#naval salvage

[ltwilliammowett]

Captain H. E. Anderson posing behind the first cannon (gun) to be salvaged from the wreck of the 64-gun Third Rate HMS Anson (1781). The cannon is lying in the hold on board the salvage vessel Greencastle (1884) with the chain wrapped around the barrel. Photo by Gibson & Sons of Scilly, 14 April 1903

[frogshunnedshadows]

View-Master photo of the Vasa, shortly after her recovery in 1961.

[fullslack]

Swedish warship Vasa

built in the 1620s, sank on its first voyage in 1628, & salvaged in 1961 with a near full intact hull (last image is a model painted in what’s thought to be its original colors)

[tomreacts]

This is a picture of a German warship being salvaged by the Royal Navy in 1933. Anyone have a link to a site or video showing how they managed this?

I'd go searching but I worry about what the algorithm would start suggesting.

[higherentity]

[mareislandfoundation]

Stranded!

Over 100 years ago a submarine operating out of Mare Island Naval Shipyard beached outside of Humboldt Bay and the initial attempts by the Navy to refloat and tow her out to sea failed spectacularly.  However, following the Navy’s failure, the salvage was turned over to a veteran logger who rejected the notion of fighting the waves and current involved in towing the 400-ton submarine back out to sea.  Contrary to the Navy’s approach, he looked to drag the submarine across the South Spit of Humboldt Bay and relaunch it into the protected waters of the bay.

In late December 1916 Mare Island Naval Shipyard was hurriedly preparing the Protected Cruiser USS Milwaukee (C-21) For deployment on a rescue mission 250 miles up the coast off Eureka, California. The ship had been built ten years before at San Francisco’s Union Iron Works and now workers at Mare Island Naval Shipyard were busy attaching a half mile long 2 inch thick 24-ton steel cable to the ship and securing it to the after 8” gun turret. The cable had to be secured to the gun turret as no cleat or bollard on the ship could withstand the full 21,000 horsepower the ships triple expansion steam engines generated; however, as it turned out, that cable would be death of the ship.

Milwaukee was being urgently dispatched to salvage the submarine H-3 that was stranded on Samoa Beach across from the Northern California City of Eureka.  Earlier, on the morning of December 14, submarine H-3 with her sister submarines H-1 and H-2 and their tender the monitor CHEYENNE were off the Northern California port of Eureka. They were to survey the harbor as a potential location for a submarine flotilla. At about 8:30 in the morning the captain of the H-3 was blinded by fog and not in visual contact with the other ships in the small fleet. His dead reckoning placed the submarine off the tiny opening into the harbor and he began inching the submarine eastward to search for the entrance. With his leadman taking constant readings a sleeper wave lifted the submarine thrusting it forward where it then grounded on a shoal. All astern was immediately ordered, but it was to no avail. Wave after wave drove the H-3 further ashore and turned her until she was parallel with the shoreline. The waves then began destroying her bridge and rolling her from side to side throwing the men inside against internal projections. Water pored through the bridge opening requiring that the hatch be secured as the men inside fought fires and chlorine gas caused by the seawater entering the battery compartment. With the hatch closed, the 25 men on the submarine were confined within their convulsing prison until help could arrive.

That help would be hours away as the nearest Coast Guard Station was located on the other side of the harbor entrance and rescuers had to travel around the entire harbor (about 25 miles) to get to the stranded sub. In the meantime, waves continued to push the submarine further towards the shore and into the breakers. By late afternoon a breach line had been attached to the conning tower of the submarine and the crew members began to be hauled across the 100 yards of breaking surf to the beach. As they were pulled to shore waves were rolling the submarine from side-to-side slackening and tightening the line causing the men to be dipped into the sea so often that when they reached shore most were half conscious. Despite the danger, all were saved by days end and were under care for any injuries suffered. With the rescue complete attention now shifted to salvaging the H-3.

For the next five days the CHEYENNE, a Coast Guard cutter, and two tugs tried in vain to haul the H-3 off the beach. The Navy then solicited bids from private salvagers. Those bids ranged from $18,000 to over $100,000. The low bidder was a man with many years logging experience who wanted to skid the sub a mile over the Samoa peninsula to the calm waters of the harbor.in the same manner he moved massive redwood trees.  The bids were all rejected, and the Navy decided to do the job themselves with the powerful protected cruiser Milwaukee. The Milwaukee arrived on scene on January 9 and began the process of attaching the 24-ton tow line to the H-3. The plan was to tow the H-3 back to sea at high tide at 3:23 am on January 13. In the pitch black of the morning the Milwaukee took a strain on the line as she headed out to sea. She was assisted by the CHEYENNE and a small tug who were pulling her to starboard to counteract the effect of the wind, current and waves that were all pushing her to port. As the Milwaukee churned the ocean to froth the H-3 refused to budge. Then, the hawser from the Cheyenne parted. The remaining small tug was no longer able to hold the Milwaukee against the current by itself, and the waves and wind began swinging the Milwaukee to port anchored by the H-3. Urgent orders to cut the tow cable could not be completed in time and the Milwaukee swung in an arc around the H-3 until she too was grounded. It was going to be another long day for the Coast Guard rescue station.  Although the immediate situation was not urgent, there were now 450 men stranded and in need of rescue through the surf.

The Milwaukee itself was not salvageable.

Eventually a temporary pier was built from shore out to the wreck and everything that could be carried off was taken and transported back to Mare Island for use on other ships. Meanwhile, the Navy, after originally deciding that the logger’s $18,000 bid could not possibly be executed, changed their mind and decided to retain him to haul the submarine over the sand peninsula to the harbor. True to his word, the logger hauled the H-3 into the harbor and refloated her.  She was then taken to Mare Island Naval Shipyard for repairs.

Dennis Kelly

[nasa]

Andre Douglas

A Virginia native, Andre Douglas served in the U.S. Coast Guard as a naval architect and salvage engineer. Douglas later worked as an engineer for Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory on NASA's DART mission to redirect an asteroid. https://go.nasa.gov/48FBlam

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

[xamiipholia]

Zero Dawn Hydrosphere - Floodrage, Combat-Class Machine

Floodrage - Lv 45 Combat-Class (Active, Deactivated, Parts Salvaged)

Origin - Cauldron Kappa

Length - 22m

Elements - Plasma, Purgewater, Acid

Range: Mid to South Pacific

The Floodrage is the most direct representation of HEPH’s ongoing threat escalation in the South Pacific. Specifically designed to counter and negate Quen Naval supremacy and inflict heavy damage on their fleets, the Floodrage exists to ruthlessly and efficiently sink ships. 

The upper carapace is impervious to conventional tribal weaponry but can be pierced by sustained fire from Deathbringer guns. Vents under the carapace can exude acid and Purgewater to create environmental hazards in the water and the openings on each side of the lower jaw can spray high-pressure Purgewater to dampen elemental weaponry. 

The Floodrage’s primary weapons are its plasma capabilities - the tail blade superheats to tear pieces off of ships as it passes under them, and inside the machine’s throat is a modified version of the Slaugtherspine’s plasma beam weapon.

Weak points: ventral Purgewater sac, plasma canisters, tail blade, relative lack of armor on underside.

Strategy: Extremely dangerous. Do not attempt to fight without ship-mounted weaponry or a Waterwing mount. Quen rope ballistae aimed under armor plates will tether and temporarily slow the machine, making weak spots on the underside easier to hit with conventional weapons. A Waterwing mount can maneuver around the Floodrage underwater.

Resources: Glowblast, Purgewater, Metalbite, Machine Muscle, Volatile Sludge, Crystal Braiding, Shards, Piercing Spike

Upgrade Resources: Sturdy Hardplate, Large Machine Core, Luminous Brainstem, Floodrage Machine Core, Floodrage Primary Nerve, Floodrage Machine Heart, Floodrage Tail Blade

[lonestarbattleship]

"USS YORKTOWN (CV-5) in Dry Dock # 1 at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, receiving urgent repairs for damage received in the Battle of Coral Sea. She left Pearl Harbor the next day to participate in the Battle of Midway. USS WEST VIRGINIA (BB-48), sunk in the December 7, 1941 Japanese air attack, is being salvaged in the left distance."

Date: May 29, 1942

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command: 80-G-13065

Colorized by Steven Walker: link

[lonestarflight]

"Ensign Mac. J. Roebuck standing by his wrecked 'Kingfisher' about August 1942. He was piloting the plane when it crashed on Mount Buxton, Calvert Island, British Columbia, on 20 August 1942, and later assisted in the salvaging of it's instruments and engine. The plane's airframe was recovered by a Royal Canadian air force salvage team in 1964. After being reconstructed by the Vought Aeronautics' quarter century club, the OS2U was placed on display aboard the USS NORTH CAROLINA (BB-55) memorial at Wilmington, North Carolina, and was dedicated on 25 June 1971."

Date: late August 1942

Naval History and Heritage Command: NH 73760

[usafphantom2]

SR-71 #974 sleeps below the fish’s in the deepest part of the ocean the Mariana Trench there will not be any communist spying in that area.

Since the end of the Cold War, more information has come to light, with many official documents declassified. My friend Paul Crickmore sent me the following email last year with some interesting information.

I just read the piece you wrote about the loss of #974 a couple of days ago and thought you’d like a ‘sneaky-peek’ at part of the piece that’ll appear in the new book covering the subject…

“Side‑scanning sonar imaging of the crash site took place on 29 and 30 April, and it was not long before the debris field of ’974 was located. The 280ft‑long salvage vessel USS Beaufort was dispatched to lift the wreckage with its 10‑ and 15‑ton cranes, fitted on the bow and stern, respectively, and to find the sensors and defensive systems (Coincidently, the ship was built by Brooke Marine, in the author’s home town of Lowestoft, Suffolk).

Due to the proximity of the communist New People’s Army, a number of Navy SEALs were on board to provide protection to the divers and crew.

One morning during the search, an order for General Quarters was sounded at 0400 hours. Crew members rushed to their action stations in readiness for an immediate confrontation. They saw a large number of small vessels (which had been detected on the Beaufort’s radar) making for the ship.

Tension mounted until it was discovered that the would‑be attackers were fishing boats that had come towards the bright lights of the naval vessel because a very large shoal of fish had congregated around it. 🐠

When ’974 impacted the water inverted both engines, the main undercarriage and the aircraft’s sensors smashed through its upper surfaces.

They were scattered on the ocean floor at varying distances away from the main wreckage field. On the evening of 1 May, wire hawsers were attached to one of the J58 engines. The late evening movements dislodged the TEB tank and caused a small leak, which released tiny amounts of the chemical throughout the night.

TEB CAUSED GREEN PUFFS

As the volatile chemical bubbled to the surface, it mixed with ambient air and exploded in small green puffs. The ‘magic’ of the ‘Yankee’ engineers caused quite a stir among the native fishermen who saw the eerie ‘TEB‑bubble show’. The next day both engines were lifted and brought aboard the Beaufort’s fantail, and two days later, many of the sensors were also recovered. When the ship’s crew attempted to lift the main section of the aircraft, the crane operator found that the large delta‑shaped wing planform greatly exceeded the lifting capacity of his crane, and the wreckage refused to budge an inch. A yard derrick was sent from Subic Bay, and the forward fuselage section was recovered on 7 May, while the main structure was lifted aboard the Beaufort’s fantail the following day. The black wreckage was a sad end for a once‑proud airplane, despite Dan’s skillful ( Dan House, the Pilot) and valiant efforts to save it.”

This post is by Linda Sheffield

With Paul Crickmore

@Habubrats71 via X

[judgemark45]

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5) in Dry Dock No. 1 at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, 29 May 1942, receiving repairs for damage received in the Battle of Coral Sea. USS West Virginia (BB-48) is being salvaged in the distance

[apas-95]

Pick a name for a character!

CHARACTER BIO: Character is a spacewalker living on a Jovian asteroid. Revolution engulfed their planet, and a close childhood friend offered them a position in the asteroid's newly-established civil naval service. Back on Mars, they were an indentured non-citizen worker, suddenly accused of murdering someone who never existed, and freed only by the chaos of civil war. They work with their crew to repair statites, guide researchers, and salvage Mars' now-derelict refinery ships - deserted by the Martian coastguard, but not by corporate security. In the course of their story, they deal with the shaky political situation on the ex-Martian asteroid, try to prevent a horror from repeating, and make first contact with alien life.

Poll options chosen by my followers:

[captain-price-unofficially]

This morning, a Ukrainian Neptun antiship missile hit a the world's oldest active duty naval vessel, the salvage ship Kommuna, at the Russian Naval docks in Hollandiia Bay, Russian occupied Sevastopol. 21 April 2024