USS Tringa ( ASR - 16 ) USS " Tringa " ( ASR - 16 ) was a Chanticleer - class submarine rescue ship of the United States Navy . She was laid down on 12 July 1945 at Savannah , Georgia , by the Savannah Machine & Foundry Co . ; launched on 25 June 1946 ; sponsored by Mrs . Nola Dora Vassar , the mother of Curtis L . Vassar , Jr . , missing in action ; and commissioned on 28 January 1947 , Lt . Comdr . Paul C . Cottrell in command . Service history . 1947 – 1960 . Upon commissioning , " Tringa " was assigned to Submarine Squadron ( SubRon ) 8 and operated out of the submarine base at New London , Connecticut . During her first six years of active service , she remained close to the eastern seaboard . Fortunately , her services as a submarine rescue vessel were not required . On the other hand , " Tringa " remained busy practicing simulated submarine rescues and serving as target ship and recovery ship for submarines in torpedo - firing drills . In addition , she participated in a number of rescue experiments for the Bureau of Ships , testing diving bell s , submarine buoys , ground tackle , mooring gear , and related equipment . Her most significant contribution during those six years came in January 1950 when " Missouri " ( BB - 63 ) ran aground in the vicinity of Thimble Shoals Light and Old Point Comfort , Hampton Roads , Virginia . " Tringa " and her sister rescue vessels joined tugs in refloating the battleship on 1 February . In August 1953 , " Tringa " was called upon to cross the Atlantic Ocean to aid " Harder " ( SS - 568 ) , which had broken down off the coast of Ireland . The ship returned to New London with the submarine and then resumed operations along the east coast of the United States . During the early months of 1955 , " Tringa " escorted USS " Nautilus " ( SSN - 571 ) , the world ' s first atomic - powered ship , during her sea trials . That fall , she joined USS " Albacore " ( AGSS - 569 ) for experiments at Portsmouth , New Hampshire . The submarine rescue vessel conducted deep submergence tests on a new submarine rescue chamber , RC - 21 . In the midst of that operation , RC - 21 parted its tow and sank in 230 feet of water . " Tringa " spent the next 25 days struggling against foul weather , treacherous currents , and fouled wreckage , but successfully salvaged RC - 21 in the end . For their part in the operation , three officers and 10 divers assigned to " Tringa " received commendations . Early in 1957 , she began serving as school ship for the submarine Prospective Commanding Officers ' School . That duty took her to the warm waters of the British West Indies in April and again in July . After her return to normal duty at New London , " Tringa " was called upon to assist the newly constructed Peruvian submarine " Iquiqui " , which on 27 August had run aground on Long Sand Shoal in Long Island Sound . The rescuer arriver on the scene , passed a tow wire to the stranded boat , and pulled her off at the next high tide . Late in the summer , a voyage to Europe broke " Tringa ' s " routine . On 3 September , she stood out of New London in company with " Fulton " ( AS - 11 ) and a submarine group to participate in a NATO fleet exercise . En route to Scotland , " Tringa " made a brief side trip to Newfoundland to deliver a critically ill " Fulton " crewman to the naval hospital at Argentia . She reached Rothesay on 13 September but soon moved on to Portland , England . During the two - day trip , hurricane " Carrie " struck and enlivened " Tringa ' s " passage through the Irish Sea . On 28 September , the ship departed England and headed for France . At Le Havre , she provided tender services for the submarines returning from the exercises until 11 October when she headed home toward the United States . " Tringa " reentered Newport on 23 October and , after three weeks of upkeep , sailed for Bermuda and another tour of duty with the submarine Prospective Commanding Officers ' School . In January 1958 , she served as target ship for the submarine school at New London and recovered practice torpedoes fired at her . She underwent her biennial overhaul at Boston that spring and , after refresher training in June , made a two - week goodwill cruise to Canadian ports in July . " Tringa " returned to New London on 22 July and , through the first month and a half of 1959 , trained divers , served as target and torpedo recovery ship for New London - based submarines , and conducted drills . On 25 February , she got underway for Norfolk , Virginia , where she served as " Kittiwake ' s " ( ASR - 13 ) stand - in during that ship ' s overhaul . She operated as a temporary unit of SubRon 6 until 1 April at which time she departed Norfolk and moved north . After a brief rendezvous with " Torsk " ( SS - 423 ) during the latter ' s post - overhaul dives and a three - day stopover at Philadelphia , " Tringa " returned with the submarine to New London on the 9th . After demonstrating her rescue capabilities during an operational readiness inspection , she resumed training divers , conducting underway training , and providing services to submarines . She also escorted submarines during their post - construction trials . In this regard , " Tringa " assisted " Barbel " ( SS - 580 ) in May and " Seadragon " ( SSN - 584 ) in October . In December , the ship escorted the fleet ballistic missile ( FBM ) submarine " George Washington " ( SSBN - 598 ) on her trials . In January 1960 , she conducted diving operations in Narragansett Bay with a group of four Norfolk - based minesweeper s in a search for debris from an exploded aircraft . Following the annual " Springboard " exercise in mid - February , " Tringa " visited Puerto Rico , the Virgin Islands , and the Dominican Republic before resuming duty out of New London late in March . Toward the end of the following month , the ship sailed to Ft . Lauderdale , Florida , where she spent a month as recovery ship for the Naval Ordnance Test Facility ' s missile program . In May , she returned north and , after a visit to Kingston , New York , and a brief rendezvous with " Dogfish " ( SS - 350 ) for that submarine ' s sea trials and deep dives , " Tringa " returned to New London to prepare for overhaul . 1960 – 1970 . Following post - overhaul refresher training , " Tringa " resumed her normal duty out of New London . In December , she began assisting in the fleet ballistic missile submarine ordnance evaluation program by recovering test missiles fired in practice . The following spring , she returned to Norfolk to serve as " ready duty ASR " for most of the Atlantic coast during a period when the other Atlantic Fleet submarine rescue vessels were either in overhaul or deployed overseas . By July 1961 , however , she was able to return to New London and resume her usual routine . In the fall , she steamed south to Florida but remained in southern waters only briefly — assisting the Bureau of Weapons in tests — before the requirements of the FBM program called her back to New London . Over the next two years , the ship alternated two deployments to the Mediterranean with 2d Fleet operations along the eastern seaboard . After returning from submarine operations near Bermuda , " Tringa " operated from New London until early in April 1962 . At that time , she put to sea for a three - month deployment during which she provided support services to 6th Fleet submarines . After visiting a number of Mediterranean ports , she left the " middle sea " in July 1962 and visited Lisbon , Portugal , and then headed for Scotland . At Holy Loch , Scotland she picked up an APL and a YRDM for tandem tow to the United States and departed the British Isles on 12 August . " Tringa " delivered her charges to Norfolk on 3 September and continued on to New London where she arrived on the 5th . After four weeks of leave and upkeep , she resumed duty escorting and towing targets for units of Submarine Flotilla ( Sub - Flot ) 2 . " Tringa " underwent another overhaul from March to July 1963 and , after refresher training , resumed duty with Atlantic Fleet submarines . In August , she visited the site of " Thresher ' s " ( SSN - 593 ) sinking to support units operating with the deep submergence vehicle " Trieste " . In mid - September , she escorted " Thomas Jefferson " ( SSBN — 618 ) during trials . Later that month , she was called upon to assist " Grouse " ( MSCO - 15 ) aground on the Massachusetts coast at Cape Ann . Her divers attached cables to " Grouse " , but three attempts to pull the stranded ship off the rocks failed . " Grouse " was destroyed by fire , and " Tringa " returned to New London on 30 September . Normal operations and escort duty for two newly constructed FBM submarines — " Nathan Hale " ( SSBN - 623 ) and " Lafayette " ( SSBN - 616 ) — occupied the ship for the remainder of the year . " Tringa " deployed to the Mediterranean for the second time on 3 April 1964 and returned to the United States on 1 September . After a three - week upkeep period , she resumed local operations by escorting " Haddo " ( SSN - 604 ) and " Tecumseh " ( SSBN - 628 ) during their sea trials . That employment occupied her to the end of 1964 and through 1965 . She cleared New London on 31 January 1966 to participate in Operation " Springboard . " Three days out of port , the ship was ordered to the Mediterranean to join in the search for the nuclear weapon missing after the mid - air collision of a B - 52 bomber with a KC - 135 tanker aircraft . Upon her arrival off Palomares , Spain , " Tringa " was fitted out with underwater television equipment with which she conducted visual inspections of sonar contacts while her divers assisted in the recovery . The submarine rescue ship completed her part of the operation on 25 March and headed back to New London , where she arrived on 9 April . Local operations out of New London occupied her time until the end of September when she entered the James S . Munro Shipyard at Chelsea , Massachusetts , for overhaul . " Tringa " completed overhaul on January 1967 and then returned to New London . She remained there until 30 January when she sailed for the West Indies . During February and the first week in March , the ship underwent inspection and survey at San Juan , conducted refresher training near Guantánamo Bay , and assisted in test - firings of SUBROC missiles at the Grand Turk missile range . On 15 March , " Tringa " reentered New London and began preparations for a deployment to European waters . The ship cleared New London on 3 April and reported for duty at Rota , Spain , later in the month . She operated along the Spanish and Portuguese coasts for two months , escorting submarines , towing targets , and recovering practice torpedoes . On 14 June , " Tringa " headed for the submarine base at Holy Loch . During the following month , she provided services to the submarines based there and visited Dublin and Derry . On 26 July , she returned to New London from her European deployment and took up duties with SubFlot 2 once again . The submarine rescue vessel served in coastal waters of the United States for the remainder of 1967 and throughout 1968 . During that period , she departed northeastern coastal waters only once , in mid - November 1968 , when she made a short cruise to Bermuda with units of SubRon 8 . On 6 January 1969 — in company with " Sea Robin " ( SS - 407 ) , " Becuna " ( AGSS - 319 ) , " Halfbeak " ( SS - 352 ) , and " Thornback " ( SS - 418 ) — she departed New London and headed for duty with the 6th Fleet . She reached Rota , Spain , on 20 January and joined United States naval forces assigned to the Mediterranean area . The deployment with the 6th Fleet lasted until 15 April when she left Rota and headed back across the Atlantic . " Tringa " entered New London on the 25th and began post - deployment leave and upkeep . A little over two months later , the ship resumed operations from New London and remained so occupied until the end of November when she entered the Boston Naval Shipyard . 1970 – 1977 . " Tringa " completed overhaul early in March 1970 . During refresher training , she received orders reassigning her to Submarine Division 121 based at Key West , Florida . She reported to her new home port on 29 April ; and , for the rest of the year , she operated in the Gulf of Mexico and along the southeastern coast of the United States . Early in June , the ship accompanied " Darter " ( SS - 576 ) during her sea trials . Later that month , she picked up a Cuban refugee family adrift on the ocean some 35 miles from Key West and brought them into that port . Through the fall of 1970 , " Tringa " continued normal operations from Key West . Over the next five years , " Tringa " alternated tours of duty in the Mediterranean with service along the east coast of the United States . Within that time period , she made two deployments with the 6th Fleet : the first during the spring of 1971 and the second in the summer of 1972 . Upon her return to the United States on each occasion , she resumed her duties at Key West conducting torpedo exercises with Atlantic Fleet submarines . In June 1973 , " Tringa " rushed to the rescue when Johnson Sea Link accident disaster struck a civilian deep - submergence vehicle test project . On the 17th , she received orders to go to the aid of Dr . Edwin Link , whose submersible , the " Johnson Sea Link " , was reported " in distress , bottomed in approximately 360 feet of water with four men on board . " " Tringa " made a four - point moor above the stricken craft and for two days provided a platform for divers engaged in the rescue operation . Finally , on 18 June , a civilian salvage vessel , " A . B . Wood " , arrived on the scene and joined in the salvage / rescue operation . Utilizing a television camera and a crane , " A . B . Wood " succeeded in hauling the " Sea Link " to the surface that night . Though " Tringa " divers tried to revive the two men in the after chamber of the submersible by warming it with HeO and hot water , the two men were pronounced dead at 0800 on 20 June . The two men in the forward chamber survived . The following month , " Tringa " was reassigned to New London , and spent August and September engaged in the familiar role of standby rescue and target recovery ship for New London - based submarines . Following an overhaul which lasted from November 1973 until mid - February 1974 , the ship returned to duty at New London . The next three years brought " Tringa " more routine duty supporting Atlantic Fleet submarines , testing diving equipment , training divers , and escorting newly built submarines on their trial cruises . The ship departed the western Atlantic only once during that period , in July 1975 , to participate in a series of oceanographic surveys conducted from the submarine base at Holy Loch , Scotland . She returned to New London early the following November and operated along the eastern seaboard until 30 September 1977 when she was decommissioned at the Submarine Base , New London , Connecticut . Her name was struck from the Navy List concurrently with decommissioning .