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USS Kittiwake (ASR-13)
Encyclopedia
USS Kittiwake (ASR-13) was a United States Navy
Chanticleer-class submarine rescue vessel in commission from 1946 to 1994.
; sponsored by Mrs. Howard S. Rue, Jr.; and commissioned 18 July 1946, Lt. L. H. Collier in command.
, Kittiwake departed Charleston, South Carolina
, 3 October for Balboa, Canal Zone
, arriving 8 October. Assigned to support and rescue duty with Submarine Squadron 6, the submarine
rescue ship accompanied submarines during sea trials and maneuvers to monitor diving operations; to practice underwater rescue procedures; and to recover practice torpedoes. While based at Balboa, her operations carried her to the Virgin Islands
, to Puerto Rico
, and along the Atlantic coast to the Davis Strait
.
Departing Balboa 31 May 1949, Kittiwake arrived Norfolk
6 June to continue duty with SubRon 6. From 17 January to 1 February 1950 she provided divers and equipment during salvage operations to free the battleship
Missouri (BB-63)
, grounded in tidal banks off Thimble Shoals, Virginia. During the 1950s she cruised the Atlantic from New England
to the Caribbean
while supporting ships of the "Silent Service
" with a trained and highly skilled crew. And while on station off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida
, 20 July 1960, she stood ready to assist the fleet ballistic missile submarine George Washington (SSBN-598)
as George Washington successfully launched the first two Polaris ballistic missiles
ever fired from a submarine beneath the sea.
Kittiwake continued operating out of Norfolk until 1 August 1961 when she departed for the Mediterranean Sea
. Arriving at Rota, Spain
, on 15 August, she cruised the Mediterranean from Spain to Greece
while deployed with the United States Sixth Fleet. After supporting submarine maneuvers out of Pireaus, Greece, from 20 September to 9 October, she departed the Mediterranean 8 November and arrived Norfolk the 18th. She then conducted operations out of Norfolk for the next 18 months. While on duty off Key West
2 February 1963, she sighted a Cuba
n boat, Jose Maria Perez; took on board 12 refugees (including 3 children) fleeing communist
oppression in Cuba; and carried them to safety at Key West.
Departing Charleston, South Carolina, 16 April, Kittiwake arrived St. Nazaire
, France
, 3 May with two Landing Craft Utility
(LCU's) in tow. She proceeded to the Mediterranean 10 May and reached Rota the 14th. For more than two months she participated in fleet operations before departing Rota 31 July for the United States. Returning to Norfolk 10 August 1963, she resumed training and support operations with submarines, along the Atlantic coast. Through 1964 and 1965, Kittiwake continued her role in maintaining the readiness of individual submarines which were to carry out their missions of defense and deterrent effectively. She escorted them as they left the East Coast shipyards for sea trials, standing ready to come to their rescue should difficulties arise. Constant exercise in use of weapons by submarines was furnished by Kittiwake, such as running as a target and recovering exercise torpedoes and mines. The operations ranged from the Virginia Capes
to the Atlantic missile range off Florida
. On 6 April 1965, she departed Norfolk with submarines for exercises off the coast of Spain, thence to the Mediterranean Sea.
Kittiwake departed Toulon
31 May 1965, to operate out of Rota, Spain, in support of the fleet ballistic missile submarines of Submarine Squadron 16: Andrew Jackson (SSBN-619)
, Woodrow Wilson (SSBN-624), James Madison (SSBN-627)
, and Nathan Hale (SSBN-623). Following torpedo recovery and training off the coast of Spain, she sailed for Holy Loch
, Scotland
30 June 1965, to give support to Submarine Squadron 14
there. She recovered torpedoes for the fleet ballistic missile submarines James Monroe (SSBN-622)
and John Adams (SSBN-620)
, provided underway training for men of the submarine tender
Hunley (AS-31)
, then sailed 20 July for Norfolk, arriving 30 July 1965. During the autumn months, Kittiwake guarded new Polaris
submarines, Lewis and Clark (SSBN-644)
and Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641), during their builder's sea trials prior to commissioning.
Kittiwake operated on the United States East Coast and in the Caribbean until sailing for the Mediterranean 8 July 1966. She reached the Bay of Cádiz
on the 20th and transited the straits 2 days later. She operated in the Mediterranean until emerging at Rota, Spain, 1 September. She headed for Holy Loch on the 6th and arrived on the 11th. Four days later she was ordered to the North Sea
to assist in locating and salvaging the German
submarine Hai (S-171). She reached the scene of the tragedy 17 September and remained on hand assisting salvage operations until the 20th. She continued to operate off Western Europe until returning to Norfolk 13 November. Kittiwake operated on the East Coast into 1967.
On 23 April 1984, Kittiwake collided with the attack submarine at Norfolk
, Virginia
, while Bergall was moored to the pier
astern of her. Kittiwake was getting underway for the first time since she had undergone maintenance, during which her main drive motor was re-wired improperly, causing it and the screw
it drove to rotate in the opposite direction from that ordered by personnel on Kittiwakes bridge. This was unknown to Kittiwakes bridge personnel, who found that Kittiwake started to drift aft when they were expecting her to move forward. Noting the backward motion, they ordered an increase in the motor drive speed in order to correct it and get Kittiwake moving forward, but unwittingly caused Kittiwake to move further aft and at a higher speed. Still not realizing that Kittiwakes main drive motor was operating in reverse of what they expected, Kittiwakes bridge personnel then ordered another increase in Kittiwakes forward speed, which only served to increase her speed astern. This continued until Kittiwakes stern
backed into Bergalls sonar
dome.
In 1986, the Kittiwake recovered the black box from the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
.
on 30 September 1994 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register
on the same day. Her title was transferred in November 2008 for an undisclosed amount to the government of the Cayman Islands
.
The Cayman Islands government intended to use Kittiwake to form a new artificial reef
. Originally intended to be sunk off Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman
in June 2009, it was finally sunk on 5 January 2011.
The Kittiwake is resting upright in 62 feet of water on a sandy bottom.
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...
Chanticleer-class submarine rescue vessel in commission from 1946 to 1994.
Construction and commissioning
Kittiwake was launched 10 July 1945, by Savannah Machine & Foundry Co., Savannah, GeorgiaSavannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
; sponsored by Mrs. Howard S. Rue, Jr.; and commissioned 18 July 1946, Lt. L. H. Collier in command.
Service history
After shakedownShakedown (testing)
A shakedown is a period of testing or a trial journey undergone by a ship, aircraft or other craft and its crew before being declared operational. Statistically, a proportion of the components will fail after a relatively short period of use, and those that survive this period can be expected to...
, Kittiwake departed Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
, 3 October for Balboa, Canal Zone
Balboa, Panama
Balboa is a district of Panama City, located at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal.- History :The town of Balboa, founded by the United States during the construction of the Panama Canal, was named after Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the Spanish conquistador credited with discovering the Pacific Ocean...
, arriving 8 October. Assigned to support and rescue duty with Submarine Squadron 6, 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...
rescue ship accompanied submarines during sea trials and maneuvers to monitor diving operations; to practice underwater rescue procedures; and to recover practice torpedoes. While based at Balboa, her operations carried her to the Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
, to Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, and along the Atlantic coast to the Davis Strait
Davis Strait
Davis Strait is a northern arm of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Nunavut, Canada's Baffin Island. The strait was named for the English explorer John Davis , who explored the area while seeking a Northwest Passage....
.
Departing Balboa 31 May 1949, Kittiwake arrived Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
6 June to continue duty with SubRon 6. From 17 January to 1 February 1950 she provided divers and equipment during salvage operations to free the battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
Missouri (BB-63)
USS Missouri (BB-63)
|USS Missouri is a United States Navy Iowa-class battleship, and was the fourth ship of the U.S. Navy to be named in honor of the U.S. state of Missouri...
, grounded in tidal banks off Thimble Shoals, Virginia. During the 1950s she cruised the Atlantic from New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
to the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
while supporting ships of the "Silent Service
Silent Service
Silent Service may refer to:* An unofficial name that many submarine services give themselves, including:** The Royal Navy Submarine Service** The United States Pacific Fleet** The Submarine Force U.S...
" with a trained and highly skilled crew. And while on station off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida
Cape Canaveral, Florida
Cape Canaveral is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The population was 8,829 at the 2000 census. As of 2008, the estimated population according to the U.S. Census Bureau was 10,147...
, 20 July 1960, she stood ready to assist the fleet ballistic missile submarine George Washington (SSBN-598)
USS George Washington (SSBN-598)
USS George Washington , the lead ship of her class of nuclear ballistic missile submarines, was the third United States Navy ship of the name, in honor of George Washington , first President of the United States, and the first of that name to be purpose-built as a warship.-Construction and...
as George Washington successfully launched the first two Polaris ballistic missiles
UGM-27 Polaris
The Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fuel nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile built during the Cold War by Lockheed Corporation of California for the United States Navy....
ever fired from a submarine beneath the sea.
Kittiwake continued operating out of Norfolk until 1 August 1961 when she departed for the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
. Arriving at Rota, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, on 15 August, she cruised the Mediterranean from Spain to Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
while deployed with the United States Sixth Fleet. After supporting submarine maneuvers out of Pireaus, Greece, from 20 September to 9 October, she departed the Mediterranean 8 November and arrived Norfolk the 18th. She then conducted operations out of Norfolk for the next 18 months. While on duty off Key West
Key West
Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba....
2 February 1963, she sighted a Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n boat, Jose Maria Perez; took on board 12 refugees (including 3 children) fleeing communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
oppression in Cuba; and carried them to safety at Key West.
Departing Charleston, South Carolina, 16 April, Kittiwake arrived St. Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire , is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.The town has a major harbour, on the right bank of the Loire River estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. The town is at the south of the second-largest swamp in France, called "la Brière"...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, 3 May with two Landing Craft Utility
Landing Craft Utility
The Landing Craft Utility is a type of boat used by amphibious forces to transport equipment and troops to the shore. They are capable of transporting tracked or wheeled vehicles and troops from amphibious assault ships to beachheads or piers....
(LCU's) in tow. She proceeded to the Mediterranean 10 May and reached Rota the 14th. For more than two months she participated in fleet operations before departing Rota 31 July for the United States. Returning to Norfolk 10 August 1963, she resumed training and support operations with submarines, along the Atlantic coast. Through 1964 and 1965, Kittiwake continued her role in maintaining the readiness of individual submarines which were to carry out their missions of defense and deterrent effectively. She escorted them as they left the East Coast shipyards for sea trials, standing ready to come to their rescue should difficulties arise. Constant exercise in use of weapons by submarines was furnished by Kittiwake, such as running as a target and recovering exercise torpedoes and mines. The operations ranged from the Virginia Capes
Virginia Capes
The Virginia Capes are the two capes, Cape Charles to the north and Cape Henry to the south, that define the entrance to Chesapeake Bay on the eastern coast of North America....
to the Atlantic missile range off Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. On 6 April 1965, she departed Norfolk with submarines for exercises off the coast of Spain, thence to the Mediterranean Sea.
Kittiwake departed Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
31 May 1965, to operate out of Rota, Spain, in support of the fleet ballistic missile submarines of Submarine Squadron 16: Andrew Jackson (SSBN-619)
USS Andrew Jackson (SSBN-619)
|...
, Woodrow Wilson (SSBN-624), James Madison (SSBN-627)
USS James Madison (SSBN-627)
|-External links:...
, and Nathan Hale (SSBN-623). Following torpedo recovery and training off the coast of Spain, she sailed for Holy Loch
Holy Loch
The Holy Loch is a sea loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.Robertson's Yard at Sandbank, a village on the loch, was a major wooden boat building company in the late 19th and early 20th centuries....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
30 June 1965, to give support to Submarine Squadron 14
Submarine Squadron 14
Submarine Squadron 14, or SUBRON 14, was a United States Navy squadron of Polaris and later Poseidon Fleet Ballistic Missile submarines based at Holy Loch, Scotland. The squadron was part of Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet...
there. She recovered torpedoes for the fleet ballistic missile submarines James Monroe (SSBN-622)
USS James Monroe (SSBN-622)
|...
and John Adams (SSBN-620)
USS John Adams (SSBN-620)
USS John Adams , a Lafayette-class ballistic missile submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for John Adams , the second President of the United States , and his son John Quincy Adams , the sixth President of the United States...
, provided underway training for men of the submarine tender
Submarine tender
A submarine tender is a type of ship that supplies and supports submarines.Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally do not have the ability to carry large amounts of food, fuel, torpedoes, and other supplies, nor to carry a full array of maintenance equipment and...
Hunley (AS-31)
USS Hunley (AS-31)
USS Hunley was a submarine tender of the United States Navy launched on 28 September 1961 and commissioned 16 June 1962. The Hunley was designed to tend most of the long-term requirements of the Polaris Class of submarines. The ship achieved several records and milestones in its long service...
, then sailed 20 July for Norfolk, arriving 30 July 1965. During the autumn months, Kittiwake guarded new Polaris
UGM-27 Polaris
The Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fuel nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile built during the Cold War by Lockheed Corporation of California for the United States Navy....
submarines, Lewis and Clark (SSBN-644)
USS Lewis and Clark (SSBN-644)
|...
and Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641), during their builder's sea trials prior to commissioning.
Kittiwake operated on the United States East Coast and in the Caribbean until sailing for the Mediterranean 8 July 1966. She reached the Bay of Cádiz
Bay of Cádiz
The Bay of Cádiz is a body of water adjacent to the southwestern coast of Spain. It touches the following municipalities in the province of Cádiz: Cádiz, San Fernando, Puerto Real, El Puerto de Santa Maria, and Rota...
on the 20th and transited the straits 2 days later. She operated in the Mediterranean until emerging at Rota, Spain, 1 September. She headed for Holy Loch on the 6th and arrived on the 11th. Four days later she was ordered to the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
to assist in locating and salvaging the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
submarine Hai (S-171). She reached the scene of the tragedy 17 September and remained on hand assisting salvage operations until the 20th. She continued to operate off Western Europe until returning to Norfolk 13 November. Kittiwake operated on the East Coast into 1967.
On 23 April 1984, Kittiwake collided with the attack submarine at Norfolk
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, while Bergall was moored to the pier
Pier
A pier is a raised structure, including bridge and building supports and walkways, over water, typically supported by widely spread piles or pillars...
astern of her. Kittiwake was getting underway for the first time since she had undergone maintenance, during which her main drive motor was re-wired improperly, causing it and the screw
Propeller
A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...
it drove to rotate in the opposite direction from that ordered by personnel on Kittiwakes bridge. This was unknown to Kittiwakes bridge personnel, who found that Kittiwake started to drift aft when they were expecting her to move forward. Noting the backward motion, they ordered an increase in the motor drive speed in order to correct it and get Kittiwake moving forward, but unwittingly caused Kittiwake to move further aft and at a higher speed. Still not realizing that Kittiwakes main drive motor was operating in reverse of what they expected, Kittiwakes bridge personnel then ordered another increase in Kittiwakes forward speed, which only served to increase her speed astern. This continued until Kittiwakes stern
Stern
The stern is the rear or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite of the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Originally, the term only referred to the aft port section...
backed into Bergalls sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
dome.
In 1986, the Kittiwake recovered the black box from the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of central Florida at 11:38 am EST...
.
Decommissioning and disposal
Kittiwake was decommissionedShip 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 30 September 1994 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 the same day. Her title was transferred in November 2008 for an undisclosed amount to the government of the Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica...
.
The Cayman Islands government intended to use Kittiwake to form a new artificial reef
Reef
In nautical terminology, a reef is a rock, sandbar, or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water ....
. Originally intended to be sunk off Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman
Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman
Seven Mile Beach is a long crescent of coral-sand beach on the western shore of Grand Cayman island. Despite its name, the beach is only about long. Seven Mile Beach known for its beauty, recently receiving the honor of "The Caribbean's Best Beach" from Caribbean Travel and Life Magazine...
in June 2009, it was finally sunk on 5 January 2011.
The Kittiwake is resting upright in 62 feet of water on a sandy bottom.