Sea service notes
The U.S. Navy is investigating the cause of the fire and flooding on board the USS Dolphin (AGSS 555), the service’s only diesel-electric submarine. The incident on the Dolphin-a deep-diving submarine used for research and development-occurred on 21 May during operations 100 miles off San Diego, Calif. The submarine’s 43-man crew evacuated the boat. Two were recovered from the water by a Coast Guard helicopter; the others were taken on board the MN McGaw. The Dolphin was towed back to Naval Submarine Base Point Loma, Calif.
The former naval air station on the Aleutian island of Adak-an important maritime patrol aviation base during the Cold War-is being turned over to the Aleut Corporation, which is based in Anchorage, Alaska. The island base– closed in 1997 and now going through an environmental cleanup-is attracting increasing interest from the fishing industry. One fish-processing plant is now in operation on the island, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
The famously named Samuel Eliot Morison has become the seventh Perry-class guided-missile frigate to be transferred to the Turkish Navy. The ship, renamed the TCG Gokova, was recommissioned during ceremonies at Naval Station Norfolk, Va.
Several decommissioned Navy surface ships are continuing to serve their country, but at a lower level. The 510foot dock landing ship Spiegel Grove, sunk off the Florida Keys in May, is believed to be the largest ship ever sunk to serve as an artificial reef. The 598-foot Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship Okinawa-towed from Bremerton, Wash., two weeks later-also was to be sunk to form a reef (in an undisclosed location). Finally, the former Charles F. Adams-class guided-missile destroyers Henry B. Wilson and Towers are being readied at Mare Island, Calif., for eventual sinking as targets.
Copyright Navy League of the United States Jul 2002
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