| I am
forwarding a CD containing pics I took during Scorpion OPs Phase ll in the summer of 1969.
About two months ago I was plowing through some remnants that came through a devastating
house fire. Among the remains was a box of blackened slides. It took some cleaning but
I managed to salvage a goodly number including the ones being forwarded. You will quickly
see there are very few of Trieste. I served in USS Whitesands from Aug '68 to Mar '72.
My rank was LT and I served as XO for all but two months of that tour. I retired Aug '74
with the rank of LCDR. At that time the "new" Trieste ll was considered so
secret that it was not even classified. It didn't "exist" and if it didn't exist any
type of classification would only draw attention to its very existence. No one in
Whitesands was cleared for the project but, and It was my job to do this, every one on
board was throughly briefed to stay clear of that object literally under wraps in the
dockwell, to never reveal what they did see to anyone, and to report immediately if
they were aware of any breaches of security. It was not until years later when I read
John Pena Craven's book THE SILENT WAR that I found out that much of the secrecy
surrounding the "new" T ll was lifted as we were transiting the Panama Canal on our
way to the site of Scorpion. I tell you all this to partly explain why, unlike other
collections on the T-ll web site, there is only one close up pic of the bathyscaph
and I didn't take that shot; that slide, at my request, was given to me by one of
the pilots. It is a very special pic. The scaph was starting to descend during the
first dive of the operation. On its deck was a memorial wreath for the crew of the sub
below. We had the floral tribute made in Jacksonville and had kept it in a reefer.
I'm not sure but I believe photo copies of the memorial was provided to the next of
kin of the Scorpion's crew.
Feel free to redact slides that are redundant, (there are several pics of me where one
probably would suffice, or are not of broad enough interest for most of the people
who come to this site.) But I do believe there are a number of Whitesands and
Apache crewmen with an abiding interest in the scaph. And it is for them that I would
like to see pics of the crew and operations posted. You may not be familiar with some
of the names and faces. Here are as many as my memory can provide: (1) Capt. Robert
Gautier USN, then Commander Submarine Development Group One. (2) Dr. John P Craven
(our big boss) Head, Deep Submergence Projects System. Craven was responsible for the
construction of the "new Tll and the conversion of the White Sands to a DSV support
ship. He had a very specific reason for using an ARD and put $100 million into the
conversion. (3) Capt. Harry Jackson USN a NAVSHIPS sub engineering officer.At that
time probably the Navy's foremost expert in submarine design and construction.
(4) LCDR Bob Nevin USN, Then OIC Trieste and White Sands. (5) Pic 17 HMC, (DV) Doc Brown
shooting skeet, With back to camera, LCDR Bill "Stretch" Leonard. (6) Nevin reenlisting
BMC (DV) Beckenbach'USN an outstanding Chief who understood rigging better than anyone
I've seen. Shortly after returning to San Diego he died in a tragic swimming pool accident.
7) The CO of the Apache was Lt Larry Lonnon USN and the XO was LTJG Larry Hagerty.
(8) In the pic of the civilians you'll find several who came to the convention, namely
John VanVoorhis, Walt Bacon, and Bob Fishback. (9) Chief Warrant Boatswain W4 Bill Murphy,
another tremendous rigger, lst LT, Whitesands. (10) Chief Warrant SHIPREPTECH W2 Bill Adams,
Eng. Off, Whitesands.(ll) In pic #36 (Officers & Chiefs of Whitesands) I have to single
out EMC Ford (standing on far left}. I would have to call him the conscious of the
Whitesands. He is one of the wisest men I've ever known and the council he provided me
was pivitol to any success I had in dealing with the crew.
And more, when my memory is better.
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