Bathyscaphe TRIESTE II and TRIESTE II (DSV-1) 26 May 1966 - 11 Dec 1969 (including SCORPION Ops, Phase II)

Whites It was in May of 1966, and I was attending the Navy’s YN “B” School at the U.S. Naval Training Center, Bainbridge, Maryland.

I was the Class Leader of a small class that included a couple of enlisted men from the submarine community in New London, Connecticut. One of these two men was an admiral’s writer and, to this day I believe, had a profound and anonymous influence on what was about to happen to me. The “B” school was nearing completion and most of the YN “B” class, along with a very small YN “C” school class, had already received their next assignments from the Bureau of Naval Personnel--that is, all except me. Everybody departed and I was temporarily loaned to the Navy Prep School to work while I awaited my orders.

It was nearly a week before I was notified that I was being assigned to Commander, Submarine Squadron THREE, for assignment to Commander, Submarine Development Group ONE, in San Diego, “as a crew member with deep submergence vehicles.” Talk about a puzzle...I was not a qualified submariner and had never expressed in writing a preference for any kind of submarine assignment. Privately, I had discussed my thoughts with the two submariners in my class that I might like to try to qualify in submarines. But, I still couldn’t believe the official reasoning behind such an assignment.

However, orders in hand, I reported to COMSUBRON THREE in San Diego on 25 May 1966, where I learned I would be assigned to the Bathyscaphe TRIESTE II as a crew member. Fortunately for all concerned, I did not have to be sub qualified for this assignment. In fact, there were five of us assigned as crew members who were not submariners: a storekeeper, photographer, welder, and two yeoman.

When I arrived at Ballast Point, I found that Commander John B. “Brad” Mooney was the Officer in Charge of the TRIESTE, and his relief LCDR E. E. “Buzz” Henefin was already on board. Commander Mooney was scheduled to depart to take command of the U.S.S. Menhaden (SS-377). The Assistant Officer in Charge was LT Frederick Forst. He would eventually leave to be executive officer of the Menhaden under CDR Mooney. LT Forst would be replaced as Assistant Officer in Charge by LCDR John B. Howland. Many of the officers and crew had returned from the last of the THRESHER operations. The operations center and school for the TRIESTE were in a building on the hillside at Ballast Point, San Diego, next door to the Man-in-the Sea (SEALAB) building. We would also end up on the waterfront with two maintenance buildings, a large concrete pad for the TRIESTE, and a pier capable of handling the USS WHITE SANDS (ARD-20)

Arriving without my family, I was berthed in a small barracks on the tip of Ballast Point and assigned a room to share with ET1 Wayne H. Safford. It was a fortunate assignment because Wayne was such an active and popular member of the local community, I practically had the room to myself. My intent was to begin immediately to search after hours for living accommodations for my family in San Diego. As it turned out, I was fortunate to be able to quickly obtain a house that was being vacated by another TRIESTE crew member (ET1 John D. Prine) due to his departure. The house and its location on Lehrer Drive in Clairmont Mesa were ideal.

I found that my new assignment was to be part of a small command made up of about seventeen officers and about thirty-five enlisted men. The mission, at that time, was to operate the TRIESTE II, train pilots and maintenance people for the vehicle, and to create a school to do both. I learned that I was to be paired with the unit’s present yeoman, YN1 C. Russell Zachary. He was a former ADR who had made the conversion to yeoman. Russ would prove to be one of the finest men I worked with during my Navy career. He was intelligent, dedicated, hard working; and a pleasure to work with. Together, we made an excellent and productive two man team.

The administrative and personnel workload was extremely heavy in the beginning because so many people were involved in daily operations, plus trying to simultaneously create a new school that would provide all the necessary and training materials. When Zachary had been alone, the typing workload creating training materials alone had provided an extraordinary challenge. Now that two YNs were on the job, steady progress was made to catch up on all aspects of administration and personnel matters. Being a new and unique Navy command or unit, Russ and I found we were faced with the lack of many things, from supplies to necessary manuals, that most larger commands routinely had available. However, we found ways to operate efficiently and to develop what we needed to transition into a satisfactory routine.

We also experienced some welcome assistance with the squadron’s loan of YNSN Robert F. “Bob” Quaranta. Bob joined Russ and I, proving to be a welcome addition for a period of time when this “striker” got quite a typing workout.

Not long after my arrival, I also began to voluntarily participate in a number of TRIESTE II evolutions which were not administrative. Doing so, gave me a better understanding of what the TRIESTE was all about, what the small crew was doing, and would later prove to put me in better standing with all the crew members.

Russ Zachary was eventually provided a routine reassignment leaving me as the sole yeoman with the administrative as well as personnel duties. The assignment to TRIESTE II proved to be an excellent, but busy and satisfying job. The vehicle was often used in an area off the coast of southern California, including many trips to an area at San Clemente Islandand nearby Santa Catalina Island with its famous community of Avalon. TRIESTE II was a test platform for lots of equipment and a training vehicle for the pilots and maintenance crew. While operating near Catalina, close enough to see the bright, night lights of Avalon and its harbor, we experienced an event which saw EM1 James F. Kuczkowski go overboard from a small boat in the dark of the night as we were completing operations for the day. Fortunately, Jim was recovered and brought aboard WHITE SANDS where he would be later teased about making an unauthorized night swim. However, the expressions on his face while in the water and after being brought aboard said it all.

This period also saw the TRIESTE tied up to a floating platform in a harbor at San Clemente Island. During this time, I trained and qualified as a boat coxswain for the small Boston Whalers boats used to work with TRIESTE. This was a duty I carried out for the balance of my assignment to TRIESTE, a job that got pretty exciting in the open seas during rougher weather. In addition, SKC Dick Johnson and I were qualified with a device used to check for explosive vapors.

The “sniffers” were used following degassing evolutions, helping to determine when it was safe for certain types of work to be done without the danger of explosion from gasoline vapors. At times, the crew was given liberty to return to San Diego. This involved flying into Long Beach, California, on an airlines contracted to handle people and supplies for the people stationed on San Clemente. From Long Beach, rental cars were often used to make the trip further south to San Diego.

Time was also spent at Mare Island Shipyard at Vallejo, California. On October 5, 1967, EN3 Fred O. Wands and I were on liberty driving in Vallejo when we were present at an intersection when a civilian pedestrian was accidentally hit by a car, and later died of his injuries. Results for the chief’s test were announced and I learned I had made YNC on 16 March 1969 while assigned to TRIESTE. Purchasing uniforms and going through the chiefs’ initiation took place at Ballast Point.

Later on May 22, 1968, the Navy suffered the tragic loss of the U.S.S. SCORPION (SSN-589) with 99 men aboard. The submarine disappeared about 400 miles southwest of the Azores Islands. This sad event would cause the Navy to make decisions about investigating the loss of SCORPION. The decisions would include sending TRIESTE, its crew and two other vessels half way round the world, creating an eight month deployment. This group would be known as the Integrated Operating Unit (IOU), SCORPION Operations, Phase II, which included: USS WHITE SANDS (ARD-20), USS APACHE (ATF-67), and TRIESTE II (DSV-1).

Shortly before leaving San Diego, the Commanding Officer of the WHITE SANDS had a death in his immediate family and he was to be left behind in San Diego. LCDR Robert F. Nevin, the Officer in Charge of TRIESTE, suddenly became Officer in Charge of WHITE SANDS as well as TRIESTE. LCDR Nevin would take on the burden of commanding both organizations for the duration of the deployment.

Our long deployment would involve leaving San Diego, traveling south along Baja California; to Rodman Naval Station, Panama, a trip through the Panama Canal to Colon; then north to Mayport, Florida. From Mayport we would move east to the Azores Islands, where TRIESTE would make nine successful dives investigating the wreckage of the submarine SCORPION. Then, we would make the long trip back through the Canal to San Diego.

It did not take long for events to illustrate how long and slow this deployment would become. Not long after leaving San Diego, we were moving along Baja, California, and discovered that thanks to a headwind and cross current, our daily progress for one day consisted of virtually making little or no forward progress, but sliding sideways nearly 90 miles. The seagoing tug APACHE would have its work cut out for it on this trip.

Transiting the Panama Canal proved to be an interesting experience for those who were making the trip for the first time. In addition to pulling liberty at Rodman Naval Station, Panama City, and Colon, at the other end of the Canal; we also witnessed a parachute drop into the jungle not far from the Canal. Dropped paratroopers would work their way out of the jungle toward the small road running parallel to the Canal where military trucks roamed to retrieve the soldiers. We would also pass many foreign ships in the Canal and Gatun Lake. The large lake at the highest point between the locks at both ends would provide some unusual scenery...and some unusual rain squalls.

A beard growing contest provided lots of entertainment over time, and then the beard shaving contest occurred before we reached liberty call at Mayport. Someone thought we wouldn’t want scruffy looking sailors walking the streets in that area of Florida.

While we were in the Mayport, Florida, area; we added the experience of a helicopter bringing mail and equipment to us at sea. We also experienced another man over board. This time, the unscheduled swimmer was PH1 Robert J. Walker. Walker was standing a watch at night on the fantail of the WHITE SANDS while we were towing the TRIESTE. At times when we towed TRIESTE, it was common to tie a small boat to the rear of the ship for emergency purposes and have a TRIESTE watch stander on the fantail. During the night, the small boat became fouled in its own line and over turned. WALKER observed the problem and climbed down to the platform at the lower part of the tail gate to see if he could correct the situation. For his efforts, he ended up in the water, and when spotted by other watch standers, he was sitting on the upside down small boat being towed by WHITE SANDS waiting for help. Despite the potential seriousness of the situation, Walker was another late night swimmer teased about his activity.

After arriving in the Azores, we made port calls at the Portuguese Islands of Terceira and San Migel. Tours were arranged at Ponta Delgado to visit the picturesque, volcanic islands. Trips were made to lava fields, caves, scenic overlooks, coastlines, and were topped off with picnic lunches during the tours.

After about sixty days in the dive area, resupplying became a necessary activity so we were met at sea by the USNS VICTORIA (T-AK-128). Our on-scene support ship the USS RUCHAMKIN (APD-89) pitched in to aid in this resupplying effort.

Consuming lots of supplies creates lots of garbage, but dumping the garbage was out of the question during the times we were located over the submarine wreckage site. As a result, there were times when some of the ships main deck areas looked like a garbage dump until we could make a run to a different area of the sea to dispose of our garbage.

A historic event occurred during one of the nine dives TRIESTE made investigating the submarine‘s wreckage. On July 21, 1969, the TRIESTE piloted by LT Saxon, with LT Byrnes and LT Field aboard, descended on Dive 21-T3 to the bottom of the Atlantic. While these three officers were traversing the ocean’s bottom, Apollo 11 (with Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins) was on the Moon, where Armstrong would take his historical first step on the Moon’s surface on the same day. Just imagine the technological advances that would permit men on the Moon and men on the bottom of the ocean on the same day...all to return safely from their voyages.

Despite the significance of the walk on the Moon, TRIESTE personnel could be heard quoting the saying: “The ocean’s bottom is more interesting than the Moon’s behind.” One could certainly tell where our focus was, because of our circumstances.

Before leaving the dive area and the Azores Islands, the WHITE SANDS leading yeoman, Vernon D. Sharp, YN1, was notified of a death in his family. Arrangements were made for Sharp to get to the Azores and fly home ahead of the IOU. At that time and for the balance of the trip, I became clerical supervisor for the WHITE SANDS in addition to my duties for TRIESTE. The WHITE SANDS had three men to handle the daily clerical routines: a SN Gary E. Parlet, JOSN Eric L. Swanson and YN3 T. G. Thurman, and I was to supervise their activities.

Decisions were made for me to work all night and sleep during the day. The TRIESTE officers and the specialists with the On-Scene Technical Group would work during the day to hand write their report covering the results of TRIESTE’s dives on the submarine wreckage. Then, they would hand it to me for typing during the night. The next day, they would indicate corrections or changes and prepare new information for the report. That night, I would make corrections and type the new material. This cycle would continue each day and night. The goal was to have the written report for the IOU completed and ready for a printer before we returned to San Diego. I reported to LT Anthony T. Dunn, Assistant Officer in Charge of the TRIESTE, to ensure that we stayed on track with report preparations and any clerical requirements for the TRIESTE were being accomplished.

At the beginning of each night, I would evaluate the work prepared during the day by the WHITE SANDS clerical crew, indicate changes or corrections, and layout any new requirements for the next day. This cycle would be repeated each day. I would also maintain contact with LT Beauford E. Myers, Executive Officer of the WHITE SANDS, to ensure we were handling all the daily clerical requirements of the ARD. (See the Beau Myers Collection on this site.)

On the return trip, the leading cook for WHITE SANDS was stricken with appendicitis. He was treated by HMC Troy W. Brown(DV) until we arranged for an emergency transfer at sea to a submarine tender on its way back to Norfolk. With our slow transit speed and limited personnel, the cook would reach hospital care long before we reached the U.S. and be under a doctor’s care during his return trip.

All during the deployment, but especially after the dives were completed and on the return trip; recreation became important activities. For the individual: letter writing, studying course materials, fishing, pistol and skeet shooting, and reading were regular activities. For pairs and small groups: musical jam sessions, acey-ducey matches, card playing tournaments such as poker and pinochle, checkers, chess and badminton took the front burner. Basketball and volleyball tournaments were popular group events. The chief’s volleyball team even created hand made uniforms to spice things up. The uniforms were morale builders, but didn’t help them win. One of the most popular activities was cookouts on the forecastle. Good food was always a hit.

My relationship with the TRIESTE crew was excellent. Some members of the crew decided to create and provide me with a very unique souvenir from the deployment. I drank a lot of Coca Cola and kept a styrofoam ice bucket on my desk. Suddenly, during the on-scene dives, it disappeared. My anger and wrath built steadily over time about the “thief” on board. Finally on the return trip, one of the chiefs decided he had heard enough of my whining. He produced an object that he claimed had been taken in order to give me something special. They had originally planned to return the ice bucket to me at the end of the trip. I felt pretty small when I found out the crew had hung my ice bucket on the outside of the vehicle on dive number nine (22-T3) on 31 July 1969. Subjected to the tremendous pressure my ice bucket had been squeezed to about one fifth of its original size, a solid mass of material. It was a pleasant surprise and I have a very unique souvenir from the Scorpion Ops from our crew.

The return trip was filled with recreation, but always done with a look over our shoulder toward a hurricane type storm building far in our rear. It made the trip more urgent to get back through the Panama Canal. Most people felt that the WHITE SANDS would not be the most appropriate vessel to be used riding out a hurricane. Fortunately, we reached the Canal without a serious weather incident.

The culmination of our return trip to San Diego was marked by some small boats welcoming us home, plus dignitaries, local cheerleaders, well wishers, and families waiting on the pier. Ballast Point was a welcome site after a very long, but productive eight month deployment. The conduct and results of the trip would be a source of pride for all three organizations. The Integrated Operating Unit, Scorpion Phase II, would later be recognized for its joint effort by the Secretary of the Navy, with the authorization of a Secretary of the Navy Commendation Ribbon for all who participated.