Ed Offley is author of Scorpion Down: Sunk by the Soviets, Buried by the Pentagon — the Untold Story of the USS Scorpion, and several books about the Battle of the Atlantic, most recently The Burning Shore: How Hitler's U-boats Brought World War II to America.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to the heroic submariners and saturation divers who participated in Operation Ivy Bells in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Barents Sea from the late 1960s through the mid 1990s, men whose courageous actions materially enhanced America's Cold War stance and significantly shortened the duration of the Cold War.
USS Halibut (SSN 587) Organizational Chart
Cast of Characters
Commander Dan Richardson — Ex skipper of USS Pigeon; Heads Submarine Development Group One activities
Personnelman 1st Class Jerry Peterson (Pete) — SubDevGruOne staff
John Craven — Brains behind the Project
Marine — Marine guard at SubDevGruOne HQ
Lieutenant J.R. McDowell (Mac) — Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Test (Narrator)
Master Chief Hamilton Comstock (Ham) — Master Saturation Diver — Came from Experimental Diving Unit and Man-in-the-Sea Program
Chief Jack Meredith — Master Saturation Diver (Understudy) — Ex SEAL — left to become saturation diver; ex Man-in-the-Sea Program
Petty Officer 1st Class James Tanner (Jimmy) — Saturation Diver; qualified Dive Console operator — Sonar Tech
Petty Officer 1st Class Melvin Ford (Whitey) — Saturation Diver; qualified Dive Console operator — Electronics Tech
Petty Officer 2nd Class William Fisher (Bill) — Saturation Diver; qualified Dive Console operator — Battlefield medic turned saturation diver
Petty Officer 2nd Class Wlodek Cslauski (Ski) — Saturation Diver; qualified Dive Console operator — Quartermaster
Petty Officer 2nd Class Jeremy Romain (Jer) — Saturation Diver; qualified Dive Console operator — Submariner (Engineman) turned saturation diver; Graduate of earlier saturation dive class
Petty Officer 2nd Class Harry Blackwell — Saturation Diver; qualified Dive Console operator — Submariner (Auxiliaryman) turned saturation diver; Graduate of earlier saturation dive class
Lieutenant George Franklin (Frankie) — OIC Saturation Dive Unit
Master Chief Ray Harmon — Master Saturation Diver
Dr. Joseph Lemwell (Doc) — Saturation Doctor
Chief Paul Struthers — Master Saturation Diver Trainee
Sailor — Deck hand
Bartender — At The Horse & Cow
Snorkel Patty — At The Horse & Cow
Seaman José Roscoe — Topside Watch, Lookout/Helmsman/Planesman
Seaman Rocky Faust — Topside Watch, Lookout/Helmsman/Planesman
Seaman Matthew Scott (Scotty) — Topside Watch, Lookout/Helmsman/Planesman
Seaman Charlie Todd — Topside Watch, Lookout/Helmsman/Planesman
Seaman Stacy Fisher — Topside Watch, Lookout/Helmsman/Planesman
Seaman Lyle Dunlap — Topside Watch, Lookout/Helmsman/Planesman
Seaman Gene Magor — Topside Watch, Lookout/Helmsman/Planesman
Unknown Soviet Officer — Commanding Officer
Sergyi Andreev — The Soviet Diver
Lieutenant Commander Roger Leach — Commanding Officer
Chief Warrant Officer Tommie Bridger — First Lieutenant
Lieutenant Junior Grade Odis Weldy — Engineer
Ensign Bennie Poley — Operations Officer
Deck — Lieutenant J.R. McDowell (Mac)
Dive — Lieutenant (jg) Christopher Barth
COW — Chief Wilbert Kettlewell (Pots)
Nav — Petty Officer 1st Class Gary Parrish
Bow/Helm — Seaman Fred Skidmore
Stern — Seaman José Roscoe
Sonar — Petty Officer 1st Class Royal Bennett (King)
Maneuvering — Petty Officer 1st Class Hector Swarner (Heck)
Deck — Lieutenant Josh Friedman (Weaps)
Dive — Chief Warrant Officer Neil Mixey
COW — Senior Chief Saul Dimsdale
Nav — Senior Chief Quartermaster Sam Gunty
Bow/Helm — Seaman Rocky Faust
Stern — Seaman Matthew Scott (Scotty)
Sonar — Senior Chief Sonar Technician Travis Barkley
Maneuvering — Petty Officer 1st Class Kasey Newton (Figs)
Deck — Lieutenant Commander Larry Jackson (Nav)
Dive — Lieutenant (jg) Glen Zaun (RCA)
COW — Chief Elmo Prevatt (Tubes)
Nav — Petty Officer 2nd Class Adam Jube (Juby)
Bow/Helm — Seaman Charlie Todd
Stern — Seaman Stacy Fisher
Sonar — Petty Officer 2nd Class Andrew Cribbs (Andy)
Maneuvering — Chief Herb Zundel
Deck — Lieutenant Commander Dirk Philips (Eng)
Dive — Senior Chief Ward Harshman (Sparks)
COW — Senior Chief Ty Birdsall
Nav — Petty Officer 2nd Class Joel Beach
Bow/Helm — Seaman Lyle Dunlap
Stern — Seaman Gene Magor
Sonar — Petty Officer 2nd Class Lemuel Fitzgerald (Fitz)
Maneuvering — Chief Dorian Boyd
CHAPTER ONE
I hung motionless in the frigid water a few yards from the spherical Personnel Transfer Capsule a thousand feet below the surface. It was pitch black, except for two beams of light emanating from the PTC that terminated in white circles on the sandy bottom a hundred feet below. In the crystal clear water there was virtually no diffusion. I felt motion beside me and turned to see a flood of bubbles rising from Harry's plunge through the PTC hatch.
We each had a hundred feet of umbilical snaking back into the PTC, where Bill, the third member of our party, kept the slack out of our umbilicals and stood by to help in the event of an emergency. I put a finger in front of my mask indicating silence. Harry gave me a thumbs-up. We started drifting downward, not paying any attention to our depth. After all, we were saturated to a thousand feet; down was good.
"Red Diver, what are you doing?" Master Chief Ray Harmon was having a conniption topside. As the Sat Dive Unit's Master Saturation Diver, he was running the dive under Lieutenant George Franklin, the Officer-in-Charge.
"Checking something out, Control, just checking something out." I increased my descent and Harry followed suit. I could hear my distorted voice in my earphones.