DEEP SEA
Contributor
DeepSeaDan - Yes, the memories come back after reading your post. The MK-V rig was heavy in deed. The helmet, dress, breast plate and shoes totaled up to 180 lbs. It took all your wits and strength to stand up and walk over to the ladder. The 12' walk down the ladder was hard but not as hard as the walk back up.
My most vivid memory of training was the "hose stretch" day. We were to walk along the bottom of the harbor being directed by the surface tender. He would give us rope pulls which made us react. Something like, two quick pulls then one pull meant walk back. You walked back until they gave you the next command which might be like 2 pulls to stop, 1 pull to go. 2 pulls with 2 more pulls meant go right. Two pulls with 1 pull go left and so on. Well, the instructors made it hard by throwing many objects in the water. Objects like washing machines, old bikes, refrigerators, jagged metal things and the like. They also had a crane come in and dig out pits. You would think the deep silt mud with zero viability would have been enough! You had to take the commands from the surface tender until you reached the end of your 250' umbilical. You were told not to use the underwater voice communications, just rope pulls to communicate.
Well, as it would be, I was about 235' out when I climbed over a toilet - at least that's what it felt like. Oh, the gloves were two fingers and a thumb, built into the suit made thick so you could not feel much. After I reached the other side of the toilet, I fell into a 12' hole. I could not believe how deep and dark the hole was. It was like being buried alive. I tried to use rope pulls but the 90 degree bend in the rope stopped any movement to the surface. I could not get out of the hole no matter how hard I tried. I tired to climb out but I just kept slipping back to the bottom. After about five minutes, I yelled up to the Chief that I was stuck in a hole. The Chief yelled back to shut up and use rope pulls :monster:.
The US Navy Dive School did not tolerate failure. One time and your were pretty much out. I knew I had to get out. I also figure the big ass chief knew exactly where this hole was a took delight guiding me over to it. He probably got a good laugh when I yelled out when I was falling. Also, they could see a steady flow of bubbles from one spot.
The way a MK-V system worked was you had a valve you controlled the air flow on your breast plate. You can crank it up to really put air in the suit. However, air flow in faster then air can come out meant the suit would fill up like a balloon and eventually blow up - not good. The helmet also had a dump valve inside you could hit with your chin which quickly dumped air out. Your task was to put in enough air to keep you on the bottom and not blow up. Like trimming with a BC. Stories of guys who put to much air in the suit only to blow quickly to the surface, well almost to the surface before the suit explodes then you fall to your death to the bottom. Oh, the suit is so thick, when you put to much air in the suit, your hands and feet will straighten out so tight you can wiggle your fingers but that's about all. You can't bend your elbows or legs. SCARY feeling.
OK, still stuck in the hole. What to do? My plan was to hold on as tight as I could to the valve and increase the air in the suit to kind of blow me up. I would float out of the hole then shut air down and dump from my chin valve. I knew I could do it if my hand did not come off the valve The Chief was nice enough to every once in a while say, "OK RED" and I would answer "OK RED". The Navy colored the divers RED, YELLOW, GREEN, or WHITE. Then he would yell, "VENTILATE RED" and I would for a short period open the vale, chin dump and ventilate the CO2 out of the suit. Then he would tell me to shut up and use rope pulls. Of course he knew dawn well I couldn't. I sat in the pitch dark and got up enough nerve to put my hand on the valve as hard as I could. I felt like I was getting ready to ride a bull. I then turned the valve and felt the suit fill up as planned. Hey, I started to float out. I got to about 6" from the top when my legs popped straight out. My right arm quickly followed and my left, holding on to the valve was starting to spring out. I quickly hit the chin valve and shut the air and fell back to the bottom of the hole. ;-0 I did this two more times and started to get concerned. I was trying to think up some great excuse to yell up to the Chief in order to get help but knew it would not go over well. I put my hands back on the valve and held on as hard as I could. I open the valve and again started to float up. My feet popped and the right arm next. My left arm was being pulled hard but I kept hanging on. This time I got about ½ my body out of the hole. I dumped and shut the valve and fell on the side of the hole and crawled out. I followed my umbilical to the toilet and untangled it. I gave my rope pulls and they brought me back to the barge and back up.
I still had months of training left in the MK-V and other systems but after that day I knew nothing would stop me from being a U.S. Navy Diver.
My most vivid memory of training was the "hose stretch" day. We were to walk along the bottom of the harbor being directed by the surface tender. He would give us rope pulls which made us react. Something like, two quick pulls then one pull meant walk back. You walked back until they gave you the next command which might be like 2 pulls to stop, 1 pull to go. 2 pulls with 2 more pulls meant go right. Two pulls with 1 pull go left and so on. Well, the instructors made it hard by throwing many objects in the water. Objects like washing machines, old bikes, refrigerators, jagged metal things and the like. They also had a crane come in and dig out pits. You would think the deep silt mud with zero viability would have been enough! You had to take the commands from the surface tender until you reached the end of your 250' umbilical. You were told not to use the underwater voice communications, just rope pulls to communicate.
Well, as it would be, I was about 235' out when I climbed over a toilet - at least that's what it felt like. Oh, the gloves were two fingers and a thumb, built into the suit made thick so you could not feel much. After I reached the other side of the toilet, I fell into a 12' hole. I could not believe how deep and dark the hole was. It was like being buried alive. I tried to use rope pulls but the 90 degree bend in the rope stopped any movement to the surface. I could not get out of the hole no matter how hard I tried. I tired to climb out but I just kept slipping back to the bottom. After about five minutes, I yelled up to the Chief that I was stuck in a hole. The Chief yelled back to shut up and use rope pulls :monster:.
The US Navy Dive School did not tolerate failure. One time and your were pretty much out. I knew I had to get out. I also figure the big ass chief knew exactly where this hole was a took delight guiding me over to it. He probably got a good laugh when I yelled out when I was falling. Also, they could see a steady flow of bubbles from one spot.
The way a MK-V system worked was you had a valve you controlled the air flow on your breast plate. You can crank it up to really put air in the suit. However, air flow in faster then air can come out meant the suit would fill up like a balloon and eventually blow up - not good. The helmet also had a dump valve inside you could hit with your chin which quickly dumped air out. Your task was to put in enough air to keep you on the bottom and not blow up. Like trimming with a BC. Stories of guys who put to much air in the suit only to blow quickly to the surface, well almost to the surface before the suit explodes then you fall to your death to the bottom. Oh, the suit is so thick, when you put to much air in the suit, your hands and feet will straighten out so tight you can wiggle your fingers but that's about all. You can't bend your elbows or legs. SCARY feeling.
OK, still stuck in the hole. What to do? My plan was to hold on as tight as I could to the valve and increase the air in the suit to kind of blow me up. I would float out of the hole then shut air down and dump from my chin valve. I knew I could do it if my hand did not come off the valve The Chief was nice enough to every once in a while say, "OK RED" and I would answer "OK RED". The Navy colored the divers RED, YELLOW, GREEN, or WHITE. Then he would yell, "VENTILATE RED" and I would for a short period open the vale, chin dump and ventilate the CO2 out of the suit. Then he would tell me to shut up and use rope pulls. Of course he knew dawn well I couldn't. I sat in the pitch dark and got up enough nerve to put my hand on the valve as hard as I could. I felt like I was getting ready to ride a bull. I then turned the valve and felt the suit fill up as planned. Hey, I started to float out. I got to about 6" from the top when my legs popped straight out. My right arm quickly followed and my left, holding on to the valve was starting to spring out. I quickly hit the chin valve and shut the air and fell back to the bottom of the hole. ;-0 I did this two more times and started to get concerned. I was trying to think up some great excuse to yell up to the Chief in order to get help but knew it would not go over well. I put my hands back on the valve and held on as hard as I could. I open the valve and again started to float up. My feet popped and the right arm next. My left arm was being pulled hard but I kept hanging on. This time I got about ½ my body out of the hole. I dumped and shut the valve and fell on the side of the hole and crawled out. I followed my umbilical to the toilet and untangled it. I gave my rope pulls and they brought me back to the barge and back up.
I still had months of training left in the MK-V and other systems but after that day I knew nothing would stop me from being a U.S. Navy Diver.
