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1'0: Diatribution 

n.«»f: L.E. ~la.key 

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OPl'ICAL 'f!C1It«,JLOGY DIVISIOR 

OP'l'O-KECHMUCAL DESIGN a;INIEllIR; 

HnIorand- ME 70 

DATE: NoveIIber 18, 1971 

SUBJECT: Trip Report - Recovery of RV #3 

LOCATION: At Sea - 350 Hiles Northwest of HawaU 

INTRODUCTION 

This trip report covers all the activity in which I was involved or 

ritne .. ed conaencing 0".1 October 28th through November _ concerning the recovery 

of RV #3. The report is organized chronologically as, in fact, it was written 

on a dLY by day basis. A complete set of photographs of significant evenes and 

operations accompanies this report with It-ieed distribution. copies of the 

photos are available for review in my office. 

",:,:, THURSDAY. 28 ogOBU 1971 

Contacted Lt. Cdr. I.. Anderson at the Submarine ba .. in Pearl Harbor 

and arransed t~ meet with him to discuss tha status of the operation and the 

'plallliJ ~or trMnsportation to the recovery site. Lt. Cdr. Anderson indicated 

that arrangements had been made for transportation to meet the White Sands about 

300 lailes off Hawaii. The sea-going support ship for the "Sea CI iff" and the 

"Turtle" 1 the "Maxine-Dn will carry the following personnel to rendezvoua with 

the White Sands: 

Coaaander B. Mooney - 0 in C of Recovery Team 

T. 'l'urner - Straza Representative 

- - HQS 

L. Mola.by - sse 

S Sailor. - new transfer. to the White Sands' crew 

1'be ftlXlne-D 18 sche4ulH to depart Honolulu early SUIlCky morn1ns, 

31 October. 

The progress of the White Sands va. reported to be on or slightly 

ahead of the last reported schedule. No report from the search force was 

available from, Lt. Cdr. Anderson. He indicated J however, that_ is 

expected to have the underwater photographs with him when he ar~1ves on Friday • 

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MnIorand~ ME 70 (COIltlnuecl) 

A .euna ... arranled for Saturday morntaa to revf.ev the photoa aDd. elbcull 

the recovery plan. 

"IDAY! 29 OCTO. 1971 

Bo project activity achedulecl - I went fi.hiac. 

Contacteel..- at hie hotel aDd. arranaecl for him to join the _~ting achecluled vrth"""i:t."Cdr ADdenon and Cdr. !t)oney at the Sub bale. 

'!'be .etilll val bald prt...r1:'y with Cdr. Mooney. Lt. Cdr. ADder.on 

left to catch a 1:00 P.M. flight back to San DielO. !be photocraphl were reviewed al were the location plota provided by the aearch team (No elirect repre-

.entation from the lea" ch teUl waa, or .till be provided for the recovery operation.) The overall plana vere elilcualed aDd arransements ..cte for weather reports to be provided tvic~ daily for, the duration of the operation. 

Final arrang ... nta; location, ti8e, phone nuaber, etc. were .ade for 

the transfer to the recovery aite. 

SUNDAY! 31 OCTOBEil 1971 

Ship - Maxine-D 

Sailing time - 0600 

Location 

Date 

.- Pier 43 - Honolulu 

- October 31, 1971 

Sharing a cab wit~we arrived at Piur 43 at approximately 

0545. Upon board ins the ahi~ vas no evidence of any activity aboard and 

it was apparent that plan. for the 9600' de,artU1:'e had been chaltpCl. AI it 

turned out, the Maxine-D had some kind of mechanical problem with one of its 

main drive clutches and although the parts were scheduled to be in Havaii on 

'Saturday, they had not yet shown up. They arrived about 0930 and were installed 

in lei. than an hour. 'l'he ship was ready to depart. Sailing time .. set for 

12:00. At 12:00, with the pilot aboard, one of the pa .. engera'---was 

misaing. The ship set sail without him. As we pulled out of ~ -:- ' 

.8Ie was received indicating that the miaaing pasaenger had been located and 

that he would be ferried out by a Navy torpedo retriever boat. We then proceeded to the mouth of Pearl Harbor to wait for that transfer. We fioally put 

to aea at about 1500 that afternoon. 

The MlXine-D 11 165 feet loal and can make about 12 knots. '!'be planl 

were to overtake the White Sands aa it approached the recovery .ite and after 

making the transfer, the Haxine-D was to proceed directly to San Diego~ The 

White Sands to travel the remaining 100 or so miles to the recovery site. 

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-3- 110 ...... 1" II, 1971 

IDmlY. 1 IOV'IMIIII. 1971 

!be trip proceeded on scheclu1. and ve overtook the White Suds at 

about 1600 in the aftemoon. 'l'be White Sands put out a 16 foot Ioaton Whal.r 

and the pa ..... r. .... the tr .. nsfer fro. the Muine-D to the Whaler to the 

White SaDds. 'l.'bar. vere avelll of about 8 to 10 f •• t at the tu. _kina the 

tranafer a rath.r difficult operation. No casualti •• vere reportacl but .,at 

of our 1uII&.e got quit. wet. 

We were rec.ived aboard, _de the n.ce •• ary introduction., a •• i,_d 

living quart.rs, hacl supper ancl alain lot under way for the alta. '!'he Maxine-D 

left with her silUl flal' readinl ''tBD& DEEP". The White Sanci. responded with 

''THlRK DEEPIR". 

TUBSDAY. 2 HOYEMBD. 1971 

We vere now approachina the recovery lite aDd activity in preparation 

fo~ .. ,th. first dive belan. The refrlgerator for cool ina the payload vaa in final 

.ta.e. of cOlBpletion. AI orllinally constructed, the unit condated of a 3/4 

inch plywood box built around a 2 x 4 fr.... The outside dt.en.ionl approximately 8 x 8 x 8 feet. The inlulation consilt. of 1-1/2 inch Ila.s wool blankets 

fabricated with the aluminum Itde factng the interior of the box. 'l'be cooling 

unit was mount'ed to the outside of the box blowing. air from the outa1de into the 

box through an opening behiDd the COOling coil. Aft.r reviewina the requirements WU:h Lt. Abbot, thi! .hip , 8 enatneer, it va. ..reea that the set up coula 

not adequat.ly refri.erate 8,000 pounds of lea ~low 40°' in the outaide ambient of about 90"F in brlght lunl !Iht. __ aad I got together to 

plan modifications which would improve the inltallation. We reca..encled the 

following: 

I. Paint the outside all over with white paint. 

2. Construct a recirculating duct to take the cooled interior air 

and pal. it over the coolinl coill in a cloaed Iyatem. 

3. Insulate the cooUng unit as IlUCh as po.sible. 

4. '!'ape all .e .... to shut off air leakage. 

'!'he Original plan was to move the refrigerator, after completion, aft 

to the starboard wing vall where the payload could be liftecl by the crane and 

loaded directly into the waitin. precooled shipping container full of water. 

This plan was abandoned because of lack of adequate space on the wina wall and 

it was decided to leave the refrigerator on the deck at the forward end of the 

dock well. 'l'hb meant a change in the handling procedure for the classified 

payload. !bele details were worked out and the bandltna plans finalized. 

We then requested that the .hipping container be in.talled in the 

refrigerator immediately so that the larle .. s~ of water could start cooling • 

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lIno1'adua .. 70 .(COIlt1Duecl) -4-

!his was acca.plished with .u.e difficulty becaU8e of the mint.u.a.ouat of 

clearaace between the shipp:l.lII cOIltaiMr aDel ·the ind4e cU.. ndoaa of the box. 

Even _11 .".118 cau.. the ship to roll aDel with the ahippina cOlU:&1Mr huaa 

from the crane it tend. to avinl like a house wrecker's ball. 'J.'ba operation 

wa. finally ca.p1eted and the conta:l.ners filled with salt water from the fire 

-.:l.n. (!he ho.e &ad f:l.re _in were flushed for 20 1Iinute. prior to f1111Da the 

cOllta:l.nera • ) 

We planned to fill the container about 2/3 full of ... water so that 

when the payload vas baeraed in· the container the water level would just about 

reach .the top. However, a. the water was be:l.ng pumped into the container, some 

of the gla •• wool insulation fell into the water. To r81DOft this contaainant, 

the cootainar va. overflowed until aU of the particle. poured over the top. 

!he container lld _s installed aad the box sealed to start the cooUng procesa. 

'l.'he initial water tellperature was recorded to be 70·F. . 

While this was loq on the Trie.te was heiDi prepared for laUDchiog. 

At about 2030 the dock well va. flooded aDel by 2230 the Trie.te was trail:Lng 

in tow off the stem of the White Sancis. Gasa1nl operation started as soon as 

the dock ... 11 was pmaped out. 

WEpNESDAY, 3 lfOVEMBER 1971 

!he gassing operation, puaping 67,000 .a11ons of aviation ga. into 

the bellast tanks of the Trie.te, were completed by about 0930. 'ftlia operation 

ia explained in one of the previous trip reports. Loading of the .teel shot 

ballaat started i1IIIIediately. In this operation, as explained in an earUer 

trip report, 32 ton of steel shot is pwaped in a slurry of salt water into the 

hoppers of the Trieste. Several problema occurred during the .hotti .. operation. 

'lbe pump housing broke down and had to be replaced. In trying to make up for 

lost time dup. tn the pump problem, the shot flow rate was increased causing the 

hoae to clog up. A section of the hose was re1noved and the prob1e1l cleared. 

'l'be flow rate was slowed down to avoid further clogging proble..... The .hottinl 

operation was ca.pleted at about 2200 and the predive checks started. 

At this pOint it was decided not to dive this night to allow for 

completion of the predive checks and to give a re.t period for the crew and 

pilots who had been working 'round the clock. 

Meanwhile the temperature of the interior of the refrigerator appeared 

to have stabilized at about S6°P. 'l.'he coolant coil could not increase the differential. It was therefore decided to requeat an air drop of dry ice to lower 

the temperature. In addition, plastic bags and buckets of fresh water were 

loaded into the deck top reflg.rator to make ice. The plan being to open the 

box, install the dry ice and regular ice, aeal it up and hopefully lower the 

temperature below 40°F. 

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Muaoraodua ItB 70, (Coatiaued) -5-

'.rHUI.SMY. 4 lIOVIHBEI. l,n 

At about 0100 the aircraft ahowed up to drop the dry ice. A_11 

boat wa_ cleployed fro. the White Saocla. 'the aircraft firat dropped a .... 

marker then in six'succassiw passes parachuted capsules cODtaiaina the dry 

ice. 'l'bey were recovered by the small boat and broulht aboard the White Sand,. 

The top was removed from the refrigerator box and the packets of dry tee installed. During thb operation sa.e of the insulation on tha sides of the box 

was torn and had to be repaired. It beca. obvious that more insu1atiOll .. a 

required. A request for IIIOra insulation was tade, but there vas no more available on board. 'l'he vater in the frae.ar had not aol idified as yet so the refrigerator was again sealed. 

While the air drop vas in proce.s, the White Sands was 'he&dina for 

the u zero dotu • 'l'hls is the transponder laid on the bottOlll by the search team 

to mark the location t'f the packaaa. I't is a tranPdtter that when interrogated 

by a signal of the proper frequency reciarns a signal of its own. 'l'he .. arch 

team had planted two such dots. 'l'be .ero dot being 160 - 165 yards north of 

the payload and the other dot, deai,Dated dot 3, was reported to be about 110 

yarda N E of the zero dot.. 'J.'h... data were located from the surface uaiq 

satellite navigation and then interrogating the. from the Apache. Apache, 

f.~ meanwhile was preparing to plant two additional dots in the area • ....... 'Jhe new dots were planted and their position, or at least the position 

of the Apache as the dots we1:e released from the surface, vas recorded. 'l'heae 

additional dots were to act as position markers to help remove ambiguity 1n the 

range read1ngs from the other dots and to provide a fixed pattern on the ocean 

floor from which to navigate on the bottom. '1'he preliminary data, before the 

first dive, vas: 

ChanD'!l No. Q2eratina Fr'!guencI Estimated Location 

0 U.S KHz 160 yards N of P.L. 

2 13.5 lCHz On Trieste 

3 14.0 KHz 110 yards N.E. of 0 

5 15.0 KHz 5,330 yards s.a. of 0 

8 16.5 KHz 5,670 yards S.E. of 0 

'l'be position of the 0 dot is reporte~ to be a 37 KHz pinger was also 

planted by the search team. l'bia was reported to be within 30 yards of dot 

zero. 

F1nal preparations for the dive commenced as the White sands approached 

the location of the 0 dot. The recovery hook waa attached to the Trieate by 

the divers, the anti-chamber filled with sea water and the Trieate descended 

towards the bottom. 

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.: 

IIInaorandw. ME 70 (continued) ~r 18, 1971 

IIJ'dropbcme CO. lactation with the 'ld •• t ... _1ata1Dec1 throuahout 

the dive _ At .bout 2000, one hour aad forty-five ainut .. aft.r 1 ... 1 .. the 

surface, the Tri.ate reported their posicion 300 feet above the bottOlll which 

waa at 16,400 feet. l.elayina their ranae to each of the dota 10 the pattern, 

the Trieate atteaptect to close in on the zero dot. At the __ tWe, the:l.r 

po.ition wa. plotted both on Apache and White Saads. As the Tri •• te approached 

the zero dot they observed a sooar contact on their C'l"FM. They chaqecl course 

to investisate the contact aad foUDd notbiag. 'lhe __ type of ... reh ... uvers 

were conducted with several other sooar contacts. Each tba no viaaal observation •• aade. Dudag the dive,' there ..... d to be a discrepancy in the ranae 

data iadicaUns that the dots were not located where they were reportecl to be. 

At about 0200 the di.e w.s te~tecl unauccessfully. 'l.'he scaph reached the 

surface at about 0345. 

Meanwhile the teaperature of the refdaerator box had stabtl tzed at 

just below SO-F. 

nIDAY, S NOVEMBBIl 1971 

A .. etiRl was held to brief all parties oneeminl the observations 

_de 'on the first dive, to review the data taken and to plan the activities 

for the next recovery attempt. At this point the weather waa belinnins to 

deteriorate to the point where it was extre .. 1y difficult' to op~ • ...11 

boat on the surface and 8l.,st impossible to board ttte Trieste. Two officers 

from the Apache atteaded the lDeetins. (They were part of the nav1aat1on team 

on the first dive). After discussina the data taken and tryins to draw conclusions as to the location of the dot. it was apparent that a survey of the 

field should be taken from the surface. A plan was laid out that would have 

Apache attempt to eros. the line between s~cces.ive pairs of dots while recording range to each dot. A plot of the au- of the ranges to two dots will ainiaize on a lint! btltLwan tha two dots. 'l.'hc d~t.s taken on the surface hp.tWll'lf!n each 

pair of dots can then be used to determine the distance between the dots on the 

bott~. AI8U1Ilina the location of the payload is accurate with respect to the 

zero dot and knowtnl the ranae ~etween dota the Trieate can navilate al required 

within the field without lodna ita reference. It can leek the combination of 

rang.1 that will put it over the payload. 

The meetins waa terminated early to allow the Apache officers to return to their ahip becau.e the weather kept setting worse. The plan to survey 

the field had to be postponed becau.e the White Sand. could no lonser .. intain 

head .. y alainlt the wind. and. the sea. Apache was required to provide a tow so 

as to .. intain control over the Trieste which wal beinl towed by White Sanda. 

All recovery activity ceased pending improve.ent in the the weather. 

SATtJltDf.Y. 6 IfOVEMlElt 1971 

Winds in exceaa of 22 bots with p.t. up to 30 knots prevented any 

recovery activity. Although previously c~l1ed off via messace to Ha .. U, the 

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He.,raadua. 70 .(CoutiDued) -7-

aircraft carryina 150 aquare yards of 3 inch .styrofoe. 1n8ulatlon· ... an additlonal 1000 pounh of dry ice ca.e out. '!'he air drop va. c.lled off via radio 

becau.. the •••• were too rough to attempt to launch a _11 boat for the pickup. 'l'he recovery force with Apache tovina White Sand. and White Sand. toviDg 

Trieste .-neuvered into the v1.nd. in an effort to _intain within the operational 

area. 

SUIIlA.Y, 7 1!OXIM8II 19 n 

Weather conditions r ... ined about the .... with no let-up in sight. 

Wind. a. hi8h a. 29 knots with 8uts up to 35 knot .... re reported duriq the 

niaht. Sea aw11s of about 8 to 10 feet with white caps prevailed throuzhout 

the day. No. r.covery activity .. performed. 

!alDAY, 8 !IOVIMID 1971 

Weather conditiona r .. in the .a.. No recovery activity today. At 

thia poiDt_ Apache's fuel supply belan to reach a critical levt.l. She reported 

that only SO'1 of her fuel aupply r_lned. Uslng about 3'1 per day, this left 

only five days operating tWe before she IllUst bana.t with .. It water. Not 

having used thia procedure for quite .OM time there was • que.tion of contaminating her reaining aupply due to pipe leaka, etc. To avoid this pot8lltial 

problem one of several al terDet iva .. c:ould· be· cho .. a. 

1. Rope that the .... the.r cleared in the next five days so that Apache 

could be refueled from White Sanda. 

2. Send out another ship to provide the tow for White Sanda aad have 

White Sanda aDd Trieate stay on station to wait for the weather 

to clear while Apache goea to port unencumbered for fueling. 

3. Have the entire recovery force head for port for fueling .nd re-

'pair. 

4. Send out another ship capable of refueling Apache while towlna 

White Sands. 

Coaaancier !boney rec:~ed alternate n_er 2 via a -ssage requeating direction from Sub Fleet 5. 

LBM/cj 

cc: M.F. Mlau11'8 

H.W. llobertson 

R.W. Jones 

C. bratzas 

P. Petty 

R. Roylance 

J. Braddon 

_(HQS) 

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L.B. Molaakey.~