Turtle (DSV-3) was a 16-ton, crewed deep-ocean research submersible owned by the United States Navy. It is sister to Alvin (DSV-2) and Sea Cliff (DSV-4).
Turtle (DSV-3) was a 16-ton, crewed deep-ocean research submersible owned by the United States Navy. It is sister to Alvin (DSV-2) and Sea Cliff (DSV-4).
Turtle (DSV-3) was designed and built by the Electric Boat division of General Dynamics Corporation at Groton, Connecticut. Turtle and her sister Sea Cliff (DSV-4) were launched on December 11, 1968. Turtle was named after Turtle Town, a small community in Polk County, Tennessee. [1] Her name also pays tribute to the American submarine Turtle which served in the American Revolution. Turtle was accepted by the US Navy on September 25, 1970 at Woods Hole, Massachusetts.
Turtle was designed to dive to 6500 feet. When DSV-2 Alvin installed a new titanium hull, the Alvin steel hull was installed in the Turtle. The original steel hull was acquired by the Mariners' Museum and Park in 2000 and became a part of the exhibition. [2] The Turtle depth rating was then increased to 10,000 feet. The Alvin-class DSV's were designed to replace older DSV, such as the less maneuverable Trieste-class bathyscaphes. [3]
Turtle spent her career as a unit of the U.S. Navy's Submarine Development Group 1 in San Diego, California.
The Turtle was retired from active service on October 1, 1997. It was stricken from the US Navy Register on April 15, 1998. [4]
It has been on display at the Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut since 1999. [5]
Turtle earned one National Defense Service Medal in 1970. [6] In addition to that she was awarded with the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC) in 1982, 1983 and 1990. [7] [8] [9]
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In fiction, she was featured in the 1980 film Raise the Titanic ; she was one of several submersibles in the salvage fleet, and one of two (along with the fictional NUMA submersible Deep Quest) that actually discovered the wreck.
Trieste is a Swiss-designed, Italian-built deep-diving research bathyscaphe. In 1960, it became the first crewed vessel to reach the bottom of Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, the deepest point in Earth's seabed. The mission was the final goal for Project Nekton, a series of dives conducted by the United States Navy in the Pacific Ocean near Guam. The vessel was piloted by Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard and US Navy lieutenant Don Walsh. They reached a depth of about 10,916 metres (35,814 ft).
Alvin (DSV-2) is a crewed deep-ocean research submersible owned by the United States Navy and operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) of Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The original vehicle was built by General Mills' Electronics Group in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Named to honor the prime mover and creative inspiration for the vehicle, Allyn Vine, Alvin was commissioned on June 5, 1964.
A bathyscaphe is a free-diving, self-propelled deep-sea submersible, consisting of a crew cabin similar to a Bathysphere, but suspended below a float rather than from a surface cable, as in the classic Bathysphere design.
A submersible is an underwater vehicle which needs to be transported and supported by a larger watercraft or platform. This distinguishes submersibles from submarines, which are self-supporting and capable of prolonged independent operation at sea.
A midget submarine is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to six or nine, with little or no on-board living accommodation. They normally work with mother ships, from which they are launched and recovered and which provide living accommodation for the crew and support staff.
The Deep Submergence Insignia is a uniform breast pin worn by officers, both men and women of the United States Navy's submarine service who are qualified in submarines and have completed one year of regular assignment to a crewed or uncrewed deep submersible. The badge was first approved on 6 April 1981.
A deep-submergence vehicle (DSV) is a deep-diving crewed submersible that is self-propelled. Several navies operate vehicles that can be accurately described as DSVs. DSVs are commonly divided into two types: research DSVs, which are used for exploration and surveying, and DSRVs, which are intended to be used for rescuing the crew of a sunken navy submarine, clandestine (espionage) missions, or both. DSRVs are equipped with docking chambers to allow personnel ingress and egress via a manhole.
Trieste II(DSV-1) was the United States Navy's first bathyscaphe purchased from its Swiss designers, and the successor to Trieste.
DSRV-2Avalon was a Mystic-class deep-submergence rescue vehicle rated to dive up to 5,000 feet (1,500 m) to rescue submarine crews trapped deep under the sea. The submarine was acquired in response to the loss of the USS Thresher, so that the Navy would have a way to rescue trapped submarine crews.
DSV-4 is a 25-ton, crewed deep-ocean research submersible owned by the United States Navy, now known only by its hull number, not by its former name.
DSRV-1Mystic is a deep-submergence rescue vehicle that is rated to dive up to 5,000 feet. It was built by Lockheed for the US Navy at a construction cost of $41 million and launched 24 January 1970. It was declared fully operational in 1977 and named Mystic. The Mystic or the Avalon could be deployed to rescue survivors of a disabled submarine.
Aluminaut was the world's first aluminum submarine. An experimental vessel, the 80-ton, 15.5-metre (51 ft) crewed deep-ocean research submersible was built by Reynolds Metals Company, which was seeking to promote the utility of aluminum. Aluminaut was based in Miami, Florida, and was operated from 1964 to 1970 by Reynolds Submarine Services, doing contract work for the U.S. Navy and other organizations, including marine biologist Jacques Cousteau.
The Type 925 Dajiang with NATO reporting name Dajiang, or 大江 in Chinese, meaning Great River, is a type of naval auxiliary ship belonging to the People's Republic of China. Each ship is usually equipped with up to two Type 7103 DSRV class Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicles (DSRVs). The ship is designed to replace the first People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) submarine tender PLANS Mount Tai, and the lead ship of the Dajiang class is the Changxingdao. The Type 925 is a submarine tender that can also be used as a submarine rescue ship, and hence, it is designated as a submarine support ship by Chinese.
The bathyscaphe Archimède is a deep diving research submersible of the French Navy. It used 42,000 US gallons (160,000 L) of hexane as the gasoline buoyancy of its float. It was designed by Pierre Willm and Georges Houot. In 1964, Archimède descended into "what was then thought to be the deepest part of the Puerto Rico Trench", which the NY Times reported as 27,500 feet (8,400 m).
The Shinkai (しんかい) was a crewed research submersible that could dive up to a depth of 600 m. It was completed in 1970, and until 1981 it had the greatest depth range of any crewed research vehicle in Japan. The Shinkai is owned and run by the Japan Coast Guard and it is launched from the support vessel Otomemaru (乙女丸).
Jiaolong is a Chinese crewed deep-sea research submersible that can dive to a depth of over 7,000 metres (23,000 ft), developed from the Sea Pole-class bathyscaphe. It has the second-greatest depth range of any crewed research vehicle of the Chinese Navy; the only crewed expeditions to have gone deeper were the dives of the Trieste bathyscaphe in 1960, Archimède in 1962, Deepsea Challenger in 2012, and DSV Limiting Factor in 2019.
DSV-5, ex-NEMO, was a submersible used by the United States Navy between 1970 and 1986 to oversee and observe undersea construction work. NEMO had a spherical transparent acrylic hull, which gave occupants panoramic vision. NEMO was the first submersible with a hull made entirely out of transparent acrylic (Plexiglass), and much of her career was spent testing this hull design. NEMO was found to be an effective observation platform, despite not being able to hover in place, and acrylic-hulled submersibles have continued to be built and operated in the United States. NEMO is considered part of the Alvin class of Deep Submergence Vehicles despite bearing little resemblance to the other subs of the class. NEMO was transferred to "other government agencies" in 1986 and retired from government service in 2011. It was then given to the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum, where it remains on display.
Deep Sea Warrior bathyscaphe is a type of very little known deep-submergence vehicle built in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Deep Sea Warrier was handed over from its builder China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation to its customer at the end of 2016, but actual deep diving did not begun until end of the following year due to preparation needed, because it was such as new product that thorough preparation was needed to ensure its safe operation, and bathyscaphe is capable of diving to a depth of 4500 meters.
Striver bathyscaphe is a type of deep-submergence vehicle built in the People's Republic of China (PRC). It was built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC). It can accommodate three crew members, and is designed to reach depths of more than 10,000 meters. Striver is equipped with two mechanical arms, seven underwater cameras, seven sonars, hydraulic drills, and other scientific devices.
Submarine rescue is the process of locating a sunk submarine with survivors on board, and bringing the survivors to safety. This may be done by recovering the vessel to the surface first, or by transferring the trapped personnel to a rescue bell or deep-submergence rescue vehicle to bring them to the surface. Submarine rescue may be done at pressures between ambient at depth, and sea level atmospheric pressure, depending on the condition of the distressed vessel and the equipment used for the rescue. Self-rescue of submarine personnel by buoyant free ascent at ambient pressure is considered submarine escape. Survivors may require recompression treatment for decompression illness.
| External videos | |
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 "Diving into the Future DSV TURTLE part 1", Naval Sea Systems Command; twelve-minute YouTube video clip | |
| "Diving into the Future DSV TURTLE part 2", Naval Sea Systems Command; twelve-minute YouTube video clip |
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 | This article about a specific naval submarine of the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
