal limitations affect performance.

Air Florida Flight 90.

Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

LT Paul O’Connor is a Research Psychologist

at NEDU.

Divers on a U.S. Navy salvage ship

were approaching the completion of the

recovery of an aircraft. During the early

hours of 5 May 2001, on the 14th day of

operations, two Divers descended 41 feet

to the sea floor. In the poor bottom

conditions they became disoriented and,

instead of making their way to the debris

field, became entangled in the anchor chain

of the salvage ship. While attempting to

recover the Divers, one of them was

apparently struck by the anchor chain and

disappeared from the rescuers’ view. His

body was recovered a month later. This

accident can be attributed to a poor safety
8 F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5

Dr. George Bond, “Papa Topside”, ashe was affectionately known to the

aquanauts of the SEALAB program, was

the Senior Medical Officer and principal

investigator for SEALAB I, II, and III.

His work on behalf of deep saturation

diving and undersea medicine earned him

recognition as the “Father of Saturation

Diving.” In the mid-1950’s, then CDR

George Bond, Director of the Submarine

Medical Center (SMC) at the Naval

Submarine Base, New London, CT, was

credited with the key insight upon which

saturation diving is based. As author

Sylvia Earle recounts, “Bond pointed out

that once a Diver’s body was saturated

with compressed gas – when tissues had

absorbed all they could and equilibrium

was reached – the decompression time

would be the same whether the Diver

stayed underwater for a matter of hours,

days, weeks, or even months. The amount

of time necessary for decompression

depends on the depth of the dive and on

the gases breathed.”

At the SMC, or the Submarine

Medical Research Laboratory as it would

later be called, Dr. Bond was responsible

for research on submarine escape. On the

side, he began work on Project GENESIS.

“GENESIS” was the code name given to

the first studies of the effects of saturation

diving on man. The project consisted of

phases, with the initial A and B phases

during 1957 and 1958, concerned with

exposing laboratory animals to saturation

in various breathing gases. With the

animal work completed, Dr. Bond

proposed to extend the study to man and

“offer the opportunity for

development of ecological

systems which would permit

man, as a free agent, to live and

perform useful work to depths at

600 feet, and for periods in

excess of 30 days.” His proposal

was rejected.

After first failing to obtain

funding for human experiments, the space program’s

interest in helium-oxygen

atmosphere for manned space

flights finally broke the money

loose for human saturation

diving experiments. Phase C,

in late 1962, exposed three

subjects to a 79% helium - 21%

oxygen atmosphere at one

atmosphere for six days. The

effect of helium on speech was

noted, but the men experienced

no ill effects. Naturally, then

Chief Quartermaster Robert A.

Barth was one of the Divers.

Phase D took place at the Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU) in 1963.

Barth was again an experimental subject.

The saturation dive in the NEDU chamber

was in a 62% helium, 32% nitrogen, 6%

oxygen atmosphere with the complex

pressurized to 100 feet of sea water

(fsw). The Divers were able to make

“excursions” into the attached “wet” room

and simulate work on the bottom.The

final GENESIS experiment, Phase E, took

place later in 1963 at the Naval Submarine

Medical Laboratory in the Climate –

Altitude Chamber. The depth was 200 fsw

and the dive lasted 12 days. The breathing

mixture was 79.5% helium, 16% nitrogen,

and 3.5% oxygen. Once more, Barth

volunteered. The successful conclusion to

Phase E of Project GENESIS completed

the laboratory work for the U.S. Navy’s

Man in the Sea program.

 SEALAB I was the Navy’s first open

sea, manned underwater experiment. The

four aquanauts, including (you guessed it!)

Bob Barth, would live in the cigar-shaped

chamber, 40 feet long and 10 feet in

diameter, with two portholes on each side

and two manholes in the bottom. Water

did not enter because pressure in the

chamber was the same as the surrounding

water. The aquanauts wore the Navy’s

standard Mark VI semi-closed breathing

apparatus while outside working or

exploring. They could also breathe off a

hookah system via an umbilical.

The initial test was carried out in the

Gulf of Mexico near Panama City, Florida

at a depth of 193 fsw. A Submersible

Decompression Chamber (SDC) served as

the elevator from the surface down

to SEALAB I, which was supported

on the surface by a support ship, the large

lighter, YFNB-12. Cables carried electricity, compressed gas, fresh water, communications, and atmosphere sampling lines

between the underwater habitat and the

surface. Dr. Bond and Captain Walter

Mazzone gave the habitat a final

inspection, and on July 20, 1964, the

aquanauts entered the habitat and the

experiment began. The early start to

hurricane season caused the dive to be

Captain Bond, 1915-1983.

SEALAB I being placed in the water off

Panama City, FL.
F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5 9

Ocean Simulation Facility plaque.

SEALAB III towed alongside USS ELK RIVER

prior to submerging to 610 feet off San

Clemente Island.

ended after eleven days, but SEALAB I

was a major success. Many lessons

learned would be applied to subsequent

saturation dives such as better engineered

solutions for raising and lowering the

habitat, lower humidity, helium speech

unscrambling and better communications,

improved umbilicals, swimmer navigation

equipment, and reducing the gear the

swimmer had to wear, don, doff, and store

in the habitat. Through it all “Papa

Topside” was topside!

SEALAB II moved the operation to a

site off La Jolla, California. The new and

improved SEALAB II was 57 feet long

and 12 feet in diameter, with a small

“conning tower”, that made it resemble a

railroad tank car, without the wheels.

Many improvements had been made. A

more adequate support ship was also

added, a staging vessel used in the

POLARIS missile testing program. The

refitted support ship, renamed the

BERKONE, had a Deck Decompression

intact and was one of the 28 aquanauts.

The cold water off the coast of California

was a real test. Visibility was poor. High

humidity continued to make living

conditions uncomfortable. But the

aquanauts handle adversity and conducted

a multitude of physiological experiments

and tasks. Dr. Bond presided over the

highly successful experiment.

SEALAB III was conducted off San

Clemente Island, California in 1969. ELK

RIVER (IX 501), a World War II landing

ship, was converted to provide support

for the diving operations. SEALAB III

was the same habitat used in SEALAB II

but modified with the addition of two

rooms to the bottom of the habitat. One

room would serve as a diving station and

the other for storage. The habitat was

placed on the bottom in 610 fsw. Five or

six teams of eight Navy and civilian

aquanauts were planned. The atmosphere

was 95% helium, 3.5% nitrogen, and 1.5%

oxygen. The experiment was planned to

last 60 days. Now Chief Warrant Officer

Bob Barth was chosen to be a team leader.

Before the first team entered the habitat, a

helium leak occurred. A four man team,

including Bob Barth, went down in the bell

to fix the leak, and one of the four, Barry

Cannon, suffered a malfunction of his

diving gear and died. This ended SEALAB

III, which was raised and the project

shelved. The Navy’s interest in saturation

Chamber (DDC) installed, and a Pressurized Transfer Capsule (PTC), which

transported the aquanauts from the surface

to the habitat, and could be mated to the

DDC for Transfer Under Pressure (TUP)

and continuous decompression aboard the

surface support ship.

Three teams of 10 men (a total of 28

aquanauts because two men would be on

two teams) would each spend 15 days on

the bottom in 205 fsw. On August 28,

1965, 10 aquanauts swam down to the

habitat. The gas mixture was 77-78%

helium, 18% nitrogen, and 3-5% oxygen.

Astronaut Scott Carpenter was leader of

Teams 1 and 2. Bob Barth kept his record

diving now shifted to DDCs and PTCs

from the deck of a ship in support of

submarine rescue.

George Bond received his B.A. and

M.A. from the University of Florida and

his Medical Degree from McGill

University School of Medicine in 1945.

Following his internship at Memorial

Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina,

Dr. Bond established a general practice in

rural Bat Cave, North Carolina. He was

the sole medical provider for 6,000 people

in a 400 square mile mountainous area. In

1953, Dr. Bond entered the Navy, and

became a qualified Diving Medical Office

and Submarine Medical Officer. He was

assigned to the Submarine Medical Center,

and the rest is history! The Navy

Experimental Diving Unit dedicated the

Ocean Simulation Facility, certified manrated to a depth of 2,250 fsw, in honor of

Dr. George Bond in 1974.

Bob Barth was there.

Captain (Dr.) John Murray is the Program

Manager of the Deep Submergence Biomedical

Development Program at NAVSEA 00C.

The Historical Diving Society

USA is a non-profit educational

corporation formed in 1992. It has

members in 37 countries and

publishes the award-winning

quarterly magazine HISTORICAL

DIVER, which covers many aspects

of diving history, including the U.S.

Navy.

Among Society Advisory Board

members are distinguished Divers

such as Dr. Christian Lambertsen,

Bob Barth, Scott Carpenter, Surgeon

Vice Admiral Sir John Rawlins, Bev

Morgan, Phil Nuytten, and Andreas

Rechnitzer.

For more information on how to

join the Historical Diving Society,

please contact hds@hds.org.
1 0 F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5

Bob Barth recently retired from theNavy Experimental Diving Unit.

Many of you are familiar with Bob’s

previously documented diving exploits.

Captain Mark Helmkamp, SUPDIVE,

having heard many sea stories from Bob

regarding his life in and around diving,

felt that readers of FACEPLATE would be

interested in the story of Bob’s life with

some added stories of his diving career.

The Early Years

On 28 August 1947 Bob was now old

enough to get his own departure visa. He

went down to the waterfront, looked

for merchant ships flying the American

flag, climbed the gangway, asked to see

the Captain, and then asked if there was

something he could do to work his way

home. A Lykes Line C2 called the

“Wesward Ho” out of New Orleans was in

port and needed an Ordinary Seaman. The

necessary telegrams were sent, the

American consulate in Durban was

stroked, all the bases were touched, and

finally Bob was told just before the ship’s

departure that he could work his way back

home. The only remaining problem was to

break the news to his family. You don’t

want to hear about that night at the dinner

table when Bob told them that he was

leaving. His mother’s dream of Bob going

to college was shattered (he might have

well become a notable engineer and ended

up an ED).

Arriving in Baltimore a couple of

months later, Bob hopped on a train, went

to Chicago, and joined the U.S. Navy. His

dream of becoming a Navy Diver was

close.

In the Navy

Following Navy boot camp and the

subsequent assignments, Bob found

himself aboard the aircraft carrier USS

BOXER (CV 21). It did not look like he

had much chance of becoming a Diver

aboard a bird farm, but his luck changed

and at the ripe age of 18 Bob attended 2nd

Class Dive School in Pearl. He was on his

way.

Bob’s first day of Diver training

caused him to wonder if this vision of

being a Navy Diver was a wise one.

Jumping off the fantail of an ASR in a deep

sea rig to test his claustic tendencies

shattered the glorious image. But school

was soon over and now Bob proudly wore

a diving helmet on his sleeve that had a

“2” in it but he was still a crew member on

an aircraft carrier. It would take time before

Bob got into diving full time.

As the years went by, Bob attended

the Under-water Swimmers School in Key

West and 2nd Class Dive School again at

DSDS Washington. In January 1960 Bob

reported for duty at the Escape Training

Tank in Groton for a normal tour of shore

duty. It was the beginning of eleven years

of working with the some of the finest men

Bob has ever met.

GENESIS

 Bob first met Dr. George Bond in

Key West a couple of years earlier when

George Bond and Cyril Tuckfield made

their record bouyant ascent from the

submarine Archerfish. Dr. Bond was now

one of the doctors in attendance at the tank

during daily training. Dr. Bond had a

vision.

1st Class Dive School graduation, 13 May

1966. (Back-L-R) Hedgepeth, Forrest, Barth,

Tuckfield, Bent, Festag. (Front) Koesterman,

Skiba, Blackburn.

Bob Barth during SEALAB III.

Bob was born and raised in the

Philippines. Spending a few years living

in far away places describes his life before

joining the Navy in 1947. His father was a

U.S. Army officer stationed in the

Philippines and China when Bob arrived

in the Barth household in 1930. Bob

spent the first 11 years of his life in and

around Manila with a short tour in

Shanghai. (Bob’s education really did start

in Olongapo).

Shortly before 7 December 1941

most of the kids in Manila were evacuated

to the mainland to get away from the

pending war with Japan. Bob’s parents

were divorced and Bob lived with his

mother in Manila. Bob’s mother was

interned for 3 years in a Japanese prison

camp, returned to the USA afterwards, got

married, and eventually the family found

themselves in Durban, South Africa.

Bob’s mother and stepfather had been in

prison camp together.

Life in South Africa for a 16-year-old

boy was far from ideal. Once again Bob

found himself in a distant city that lacked

the companionship of other American

kids. He became obsessed with rejoining

the American scene, but since he could not

leave South Africa by himself until he was

17 (which was less than a year away), Bob

began to plot his departure.

Durban is a big seaport. Bob’s family

had arrived there by ship and there were

ships leaving every week that would

eventually get back to the USA. The

chances of getting his folks to buy the

ticket were nil and there was nothing Bob

could do but wait until he turned 17.
F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5 1 1

(One Navy Diver’s”Excellent Adventure ...continued on page 14.)

Dr. Bond had met Captain Cousteau

in 1957 and this meeting turned into a long

and productive friendship. Cousteau had

a program in the Mediterranean called

Conshelf. Conshelf was a series of underwater habitats that were stationed at

various levels in the sea. Cousteau felt that

Bond’s knowledge of diving medicine was

necessary to answer some physiological

questions Cousteau had encountered.

Dr. Bond had the ability with his laboratory

in Groton to help solve these unknowns.

This is how the collaboration between

Cousteau and Dr. Bond began and was to

go on for many years. The early years of

testing the concept were called Project

GENESIS.

Project GENESIS took place from

1957 through 1963. From 1957 until

around the middle of 1962 most of the

studies were conducted at the Submarine

Medical Center where Dr. Bond was

Assistant Officer in Charge and eventually Officer in Charge. CDR Bond and

his sidekick CDR Walt Mazzone were two

of the several medical folks who came

down to the tank

for the daily water

work and were to

become the two

major movers and

shakers for the

SEALAB effort,

which followed

GENESIS. Early

studies of the

effects of saturation diving had been limited to laboratory

animals (goats) but not humans.

In a seldom used room at the tank was

a seldom used chamber. This chamber was

a bit bigger than most of the chambers in

those days. The final GENESIS dive with

animals was conducted in that chamber.

Dr. Bond borrowed the goats and as an

interested party Bob was one of the goat

handlers. This last dive was to a depth of

100 to 200 feet and lasted in the

neighborhood of a week or two. With the

successful completion of the animal phase

of Project GENESIS, Dr. Bond went to the

Navy and convinced them that

GENESIS had proven his theory and

requested permission to shift the testing to

humans.

 Dr. George Bond had a convincing

manner. In November 1962 the team found

itself at NMRI Bethesda. There was a

rickety old chamber in the basement of one

of the buildings and they commenced

to make it ready for the first planned

saturation dive for the U.S. Navy. The crew

consisted of two Navy doctors and one

Chief Quartermaster. With the unknowns

not clear – what pressure and helium would

do to a human during long exposures – the

decision was to fill the chamber completely

with helium and the required oxygen, but

not putting any pressure in it. If the Divers

encountered some unknown physiological

problem brought on by a lengthy stay in

helium, they could just open the door and

walk out with no decompression required.

After a week in the chamber, the

Divers walked out smelling like the goats

from the previous dive. A noticable

increase was evident in the

vocabulary of the two

Navy doctors – Bob had

held school.

The next of the three

dives was scheduled for

spring of 1963 at NEDU,

then located in the same

building as DSDS at the

Washington Navy Yard.

The three-man crew

consisting of same Chief

Quartermaster and two

Chief Hospital Corpsmen.

No problems were encountered and the dive

was completed successfully at 100 feet lasting

about two weeks.

Proud of thesuccess, the last and final

GENESIS dive was planned back at the

Submarine Medical Center in a brand

new chamber that is still there today.This

final dive was scheduled for the length of

a couple of weeks at a depth of 200 feet.

The team was chosen to be the Doctor from

the first dive, a Corpsman from

the second, and again, the Chief

Quartermaster. As in all previous dives, it

was one test after another. Doctors from

all over were there getting their bit of flesh,

body fluids, or red blood, but it was soon

over. The men surfaced without any

problems at all, patted themselves on the

back, and set out to figure out how they

were going to get men on the bottom of

the ocean. The Cousteau concept of

underwater habitat seemed like a good

idea.

SEALAB

Dr. George Bond.

Bob Barth in interview with Walter Cronkite at San Francisco

Naval Shipyard in 1968. Habitat in background.

Walt Mazzone.

At the completion of the GENESIS

program, Dr. Bond and Walt Mazzone had

proof that the saturation concept was a safe

and new style of diving. Now it was

necessary to prove it at sea. In late

1963 there was nothing in the Navy

inventory to enable Divers to conduct

saturation dives in deep water. The

Cousteau group had their equipment in

the Med with their Conshelf program but

nothing in the USA. GENESIS had helped

Cousteau but the U.S. Navy had no

equipment to use.

1 4 F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5

(One Navy Diver’s “Excellent” Adventure....continued from page 11.)

(L-R): QMC Bob Barth, HMC Glen Iley, SWC Howard

Buckner and LT Dan Smith prepare for a dive during

SEALAB II. Courtesy of Museum of Man-in-the-Sea.

SEALAB II prior to christening in 1965

at Long Beach Naval Shipyard.

The Cousteau method of a habitat was

accepted, but where would the group get a

habitat? Some great minds got together and

decided to build the habitat. The small

Navy base in Panama City had some old

floats that might do the trick. Bob had been

transferred from the tank back to sea duty

in Key West and happened to be home

visiting his folks in a small town just 60

miles east of Panama City. Dr. Bond asked

Bob if he could come over and the two of

them would decide if they could make a

house out of what was available.

On 5 December 1963 they showed up

at the Navy base, were taken to the junk

yard, and shown the two large floats. It was

a tough question since no one in their group

had ever seen a habitat and surely never

made one.

The engineers’ enthusiasm to work on

this project was written all over their faces.

Little did they know then that the group at

this small base were going to become

major contributors to everything the Navy

did in deep sea diving for the next 40 years.

After a couple of hours of discussions

as to what these large cylinders would look

like as a house on the seabed, the

agreement was made – working together,

Divers and engineers would build

SEALAB I. It would take many

pages to give you a good

description of what took place in

the building of SEALAB I, but

there is just not time for it in this

article. There was a great deal of

cooperation in the making of this

unique habitat among all parties

involved.

With the habitat completed,

SEALAB I was taken to sea just off

Panama City. In an attempt to

get her on the bottom, she was

dropped and flooded, and the

habitat was brought back to the base

for refurbishment.Eventually the

habitat ended up in Bermuda and

the habitat was prepared to be

towed to its intended bottom

location. In the final test the habitat

was dropped again and brought

back to Bermuda for cleaning. It

was finally determined where

lowering mistakes were being made

and the following attempt to put SEALAB

on the bottom was successful.

 The four-man crew was assembled

and descended down 193 feet to

commence the 11-day stay. The duration

of the SEALAB I dive had been planned

for longer than that but it was the hurricane

season of 1964 and sure enough there was

one heading towards Panama City. The

planned two day decompression was

scheduled to occur by raising SEALAB to

the surface at decompression speed. With

the storm on its way and the seas too rough

to maintain a proper decompression rate,

alternate methods of decompressing in an

old single lock recompression chamber that

they had made into what was called a

Submerged Decompression Chamber had

to be utilized. Four men crammed into the

small chamber for the final day of

decompression. A day later the group

emerged from the SDC tired, but happy

because the idea worked.

All of a sudden there was enthusiasm throughout the Navy diving

community. Saturation diving seemed

to be a viable method that was slowly

being accepted by those that thought

it was impossible. Orders were written,

Jim Bladh participated in support of SEALAB

I and II. He retired after 30 years of active

duty and 28 years of civil service at NAVSEA

00C.

transfers started taking place, and for

the first time it all came together as a

bona fide, card carrying organization

with sights set on building a new and

bigger habitat that was to be called

SEALAB II.

San Francisco’s Hunters Point Naval

Shipyard was the selected builder of

SEALAB II. An additional contract was

let to build the Navy’s first sat system, a

real DDC and PTC were going to serve

the users of the new SEALAB.

It took a while to do all the building

and to get it all together in one location,

but on 28 August 1965 everything was

located about a mile offshore La Jolla,

California. The habitat was sitting in 205

feet of water and the first crew went down

to spend 15 days on the bottom. A total of

28 men spent 15 days on the bottom with

two men doing 30 days. There were three

teams of Divers from all across the

country. SEALAB II was another success

with one minor bends case.

When it was all over, they had done

it and the skeptic population was

dwindling. SEALAB III was planned to

be in 600 feet of water. But that is another

chapter and this one is about to close.

Pete Ruden was a Navy Diver for 19 of his

22-year Navy career. He was assigned to the

Man-in-the-Sea Program and CSDG 1 as a

Saturation Diver, Saturation Master Diver,

and Saturation Diving Officer for much of

his career.
F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5 1 5

The first 15 years of my Navy careerwere devoted to airplanes and

aviation, which amounted to the dream of

my lifetime. My flying duties involved

nearly every type of airplane the Navy had

and even included a Mercury spacecraft.

My duty stations took me to nearly all of

the Navy’s Pacific Island installations,

which amounted to the realization of

another lifelong dream.

The years spent in the Pacific created

a fascination for the deep ocean, the coral

reef, and undersea life in general. Spear

fishing and SCUBA diving, which

combined the thrill of the hunt and the

ability to stay for prolonged periods in

otherwise forbidden territory, were

powerful incentives for me to learn more

about this mysterious world. Notable

among other inspirations for me were the

many films, books, and exploits by the

famous French oceanographer, JacquesYves Cousteau. I was hooked.

In my desire to become a part of that

world, I realized that my experience in

aviation and space flight technology

might have some additional value in its

transfer to manned underwater living. I

spoke with Captain Cousteau about

working with him. He agreed that there

might be some value in that transfer of

technology and suggested I speak

with the U. S. Navy. Enter Captain

George Bond (“Papa Topside”), and

another fabulous adventure for me.

My training started originally with

the four-man SEALAB I crew of

aquanauts and their support Divers with

whom I worked for a number of years.

Notable among those vastly experienced

Divers was the now famous Bob Barth,

who since has become the dean of all

Navy Saturation Divers.

As an outlander, and with very little

diving experience, I became...I must say

with pleasure... the team flunky and gofer.

I learned much at the hands of those men

during those times, and was treated gently,

for the most part; but I didn’t escape being

the butt of many tricks and jokes that

often went over my head.

Throughout all of the education I got

at the hands of that crew, the cool, patient,

experienced Chief Quartermaster Bob

Barth held sway, and I came to have an

overwhelming respect and admiration for

that man. There was nothing I wouldn’t

have done for him, and that continues to

this day.

One episode is illustrative and I’ll

never forget it. We had a number of

civilian team members from Scripps

Institution and other non-military

organizations. One was a fine underwater

photographer named Bill Bunton, who

was at about 215 feet with another Diver

(we were using semi-closed circuit,

helium supplied MK VI gear). His buddy

had difficulty with his breathing rig and

would probably have to surface without

decompression.

Bill dropped his huge $25,000

camera on the bottom and helped his

buddy back up to the surface. They made

it to the chamber ashore and no one got

bent, but there we were... no Divers with

enough bottom time left to go get the

camera, and it was getting late in the

afternoon. Bob and I got the job.

As a unique and largely unregulated

arm of the Navy Diving capability, and

under the command of the maverick

George Bond, we were able to undertake

diving tasks, times, and depths denied all

other Divers in the Navy. This was where

I wanted to be, especially if I had the

company of Bob Barth.

We found the descending line the

other two Divers had used and went down

to find the camera. Wanting to show that I

was emerging from my neophyte status, I

went down fast. Bob took his time.

Somewhere around 200 feet I spotted the

camera, left the descending line, and took

off for the camera at high speed. Bob took

his time and watched. I picked up the

camera and swam rapidly and victoriously

back with my prize.

During what I remember as a very

sedate ascent, we reached what I think

was a 30 foot stop, and he signaled that

there we should wait. I was glad to do that

because I was so happy with the success

of our recovery operation. In fact I was

pretty happy with about everything that

was going on at that time. I remember

discovering that decompressing upside

down on the line, where I could watch the

surface, was more fun than decompressing right-side-up, the way Bob and

other Divers did. Again, Bob let me be,

and we went back up to the surface.

I think we did some precautionary

decompressing in the chamber afterward

but I am not certain. Those were busy

times and a long time ago. We haven’t

discussed the event much, but I remember

more of what I learned from what

happened than of what actually happened

during those days. One enduring lesson

has been that one can be a wise old man of

the sea even though he is a young man.

I owe that young man a lot.

Scott Carpenter is the world’s first Astronaut/

Aquanaut. He was Team Leader during

SEALAB II in 1965. In 1967 Carpenter

returned to the Navy’s Deep Submergence

Systems Project as Director of Aquanaut

Operations during SEALAB III. He was also

one of the original seven astronauts for the

Mercury project in 1959.

Scott Carpenter and Bob Barth preparing to

go outside SEALAB II.

Deep Kim Chi

My experience with “Martini’s Law” By: Scott Carpenter
1 6 F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5

I

n the late 1950’s and early

1960’s Captain George

Bond used Navy Divers in the

GENESIS laboratory experiments, which set out to prove

saturation diving was possible

and could dramatically improve the depth, duration, and

productivity of working

Divers. In order to advance

his research and prove

its practicality, the Navy

conducted SEALAB I (1964),

II (1965), and III (1969).

The successes and failures

of these early deep diving

pioneers are now part of Navy

deep sea history. However, the

foundation was laid for future

programs whose goals are to

enable humans to live and work under the

sea.

Over the past four decades, many

underwater research habitats have come

and gone. The latest and only remaining

research habitat is the National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration’s

Aquarius. Aquarius is an 85-ton, double

lock chamber that is secured to a 120-ton

baseplate, 3.5 miles offshore near Key

Largo, Florida.

Aquarius is operated by the

University of North Carolina at

Wilmington’s (UNCW) NOAA Undersea

Divers participate in the

monthly saturation diving

missions, which would allow

for a sharing of ideas and

information between the

research and military diving

communities. In other words,

it is helping us to get out there

to see how the rest of the

world lives. By its very nature,

military diving often tends to

insulate us from the rest of the

world’s working Divers.

What I Did On My Summer

Vacation

Striking Up A

Partnership

Research Center (NURC). The primary

function of Aquarius is to support underwater research to better understand our

oceans and coastal resources. The base of

operations is in Key Largo – just a stone’s

throw down the pier from Dick

Rutkowski’s Hyperbaric Medicine School.

From April through December the

NURC staff supports 10 saturation

missions lasting 10 days each. With

unlimited bottom time and a well-equipped

research lab located on the reef, Aquarius

marine biologists are making significant

discoveries about our planet’s coral reefs

and oceans.

In early 2003, an

idea was hatched by

SUPDIVE Captain Mark

Helmkamp, NOAA’s

Captain Craig McLean,

NEDU’s Bob Barth

(GENESIS, SEALAB I, II,

III), and Aquarius’s Operations Director Craig

Cooper to form a partnership that would let Navy

This summer DC1 (DV)

J.R. Hott and I went TAD

from NEDU to Key Largo to

support the August Aquarius

mission. When I received word that I was

going, I eagerly logged onto the Aquarius

website to educate myself. The website

was very informative, but what was this?

We were going to support a group of

marine biologists studying “sponge

production and recycling of new nitrogen

in coral reefs.” I am a hairy-knuckled

diving Hull Tech and firmly embrace the

bigger hammer more better mentality.

What kind of help could I be to these

sponge scientists?

The Aquarius TAD turned out to be

more interesting and educational than I

had imagined. I was impressed by the

NURC staff. They are a small group of

men and women with quite diverse diving

backgrounds: commercial, recreational

instructors,Army and Navy officer and

enlisted, DOT, and NOAA researchers.

But their diversity is their number one

strength.They are a cohesive team

assigned to the awesome task of caretaker

for a valuable national asset. The NURC

staff is responsible for the safety and well

being of the visiting teams of scientists as

well as maintenance and repair of

Aquarius, its support systems, equipment,

and craft. Their crew, facilities,and budget

may be small, but they do it all.

NOAA’s habitat “Aquarius”, a.k.a. the George F. Bond, located within

the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary at Conch Reef. Aquarius is

used by scientists to study near shore ecosystems.

NEDU’s DC1(DV) J.R. Hott and Aquarius Operations Director

Craig Cooper visit the “Kamper” Way Station.
F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5 1 7

For the first two days of the saturation mission, J.R. and I helped with daily

boat runs offshore to resupply the

Aquanauts. Gear and supplies were

packed into large industrial pressure pots

that painters use, and we humped these up

and down to the Aquarius’s wet porch that

sits at 49 fsw.

The trip got interesting when on day

3 with Hurricane Charlie 48 hours from

striking the Florida Keys, the decision to

terminate the mission was made. We

immediately commenced the 16-hour

saturation decompression to bring the

Aquanauts to safety. Of course, Aquarius

would have to ride out the storm on the

bottom, so we set to work battening down

the hatches...arrrrhh!

 First, we recovered

the 1,000-foot long

SCUBA charging hoses

and charging stations that

spider outward from

Aquarius to three Diver

way stations. The way

stations (diving bells)

were flooded to keep

them from traveling

in high seas. A fourth

way station was hoisted

aboard the support

craft Sabina and brought

ashore. Once the Aquanauts surfaced, teams of

Divers began securing

and disconnecting habitat’s power, coms,

and air supply. Aquarius receives these

utilities via a 4-inch diameter umbilical

from the 30-foot diameter discus shaped

Life Support Buoy (LSB) moored above

her.

My first opportunity to tour inside

the habitat came when my dive buddy and

I were sent inside to perform shutdown procedures. My first impression

was: utilitarian, but comfortable. Most

impressive though was the view of the

reef from the two 30-inch diameter view

ports – enchanting is the word. The final

task was to haul the umbilical

aboard the LSB and secure it.

Two days later, after Charlie edged

past Key West and traveled north, we

returned to Aquarius to inspect for

damage and, luckily, found none. Once

it was clear that the other hurricanes

forming in the Atlantic were not a threat,

we redeployed some of the gear and

services we had secured days before.

folks care and want to make a difference

and fight on. As a self-described “tree

hugger”, I can now call myself a “reef

hugger”, also.

The Mission

A Reef Hugger Is Born

An Exciting Future

Since the mid 1990’s, Navy Divers

attending Saturation Diving School have

not conducted an actual sat dive as part of

their training. Currently the students

attend three weeks of classroom training at

NDSTC and eventually make a sat dive at

their current or follow-on command.

That is all about to change.

Aquarius’s Craig Cooper and SUPDIVE

Captain Helmkamp have coordinated a

plan that will allow Sat School graduates

to venture down to Aquarius in December

for a four-day sat dive.... ahhhhhhh...72

degree water, beautiful coral reefs, 90 foot

visibility, dehydrated meals by the view

port and key lime pie for dessert! Navy

Divers have never had it this good!

The Aquarius/Navy partnership

holds great promise for fostering a

cooperative exchange of effort and

education that will benefit both of us a

great deal. If given the chance, I highly

recommend that you get down to

Key Largo and meet your new dive

buddies.

Check out these websites for more

information about NOAA’s Aquarius:

www.noaa.gov and www.uncw.edu/

aquarius.

During the 10 days that I worked and

lived with the NURC staff and scientists, I

came away with a profound respect for the

work they do. I was amazed by the level of

passion the more seasoned marine

biologists had for their work and was

equally amazed to meet so many young

college kids with the same passion. We

owe a debt of gratitude to them for their

work. In spite of the overwhelming forces

that threaten our planet’s oceans, these

HTC (DSW/SW) Glen Rubin is Unmanned

Testing and Evaluation Division Officer at

NEDU.

Aquanauts make pit stop at gazebo way station

to charge SCUBA.

Aquarius’s Billy Cooksie (HTC (DV) retired) and Ross Hein

leaving “Kamper” Way Station. Aquanaut inspects test set up measuring coral

respiration.
1 8 F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5

As required by OPNAVINST3150.27A, all diving systems used in

the U.S. Navy must be certified as being

safe for manned use. In order to comply

with the requirement to ensure safe diving

systems are in operation throughout the

Fleet, all of these systems go through a

System Certification Survey once every

three years.

At the request of Captain Wilkins, the

Supervisor of Salvage and Diving, we in

the System Certification Authority office

have reviewed all of our survey findings

to see if there were common deficiencies

found throughout the Fleet. In the past,

these deficiencies have been addressed on

an individual basis within a single

command during the certification surveys.

Addressing these deficiencies at the

command level does not afford the

opportunity for other diving commands to

gain knowledge from survey findings. To

this end, our office has compiled the

following Top Ten discrepancies encountered during System Certification surveys.

From time to time we will update this list

so that all of the diving commands can

have the advantage of learning from the

experience of others.

This REC needs to include a scope of work

which details what work the contractor is

to accomplish, the OQE that the contractor

must provide to show the work was

properly accomplished, and the standards/

requirements that the contractor must be

follow when performing the work.

not automatically cause a Cert Card to be

generated, the deformed panels have

caused cracks in pressure gage housings

and faceplates. New Console fascia panels

are available from the following sources:

ESSM Cheatham Annex, Prime Vendor, or

Cowan.

DIVING SYSTEMS CERTIFICATION NOTES

By: Paul McMurtrie (00C44)

1.) Master Divers not involved in the

certification survey.

Certification is delegated to levels that do

not support the critical nature of system

certification. We have visited commands

where the Master Diver was not present

until the final debrief. While this is not an

actual finding on a Cert Card, the absence

of MDV involvement often results in Cert

Card findings in other areas.

2.) Commands are not using the System

Certification Requirements / Guideline

Checklist.

The checklist is posted on the 00C website

(www.supsalv.org) for the use by

commands that are about to undergo a

Certification Survey. The Checklist and

PSOB should always be used when

preparing for a certification visit.

3.) Commands are sending diving

systems out to contractors without

initiating a REC for the work to be

accomplished.

4.) Commands are not cleaning

software.

There have been a number of instances

where the brown O-ring bag is stapled to

the REC (this is not necessary unless the

bag is labeled as O2

 clean and is the OQE

for cleanliness) yet the O-rings have not

been cleaned. There is a simple detailed

procedure in Topside Tech Note VI for

cleaning software using NID.

5.) Commands are not suspending

certification on their systems prior to

major work or maintenance being performed.

For example, when Flasks are sent out to

be hydrostatically tested, prior to work

commencing on the system, commands

must suspend certification either via letter

or message to 00C4. Commands can

suspend certification on their systems

whenever necessary. However, only the

SCA can reinstate certification.

6.) Commands are not using Test and

Inspection Reports for documenting

Pass/Fail and inspection results.

Commands must document visual

inspection results on DLSS components

such as Filters, Moisture Separators,

Volume Tanks and HP Flasks by

completing a Test and Inspection Report.

The 00C website has two downloadable

standard Test and Inspection Forms that

are filled out with detailed inspection

criteria, and only require the results to be

filled in by the command.

7.) Commands have been using single

REC packages to conduct maintenance

on multiple systems.

The standardized Re-Entry Control

Procedures allow for only one subsystem

to be covered under one REC.

8.) The plastic TRCS console fascias are

cracking and warping.

While a cracked or warped console does

9.) Commands are not opening up the

FADS III and LWDS consoles periodically to check for moisture and corrosion and verify relief valve settings are

documented.

These consoles are not watertight. When

the systems are operated and stored for a

significant time out in the weather, they

often have seawater inside the console

case.

10.) Commands are still not maintaining pressure on the Purification Towers

for HP air compressors.

When the pressure is bled off from these

systems, moisture is allowed into the system and causes a rapid breakdown of the

desiccant. This results in a highly caustic

compound that gets blown into the system

and rapidly corrodes through the thin aluminum liners of the composite flasks.

Online Re-Entry Control Forms

There are two new Re-Entry Control

Forms available for download from the

00C4 section of the SUPSALV website.

These forms are to be used for documenting the PMS required visual inspections

on Divers Life Support system components. (See Top 10 Hit #6)

One form is specifically tailored for

conducting visual inspections on the Air

and Oxygen HP composite flasks. The

other form has been customized for performing the visual inspections on DLSS

Filter Housings, Purification Towers,

Moisture Separators, and Volume Tanks.

New Online PSOB

The latest standardized PSOB to be

posted on the 00C website is the standard

PSOB for the FARCC. The online PSOBs

are continually being updated so go to the

website and save the latest revision when

preparing the PSOB for certification.

Top 10 Hits
F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5 1 9

“Service to the Fleet”

This page is designed to give the readers the latest “Buzz” on various topics to USN diving and its systems.

Compiled and written by MDV Steve Smith (smithss@navsea.navy.mil)

Kinked Umbilical Casualty M52H (M48H, M49H...M52H), or M01I

to M08I (M01I, M02I...M08I) and is the

original hose, then it should get replaced.

This affects both SeaQuest and Aqua Lung

BCs utilizing the Powerline inflator.

MK 21 kinked umbilical.

On 23 September 2004, Mobile

Diving and Salvage Unit Two (MDSU

TWO) Divers were tasked with assisting

SIMA Norfolk Dive Locker during the

removal of USS HARRY S. TRUMAN

(CVN 75) #1 propeller off the shaft taper.

MDSU TWO Divers splashed to apply and

initiate detonating cord (high explosives)

to the forward end of #1 propeller hub.

MDSU TWO Divers utilized MK 21

deployed from Charlie Team dive boat.

While at depth on the project, Red Diver

reported loss of air and immediately

initiated EPs. Diving Supervisor asked

Green Diver how he was breathing and

Green Diver reported he was okay with

no air supply problems, Console/Bank

pressures were satisfactory. Red Diver

reported that his air had been restored

almost immediately after reporting the

loss. The dive was aborted and both Divers

returned safely to the surface. Once

topside, the Divers were unhatted and it

was immediately determined that Red

Diver’s umbilical had kinked at the hat

connection (non-return valve).

Root Cause: The root cause of umbilical

failure at the hat connection was primarily

due to the frequency of removing the MK

21 helmet without sufficient support of

umbilical weight in conjunction with

setting the helmet on faceplate.

Corrective Action: Inspect umbilical

shackle points on dive benches to ensure

there is sufficient support to relieve the

strain experienced from umbilical weight

and assume the practice of resting the MK

21 helmet on the neckdam area vice the

faceplate. Routinely inspect umbilical end

fittings during pre-dive setup.

Umbilical Information: JDR Aqualite

Divers Air Hose HA0106. AMRON

International, P/N: ADU3-MK21-MH-0-

330. In Service Date: August 27, 2003.

Buoyancy Compensator and Hose

Recall

Aqua Lung has received reports that some

of the ribbed hoses on the Powerline

Airway have been tearing at the top near

the dual exhaust valve. The problem has

been traced to an error in the molding

process from their supplier that occurred

over a three-month period between 2001

and 2002. The best way to confirm whether

or not you have one of the questionable

hoses is to look at the serial number on the

lower unit of the Powerline. If the serial

number falls within the range of M48H to

Power Inflator Recall

Another consumer recall is on Pelagic

Pressure Systems, of San Leandro,

California, Power Inflators. The buttons

can stick, which can cause uncontrolled

inflation of the BC. The recall includes

Oceanic-brand Reliant BC inflators

and AERIS-brand AW3 BC inflators.

The Oceanic Reliant-type inflators

have three flow-through holes in the

hand grip of the lower inflator mechanism.

The AERIS AW3 inflator has one flowthrough hole in the hand grip of the lower

inflator mechanism. Authorized Oceanic

dealers sold BCs fitted with Reliant

inflators nationwide from February 2004

through June 2004. Authorized AERIS

dealers sold BCs fitted with AW3 inflators

from May 2004 through June 2004.

For more information go to: http://

www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PREREL/

prhtml04/04210.html.

Compressor Interstage Relief Valves

Surface Force Maintenance Effectiveness Review (SURFMER) has found

that the relief valves and settings

provided by the manufacturers of

ANU compressors are appropriate

and calibration of Interstage Relief

Valves is no longer needed or required.

PMS MIPs affected are all MIPs

that have relief valve maintenance, this

includes 5921/H-012 series MIP.

Navy Divers Website

The Navy Divers website is up

and running. It can be found at:

http://navy.com/navydivers. If you

have any comments or suggestions

for website, please let us know.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety

Commission announced the following

recall in voluntary cooperation with the

firm, Halcyon Manufacturing, of High

Springs, Florida. Commands should stop

using the Halcyon SCUBA Buoyancy

Compensator (BC) Inflators immediately.

The SCUBA BC bladder may have a slow

leak because of imperfections within the

machining of the stainless air barrel of their

inflators. This can cause unexpected

buoyancy problems with Divers, possibly

resulting in decompression sickness.

Halcyon is recalling all stainless steel

Power Inflators. They have a stainless steel

oral and power inflate button. Inflators

made of plastic are not included in this

recall. The repaired inflators have a groove

at the base of their retainer nut. The BCs

sold with these inflators are black and the

Halcyon logo is on the front and collar of

the BCs. For further information go to:

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/

prhtml04/04209.html.
2 0 F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5

Captain (Dr.) Ed Thalmann

Ed Thalmann, M.D., Assistant MedicalDirector of Divers Alert Network, died on

July 24, 2004 in Durham, NC. He was 59.

Dr. Thalmann, regarded as one of the

world’s foremost authorities on diving

decompression, joined DAN in July 1995 as

the organization’s assistant medical director. He

was the physician resource for DAN medics,

consulting with dive medicine physicians.

While at DAN, Dr. Thalmann worked on the

Duke University Medical Center medical staff,

the Duke Anesthesiology Department, and

at the Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and

Environmental Physiology. There, he participated in both patient care (dive accidents and

clinical hyperbaric oxygen treatments) and in

medical research programs.

Dr. Thalmann retired from the U.S. Navy

in 1993 after 22 years. While in the Navy, he

Dr. Ed Thalmann.

Captain Marshall was born on January 10,

1918 in Barry, South Wales. He immigrated

to the United States in 1923 aboard the White

Star Line’s SS BALTIC with his parents and

sister.

In 1941, Walter L. Marshall enlisted in the

U.S. Navy and was commissioned as an Ensign

in 1942. LT Marshall attended the U.S. Naval

Training School (Salvage), pier 88 in New York,

NY in 1944 and qualified as a Salvage Diver.

From 1944 to 1945, LT Marshall served

as Aide to the Commanding Officer and

Technical Advisor, Ship Salvage, Fire Fighting

and Rescue Unit, Seventh Fleet and participated

in salvage operations in Manila and Subic Bay

supporting WWII Pacific Operations.

Commander Marshall served as Seventh Fleet

Salvage Officer and Repair and Maintenance

Officer in Sasebo, Japan from 1954 to 1955.

He then served as Fleet Salvage Officer and

Repair and Maintenance Officer at Pacific Fleet

Service Force, Pearl Harbor. From 1959 to

1961, Commander Marshall served as Head,

Technical Branch, Bureau of Ships, and

concurrent SUPSALV.

“Scotty” was highly decorated and retired

from the U.S. Navy with the rank of Captain

in 1966. Captain Marshall passed away

in January of 2003 in Riverside, CA of

Alzheimer’s disease.

Captain Walter “Scotty” Marshall

helped develop operational procedures for

diving, testing, and evaluation of diving life

support equipment and medical research

programs. Projects included the development

of new diving decompression tables (surfacesupplied and saturation), measuring the

performance of and writing specifications for

Diver thermal protective equipment, studying

the effects of underwater exercise on Diver

performance, and improving underwater

breathing apparatus design and testing.

While in the service, he spent a year as

the Medical Officer aboard the nuclear

submarine USS THOMAS JEFFERSON, and

then was assigned to the Navy Experimental

Diving Unit in Washington, DC and then

Panama City, FL, where he was involved in

decompression table development, treatment of

decompression sickness, and formulating 100

percent oxygen exposure limits.

He spearheaded two major revisions to the

Diving Medicine chapter of the U.S. Navy

Diving Manual in 1985 and 1993.

Dr. Thalmann is survived by Brenda

Thalmann, former wife, and daughters Amanda

and Katherine.

Captain Anthony Esau

Retired U.S. Navy Captain AnthonyChristopher Esau, 65, died on

September 23, 2004, in the Hancock

Medical Center. Tony graduated from the

U.S. Naval Academy in 1961 and had a

distinguished 30-year Naval career.

Highlights of his career include:

assistant navigator on the USS BON

HOMME RICHARD; submariner and

polaris missile officer on the SSBN

GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER;

CO of the Submarine Rescue Ships USS

SUNBIRD and USS ORTOLAN; CO of

the Naval Safety Center at the Naval Operations Base in Norfolk; CO of the Naval

School of Diving and Salvage; “Father” of

the new Diving and Salvage Facility at

Panama City; and CO of the Naval

Oceanographic Research and Development Agency in Bay St. Louis, Miss.

where he worked very closely with Dr.

Folger Whicker, Ph.D. and Dr. Bill

Moseley, Ph.D. who became his dearest

friends in retirement.

Tony was the Navy’s expert on the

deep submergence rescue vehicle and its

employment in Inner Space. He was also a

leading figure in the development of

“mixed gas” SCUBA diving.

Tony is survived by daughter Laura

Wilson and her husband and three

children; daughter Catherine Callahan and

her husband and two children; and brother

Richard and his wife.

4-4-4... OBITUARIES ...4-4-4

Originally printed in the Virginian-Pilot on

Sunday, September 26, 2004.
F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5 2 1

Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit ONE Detachment 7

Divers of Mobile Diving and SalvageUnit (MDSU) ONE Detachment 7,

commanded by CDR “Bette” Bolivar

Bush, were involved in the search and

salvage of two aircraft in the murky

waters of the Columbia River near

Arlington, Oregon in August of 2004. Two

United States Marine Corps F/A-18

fighter jets were involved in a mid-air

collision on July 21 for which only one

aviator of three survived. As the vast

majority of the wreckage plummeted into

the mile-wide Columbia River below,

crash investigators requested MDSU

ONE’s assistance in recovering the

aircraft.

On August 1, MDSU ONE Det 7 flew

to Whidbey Island, Washington from

Hawaii aboard a Naval Air Logistics Office

(NALO) DC-9. Det 7’s sixteen personnel

later linked up with six Divers from Naval

Undersea Warfare Center Keyport, as they

too would be assisting in the salvage effort.

Immediately upon arrival, the Divers

loaded their gear and headed out on the

six hour trek to the remote town of

Arlington.

MDSU ONE and NUWC Divers

employed a Lightweight Surface Supplied

Diving System, with the MK 21, as well

as SCUBA for their mission. Arriving late

in the afternoon of August 3, Det 7 spent a

few hours receiving a sobering recovery

briefing from the On-scene Commander

and then unpacked for the mission ahead.

Coordinating with other military and

civilian assets in the area, Det 7 underwent

a marathon of nearly non-stop diving. Over

the next ten days, Det 7 made 85 dives,

coping with limited visibility and river

currents, for a staggering total of 6,128

minutes or 4 days, 6 hours, and 8 minutes

of bottom time.

Due to the expanse of the wreckage

field, Side Scan Sonar and Remotely

Operated Vehicles (ROV) were used to

delineate dive-worthy objects of interest.

When the Side Scan Sonar noted a viable

target, a ROV was sent down to

inspect it. If the object was

wreckage, Divers would be

splashed to tag it for retrieval.

Even with these gadgets on hand,

some old-fashioned bottom

searching had to be conducted.

“This job was a great opportunity

to use our Circle Line and Grid

searching techniques,” notes

GM1 (DSW) Chad Larson.

“Because most of the searching

was done on our small boats, we

used SCUBA and tied our circle

lines to anchors. It takes time to

do a good search with SCUBA.

Later on in the job though, we

used the MK 21 off of a barge, which made

the searches a lot easier.”

Large items, namely the fuselage of

both aircraft, were marked with GPS

and salvaged with a 100-ton crane.

Interestingly, most of the aircraft wreckage

recovered during this mission was pulled

up by hand and did not require mechanical

assistance to retrieve. In all, recovery

efforts produced more than 95 percent of

the total aircraft wreckage. All salvaged

materials were subsequently reclaimed by

the Marine Corps investigators for

examination, identification, and inventory.

“I was amazed that the whole

operation went so smoothly,” said GMC

(DSW/SW) Joshua Dumke, Det 7 LCPO.

“With so many different hands in the pot,

Navy Divers, Marine investigators, civilian

contractors and the like, I thought it would

be more difficult. We were able to really

keep focused just on completing our job at

hand. It was a sweet job.”

Upon completion of diving operations

on August 10, the Det 7 Divers loaded up

once more and headed to Seattle for

transport home via NALO.

MDSU ONE Det 7 exhibited the

mobility and efficiency that is needed in

modern day salvage operations. After

traveling over three thousand miles by air

and land to a remote dive location in

Oregon, Det 7 successfully completed their

job safely, efficiently, and expeditiously.

A fuselage section of one of the destroyed F/A-18.

By: LT Todd Ochsner

LT Ochsner is currently the DMO/PAO at

MDSU ONE based out of Pearl Harbor, HI.
2 2 F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5

I

f you would have told me 30 years

ago that I would be in the Navy today, I

would have questioned your mentality.

As they say, “Time flies when you’re having fun”, and I have had fun. It doesn’t

seem that long ago that I left the corn

fields of Iowa for the oceans of the world.

My initial enlistment was for two years,

yet here it is three decades later that I find

myself nearing the end of my Navy

career. I am proud of my achievements

and consider myself fortunate to have

served in the diving community. Our community is unique in many ways and the

pride I feel is a result of those in it, past

and present. That is the reason I “stayed.”

Our world continually changes, and

the diving community has been no

exception. Some of the changes I’ve

witnessed within the diving community,

such as: our icon, the MK V, has become

display ornamentation; the MK 12 and

open bell came and went; MK 1 band

mask, Jack Browne, and double hose

regulators were replaced with newer, better

equipment; saturation and surface supplied

mixed gas diving all but died and were

reborn or are being reborn; and closed

circuit re-breathers went from experimental to industry standard with variable

PO2

 control. Most of these changes were

equipment changes, a result of advancing

technology and forward thinking by those

in positions of authority to make change

happen.

Diving Navy is changing more now

than ever. Big Navy has introduced the

five-vector model that enables Sailors to

manage their personal and professional

goals. This introduction presented unique

obstacles for the diving community, since

we employed various source ratings

limited to a small number of commands.

Experience is another variable that

influences change. It cannot be taught or

learned, experience teaches us, and must

be lived. It is a virtue of time; by merely

existing you gain experience. Looking

around the diving community today I see

a vast amount of experience. People who

have been there, done that, and have the

T-shirt to prove it. Experience has no

substitute, and is often times the difference

between life and death in our business.

Experience has taught us to improve

our equipment, our communities, and

ourselves.

Meeting the

requirements for

advancement

within big Navy’s

model presented a

problem within our

community. So, we

decided to do what

we’ve talked about

for years – make

Navy Diver a

source rating. This

change is without

doubt the biggest

our community has

ever seen because it

influences our most

vital asset – our

people.

Our equipment

continues to improve with technology, our training

is second to none,

and our people are

A tired ENCM (MDV) Jim Carolan after a hard

night’s work.

JAKE’S CORNER

exceptional. The five-vector model is here,

and it’s here to stay. With diving as a source

rating, our community will take on a whole

new look. Experience will play a vital role

in advancement and achievement. There

will be experience-based requirements

for advancement as well as training.

Individuals will have access to

training resources, advancement requirements, and career management tools.

One thing that will not change is the

people. Those hungry for additional

responsibility and leadership positions will

rise to the top. With Navy Diver as a source

rating, every Diver should have a common

goal – to be at the top. If you are not sure

where that is, you have obviously chosen

the wrong profession. Do not put yourself

in a position in which you regret missed

opportunity. I don’t regret what I’ve been

doing. It has been an honor to serve with

the finest the Navy has to offer.

I wish you all the best of luck and

challenge each of you to look for

opportunities in your life’s journey.

ALOHA!

By: CWO4 Rick Armstrong
F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5 2 3

Topside; Red Diver...

From the Supervisor of Diving

 Captain Mark Helmkamp, USN

Saturation Diving

This issue of FACEPLATE is dedicated to

both our history and future in saturation

diving. I hope you enjoy familiarizing yourself

with where we have been, where we are planning to go, and in particular, some of the stories

of those individuals who dove before us. Indeed, we are members of a special fraternity

and you can be very proud to have successfully

met the challenges that are required to be a part

of this exclusive team. For me (and I am sure

many others) it is the people that are drawn to

our diving community that I have met and associated with over the past 25 years that I appreciate the most. And while it is said that if

you find a job you love, you’ll never work another day of your life, a prime ingredient to

successfully executing that philosophy is having opportunity to work with folks that maintain a great attitude. Bob Barth is one such person. The following story (of many – this one

printable), as told by Don Crisk illustrates exactly why I love our Navy diving community

and is why I am proud to have a friend like the

SOB (Sweet Old Bob) discussed herein:

“Just around the times of SEALAB II,

Wilber Eaton was assigned the task of taking a

number of us out for training with the handheld sonar/receiver (AN/PQS/18). So we

loaded our gear aboard the dive boat and

headed out to 50-60 feet of water. I don’t remember all the other divers aboard, Shorty

Lyons was one, Mike Meisky was another, and

of course, QMC Barth. There were several others of course. Wilber laid out a rough square of

buoyed targets, alternating pinger and sonar

them and make a PQS run while he was at it.

Barth dove in, and soon we could see bubbles

going around the course. Soon the [bubbles]

were back at the boat, but Bob surfaced without any SCUBA on. He told Wilber that he

couldn’t find the bottles that he’d thrown over,

but swam the course anyway. Wilber had to

free dive to get the bottles. Good trick by

Barth, and really typical.”

Want to learn more about the history of

saturation diving and underwater habitats?

Most of my work on the system to date

has been administrative and planning in nature,

and on 21 December, the Top Level Requirements Document and Milestone A letter were

signed. Having cleared these two monumental

administrative hurdles, we are prepared to

focus our energy on a more enjoyable aspect of

the Saturation System (Sat-FADS): hardware.

That is planned for FY 06.

Fly-Away Saturation Diving System (concept).

I presented Bob an engraved MK V knife

memento at a recent lucheon in his honor.

• Bob Barth, Sea Dwellers: The Humor, Drama

 and Tragedy of the U.S. Navy SeaLab

 Program, Houston: Doyle Publishing, 2000.

• Helen Siiteeri, Papa Topside: The SeaLab

 Chronicles of Capt. George F. Bond, USN,

 Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1993.

• Dr. Joe MacInnis, Breathing Underwater, The

 Quest to Live in the Sea, Toronto: Penguin

 Group, 2004.

• James W. Miller & Ian G. Koblick, Living

 and Working in the Sea, Plymouth: Five

 Corners Publications, 1995.

The following book by Dan Lenihan is

not about sat diving, but is a well written book

about National Park Service divers that reveals

early “tech diving” history:

• Daniel Lenihan, Submerged, Adventures

 of America’s Most Elite Underwater

 Archeology Team, New York: New Market

 Press, 2002.

Fly-Away Sat System...An Update

Work continues on our Primary Objective: the fly-away sat system. This system is

intended to be a minimum 600 fsw system,

objectively designed for 1000 fsw use. It will

be readily transportable by land or air to any

appropriate Vessel of Opportunity (VOO) sea

platform based on dimensional constraints of

the ARS 50 Class. The system will consist of a

double-lock deck decompression chamber with

sanitary facilities, a diving bell, a bell handling

system, and a control van.

The typical mission profile is one of

mobilizing the system from the Navy Experimental Diving Unit, Panama City, Florida and

personnel from Mobile Diving and Salvage

Unit Two, Little Creek, Virginia to a VOO at

the mobilization port, transit to the dive site,

and take-up station keeping with dynamic positioning or mooring. Diving operations might

consist of 21 days of diving to a maximum

excursion to 727 fsw followed by 9 days of

decompression, then transit to the demobilization port, where the system and personnel will

return to their respective commands.

[targets]. Each leg was approximately 150

yards long. As expected, Bob was giving

Wilber a hard time since Eaton was a GM1, but

all went well for several runs until Barth refused to dive. Wilber then picked up what he

thought was Bob’s bottles, turned them on, and

threw them over the side. Since those were the

days of the old double hose regulators, they

free-flowed. Wilber then told Barth to go get

As discussed in the past two issues of

FACEPLATE, development of the Next

Generation Dive System (NGDS) continues –

with gusto! NGDS for surface supplied air

diving will enhance deployability, safety, and

efficiency of U.S. Navy surface supplied air

diving operations.

The NGDS will enhance the safety and

efficiency of surface supplied air diving

decompression procedures by supporting both

air and in-water oxygen decompressions under

control of a Topside Decompression Monitor

(TDM). The TDM will prescribe Diver decompression schedules in real-time according to the

actual depth-time profiles experienced by the

Divers, not according to costly depth and

bottom time roundup conventions required

when such schedules are prescribed using

conventional decompression tables. These

prescriptions will eventually be obtained

through real-time operation of a probabilistic

decompression algorithm, with hardcopy

decompression tables available only as backup

in the event of TDM failure.

An NGDS component called the Oxygen

Regulating and Control Assembly (ORCA)

will support the decompression prescriptions of

the TDM by providing air or 100% oxygen, as

appropriate, to two working Divers and one

standby Diver in the water. The ORCA has

successfully completed unmanned flow testing

at Cheatham Annex on 24 June 2004 and an

open-water manned evaluation by U.S. Navy

Divers at the Marianas Support Activity in

Guam (See MDV Smith’s article on page 3).

Next Generation Dive System...An Update

Here’s a short list of books I recommend:
2 4 F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5

Topside; Red Diver... (continued)

The next SEALAB Reunion is scheduled to take place in Panama City, Florida

on 10-12 March, 2005. Those interested in attending should contact Bob Barth

at (850) 785-6249 or via e-mail at bob.barth@mchsi.com.

WDC/MDV Conference 2005 will be held at Keyport, Washington on March 28

- April 01, 2005. March 28 will be the MDV/CWO portion of the conference.

Visit www.supsalv.org for more information.

Development of the Topside Decompression

Monitor has progressed to assembly of a proofof-concept system (TDM-POC) that uses the

VVAL-18 Thalmann Algorithm, named in

honor of its original developer, the late Captain

Edward D. Thalmann, to provide one-second

updates to a topside real-time display of Diver

decompression obligations. The VVAL-18

Thalmann Algorithm is the basis for present

MK 16 MOD 0 and MK 16 MOD 1 N2

-O2

decompression tables, and has been extensively evaluated for applicability to air diving.

It is also the algorithm operating in the Navy

Special Warfare (NSW) Cochran Navy Dive

Computer and associated Dive Planner. VVAL18 Air Decompression Tables for in-water air,

in-water air with oxygen, and SURD-O2

decompressions have been developed, along

with supporting instructions and emergency

procedures, to backup the real-time operation

of the TDM-POC. After the TDM-POC is

tested for suitability as a source of real-time

assessments and prescriptions of Diver decompression obligations, it will be fielded with the

ORCA for Fleet use as an interim NGDS,

pending development of the final probabilistic

decompression algorithm for the final TDM.

 Changing of the Guard: Old Copperhead

With the retirement of Old Copperhead

ENCM (MDV) Jimmy Evans this past August,

it is time to recognize our current Old Copperhead: MDV Brick Bradford.

HTCM (MDV/SW) Brick M. Bradford

was raised in Orange County, CA. He reported

for Boot Camp in San Diego, California on 4

February 1976. After completing Fireman

Apprenticeship training, he reported to the

USS CONSTELLATION (CV 64) as a nondesignated FA. Two years later HT3 Bradford

reported aboard his next command, USS

ANCHORAGE (LSD 36).

HT2 Bradford then volunteered for Fleet

Diver training. He graduated as a 2nd Class

Diver in February 1981 and reported aboard

USS DIXIE (AD 14) and then USS CAPE

COD (AD 43) in May 1982. Petty Officer

Bradford attended 1st Class Dive School in

May 1983 where he graduated as class honor

man.

Petty Officer Bradford volunteered for

instructor duty at the Naval Diving & Salvage

Training Center located in Panama City,

Florida. He left four years later having put

countless scores of officers, enlisted, and

foreign military personnel through the rigors of

Diver training. Petty Officer Bradford transferred in February 1987 having qualified as

one of NDSTC’s first unlimited diving supervisors and Master Training Specialists. He

reported for duty in Diego Garcia.

Petty Officer Bradford reported aboard

USS BOLSTER (ARS 36) in March 1988,

where he served as the Damage Control

Assistant. Two years later, HTC (DV/SW)

Bradford volunteered for Master Diver Evaluations and was selected Master Diver on

8-31-1990... his birthday. HTC (MDV/SW)

Bradford accepted orders to Subase, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii where he managed the Subase

Diving Locker. HTCS (MDV/SW) Bradford

transferred to Combat Support Squadron Eight

located in Little Creek, VA in October 1993

where he served as squadron Master

Diver. During this tour he completed

part of a Mediterranean cruise

aboard the USS GRASP (ARS 51)

and participated in one of the

Navy’s largest salvage operations in

20 years, the recovery of an inland freighter

sunk in Eritrea, Africa. The squadron was

disestablished a year later and Master Diver

Bradford took orders to Explosive Ordnance

Disposal Unit Two, also located in Little

Creek, Virginia.

He reported aboard the USS

BRUNSWICK (ATS 3) in April 1994. During

his tour he served as the Senior Enlisted

Advisor and command Master Diver. He also

supervised a joint taskforce operation in

Cambodia to recover the remains of U.S. Marines killed during the Vietnam War and is

credited with bringing eight U.S. Marines

home.

In April 1996 HTCM (MDV/SW)

Bradford reported back to NDSTC for duty

and worked with the Marine and EOD training

teams until his transfer to Consolidated Divers

Unit in October 2000. HTCM (MDV/SW)

Bradford completed perhaps his most rewarding tour of duty as the Command Master

Chief of CDU. He credits his satisfying

experience to the pride he took in the achievements of his shipmates and the leadership of

his Commanding Officer, CDR Eley.

HTCM (MDV/SW) Bradford transferred

to NAVSCOLEOD in June 2003, where he

serves today as the command Diving Officer

and Master Diver.

NOT the NGDS! Not even close...

CAPT Helmkamp and MDV Jimmy Evans at

his Master Diver Retirement Ceremony in

August 2004.

Copperhead MDV Brick Bradford rigged in

the venerable MK V.