New Fast-Attack Nuclear Submarines to be Named Arizona and Oklahoma

[Bob DBF]

Under then-current procedures it would have taken 10 minutes to restart the reactor.

If it was done by the manual, much longer than ten minutes. A fast reactor startup after a casualty drill, when I participated, took a few minutes, depending on how long it took to find the cause and correct it.

The major issue was that no steam could be used to power the turbines until the reactor was producing power, I believe the steam stops had to be shut, not sure because I was trained after the rules were changed, and the old ways were discussed but not important enough to remember after 50+ years.

Later testing on Thresher's sister ship USS Tinosa showed that moisture in the sub's air flasks could cause the valves to freeze up in seconds when an emergency blow was ordered; it's believed this happened to Thresher and doomed the sub

The marratta (sp?) blow valves were throttle valves, and could ice up especially when throttled. Since there was little problem when used fully open, that upgrade was not implemented as fast as other changes. Although they were one nail in the coffin, there were many other more important ones.

I rode the Andrew Jackson out of the yards after the re-core and the, I like to call it, semi-subsafe. The every through hull and fitting subjected to sea water pressure was re-welded and radiographed, until proper. The blow valves were the same as on the Thresher.

The heart of subsafe was changes in the reactor plant manual that put the survival of the crew above the safety of the plant.

 

[Akimbo]

Given the Navy's interest in the two Mark 45 torpedoes onboard, I'd lay money they've at least put some hard thought into getting an ROV inside since the 1980s.

I concur, but there are also political forces that wouldn't be enthusiastic over placing blame on one of the various commands that may have contributed to the accident. There are a plenty of reports that the Scorpion put to sea needing a lot of repairs. Just because all the officers and politicians responsible are retired or dead, others could be sucked into cover-up conspiracies. Nobody will get a medal or promotion for solving this half century old mystery.

None of the services are fond of Congress imposing more constraints on them because somebody didn't prevent an accident they should have. It can be argued that operational requirements justified the increased risk, but that will never satisfy people who lost loved ones or the media that loves human interest stories and passing judgement.

I thank everyone working to protect us, even when their best assessments prove unlucky. It is a very complex and dangerous business.

 

[Jared0425]

EDIT: Jump to 16:58 and you can see footage of Jason Jr. (or a successor ROV) being deployed; the configuration is visibly different than what was used on Titanic and the narration states it was modified for a mission objective in the "forward compartment."

That's Jason. Junior was developed 6 months later according to Wikipedia. There is a non functioning copy (stripped of components) in the Titanic museum. It was a replacement for the loss, but there are some subtle differences.

I believe most nuclear powered/ armed wrecks are classified location wise and access is restricted. I'm still worried about an Unscrupulous salvage company that would try and salvage materials or the weapons themselves. The military has repeatedly told divers off Georgia to stop looking for that bomb they lost in the late 50s.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

That's Jason. Junior was developed 6 months later according to Wikipedia. There is a non functioning copy (stripped of components) in the Titanic museum. It was a replacement for the loss, but there are some subtle differences.

I believe most nuclear powered/ armed wrecks are classified location wise and access is restricted. I'm still worried about an Unscrupulous salvage company that would try and salvage materials or the weapons themselves. The military has repeatedly told divers off Georgia to stop looking for that bomb they lost in the late 50s.

The ROV in the video appears to be Jason Jr., with the casing modified to reduce its profile. Jason was the original concept, but Jason Jr. was built two years earlier as a prototype. Jason is a much larger ROV (roughly 7'x7' forward profile and 11' long) paired with the Medea camera/sonar sled: Jason (ROV) - Wikipedia

 

[Jared0425]

The ROV in the video appears to be Jason Jr., with the casing modified to reduce its profile. Jason was the original concept, but Jason Jr. was built two years earlier as a prototype. Jason is a much larger ROV (roughly 7'x7' forward profile and 11' long) paired with the Medea camera/sonar sled: Jason (ROV) - Wikipedia

It seems that there are several Jason Jr's. I will EM a guy I know who was at Woods Hole at the time (he was not on any expeditions) but now is at Texas A&M doing autonomous underwater vehicles now. He's in his 70s but I consider him one of the founders of ROVs. Maybe he'll know.

 

[Steelyeyes]

Small nit: Some dates seem a little off in this article. The Seawolf must have been was attached to Submarine Development Group I before 1973. I was briefed to go aboard her in 1972, which fortunately didn't happen. It was well known that divers were at Mare Island working on her along with the Halibut in 1971. The dive team I was on aboard the USS Elk River was converted into a saturation training platform after we completed the operational evaluation of the Mark II Mod 0 Deep Dive System. Most saturation training was at NEDU in Washington DC before that.

I remember scuttlebutt about divers on the Halibut and Seawolf when I was at First Class Diving School in DC, which was in the same building as NEDU, so it was no secret. Just to be clear, there was a solid brick wall between the school and NEDU, literally and figuratively. I was able to tour NEDU but only when all the classified stuff was stowed.

My E Div Chief when I was on the USS Puffer had been on the Halibut for Ivy Bells. He told me a few stories at first but nothing too detailed. Later he was paralyzed in a car wreck, eventually got cancer and was dying. I went to visit him about a week before his last day. He told me a few more things I'll never repeat but they did fit with some things I'd read from one of the divers that lived in the Batcave. Those guys did some ballsy stuff. I had a chance to to go the Parche, but wisely chose otherwise.

 

[Akimbo]

He told me a few more things I'll never repeat but they did fit with some things I'd read from one of the divers that lived in the Batcave.

The Batcave, or the old Regulus hanger, was not used for saturation divers though conventional divers may have used it. Halibut's Batcave was extensively used for ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle) operations including locating the K-129 before the Trieste II was sent out for a full survey. The saturation divers on the Ivy Bells operations were inside a DSRV mockup aft of the sail.

I left the Trieste II weeks before they got orders for a "scientific mission" off Hawaii. They were gone for 9 months while I was in First Class Diving School and Saturation training. A VERY lucky break for my career.

For other readers:
Here is an image of the Halibut (SSGN-587) showing the DSRV mockup aft and the bump forward of the sail is the Regulus hanger, commonly known as the Batcave.

Anyone interested in these "special operations" boats would enjoy reading Blind Man's Bluff( The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage).

 

[HalcyonDaze]

The Batcave, or the old Regulus hanger, was not used for saturation divers though conventional divers may have used it. Halibut's Batcave was extensively used for ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle) operations including locating the K-129 before the Trieste II was sent out for a full survey. The saturation divers on the Ivy Bells operations were inside a DSRV mockup aft of the sail.

I left the Trieste II weeks before they got orders for a "scientific mission" off Hawaii. They were gone for 9 months while I was in First Class Diving School and Saturation training. A VERY lucky break for my career.

For other readers:
Here is an image of the Halibut (SSGN-587) showing the DSRV mockup aft and the bump forward of the sail is the Regulus hanger, commonly known as the Batcave.

View attachment 673068

Anyone interested in these "special operations" boats would enjoy reading Blind Man's Bluff( The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage).

Lucky break for your career how?

 

[Akimbo]

Lucky break for your career how?

This is a little convoluted. I was a young Airman (E3) electronics technician and Second Class Diver assigned TAD (Temporary Active Duty) to the Trieste II, until I had enough time-in-service to take the test for 3rd Class Petty Officer (E4). I passed the test and put on the chevron about a week before going out on the TII's post-overhaul test dive. E4 was a minimum requirement for First Class Diving School, which was a requirement for saturation training. Orders for First Class Diving School were waiting for me as soon as we tied up to the pier after the test dives.

I never would have been able to leave the TII after those high priority orders came for the mission off Hawaii. A delay of more than 9 months would mean extending my enlistment another 4 years in order to meet the minimum time left in service requirement after completing First Class Diving School. I also would have missed the OpEval (Operational Evaluation) of the Mark II Deep Dive System, which gave me the opportunity to make a record deep dive with another shipmate (later broken by another team of shipmates).

As it turned out, saturation diving technology in the commercial sector was starting to overtake the Navy's when I left the service in 1973, thanks to the North Sea oil fields. Looking back, I was in the right place at exactly the right time. All I knew at that point in my life was I wanted to be part of the cutting edge of deep diving.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

This ought to be interesting - big question mark is how the RAN is going to switch gears to acquiring and crewing nuclear subs in a reasonable timeframe (i.e. before the Collins-class boats wear out).

UK, US and Australia launch landmark security pact