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USS Dolphin (AGSS-555)
Encyclopedia
USS Dolphin (AGSS-555) was the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
's only operational diesel-electric, deep-diving, research and development submarine. Her keel was laid down on 9 November 1962 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine
Kittery, Maine
Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 9,543 at the 2000 census. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals...
. She was launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 8 June 1968 sponsored by Mrs. Daniel K. Inouye (the wife of the senator for Hawaii), and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 17 August 1968 with Lieutenant Commander J.R. McDonnell in command. Despite her recent repair and upgrade, Dolphin was decommissioned
Ship decommissioning
To decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. A somber occasion, it has little of the elaborate ceremony of ship commissioning, but carries significant tradition....
on 15 January 2007 and was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on the same date. She is now a museum ship
Museum ship
A museum ship, or sometimes memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public, for educational or memorial purposes...
in San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port adjacent to San Diego, California. It is 12 mi/19 km long, 1 mi/1.6 km–3 mi/4.8 km wide...
under the management of the San Diego Maritime Museum.
Design
The single most significant technical achievement in the development of Dolphin is the pressure hullPressure vessel
A pressure vessel is a closed container designed to hold gases or liquids at a pressure substantially different from the ambient pressure.The pressure differential is dangerous and many fatal accidents have occurred in the history of their development and operation. Consequently, their design,...
itself. It is a constant diameter cylinder, closed at its ends with hemispherical heads, and utilizes deep frames instead of bulkheads
Bulkhead (partition)
A bulkhead is an upright wall within the hull of a ship or within the fuselage of an airplane. Other kinds of partition elements within a ship are decks and deckheads.-Etymology:...
. The entire design of the pressure hull has been kept as simple as possible to facilitate its use in structural experiments and trials. Hull openings have been minimized for structural strength and minimum hull weight, in addition to eliminating possible sources for flooding casualties. The submarine has no snorkel
Submarine snorkel
A submarine snorkel is a device which allows a submarine to operate submerged while still taking in air from above the surface. Navy personnel often refer to it as the snort.-History:...
mast; her one hatch must be open while her diesels are running.
Use
Employed by both civilian and Navy activities, Dolphin is equipped with an extensive instrumentation suite that supports missions such as acoustic deep-water and littoralLittoral
The littoral zone is that part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. In coastal environments the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged. It always includes this intertidal zone and is often used to...
research, near-bottom and ocean surveys, weapons launches, sensor trials, and engineering evaluations.
Because she was designed as a test platform, Dolphin can be modified both internally and externally to allow installation of up to 12 tons of special research and test equipment. The submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
has internal and external mounting points, multiple electronic hull connectors, and up to ten equipment racks for project use.
Service Record
In August 1969, Dolphin launched a torpedoTorpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
from the deepest depth that one has ever been fired.
Other examples of Dolphins work include
- first successful submarine-to-aircraft optical communications
- development of a Laser Imaging system of photographic clarity
- development of an Extreme Low Frequency (ELF) antenna for Ohio-class submarinesOhio class submarineThe Ohio class is a class of nuclear-powered submarines used by the United States Navy. The United States has 18 Ohio-class submarines:...
- evaluation of various non-acoustic ASW techniques
- evaluation of various low probability of interception active sonars
- first submarine launch of a mobile submarine simulatorMobile submarine simulatorThe mobile submarine simulator MK70 is a sonar decoy used by submarines of the United States Navy. It was a 10-inch vehicle, without an explosive warhead, but able to generate both an active sonar echo and a passive sound signature recorded to be extremely similar to that of the launching submarine...
(MOSS) system - first successful submarine test of BQS-15 sonar system
- development of highly accurate (10 cm) towed body position monitoring system
- development of a new Obstacle Avoidance Sonar system
- development of a highly accurate target management system
- evaluation of a possible "fifth forceFifth forceOccasionally, physicists have postulated the existence of a fifth force in addition to the four known fundamental forces. The force is generally believed to have roughly the strength of gravity Occasionally, physicists have postulated the existence of a fifth force in addition to the four known...
of nature" - first successful submarine-to-aircraft two-way laser communication
- deepest submarine dive- more than 3,000 feet.
Dolphin was overhauled in 1993.
In the late 1990s, Dolphin tested a new sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
system. As a result of Dolphins efforts, this new system will now be retrofitted into the fleet.
Abandonment at Sea Incident
On 21 May 2002, at about 1130 PDT, while operating approximately 100 miles (160.9 km) off the coast of San Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, Dolphin was cruising on the surface, recharging its batteries, when a torpedo shield door gasket failed, and the boat began to flood. Due to high winds and 10 to 11 ft (3 to 3.4 m) swells in the ocean, approximately 70 to 85 tons of seawater entered the ship, an amount perilously close to the boat's reserve buoyancy
Buoyancy
In physics, buoyancy is a force exerted by a fluid that opposes an object's weight. In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as a result of the weight of the overlying fluid. Thus a column of fluid, or an object submerged in the fluid, experiences greater pressure at the bottom of the...
. The flooding shorted electrical panels and started fires.
Chief Machinist's Mate (SS) John D. Wise Jr., realizing what needed to be done, dove into the 57 °F (13.9 °C) water of the flooded pump room. Not knowing if the room's equipment had been secured, and with less than a foot of breathable space in the compartment, he ensured the seawater valves were lined up, allowing the de-watering to commence. Once the valves were aligned, he remained in the pump room for more than 90 minutes in order to keep a submersible pump from becoming clogged. His courageous efforts prevented the loss of the ship and crew. Wise received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal
Navy and Marine Corps Medal
The Navy and Marine Corps Medal is the second highest non-combatant medal awarded by the United States Department of the Navy to members of the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps...
for his efforts.
After 90 minutes, Commander Stephen Kelety, Dolphins commanding officer, ordered the crew of 41 and two civilian Navy employees to abandon ship. The Oceanographic Research ship McGaw was operating in the vicinity and immediately responded.
The fire and flooding was beyond the ability of the crew to control so they were evacuated by small boat to McGaw after the submarine hatches had been secured. All crewmembers were safely recovered with only a few minor injuries. Two crewmembers were recovered from the water by United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
during the transfer. McGaw transported the crew to San Diego.
The quick response of the crew placed the submarine in a stable condition. came alongside Dolphin and rescued several crewman from the water but the seas were too rough for full recovery or towing operations. Submarine Support Vessel Kellie Chouest
MV Kellie Chouest
MV Kellie Chouest is a Deep Submergence Elevator Support Ship operated under the Military Sealift Command's Special Mission Ship Program and leased from Edison Chouest Offshore...
got underway from San Diego early on 22 May to assist in the recovery assessment. Dolphin was towed back to San Diego the following day.
The last time an American submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
caught fire and was abandoned was in 1988, when the diesel sub lost three sailors in a battery compartment fire.
Retirement
Dolphin underwent three and a half years of repairs and upgrades at a cost of $50 million, then completed sea-trials during the summer of 2005 and returned to her duties for one year.In mid-2006, the Navy decided to retire Dolphin, citing the $18 million her operations cost annually. She was deactivated on 22 September 2006, and decommissioned
Ship decommissioning
To decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. A somber occasion, it has little of the elaborate ceremony of ship commissioning, but carries significant tradition....
and struck from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 15 January 2007. ex-Dolphin was officially transferred to the San Diego Maritime Museum in September, 2008, to become the eighth vessel in their floating collection. She was opened to the public for the first time on July 4, 2009.