The Official Newsletter for the Divers and Salvors of the United States NavyVolume 3, No. 1 / Summer 1997

In This Issue

SUPSALV Sends

(continued on page 2)

Navy Diving Display Dedication ........ 2Waterborne Fin Stabilizer Repairs .... 3From SUPDIVE ................................. 5Command in the Spotlight ................ 7

First Issue FADS III ........................... 8Saturation Divers ............................ 10Dive Notes ...................................... 10The Old Master ............................... 11

Navy Divin

g Display

Dedicatio

n (see page 2)

An old fin shaft is transported to the jetty after repairs are made to USS Doyle. The new waterbornemethod for repairing fin stabilizers was first tested on USS De Wert (see full story on page 3).

The Navy’s recovery effort in sup-port of TWA Flight 800 ended thisMay. Manned diving operationshad been suspended the first weekof November 1996. At that timethe Navy hired four scallop trawlboats to drag the bottom for anyremaining victims and aircraft de-bris. The trawling operations wereconducted from November toApril. In May, a Navy RemotelyOperated Vehicle (ROV) inspected85 separate sites. The ROV in-spected a 100-yard circle at eachof the 85 sites. In all, only one 8-inch piece of aircraft was found.This was a final testimony to thesuccess of the operation.

Although it is difficult to estimateexactly how much debris was re-covered by divers, we do know thatbetween 2 to 4 tons of debris wererecovered by trawling. This rep-resents between 1 and 2 percentof the aircraft. There was little ofthe aircraft left in the ocean. Thisall points to the fact that at the sus-pension of the diving operations,almost all of the aircraft had beenrecovered. Also, the medical exam-iner has been conducting DNAtesting on recovered victims andnow states that all 230 victimshave been identified. This is anincredibly impressive result ofwhich every member of the recov-ery team can be proud.

Waterborne Fin StabilizerRepairs Successful

Summer 199 72

On Thursday, 25 September at 1200, Captain �Chip� McCord,Supervisor of Salvage and Diving, will officially dedicate the NavyDiving Display at the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, DC.

The display includes a full U.S. Navy Mark V �Jake,� the Navy�sprimary diving helmet and suit from its creation in 1915/1916to 1982, and various operational diving photographs.

The ribbon cutting will be performed by HTCM (MDV) MikeWashington.

The Navy Memorial is one of Washington�s newest national land-marks, focused on America�s enduring link to the sea. It is de-signed as a living tribute to the people who have served in theNavy and is open to visitors and tourists year-round. It is lo-cated at 701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, and is accessible by thecity�s Metro Yellow Line.

INTERNET: MCCORD_RAYMOND_S@hq.navsea.navy.mil

SUPSALV SENDS (from page 1)

FACEPLATE is published by the Su-pervisor of Salvage and Diving to bringthe latest and most informative newsavailable to the Navy diving and salvagecommunity. Discussions or illustrationsof commercial products do not imply en-dorsement by the Supervisor of Salvageand Diving or the U.S. Navy.

Articles, letters, queries and commentsshould be directed to the Commander,Naval Sea Systems Command, 2531Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington,VA 22242-5160. (Attn: FACEPLATE)

Captain R. S. McCord, USNDirector of Ocean Engineering

Supervisor of Salvage and DivingNAVSEA 00C

Jim BladhHead, Operations Branch, 00C22

Managing Editor

HTCM(MDV) Michael Washington,USN

Fleet Liaison Editor

Judy KvedarProduction Editor

CAPT R. S. McCordDirector of Ocean Engineering

Supervisor of Salvage and Diving

In this issue of FACEPLATE we dis-cuss a few new topics, such as thewaterborne repair to FFG 7 class finstabilizers. This a first for this typeof in-water repair. This shows justhow valuable the contributions of theship repair lockers are to the opera-tional fleet.

Recently we published the new andrevised Authorized for Navy Diving(ANU) list. The ANU lists equipmentthat is authorized for Navy diving.You should have received a copy of

the ANU by now. You can also ac-cess the ANU through the Internetat SUPSALV’s homepage at http:/www.navsea.navy.mil/sea00c.

Although we are in the middle ofsummer as I write this, winter is justaround the corner. I encourage allof you to take a round turn and en-sure that your locker is ready forwinter diving operations. I knowthat many lockers do not have toworry about winter diving, such as

in Pearl Harbor and GTMO. Butyou never know when you may betasked to deploy in support of somemajor operation. I encourage youas a minimum to review the vari-ous pubs and become familiar withthe rules for cold water and be-neath-ice diving.

Navy DivingDisplay Dedication

3Summer 1997

By A. L. Blakey, LCDR RN

On 30 September 1996, NAVSEA00C5 was tasked to investigate the feasi-bility of conducting fin stabilizer repairswaterborne. The problem? How to re-move an 8000-pound weight with a di-ameter of 13.5 inches from a hull open-ing 14 feet below the waterline, replacedamaged bearings (thus expanding thehole in the process to 19.5 inches), andthen replace the 8000-pound weight (trap-ezoidal and extremely top heavy), allwithout sinking the ship. No problem forthe UWSH team at 00C—this is preciselythe type of evolution it conducts every dayof the week in support of the Fleetthroughout CONUS and abroad.

By January 1997 the solution hadbeen developed and briefed to COM-NAVSURFLANT. SURFLANT thentasked NAVSEA with executing the re-pair and the 00C5 team was on a tightschedule to complete the first repair onUSS De Wert (FFG 45) in MayportFlorida from 7–14 April 1997.

The solution was to use external rig-ging to support the finshaft and fin as-sembly as the internal support compo-nents were disassembled. A temporaryexternal seal prevents ingress of water asthe shaft gland is removed. An internalcofferdam is built over the exposedfinshaft to maintain the watertight integ-rity of the ship.

An internal wire is fed through thetop of the cofferdam to control the low-ering/recovery of the finshaft in and outof the ship. An outboard aluminum patchis used to keep the hull watertight as theoutboard bearing is replaced.

This was all excellent in theory, ofcourse, but the real test was to put theoryinto practice with the scheduled repair inApril. With all the necessary components

in existence only as sketches in January,much work had to be done to meet thedeadline.

Engineering began immediately tocomplete designs and develop workingdrawings for delivery to the manufacturerby 15 February. The manufacturer, inturn, had to finish construction by 15March. These tools, together with the loadlist for the rigging plan, had to then beassembled at Cheatham Annex for ship-ment in time to meet the repair date.

The rigging plan is vital to the suc-cess of the operation. It has to be flexibleenough to control the load throughouteach phase of the movement. It also hasto use ship’s structure and fittings to avoidunnecessary welding/cutting on the ship,thereby minimizing the impact to the ship.After numerous visits to FFGs in dry dockto witness removal of the fin units usingdry techniques, a series of experimentswas conducted to determine the behaviorof the fin in water. The plan was engi-neered, rigging drawings completed, andthe much anticipated load list dispatched

Fleet Divers Conduct WaterborneFin Stabilizer Repairs

The new outboard bearing is positioned forinstallation.

(continued on page 4)

The cofferdam fully built. Note the supportbrace, air blow-down line and gauge, andmarkings on internal wire.

Old finshaft showing external rigging.

Summer 199 74

Red Team supervises the removal of USS Doyle's port fin stabilizer.

New finshaft in position inside ship, withcofferdam removed and shaft held in placeby external support rigging. Note the greasesmears on the shaft.

to Cheatham Annex just in time to meetthe Mayport delivery.

As this was the first repair of this na-ture, a team of contractors assembled un-der the direction of a NAVSEA represen-tative. They in turn, liaised with a repre-sentative from Brown Bros. UK, themanufacturers of the fin stabilizer system.The team, together with excellent supportfrom CDR M. Streeter (USN) and thecrew of USS De Wert, proved the theory,procedure, and tools assembled at suchshort notice during this first repair.

The port finshaft and fin assembly,together with the outboard bearing, werereplaced within 5 days. Refitting the newfinshaft and fin assembly actually tookjust 2½ hours, which compared very fa-vorably with dry dock times.

Flushed with success, a much-modi-fied team reassembled in Mayport,Florida 10 on June to conduct the second

repair of this type. This time the task wasto replace both outboard bearings on USSDoyle (FFG 39). The previous operationhad proved the theory and the procedure;it was now necessary to prove repeatabil-ity on the port side and to prove the ex-perimental procedure and rigging plan forthe starboard side. Another success wouldfinalize both the procedure and riggingplans for publication as a chapter of theUnderwater Ship Husbandry Manual.This time RSG/SIMA Mayport person-nel would undertake the diving, rigging,and mechanical support services for therepair.

The repair had been scheduled from10–24 June, but Doyle, an operationalship, had a training commitment to keepand needed to be at sea by 23 June. TheRSG/SIMA team worked extremely wellunder the direction of the subject experts,such that both fin systems were completeand operationally tested by 20 June. In-deed, the port finshaft was refitted in less

than 2 hours. These facts reflect particu-lar credit onto the members of Red DiveTeam, Flexhose Shop, and the Riggingsection of SIMA Mayport. Their hardwork, dedication, and adaptability in suc-cessfully conducting an experimental pro-cedure was not just a creditable exampleof the professionalism of the AmericanSailor, but also saved the American tax-payer a great deal of money. In addition,a further saving was made by SIMA per-sonnel refurbishing both fins on the jettyand then refitting them, rather than un-necessarily replacing them with new as-semblies.

The full list of those directly involvedwith the conduct of the USS Doyle repairappears at the end of this article. Thanksto the efforts of those people, the ship wasable to sail on 23 June to honor her sched-uled commitments and remain missionready. The “Bravo Zulu” the SIMA teamreceived from the ship was well earnedand thoroughly deserved.

FIN STABILIZER REPAIRS(from page 3)

(continued on page 5)

5Summer 1997

The way ahead now is to publish theprocedure as a chapter of the UnderwaterShip Husbandry Manual and to finalizethe load list as a repair kit to be maintainedin the UWSH Equipment Pool atCheatham Annex, such that it can bereadily dispatched wherever andwhenever it is required.

So what are the advantages to theFleet for all this frenetic activity? Vesselswill still receive planned maintenance ontheir fin stabilizer systems duringscheduled docking periods, but thedevelopment of this technique means thatthose responsible for the maintenance ofthese vessels will no longer have to incurthe expense of an emergency dockingsolely to repair one system. Current costestimates for placing an FFG class vesselin dry dock are approximately $400,000,even before repair materials andpersonnel costs are considered. UsingUSN divers, riggers, mechanics, and theNAVSEA repair kit, the dry dock bill isreplaced by one of less than $30,000 andthe repair dates become dependant onlyon the availability of the ship. The repairkit can also be used wherever there issuitable depth of water, rather having toreroute the ship to a dry dock.

This article is therefore just anotherexample of the cost-effective supportprovided to the Fleet by the use ofUnderwater Ship Husbandry waterbornerepair techniques, and of the work of theteam at 00C5 in the Office of the Directorof Ocean Engineering Supervisor ofSalvage and Diving. n

LCDR A. L. Blakey (00C57) is a Mine-warfare and Clearance Diving officer inthe Royal Navy. He was appointed to theOffice of the Director of OceanEngineering, Supervisor of Salvage andDiving under the Personnel ExchangeProgram. Since his arrival, he has beena member of the UWSH team of 00C5involved in the waterborne repair of USNvessels and is currently in the second yearof his 2½ year appointment.

FIN STABILIZER REPAIRS(from page 4 )

by CDR Bobbie Scholley

On 14 February 1997, I relievedCDR Dale Lueck as Supervisor of Div-ing, NAVSEA 00C3B. CDR Lueck hasretired to Minnesota to raise cattle and tryto stay warm. Since taking over asSUPDIVE, I have had the opportunity tovisit several dive lockers throughout theFleet and one of the most common com-ments that I have heard is that peopledon’t know what we do up here in Crys-tal City, VA. In our continued effort tocommunicate with the Fleet, we will startproviding a feature highlighting the cur-rent diving programs.

Administrative Structure

I have come to find that many diversare unfamiliar with the organization ofNAVSEA 00C3. Code 00C3, Diving Pro-grams, is responsible for the research anddevelopment, design, test and evaluation,and acquisition of all diving equipment,as well as the procedures by which wedive. Additionally, we interface with for-eign navies on all diving-related ex-changes of information. For those of youwho haven’t been able to break the code

on how 00C3 is organized, the box on thenext page shows our current make-up. Al-though each code is listed with their pri-mary programs, most inquiries can behandled by several people in the division.Our phone number is 703-607-2766,DSN-327-2766 or FAX 703-607-2757.

Equipment Development

Development, testing, and evaluationof new diving equipment is an ongoing

(continued on page 6)

The following SIMA Mayport personnel were involved in the USS Doyle repair:

SIMA Red Dive Team: BMC (SW/DV) P. C. Balesi (Team Leader), QM1(SW/DV) M. K. Troedel (Diving Supervisor), BMCS (SW/DV) L. D. Lawley, DC1(SW/DV) R. L. Green, GMG1 (DV) T. A. Kasica, BM2 (DV) C. L. Blanchard,HT2 (DV) N. J. Luoto, EN2 (DV) E. Thompson, EN1 (DV) P. J. Maloney.

SIMA Riggers: BM2 B. Fischer, BM1 L. Kahill, EM1 S. Cox, BM1 D. Hunt,MM1 D. Matlock.

SIMA Flexhose Shop Mechanics: MMC S. Slowey, MMC C. Washington,HT1 D. Gaarder, MM2 M. Larsen, MM2 J. Murphy, MM2 C. Gonzalas, MM2 G.Jennings, MM3 S. Jenkins, EN3 A. Reed, MM3 L. Geyer, MM3 L. Singh.

Additional: MM3 S. Lawrence, CWO4 Axon USNR.

Doyle Port Engineer: Mr. R. Keys.

From SUPDIVEFrom SUPDIVE

Summer 199 76

evolution at 00C3. We have, out of ne-cessity, started to use more commercialoff-the-shelf (COTS) equipment for Navyuse, although we still have a few programsto develop new systems. Either way, allequipment must pass rigorous testing andevaluation before it is distributed to thefleet, which is usually done at NEDU.

The Transportable RecompressionChamber System (TRCS) has been indistribution for several years now. In June1997, Tom Galloway took delivery of thelast shipment of TRCSs for shipment totheir final destination. Tom produces aTRCS Times newsletter, which providesupdated information on logistic support,maintenance, and location of the 43 sys-tems. The latest issue is April 1997 and isdistributed to commands that have aTRCS.

Additionally, Tom has been workingwith NAVSEA PMS 395 on the Subma-rine Rescue Diving and RecompressionSystem (SRDRS). Although still in thedevelopmental stages, the system willconsist of the One Atmospheric Dive Suit(ADS) or “Newt Suit,” two 62-man Re-compression Chambers, and a TransferUnder Pressure Vehicle. The ADS is al-ready under construction and the entireSRDRS will eventually replace the DeepSubmergence Rescue Vessels (DSRVs).In conjunction with this program, we aretesting two small flexible “chambers” aspossible hyperbaric stretchers.

We are delivering the first of the FlyAway Dive System III (FADS III) to theFleet. Bob Kilpatrick is the program man-ager for the system and is responsible forthe success of the system. He and MDVMcMurtrie assisted MDSU-2 with the ini-tial training, sea trials, and certification.(See related article on page 8.) We arescheduled to deliver seven more upgradesto the Lightweight Dive System to con-vert them to a FADS III system withinthe next year and will replace the con-soles and volume tanks for those by theend of 1998.

Bob is also hard at work to ensuredelivery of the first Fly Away Mixed GasSystem (FMGS). This one will be deliv-ered to MDSU-2 in August 97 and willbe certified in September 97. Bob andMDV McMurtrie will again assistMDSU-2 in the initial training, sea trails,and certification. MDSU-1 will receivetheir FMGS late December 1997 and athird FMGS is in production.

We are in the initial stages of evalu-ating COTS chambers for developmentof the new Standard RecompressionChamber . Stuart Yee is the programmanager and is investigating variouschambers which could be configured forair lift. The concept of a “chamber in abox” is the direction we are looking forthe Standard Recompression Chamber ofthe future.

Stuart is finishing up the PMS andTechnical Manual coverage of the KMB-28 Band Mask. This is another exampleof a COTS that we have evaluated forNavy use and is in response to Fleet in-put from the Working Diver Conference.We hope to get this approved for Fleetuse by the end of this year.

Procedural Updates

Hopefully by now all commands willhave received the new Authorized for

Navy Use (ANU) letter. This is an up-date as well as a significant change in for-mat, designed to make it more usable tothe Fleet. The ANU will also be on thenext update to the NAVSEA CD-ROMand on the NAVSEA 00C homepage.

One of the largest projects that wehave going on right now is the U.S. NavyDive Manual, Revision 4. As many ofyou are aware of, MDV Washington hasbeen visiting the Fleet to collect input. Heis in the final stages of collating the vari-ous input for a final draft. The changes inRevision 4 will primarily be in format.The manual will be broken up into fivevolumes designed to be essentially standalone. The manual will be distributed inboth hard copy and on CD-ROM. Ourthanks to all the Fleet personnel who haveprovided input, time, and energy to helpmake this a better working document. n

Prior to assuming the duties as Supervi-sor of Diving, CDR Bobbie Scholley wasassigned as the Diving and Salvage Of-ficer at Combat Logistics Group Two.During that assignment, she participatedin the TWA Flight 800 salvage operation.She has served as CO, USS Bolster (ARS38), XO, USS Hoist (ARS 40), OPS, USSVulcan (AR 5) and Diving Officer, USSCanopus (AS 34).

00C3 x234 Bob Whaley Diving Programs00C3B x220 CDR Bobbie Scholley Supervisor of Diving00C3S x227 Susann Pearson Administration, Travel00C31 x262 Tom Galloway TRCS, SRDRS00C32 x244 CDR Hank Chase Fleet Liaison, ANU, Waivers00C33 x249 Bob Kilpatrick LWDS, FADS III, FMGS00C34 x265 HTCM(MDV) Mike Washington Fleet Liaison, Dive Manual00C35 x276 Jim Ruth SPECWAR, EOD, USMC00C36 x274 BMCS(MDV/SS) Paul McMurtrie Fleet Liaison, PMS, OP/EP�s00C37 x237 Stuart Yee Air Sampling, STD Chambers00C38 x252 Thomas Heldt German Exchange Engineer

00C3 Diving Programs (703) 607-2766 / 602-0339

SUPDIVE (from page 5)

7Summer 1997

Commandin theSpotlight:

By ET2 Cecilia Lewis Reynolds

The Dive Locker of Shore Interme-diate Maintenance Activity, Norfolk(SIMA) has the distinction of being themost unique dive locker in the Navy. Ateam of 71 divers coordinate their effortsto provide support for the waterfront atNorfolk Naval Base, Little Creek Am-phibious Base, and Portsmouth Naval Sta-tion (outside of Norfolk Naval Shipyard).Aside from their local commitments, thedivers have gone as far south asPascagoula, MS and as far north as Earle,NJ and Philadelphia, PA with their “Driveand Dive” capabilities. Dive capabilitiesare divided into three teams, with aweekly duty rotation for an emergencyteam, to provide diving services to At-lantic Fleet (LANTFLT) units 24 hours aday, seven days a week. Over the pastyear, SIMA divers have executed over2700 dives (logging over 3300 bottomhours) while maintaining a 4.0 safetyrecord.

This dive team routinely designswaterborne repairs and gets approvalfrom NAVSEA to execute repairs. Theymaintain three Diver’s Life Support Sys-tem (DLSS) boats and two Mark II LightWeight Dive Systems, which enhancetheir Drive and Dive capabilities. To in-crease the capabilities of the dive locker,SIMA has sent five divers to ConsolidatedDiver’s Unit (CDU), San Diego to qualifyin underwater welding skills (underCDU’s procedure), providing underwa-ter welding assets on both coasts.

Some of the highlights of this diveteam’s past year include implementing aDiving Radiation Control Program/GasFree Engineer Program for diving in

closed spaces, executing a softwarechange-out (in conjunction with Mr.Frank Buski, NAVSEA), on board the ex-USS Flatley (FFG 21) (currently in theInactive Shipyard in Philadelphia),templating and manufacturing cofferdamsfor the ARS 50 class bow thrusters (al-lowing repairs to be accomplished whichpreviously required dry docking). Addi-tionally, they have implemented under-water visual and magnetic testing. SIMAdivers routinely perform services that pro-vide cost savings to the Navy. For ex-ample, they recently completed three hubseal change-outs in conjunction with fivecontrollable pitch (CPP) blade changes.The five CPP blade changes performedover an 11-day period saved the Navyover $900,000. The largest cost savingsto the Navy comes in the form of the sup-port provided to COMNAVSURFLANTin the hydroblasting of master belts, andinterim propeller polishing—at a cost sav-ings of $4.6 million over the last fiscalyear.

The workload of this professionalgroup will continue to escalate as theyreceive their new Diver Prototype SurfaceSupplied Truck (projected deliver date:October 97) and as the MILCON P320

shore-based hyperbaric chamber comesonline (projected date: January 99).

As you would expect, the unit cohe-sion at the SIMA Dive Locker is ex-tremely high. Maintaining this highly de-manding schedule requires a lot of teameffort. The teams help each other out.Group cohesiveness allows them to getthe job done with minimal problems.Khaki support is a vital part of this team’ssuccess. As CWO3 Terry L. Harris, Div-ing Officer, said of his leadership staff,“Of course, execution takes place at thedeck plate level with the divers, but weare unique in that we have four MasterDivers here right now—that works ex-tremely well, in that they basically makethings happen. I call them my ‘headshed.’” MMCS (SW/DV) James A. Bondadded, “The only way we can do this isby the khaki working together, commu-nicating, and helping each other out.” Thestrong leadership and the skilled diversat the SIMA Dive Locker create a tight-knit team that works hard to meet thepresent and future needs of the Fleet. n

ET2 Cecilia Lewis Reynolds is the Nor-folk Assistant Public Affairs Officer.

SIMA NorfolkDive Locker

Members of the SIMA Bravo Dive Team BM2 Jack Riley, EN2 (DV) Michael Barber, MM2 (DV)Brian Klein conduct pre-dive checks.

Summer 199 78

HM1(DV) Washington operates the FADS III console with the FADS III Air Supply RackAssembly (ASRA) in the foreground.

by BMCS (SS/MDV) Paul D. McMurtrie

Divers from Mobile Diving and SalvageUnit Two (MDSU-2) DET Charlie as-sisted Naval Sea Systems Command(NAVSEA) personnel in testing and cer-tifying the first issue Flyaway Dive Sys-tem (FADS) III in Roosevelt Roads,Puerto Rico in February 1997. Testingwas originally scheduled to take place inAugust 1996, but was postponed becauseof the TWA Flight 800 salvage and re-covery operation.

FADS III was developed as a jointeffort by Coastal Systems Station,Panama City, FL and NAVSEA 00C3. Itevolved from the very successful Light-weight Dive System (LWDS) now in usethroughout the Fleet and was intended toprovide greater depth and duration capa-

bility for salvage and husbandry dives.The system includes a control console as-sembly, volume tank assembly, air sup-ply flask rack assembly, and a 5000-psiair compressor. The FADS III air supplyrack assembly contains nine 3.15 cubicfoot composite flasks which hold a totalof 9000 scf of air at 5000 psi. The system

operates very much like the LWDS ex-cept that both primary and secondaryregulators are located on the control con-sole assembly.

Early on in the development of theFADS III, MDSU-2 divers, workinghand-in-hand with the NAVSEA and CSSengineers, played an instrumental role inevaluating design considerations from anoperator’s perspective, suggesting likelydive system configurations and scenarios,and in the development and implementa-tion of the Operational and EmergencyProcedures. This proved to be invaluablein the overall success of the project, andhelped ensure a viable, useful asset forthe Fleet.

The system was certified under anumber of different configurations allow-ing the user maximum flexibility in meet-ing operational requirements. In additionto supporting typical diving operations to190 feet with the FADS III, alternate con-figurations were tested including use ofthe FADS III as primary air source forthe Transportable Recompression Cham-ber System (TRCS), use of the FADS IIIcontrol console assembly with the MK-3LWDS flask rack assembly, and use of

Diving andCertification News:

First Issue FADSIII Tested andCertified

BMCS (MDV) Eric Frank oversees his dive station as BMC (DV) James Mariano and LT Santosbring a diver to his bench.

(continued on page 9)

9Summer 1997

the FADS III flask rack assembly with theLWDS control console assembly. The ini-tial certification was conducted at MDSU-2 in Little Creek, VA in January 1997.This certification was limited to 60 feetand provided MDSU-2 personnel suffi-cient depth to train and qualify on thesystem prior to the deeper dives. This alsoallowed MDSU-2 time to shake down thesystem and to make recommendations forimprovements and other possible configu-rations to better meet operational needs.

In February 1997, the FADS III de-ployed with the USNS Mohawk en routeto Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico for thefinal system evaluation. A series of work-up dives was conducted culminating inthree 190-foot dives verifying the abilityof the FADS III to safely support MK 21divers in all desired configurations. Alldives deployed three MK 21 divers (in-cluding the standby) to evaluate the abil-ity of the FADS III to meet the maximumflow requirements. During all testing theTRCS was configured for receiving pri-mary and secondary air from the FADSIII air supply rack assembly. The missionmet with great success primarily due thecombined efforts of all participants andpaved the way for a continued NAVSEA/Fleet working partnership.

NAVSEA personnel involved in thetesting and certification of the FADS IIIwere Bob Kilpatrick (SEA 00C33),BMCS (SS/MDV) Paul McMurtrie (SEA00C36), Thomas Heldt (SEA 00C38),Rob Warren (SEA 00C41), Darrell Will-iams (SEA 00C43), and Mike Einhellig(SEA 00C43A).

CSS personnel participating in thetesting and certification of FADS Ill wereMarty Sheehan (Code A51) and MarkBlack (Code A53).

MDSU-2 personnel participating inthe testing and certification of FADS IIIwere BMCM (SW/MDV) Eric C. Frank,BMCS (SW/DV) Douglas N. Roberson,BMC (SW/DV) Randy L. Contreras, HTC(SW/DV) Charles O. Catoe, BMC (DV)James A. Mariano, BMC (SW/DV)Michael A. Salazar, ENC (SW/DV) An-thony Hartman, BMC (SW/DV) Hugh C.

Bell, HT1 (DV) Philip R. Hathaway, BM1(SCW/DV) Joseph C. Spencer, DC1 (SW/DV) Timothy Dowell, HM1 (DV) TanyahWashington, BM2 (DV) Daniel R.Knauss, EN2 (SW/DV) Edward A.Bartelli, EM3 (DV) Dane E. Doolittle, andLT Santos. n

FADS III (from page 8)BMCS (SS/MDV) Paul D. McMurtrie iscurrently assigned to NAVSEA 00C as theFleet Master Diver. He attended secondClass Dive School in 1979 and was se-lected as Master Diver in 1992.

(Top) ENC (DV) Hartman of MDSU-2 helps red diver to the stage for one of the 190-footcertification dives, while BMCS (MDV) McMurtrie provides technical assistance to thesupervisor. (Bottom) NAVSEA engineers Darrell Williams and Rob Warren look on during acritical phase of the certification dive involving shifting air supplies on the console while all threedivers are on the bottom at 190 feet.

Summer 199710

SAT Divers:A Fleet Diver’sPoint of Viewby MMCM(SS/MDV) Donald W. Curtis

Saturation Diver: it conjures up allkinds of visions for most Fleet divers.Visions range from a person wired withall kinds of testing equipment to a personbeing poked and prodded by researcherswith the compassion of a hooded hatchetman on execution day. Some see a hu-man-looking laboratory rat being elec-tronically controlled to dance to the fancyof those observing him. Then there is theever-popular idea of shore billet profes-sionals who only go to sea once in a bluemoon — you know, those chlorine diversthat have never done a real working divein their lives. There are more visions, butthey are too horrid to mention in the com-pany of children and most adults.

I must admit I was truly uninformedas to what the saturation community ac-tually did to earn its dive pay. I had oftenheard of a senior group of Chiefs andOfficers walking around with 409, clean-ing saturation diving systems that theynever used. Oh yes, the diving systems.Something apparently designed on thetheory of Rubix cube. Monstrous contrap-tions that always seemed to be in over-haul and appeared never to be recertified.

You can imagine my reservationswhen I received orders to become theCommand Master Chief of the Navy Ex-perimental Diving Unit. I had heard allthe stories: you’ll be working with nukesagain, they’ll ruin your health, and ofcourse, I hope you like being a guinea pig!

After being on board the unit for al-most a year, I now know that these satcreatures are diving professionals andmuch more active than I was informed.They are no different from you in theFleet, and yes, I can still walk almost aswell as I could when I first reported here.

(Old age will eventually catch up to allof us!)

All kidding aside, this is possiblythe most interesting and challenging dutystation I’ve had in my Naval career. Ihave a much greater respect for thedivers who choose this demanding dutyas their career path. I’ve done cold wa-ter diving in Norfolk, but always hadsomething to do to keep my mind offthe cold. Imagine, however, sitting incold water for 8 hours with little reallyhappening and no hot soup or coffee forthe entire dive! Sound easy? You shouldgive it a try. This is not to mention theagony of holding the barrel mouth pieceof a LAR V in your mouth for 8 hours.These are dives that challenge thestamina and endurance of a veteran Fleetdiver (which most sat divers are). If thecold and an 8-hour dive aren’t enough,try staying at 1000 fsw for nearly amonth with the cast from a Disneymovie. Can you imagine waking up tothe voices of Mickey and Donald everymorning? How about the pleasure ofsleeping on cold steel with no privacyday or night?

You might ask, why does anyoneput themselves through such arduousdives? Is it a macho thing or some men-tal derangement not yet identified? Nei-ther. These divers are professionals do-ing what they find challenging and im-portant. The sacrifice of self and pain theyendure is to ensure that you, the Fleetdiver, have the safest equipment and pro-cedures available the Navy can provide.

Just a few things that have been goingon at NEDU recently:

n EXO-26 testing

n LAR V canister duration testing forSpecial Warfare

n 1000 fsw saturation dive for hearingand speech sound studies for allmixed-gas divers

n 300 fsw sat dive for MK-16 test andevaluation to expand EOD capabili-ties

n Gas mask testing for use by allbranches of the service

n Work with an underwater submersibleto make long distances underwaterseem shorter

n Testing of buoyancy compensatorsand regulators for everyday use in theFleet

So next time someone mentions satdivers with a negative tone in their voice,please take time to mention that the per-sonnel of NEDU are serving the Fleet.These divers are working long hours dayand night to make diving safer and easierfor all military and civilian divers. n

Master Chief Curtis is the Command Mas-ter Chief of the Navy Experimental DivingUnit. He has most recently served as Mas-ter Diver on the USS Emory S. Land (AS39), the ex-USS Shenandoah (AD 44) andthe Naval Diving School Training Center.

Thanks to QMC (SW/DV) Mark Schleef at Deep Submergence Unit, SanDiego, who designed and forwarded the modification, there is an approvedalteration to the Diving System Module for the Standard Navy Dive Boatthat allows operators to shift to emergency air in both configurations at theconsole instead of the below deck manifold. It also allows topside monitor-ing of the primary and emergency HP bank pressures from the console.The NAVSEA Drawing number for this alteration is 537-11-551-6965442REV B. Cost for the alteration is $20,000. This alteration was recently imple-mented and certified at Consolidated Divers Unit. Points of contact are BobKilpatrick, NAVSEA 00C3 (703) 607-2766 and MMCM (MDV) Hunt, CDU(619) 556-8290.

MMCM (SW/DV) Hunt, Consolidated Divers Unit

NEDU Report

Dive NotesDive Notes

11Summer 1997

TheOLD MASTER

by EMCM(SW/MDV) John P. Propster

While pondering the thought of writ-ing an interesting article for FACE-PLATE, my mind kept drifting to the“road trip” I’d scheduled with a few lo-cal Master Divers to the DC area. The tripwas to honor a friend and shipmate,MMCM(SS/SW/MDV) Dennis Wiley, onthe day of his retirement ceremony. Thenit clicked: write an article for “The OldMaster” about THE “Old Master!”

Well, at first I thought this was go-ing to be a monumental task, as not onlyis Dennis the senior Master Diver on ac-tive duty, but he’s also the senior activeduty Master Chief! I knew gathering hishistory would take many hours, and docu-menting it without losing anything in thetranslation would be an extreme challengefor the average man. What follows is aremarkable chapter of Naval History, astold by the sailor who lived the legend.

Master Diver Dennis Wiley was bornMarch 10, 1944 to Seaman First Class,USN, Robert D. Wiley and Mrs. MartaM. Wiley of Portland, OR. He enlisted inthe Naval Reserve in June of 1961 anddrilled with Submarine Division 13-7 atPortland. After graduation from SunsetHigh School in June 1962, he dischargedfrom the Naval Reserve. Following theexample of his father, and wearing hisfather’s WWII uniform, FA(SG) Wileyenlisted in the U.S. Navy.

His first assignment was to the Re-ceiving Station at Treasure Island, SanFrancisco, where he was told he wouldwait on orders to boot camp. Orders ar-rived for Machinist’s Mate “A” school atGreat Lakes—NOT Recruit Training! Hearrived at MM “A” School with a smileon his face.

After MM “A” School, he completedSubmarine School at Groton, CT, andtransferred to USS Medregal (SS 480) atPearl Harbor. After earning his “Dol-

phins” in August of 1963, MMFN(SS)Wiley moved on to Nuclear Power Schoolat Mare Island, CA. He reported to USSPerch (APSS 313) at Subic Bay, Philip-pines in March 1964. Perch’s mission wassupport of Underwater Demolition Teamand other special forces operations inVietnam. Perch was the last Americansubmarine fitted with deck guns and thelast American submarine called to “BattleStations—Surface Gun Action.” Denniswas on Mount 40-1 when its last roundwas fired into a Vietnamese village in sup-port of an Army Special Forces Teamwhich was coming under heavy fire.Aboard Perch, in preparation for his firstreenlistment, it was discovered boot camphad been omitted from the career ofMM2(SS) Wiley. Too late—carry on!Motivated by UDT divers, he attendedSecond Class Diver training at Subic Bay,graduating in November 1965. Whileserving on Perch, Dennis married LilyAmador Sabornido of Almeria, Leyte,Philippines. He cross-decked from Perchto USS Tunny (LPSS 282) at Subic Bay,and continued special warfare operations.MM1(SS/DV) Wiley departed the Phil-ippines in mid-1967 for First Class Divertraining at the Washington Navy Yard,graduating in January 1968.

From January 1968 until 1970 hegained a working knowledge of surface

and submarine ship husbandry aboardUSS Isle Royal (AD 29) at Long Beach,CA, and USS Nereus (AS 17) in San Di-ego. He completed Saturation Diver train-ing in August of 1969 at the old Experi-mental Diving Unit at the WashingtonNavy Yard. He was under orders to USSPigeon pre-commissioning when USSGrayback (LPSS 574) “shanghaied” himfor another tour of special warfare opera-tions at Subic Bay.

He advanced to Chief Petty OfficerApril 1, 1971, and set his sights on theultimate goal of becoming a Master ChiefPetty Officer and Master Diver. AfterGrayback he completed tours at NavalUndersea Center at Long Beach, wherehe as promoted to Senior Chief, andaboard USS Brunswick (ATS 3) at PearlHarbor as Senior Enlisted Advisor andwhere he finished all requirements forMaster Diver evaluation.

Selected for Master Diver in Octo-ber 1977, he next served at EOD Train-ing and Evaluation Unit One, BarbersPoint, Hawaii, his first shore tour! Dur-ing that tour he advanced to Master Chiefon July 1, 1979, and was assigned dutiesas Senior Enlisted Advisor/CommandMaster Chief. At EODTEU ONE, hesomehow found the funding and time,with the assistance of two EOD techni-cians, to design and build the Navy’s firstfully operational and certified flyaway airdiving and recompression chamber sys-tem. That system, the first to be certifiedon the initial NAVSEA visit, is still op-erational at EODMU 5 Det Bahrain. Uponinitiation of the Enlisted Surface Warfareprogram in December of 1978, Dennisapplied for and was awarded the EnlistedSurface Warfare designation in June of1979 based upon completion of qualifi-cations on USS Brunswick. He transferredfrom EODTEU ONE to USS L.Y. Spear(AS 36) at Norfolk, VA.

On August 31, 1981, Master ChiefWiley transferred to the Fleet Reserve.“Mr.” Wiley was hired by Taylor Divingof Belle Chasse, LA. With Taylor, helogged over 5000 hours supervising satu-ration diving in addition to surface-sup-

(continued on page 12)

MMCM(SS/SW/MDV) Dennis Wiley.

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVYSEA 00CNAVAL SEA SYSTEMS COMMAND2531 JEFFERSON DAVIS HIGHWAYARLINGTON VA 22242-5160

Official Business

Warren D. Thomas, formerNavy diver and marine salvageexpert, passed away 2 May 1997in Martinez, California at age76. Mr. Thomas served in theNavy from 1939 to 1967. Aqualified 1st class diver, he retiredas Chief Warrant Officer. Afterretirement he was employed byMurphy Pacific as Senior VicePresident and was active in theclearing of the Suez Canal for theSupervisor of Salvage.

InMemory

plied deep air and mixed-gas dives whileworking in Mexico and along the Gulf andCalifornia coasts. In 1984, after complet-ing curriculum development, he spent fivemonths in Shanghai, China teaching satu-ration diving. In January of 1986, the off-shore industry bottomed out and he re-ceived an unexpected call and was “in-vited” to return to active duty.

As a resurrected Master Diver, hereported to Naval Ocean Systems Centerat San Diego in July 1986. Naval EODTechnology Center at Indian Head, Mary-land was his next assignment in Septem-ber of 1989.

In March of 1994, Dennis was as-signed to BUPERS as Detailer for theFleet and Saturation Diver Community.During that tour he worked extensivelyat community management issues for thebetterment of all diver communities.

Dennis will cross the brow and goashore to retirement August 31, 1997 af-

ter completion of over 36 years in ser-vice, of which more than 30 years werecompleted on active duty. He and Lily,his wife for 31 years, have plans to moveto Oregon, where they intend to plant atree and watch it grow to maturity whilethey establish roots of their own.

Dennis, thank you for providing thisinsightful chapter, but most of all, thankyou for the guidance, wisdom, and sacri-fice you and your family have dedicatedto your country and its Navy. Your com-mitment has had an immeasurable impacton the creation and maintenance of theworld’s greatest Dive Team. n

Master Chief John P. Propster has re-cently transferred to SURFLANT asForce Master Diver. Previous divingcommands include USS Florikan, USSKittiwake, MDSU 2, USS Beaufort, andSIMA Norfolk.

THE OLD MASTER (from page 11)