JUL31-02: NAVSEA
Salvage Engineers Help Raise Cold-War Era
Sub
By Naval Sea Systems
Command Office of Corporate Communications
The decommissioned 282-foot
submarine, originally designated as K-77 and commonly known as Juliett 484, was
eventually purchased by the USS Saratoga Museum Foundation as a floating museum.
The sub had been modified with tourist access openings, flooded and sank in 2007
during a severe storm.
As the military’s authority
on all aspects of ocean engineering, including salvage, in-water ship repair,
contracting, towing, diving safety, and equipment maintenance and procurement,
NAVSEA’s Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV), was tasked and funded by
the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense Innovative Readiness Training
office to offer their technical salvage expertise with the Navy’s Mobile Diving
and Salvage Unit TWO (MDSU-2) as they raised the sub to the surface of the
water.
“This represented a unique
and rare training opportunity for our salvage engineers and Navy divers to gain
valuable hands-on practice in a complex salvage operation involving a
submarine,” said Michael S. Dean, Supervisor of Salvage and Diving. “Getting that sort of training and practice
is really invaluable to our personnel.”
Because technical
documentation on sub’s weight, volume, stability and material condition is still
classified, NAVSEA’s experts had to take into account the widest range of
possible conditions when developing the salvage plan. In addition, Navy personnel gained invaluable
experience on an array of complex and important salvage equipment and
techniques.
In addition to providing
Navy personnel hands-on experience, the salvage operation benefited the local
community by unblocking the waterfront and improving access to