Mailing List Archive

Mailing List: techdiver

Message Display

Jay Jeffries and I exchanged some email on penetrating the control room of the
USS Bass.  He asked that I forward the appended message to techdiver.  By way
of intro, the Bass is a sub in 160 fsw off of Rhode Island, and access to the
control room requires getting through a jumble of machinery in the engine room
and several feet of silt in the galley. It's among the scarier dives I have
done (right up there with the Choapa).

John
Heimannj@ma*.nd*.gt*.co*

Forwarded message:

I was the first to enter the Control Room of the Bass and I opened the 
Conning Tower hatch.  A series of progressive penetration dives were made 
to enter the Control Room.  I laid the yellow poly line that ran from the 
forward end of the Main Engines back to the Control Room hatch.  I had to 
remove the handle from the door to gain entry.

This is the spookiest dive I have ever completed, once I'm in the Control 
Room all I can think about is getting back out.  Nitrox would probably 
help, I've looked at mix tables for this depth but I don't think it is 
cost effective.  I would use the fallen ventilation duct in the 
galley/mess decks as a guide back to the Forward Engine Room.  This may 
have crumbled by now.  From the Galley/Engine Room door way, if you shut 
off yoour lights yoou can see the exit hatch to open water.  I few years 
ago a friend was temporarily pinned under a metal plate that fell from 
the overhead.

My original goal in diving the Bass was to remove the helm from the 
Control Room.  In support of that, my dining room wall in R.I. was 
plastered with Bass plans and photos.  I calcuhotos.  I calculated that 
the wheel would have to be brought out through the engine room.  There 
was another smaller helm in the conning tower which I opened at the end 
of a dive but couldn't get back to before someone else recovered it.  I 
had taken two Faber SlimLine 72's and placed them side by side with no 
gap and could just slide through the 18" sail hatch.  The person the 
recovered the helm was to fat to fit in, he saw the helm and went back to 
the surface and got a boat hook to lift it out with.  RATS!!  Once the 
sail was open the control room visibility improved drastically.  I had 
planned to bring the helm stand out through the sail which would have 
been almost a straight lift.  Unfortunately, I found it was made of 
aluminum and badly decomposed.

I have made many dives into the control room and have somehow managed to 
find my way out.  It has been real scarey a few times.  Generally, I swim 
to the right and down the port side past the ballast control panel and 
where the planes wheels should have been.  the depth gages were also 
removed.  As I move aft I think I had to swim up and over the chart 
table, further aft were the compass should have been! I seem to remember 
was to tight. I then swam forward along the electrical control panel to 
where the helm use to be next to the ladder leading up to the ammo 
passing hatch.  Be careful, there are three open hatches to the lower 
level, one as you enter the control room (it could gobble your tool bag), 
one leading up into the sail in mid room (I recovered a beautiful teak 
scuttle cover from here that has great cross-hatching!) and one aft of 
the planes station.  The door leading into the cargo hold cannot be 
opened due to debris piled on the other side.  There are many gages in 
the Control Room, I have taken quite a few.

It is always tough finding the hatch to exit through, I should have 
placed a strobe here, a strobe here, it would have been much easier.  The 
hatch up into the sail is to small to pass through.

My old dive partners opened artners opened the after hatch last summer 
but didn't find much.  There is still alot of good artifacts to be found 
on the Bass, I wish I could afford to come up this summer and dive it on 
Nitrox and O2 deco.  My dives were all done on twin overpressureized 80's 
with a 40 poney and a 72 hung at the anchor line.

Any further questions please feel free to ask.  Before I started this I 
didn't realize it would be so long, I apologize.  I also didn't forward 
to the tech list server.  Unfortunately my comm package doesn't allow me 
to make full use of my E-mail provider and I can't go back and potc4)3nn~


qJay gJeffries

Navigate by Author: [Previous] [Next] [Author Search Index]
Navigate by Subject: [Previous] [Next] [Subject Search Index]

[Send Reply] [Send Message with New Topic]

[Search Selection] [Mailing List Home] [Home]