**This Day in Diving History -- October 12, 2000 -- USS COLE (DDG-67) Terrorist Attack**

**This Day in Diving History -- October 12, 2000 -- USS COLE (DDG-67) Terrorist Attack**
Eleven months before the events of September 11, the USS COLE (DDG-67), was on deployment enroute to Bahrain. In need of fuel, the Arleigh-Burke class destroyer entered the harbor of Aden, Yemen for a scheduled refueling. After the mooring of the ship to a buoy, the refueling operation began. Approximately 45 minutes into the refueling (11:18 a.m.), terrorists detonated a small boat packed with explosives on the port side of the ship. The explosion ripped a 1,600 square foot hole in her hull, killed 17 Sailors and left 39 wounded.

In the aftermath of the explosion, the crew of the COLE fought tirelessly to free sailors trapped by the twisted wreckage and limit flooding that threatened to sink their ship. The crew's prompt actions to isolate damaged electrical systems and contain fuel oil ruptures prevented catastrophic fires that could have engulfed the ship and cost the lives of others. Skillful first aid applied by the crew prevented additional deaths and eased the suffering of many others. The crew conducted more than 96 hours of sustained damage control in conditions of extreme heat and stress. Deprived of sleep, food and shelter, they vigilantly battled to save the ship and restore stability to vital engineering systems. This superhuman effort kept the ship afloat although it remained highly unstable. During these efforts, initial hull searches for additional explosive devices on her were carried out by EOD that were deployed in the area. As these initial searches were being conducted, a detachment of Navy Divers was brought on scene and tasked with locating the missing Sailors, ship stabilization, evidence recovery, structural inspections and assistance in loading her on a heavy transport ship that would eventually bring her home.

The first challenge would be to stabilize the ship. The COLE was listing to port, had no electrical power and was still flooding in several compartments. To do this, a surface supplied diving system was set up onboard the COLE which would allow divers to route through multiple decks and compartments for extended periods of time. Diving in enclosed spaces is dangerous enough; adding to this would be diving in a medium of both water and fuel, around shattered bulkheads, buckled decks and a spider web of broken pipes and wires – all in zero visibility with water and air temperatures ranging from 90 to 110 degrees. Once setup was complete, Navy Divers were able to systematically identify, isolate and effectively stop remaining flooding into the ship. In process they recovered several bodies of fallen crew members and successfully stabilized the ship. Once these immediate stability concerns were met, Navy Divers moved to the blast area itself in order to inspect the area, gather evidence and recover remaining crewmember remains.


The blast area on the ship was nothing less than devastating. Noticeable to the world was the immense opening in the hull. Even more disturbing was the level of damage inside the ship. Divers had to be even more careful in this area to ensure they did not cut themselves or their equipment on countless shards of metal. Slowly and methodically, they inspected every inch of the blast area. Through these continued efforts, evidence was gathered about the explosion for investigators and all of the missing COLE Sailors were recovered. These sailors were given full military honors as they were escorted off the ship to begin their long and final journey home.

With the recovery phase completed, inspection dives were conducted so that naval engineers could determine how much of the COLE's structural strength had been lost. The Blue Marlin, a 700-foot-long Norwegian heavy-lift transport ship, was contracted to return the COLE back to the United States. To accommodate the COLE, the Blue Marlin was fitted with special docking blocks that would hold her in the most stable position for the long voyage. The fleet ocean tug USNS Catawba towed the COLE out to deeper waters approximately 23 miles off the coast of Yemen on 29 October. Loading the COLE onto the Blue Marlin required calm seas and a water depth of at least 75 feet. The Blue Marlin partially submerged as tugs maneuvered the COLE into position over the transport's deck. Navy Divers then guided the damaged destroyer into position as the Blue Marlin raised up in the water to meet the ship. The entire docking evolution took almost 24 hours to complete. The Blue Marlin, with the COLE securely held on her deck, began the transit back to the United States.
USS COLE was off-loaded Dec. 13, 2000, in a pre-dredged deep-water facility at the shipyard of Northrop Grumman Ship Systems. After a successful 14-month effort to repair the damage, USS COLE returned to Naval Station Norfolk on April 25, 2002. She would deploy to the Middle East for the first time since the bombing in June 2006. While passing the port city of Aden the crew manned the rails to honor the crewmembers killed in the bombing.

Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri is alleged to be the mastermind of the USS COLE bombing and other terrorist attacks, who headed al-Qaeda operations in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf states prior to his capture in November 2002 by the CIA. He is currently in American military custody in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. In December 2008, he was charged before a Guantanamo Military Commission. The charges were dropped in February 2009 pending the Obama administration's review of all Guantánamo detentions, but may be refiled.

H/Y

**This Day in Diving History -- MDSU TWO and SWRMC's Birthday**

**This Day in Diving History October 1, 1966/1986 -- MDSU TWO and SWRMC's Birthday **

Today marks the Birthday of two of Navy Divings major commands, MDSU TWO and SWRMC.

- MDSU TWO -

October 1, 1966 Harbor Clearance Unit TWO commissioned at the Navy Amphibious Base Little Creek, VA.
Patterned after World War II mobile salvage units, HCU TWO consolidated the diving resources of the Atlantic fleet in direct support of combat operations through the clearance of harbors and waterways during the Vietnam War. Along with her sister command (HCU 1), HCU 2 salvaged hundreds of small craft, barges, and downed aircraft; refloated many stranded U. S. Military and merchant vessels; cleared obstructed piers, shipping channels, and bridges; and performed numerous underwater repairs to ships operating in the combat zone.

The command officially became Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit TWO in February of 1982, reflecting the new focus on salvage operations and specialized diving missions. Over the years, MDSU TWO earned the title of "Experts in Salvage" through participation in numerous salvage/recovery operations, harbor clearance, humanitarian operations and battle damage assessment and repair.

The heavy salvage capabilities of MDSU TWO have been demonstrated during such salvage operations as; TWA 800, Swiss Air Flight 111, Space Shuttles Challenger and Columbia and the salvage of USS MONITOR's steam engine, turret, eleven-inch Dahlgren guns and crew remains. MDSU TWO has been involved in quick response battle damage assessment and repair on such vessels as: USS La MOURE COUNTY (LST 1194) and USS COLE (DDG 67). They have also been involved in many humanitarian missions such as Minneapolis Minnesota bridge collapse and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Contributions during the GWOT have included emergent taskings such as the salvage of a SH-60 helicopter in 270 feet of water in the Red Sea and deployments to the Persian Gulf for Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM.

MDSU TWO continues to support current and future fleet requirements. The command supports five Mobile Diving and Salvage Detachments (MDSDs), an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) Detachment and a Side Scan Sonar team as well as one shore detachment in Norfolk, Virginia. Detachments are trained and equipped with fly-away diving systems and recompression chambers to support the Atlantic Fleet with combat salvage, expeditionary harbor clearance and homeland defense operations.

- SWRMC -

In 1979 COMNAVSURFPAC created a San Diego based Diver Consolidation plan as a pilot program to determine if consolidation of Navy Divers would better effect utilization of diving assets and increase cost savings to the fleet. The first year of the program turned out to be a success and in August of 1980, the unit officially was commissioned as Harbor Clearance Unit One Detachment (HCU ONE DET). The Unit's name was later changed to Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit One Detachment (MDSU ONE DET), when HCU-1 in Hawaii changed its name to MDSU ONE. This should not to be confused with the current MDSU ONE Det ONE Detachment currently in San Diego that would not be reestablished until years later when the Navy saw a need for an asset focused on Salvage/Harbor Clearance on the west coast of the U.S.

The combination of man power and technical expertise at MDSU ONE DET resulted in the development of underwater work procedures for different jobs and classes of ships focusing on UWSH procedures but including some Salvage as well. In addition, MOBDIVSALU ONE DET personnel conducted training aimed at the certification of the Navy's first underwater welders. On October 1, 1986 MOBDIVSALU ONE DET was officially renamed Consolidated Divers Unit (CDU). The command's focus became underwater ships husbandry with the transfer of the salvage portion of the command's mission to MDSU ONE in Hawaii. CDU was again renamed the South West Regional Maintenance Center (SWRMC) Dive Locker on May 22, 2002 and remains one of the Navy's premier underwater ships husbandry assets. Since its inception SWRMC has completed underwater repairs on ships and submarines from bow to stern. They operate not only in the southern California area, but can also conduct fly-away emergent ship/sub repairs. SWRMC also serves at the southwest regions emergent hyperbaric medical facility for all branches of the military. These operations expedite getting the Navy's sea assets back at sea, saving the Navy countless dollars and time in dry-docking costs.

Note: Anyone who has ever walked through the SWRMC Dive Locker has seen the life-sized statue of a diver in full gear, riding atop a 14 foot shark holding its dorsal fin and pointing forward with his other hand. While many have seen this statue, few know the history behind it. The statue was constructed at the Underwater Swim School in Key West, FL by Chief Yeoman Dow Byers. YNC Byers was a UDT Diver who served as an instructor and worked in the carpentry shop. In 1964, he came up with the idea to make a life-sized statue of the school-house's logo - a diver riding a shark. The shark was designed bearing the characteristics of a few sharks; the fine-tooth, mako, sand and nurse shark - and is a female. To create the shark, he shaped pieces of white pine into a skeleton and covered it with fiberglass. The diver was a little trickier. Chief Byers envisioned the diver being tall and thin and searched several dive school classes until settling on one of the instructors to be the model. BM1 Caltenback (a First Class Diver) stood 5'10" and weighed about 150lbs at the time. Byers encased Caltenback in a full body cast from the neck down for four hours during which he protested a great deal and moved not an inch. The result was a life-sized figure of a SCUBA Diver in full gear, astride a 14 foot shark with the words "U.S. Navy School, Underwater Swimmers" in large red letters. Soon after Dow Byers completed the statue, it was displayed at the Monroe County Fair where it won first place ribbons. U.S. Naval School Underwater Swimmers, Key West, Florida, welcomed its first class in 1954 and trained over 6000 divers before officially closing it doors in l973. The statue was then transferred to Navy Dive School, Coronado where it stayed until 1993 when it was transferred once more to CDU (which eventually became SWRMC) where it is proudly displayed to this day.

For more info about the U.S. Naval School Underwater Swimmers, Key West, FL check out http://www.uwss.org/

H/Y

This Week in Diving History

This Day in Diving History -- July 5, 1926 -- S-51(SS-162) raised.

On the night of 25 September 1925, the submarine S-51 was operating on the surface near Block Island, with her running lights on. The merchant steamer City of Rome spotted S-51's masthead light but had difficulty determining its course, speed, or intentions. S-51 spotted the ship and held course as she was required to do by the Rules of the Road. Since the submarine's stern light was plainly visible to the approaching ship, they felt no alarm; the steamer would surely change course and pass them, so they thought. They watched as the City of Rome drew closer until it looked as if it would run them over in spite of the rules. The submarine turned its rudder hard right in an avoidance maneuver. Just when it seemed that the steamer was turning away from them, to their horror, it changed direction and headed for their right side. The steamer T-Boned the submarine, ran completely over her -- forcing her underwater, and kept going. This created a huge hole, about 30 inches wide, instantly flooding the boat. This all happened so quickly that there was no time to close the watertight doors. The S-51 sank in less than one minute. The sub and her crew had disappeared in some 132 feet of water about fourteen miles east of Block Island.

Only three of the 36 men in the submarine were able to abandon ship before she sank that were later picked up by the City of Rome. The disaster stirred such a strong public reaction that Navy brass made the decision to attempt to raise the 1,000-ton submarine from the bottom of the sea and recover the bodies. No vessel had ever been raised from such a depth, and to the technical mind this task was impossible. This gargantuan task was given to Lieutenant Commander Edward Ellsberg and a group of Navy Divers scavenged from all over the fleet. It was quickly realized however that there were only had 20 Divers in inventory that were qualified to dive deeper than 90 feet - a result of World War I cutbacks and lack of diving/salvage interest within the Navy.

Over a painstaking nine-month period, he and his men performed exhausting and terrifying work at unprecedented depths in hour-long increments-working against the severe, dangerous, and often unforeseen forces of nature-to enact a miracle of ingenuity and sheer will. A special Diver training course had to be made part of the operation due to the limited number of qualified divers in the Navy at the time. The submarine was finally raised on July 5, 1926 and towed to the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York. There it stayed on display for some time until it was later sold for scrap.

The salvage of the S-51 presented many challenges and revealed many shortcomings in the Navy's then diving, submarine rescue and salvage capabilities. The biggest being the impact that a lack of funding, manning and training had on the Navy's ability to conduct such operations when they were critically needed.

For the Navy Divers efforts in this task, the following medals were awarded.

Distinguished Service Medal - This was the first time this was ever awarded in peace-time.
1. Edward Ellsberg - Also promoted to Commander by special act of Congress.

Navy Cross - Stars denote those individuals that would be awarded more than one Navy Cross during their career.
1. Badders, William *
2. Carr, William *
3. Eadie, Thomas *
4. Eiben, Joseph *
5. Frazer, James
6. Hawes, Richard *
7. Kelly, John *
8. Loughman, William *
9. Schissel, Solomon
10. Smith Francis
11. Wickwire, William *
12. Wilson, Raymond *

Books about the S-51 salvage:
1. "On the Bottom" by Edward Ellsberg
2. "I Like Diving" by Tom Eadie
3. "Men Under the Sea" by Edward Ellsberg

Notes:
The following hyperlink contains all 104 pages of the "US Navy Department Report on Salvage Operations -- Submarine S-51"
http://www.geocities.com/heartland/7282/usnrc.htm

Yesterday in Diving History -- June 21, 1896 -- Charles (Swede) Momsen born

Yesterday in Diving History -- June 21, 1896 -- Charles (Swede) Momsen born.

Charles Bowers Momsen (1896 - 1967), also known as Swede Momsen, was born on June 21, 1896 in Flushing, New York. He was an American pioneer in Navy Diving and submarine rescue. The contributions he made during his career were numerous and included but were not limited to; the invention of the Momsen Lung, initial designer of the McCann rescue chamber, directed the rescue of the crew of the USS SQUALUS (SS-192) and assisted in the development of HEO2 breathing for Navy Divers.

SUBMARINE SERVICE
Momsen entered the United States Naval Academy in 1914, and graduated in 1919. During his early career, Momsen served on the USS OKLAHOMA (BB-37), O-15 (SS-76), and S-1 (SS-105). An incident while serving on S-1 would cause Momsen's attention to be riveted on the urgent need for some sort of rescue for downed submariners. On 25 September 1925, a sister sub, S-51(SS-162) collided with the City of Rome (a cargo ship), sinking her in 130 feet of water (Note: You will see more detail about this in next weeks Diving History email). Momsen was ordered to take S-1 out to search for the crippled submarine. S-1 found the oil slick marking the spot where the submarine sunk, but without sonar, there was no way to locate the desperate crew on the bottom. No method existed for the trapped sailors to escape. The incident reminded many why submarine duty was dubbed the "Coffin Service" in its early years.

THE MOMSEN LUNG
While serving with the Submarine Safety Test Unit, Momsen began working on a device to help such sailors surface. Officially called the Submarine Escape Lung, it consisted of an oblong rubber bag that recycled exhaled air. The press enthusiastically received the device and dubbed it the Momsen Lung, a name that stuck. The Lung contained a canister of soda lime, which removed poisonous carbon dioxide from exhaled air and then replenished the it with oxygen. Besides providing oxygen for the ascent, it also allowed a submariner to rise slowly to the surface, thus avoiding decompression sickness ("the bends"). Momsen received the Distinguished Service Medal for personally testing the device at a depth of 200 feet. The Lung saved its first lives in October 1944, when eight submariners used it to reach the surface after Tang (SS-306) sank in 180 feet of water in the East China Sea.

SUBMARINE RESCUE CHAMBER / SQUALUS RESCUE
Between 1929 and 1939, 700 U.S. sailors were lost in 20 submarine accidents. This motivated Momsen to begin looking for other/safer ways to rescue submariners. He conceived a diving bell, which could be lowered to a submarine in distress and opened to allow trapped submariners to climb in and be brought safely to the surface. Momsen diagrammed his idea and sent it up the chain of command. The idea was quickly disapproved as impractical. He stated his case again, but to no avail. Soon thereafter, another submarine, S-4 (SS-109), sank off Cape Cod. Forty men died. Six crewmen survived for three days in the torpedo room, but the sailors had no way to escape the submarine. Fierce public outcry forced the Navy to take another look at its submarine rescue capability or lack there of.
Momsen returned to his diving bell idea in 1930, built a prototype and tested it off Key West, Florida. Momsen stated that the diving bell was unstable, tipped and leaked. He had several changes in mind to correct these problems, but was ordered to teach submariners how to use the Momsen Lung before he could implement the changes. LCDR Allan McCann was put in charge of the revisions on the diving bell. When the redesigned bell was completed in late 1930, it was introduced as the McCann Submarine Rescue Chamber. Momsen stated that the redesign was a significant improvement over the prototype.

On 24 May 1939, Momsen directed the rescue and recovery of crewmembers from the SQUALUS (SS-192). Working from the salvage ship USS FALCON (ASR-2), Momsen instructed the team of divers as they dove to the submarine and attached cables to the rescue chamber. Commander McCann supervised the rescue chamber's operators as they made four trips to bring all 33 surviving crewmen safely to the surface. All 33 surviving crewmen were rescued. Commander Momsen personally received a Letter of Commendation from Franklin D. Roosevelt for his efforts during the rescue.

HEO2 DIVING / SQUALUS SALVAGE
Prior to the SQUALUS rescue; Momsen led an experimental deep-sea diving unit at the Washington Navy Yard and achieved a major breakthrough in diving. At great depths, the mixture of oxygen and nitrogen in air have toxic/narcotic effects on the human body. This effectively renders a diver useless at depth at best, or can even result in injury or death. In experiments often performed by Momsen himself, the team replaced the nitrogen with nontoxic helium and mixed it with varying levels of oxygen depending upon depth. This new breathing medium (HEO2) was first utilized during the salvage of the SQUALUS with great success. Momsen led the salvage of the SQUALUS immediately following the recovery operation, bringing her to the surface in 113 days (she would later be recommisioned USS SAILFISH). Today Navy Divers routinely use HEO2 to operate safely deeper than 300 feet.

OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- During the Second World War, Momsen served as Commander, Submarine Squadron 2 and Submarine Squadron 4. While at Squadron 2, the submarine skippers kept reporting that their torpedoes were not behaving correctly. He took torpedoes to the shallow waters and sheer cliffs of the Hawaiian Island of Kahoolawe and fired until he got a dud. Then, risking his own life, he dove into the water to find and recover the unexploded torpedo. It was discovered that a small problem with the pin inside the primer cap was causing the problems.
- Earned the Navy Cross as commander of a submarine attack group in Japanese-controlled waters of the East China Sea. Using an attack pattern he developed, the submarines sank five Japanese ships and damaged eight others.
- Commanded the battleship USS SOUTH DAKOTA from December 1944 to August 1945. Awarded The Legion of Merit with Combat "V (Gold Star in lieu of a third award).
- In November 1945, he directed a fleet of nearly 200 surplus Army and Navy ships, manned by Japanese crews, that evacuated the first of nearly six million Japanese from Manchuria, Formosa, and islands in the Pacific.
- Served as Assistant Chief of Naval Operations for Undersea Warfare from 1948 to 1951, then became Commander of the Submarine Force's Pacific Fleet.



Vice Admiral Charles B. Momsen died of cancer on May 25, 1967. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Namesake.

Honors:
(Note: It would be near impossible to list his every honor on this email, these are only a few notables.) 1. The 42nd Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, USS MOMSEN (DDG-92) was commissioned in his honor on Saturday, Aug. 28, 2004, at NDSTC in Panama City, Fla.
2. On the 20th anniversary of NDSTC, the worlds premier Diving and Salvage School was dedicated to VADM "Swede" Momsen.
3. Momsen Hall, the 75-man BOQ at the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC), Andros Island, Bahamas, was named in his honor in 1969.

Books/Movies:
1. The Rescuer by Peter Maas
2. The Terrible Hours by Peter Maas
3. Portrayed by Sam Neill (main character from Jurrasic Park) in the made for TV movie "Submerged" (2001)

This Day in Diving History -- May 5, 2001 -- Matthew Draughon

This Day in Diving History -- May 5, 2001 -- TMSN(DV) Matthew Draughon is lost during salvage operations on USS SAFEGUARD (ARS-50).

May 5, 2001 - USS SAFEGUARD was conducting recovery operations on a downed F-16 aircraft that crashed into the Sea of Japan off the coast of Misawa, Japan. This operation was being conducted in support of the U.S. Air Force's safety investigation of the mishap. On what was supposed to be the last day of debris recovery, Draughon and another Diver were in process of salvaging debris when both men became entangled underwater near the ship's anchor during a night dive. It is believed that the anchor chain hit Draughon, knocking him unconscious and causing him to become lost at sea.

The second Diver was rescued, but Draughon was not. After a massive air and sea search failed to locate his body, Japanese fishermen discovered his body on June 5th near the inlet of a river just south of the range. Draughon was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery and was posthumously awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal. This is the second highest non-combatant medal awarded by the Navy. The second Diver who was rescued still serves as an ND on active duty. Hoo-Yah.

Note: Naval Air Facility (NAF) Misawa honored Draughon, by naming its Navy Combined Bachelor Housing (CBH) barracks "Draughon Hall." Along with the naming, a display case was constructed, filled with memorabilia revolving around Draughon's dedicated service.