Halibut Hangar

The USS Halibut (SSN-587) 2008 Reunion is being held in New London, Connecticut on September 18 - 21, 2008. The Halibut Veterans' Association has arranged, for attendees staying at the Radisson Hotel New London to receive a nominal discount rate on request1. New London September Weather Avgs: High Temp: 72oF; Low Temp: 54oF; Precip: 4.06 inches (current weather in New London, CT).

Virginia Class Submarine Attack Center2

Click Map for Detailed View of New London Area

Here is a near real-time picture (updated every minute) at Avery Point looking across the Thames River harbor inlet toward Seaside—approximately three miles down river from the Radisson Hotel New London.

The New London Ledge Light³ is a historic lighthouse located in the Thames River harbor inlet adjacent to Avery Point. The historic lighthouse contains a modern weather station.

Web:

• Reunion 2008; Nautilus Tour
  

  • USS Nautilus (SSN 571) Thames River Museum, Groton, CT.

    • Nautilus Veterans, SSN-571/SS-168, are holding their reunion in New London on September 25-29, 2008; panopo[replace brackets and text with the appropriate symbol]gmail.com
  • USS Nautilus (SSN 571) AllHands write-up.
  • USS Nautilus (SSN 571) PBS NOVA virtual tour

• Reunion 2008; Attend Sub-School Class (Official Navy Site):

  • Naval Submarine School, History of Naval Submarine School
  • Naval Submarine School, Submarine Escape Training
  • Naval Submarine School, Main Site

• Reunion 2008; Dinners:

  • SubBaseNLon Dinner (detailed map of SubBaseNLon, 1 meg pdf)
  • Halibut Veterans' Dinner

• Reunion 2008 Guest Speaker: Halibut veteran and author of "Spy Sub", Roger C. Dunham MD. (left). He will report on his recent tour of the Navy's latest Virginia-class submarine, USS Hawaii, SSN 776.

Photos, Previous Reunions:

• David Palagyi's Photos—Reunion 2002, San Diego 2002

Possible Places To Visit (in or near New London):

• Foxwoods Resort Casino (World's Largest Casino - area map)

  • Foxwoods Pequot Museum
  • Foxwoods Resort Casino, Headliner Shows
  • Foxwoods Resort Casino, Free Shows
  • Foxwoods Resort Casino, Golfing
  • Explore MGM Grand at Foxwoods. Click only if your wife and/or girlfriend are not watching the computer screen.

• Mystic Seaport

  • Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration
  • Mystic Country Comprehensive site for information about Mystic.
• Harkness Memorial State Park or Harkness Memorial State Park
• Sail aboard the Tall Ship Mystic Whaler
• National Submarine Memorial (Near Nautilus and Submarine History Museum)
• Connecticut College Arboretum or Connecticut College Arboretum
• Mohegan Sun Casino (approximately 15 minutes from Foxwood Casino)
• U.S. Coast Guard Museum (area map)
• Custom House Maritime Museum (area map). If website is under-constructions check here for address and hours.
• Lyman Allyn Art Museum (area map)

• New London County Golf Courses

  • The Chanticlair Golf Course
  • Birch Plain Golf Course & Driving Range
• The Grand-Children's Museum of Southeastern Connecticut (area map)
• Ocean Beach Park (aerial map)
• Florence Griswold Museum (area map)

National Historic Places—New London Saint James Episcopal Church (area map) Williams Memorial Institute (area map) Ledge Lighthouse—see note one below Fort Griswold (aerial map) Fort Trumbull (aerial map) New London Customhouse List of Registered Historic Places, New London, Connecticut Gillette Castle State Park (area map) Haley Farm State Park Connecticut River Museum (area map) New London County, Connecticut Fishing Lakes. Here are 200 lakes in New London County to fish till you drop—or catch a few fish.

Enlarge—Turtle4

• Museum of Connecticut History. This is in Hartford, an hour’s drive from New London. If time and interest in America's history combine, this is a must visit—so much history, including that John Winthrop, Jr founded New London, Connecticut in 1646. (See also the numerous other Connecticut Museums and Historical Societies!)
• New London County Historical Society. This is the Perkins-Shaw Mansion which was frequented by a young New London school teacher (see New London Main Street, below for location of school house) and first American spy, Nathan Hale. During our Revolution the Navy used the house as its headquarters—George Washington is widely thought to have stayed overnight during his march of some 20,000 Continental Army troops to fight in the August 1776, Battle of Brooklyn Heights, New York.

• New London Maritime Society, Amidstad (aerial map). The Customhouse displays a scaled replica and brief history of the famous Spanish schooner and slave ship, La Amistad. (see Amistad Revolt - An Historical Legacy of Sierra Leone and the United States for a more details).

  Technically, La Amistad was not designated a slave ship. However, its below decks manacles belied its technical designation.

  Today, thousands of children track, via the internet and Google maps, a full scale La Amistad as it sails the world teaching others about the horrors of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

  Connecticut and its leaders marked their opposition to America's slavery, even as our judiciary and southern states slogged their way toward the fateful Dred Scott decision and our nation's Civil War.

• Taverns, Pubs, Bars, and Inns—New London Area

  • Dutch Tavern-YouTube Video (area map) The famous American playwright Eugene O'Neill frequented the Dutch Tavern and drank, ... well, like a submariner, a young submariner—O'Neill's boyhood house, Monte Cristo Cottage, is located in New London. (The Reunion Radisson Hotel is on the corner of Eugene O'Neill Boulevard and Governor Winthrop Boulevard.)
  • Reunions Pub, Building 485 (formerly Tavern by the Green) and Fouled Anchor Lounge, Building 447 and "The Dive" O'Club, Building 429. Both are on the SubBase, overlooking the Goose Run Golf Course.
  • The Bee and Thistle Inn. The Bee and Thistle Inn was built in 1756. (area map)
  • The Griswold Inn The Griswold Inn opened in 1776. (area map)
  • Lighthouse Inn Wharf area New London (area map)
• New London Main Street. This is a great site for finding "touristy" dining and doing in and around the wharf area—all within walking distance of the reunion Radisson Hotel. (Main Street has published a handy Historic Waterfront District Dining Guide—a 2Meg pdf and Historic Waterfront District Map & Guide—1.5Meg pdf)

USS Halibut (SSN-587) 2008 Reunion Area Aerial Map-Click for Details

Entertainment and Eateries:

• Restaurants around New London

Out, About, and Around (New London):

• Taxis and Rental Cars
• Ferry Service (aerial map)
• SeaPony Cruises and Charter
• Planes, Trains, & Buses
• New London Visitor Information Station (860-444-7264). Maps & brochures on door at all times.
• New London, Eastern Regional Tourism District Office,(860-444-2206) Or (800-863-6569)
• New London Police Department. Routine calls: 860-447-5269 menu item 20; emergency menu item 0 or use 911 instead. The station is just down the street from the Radisson Hotel at 5 Governor Winthrop Boulevard
• Detailed City Data about New London, Connecticut

Hospitals and Drugstores:

• Lawrence & Memorial Hospital (aerial map)
• Naval Healthcare Clinics, Groton and other New England Locations
• CVS (860-443-5359) (aerial map). There is a 24 Hour CVS in Groton, Connecticut- 915 Poquonnock Road;(860-446-0912).
• Rite Aid (860-447-0661) (aerial map). 817 Bank Street, New London

Internet Access and WiFi Connections:

• New London Public Library (aerial map). The library has free public access to the internet, including WiFi (wireless) connection for your personal laptop.[Thanks Tara]
• Reunion Radisson Hotel (A surcharge applies to WiFi access.)
• Bean & Leaf, Cafe & Roastery (aerial map) Free high-speed WiFi for customers.

Still Need Ideas:

• Flickr Photos; New London, Connecticut A great way (not to mention enjoyable) to get ideas for a trip is to see what others have photographed in the area.

  Amateur photographers take some of the most amazing picture, if by accident!

  • Close-up of Ledge Light
  • Customs House
  • First Episcopal Church
• Boston Globe, Close-up on New London
• Tooheyworld, Attractions in Groton (CT)
• Groton Trails
• Groton Yellow Pages
• Groton American Billiards. Still out of ideas...just hang-out at the pool hall and play cribbage or get a haircut or massage or wait for Halibut Reunion 2010 in a different city.

-----notes-----

1. Very often fees, surcharges, or complimentary services make the total cost of one hotel higher or lower when compared to another—it never hurts to ask for complimentary services.

It is amazing the huge stock and variety of "comps" a good hotel negotiates with local and non-local businesses and provide their special guests on request—complimentary gym/spa access, complimentary shuttle service to casinos, complimentary WiFi access, complimentary movies, complimentary discounts on: shows; plays; symphony; seasonal attractions; special activities; eateries; beverages; cruises; parking; rental cars; plane-train-bus-fares; sight-seeing tours etc... On and on...

You can contact the New London Radisson's Front Office Manager, Scott Brodie, here: rhi_newl[replace brackets and text with the appropriate symbol]radisson.com

2. The Attack Center (roughly Control to Halibut veterans) is highly integrated and computerized with flat-panel displays galore, including two large displays (vertical and horizontal) for the attack (approach) officer (roughly OOD to Halibut veterans).

The 20 or so watches for the standard Attack Center are collectively referred to as the New Attack Submarine Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence (C3I) System: Approach Officer; FCC; Combat Control Operators(3); Sonar Supervisor; Sonar Operator(5); CCS TSD Operator; Tactical Display Evaluator; Integrated Tactical Display Operator; Photonics Operator (very expensive panoramic digital periscope to Halibut veterans); Radar Operator; and Fathometer Operator; Pilot; Copilot; and Relief Pilot (roughly Diving Officer, Chief of the Watch, Helmsman, Planesman, to Halibut veterans).

3. If you look close at the webcam picture you can see the Ledge Light (41.304974° Longitude: -72.078297°) out in the inlet harbor (almost center of picture). A boat takes visitors to the Ledge Light (Adults,$19; Children 6-12, $16; no children under 6 permitted for safety reasons), a tour lasting about 2 hours. Tour demand in September is low so only one tour on Saturday is provided.

Each Lighthouse is assigned a distinct and unique light color and flash pattern—the Ledge Light flashes three whites and one red flash every 30 seconds.

The decorative lighthouse in the picture's foreground is the Avery Point lighthouse, which no longer functions.

4. Bushnell's Turtle drawing is courtesy of the Mayflower Families who have been so essential in documenting our nation's early history.

(Modern, but pre-Seawolf-SSN-21 US Dolphin Insignia)

See also Category:Halibut Submarine Terminology

If you have a submarine term you want defined or you have defined a submarine term you want included send it along as a comment.

• A
• Anchor: tbd

• Anchors Aweigh: The original 1906 unofficial theme song of the United States Navy (Wikipedia), composed by Charles A. Zimmerman. The song has been revised over the years.

  The term "anchors aweigh" is more applicable to surface ships than submarines, where it has a definite meaning of raising the anchor. It is equivalent to declaring, on the Halibut, "Captain, Halibut is underway", meaning the last mooring line has been removed and the nuclear reactor (Westinghouse SG3) is providing Halibut's propulsion.

  On the Halibut it was quite common to have "anchor pools" where players contributed a small sum of money (usually $5 or $10) to a pot. The contribution entitled you to select a grid square which corresponded to a definite time, but which was not revealed until after the quartermaster logged the official "docking time". The time closest to the official time won the pot of money.

  Some "anchor pools" where for considerably larger sums of money, but these where always "discretely" run - like a 1920s prohibition operation you had to be in the know to participate - these large sum "anchor pools" were "discouraged".

  The Navy's theme song it was regularly played during Halibut's ceremonies and formal events.

• Anchors, Mushroom: Halibut had two large mushroom anchors (the anchors look like upside down mushrooms) which it used to anchor over a seabed target, winch itself onto the seabed, and secure itself to the seabed.

  Sea currents, sea turbulence, submarine atmosphere, and equipment malfunctions, made getting to the seabed and staying there challenging.

  If the stresses and loads on the anchor or cable caused an anchor to separate from the submarine, as sometimes happened, Halibut headed home for repairs and extensive failure analysis.

  Anchoring is primarily a function of the anchor's ability to "penetrate" the seabed and the seabed's ability to "hold" the anchor once penetrated.

  Seabed "penetration" and "holding" is primarily a function of anchor size, shape and weight, given seabed composition and sea characteristics.

  A mushroom shaped anchor is used when the seabed is primarily muddy. The weight of the mushroom anchor determines the degree to which it penetrates the muddy seabed. The goal is a fully buried mushroom anchor because its "holding" properties are the greatest (more than 5 times greater for a given anchor size and weight).

  Question: Like getting your shoe and foot buried up to your ankle in mud - the "suction" of the mud makes it very hard to lift your foot. The mud may even "hold" your shoe after you are able to free your foot from the mud. Because of the size, shape, and surface area of a mushroom anchor the mud "holds" it much stronger than your shoe and foot. If you are in high school see if you can calculate the surface area and weight of half a steel, iron, or lead sphere 7 feet in diameter. Assume a cubic foot of each metal weighs 487, 480, and 710 lbs, respectively. If a mushroom anchor that is completely buried in mud can "hold" 5 times its weight what is the effective "holding" tonnage for each (steel, iron, and lead) mushroom anchor? Would your answers change if each mushroom anchor was not solid, but partially hollow?

  Question: Early Halibut operations anchored, but did not winch down onto the seabed. Why would Halibut change to winching onto and sitting on the seabed? If the “holding” property of the mushroom anchor is greater than the "cable strength" attached to the anchor what happens to the cable when Halibut tries to winch in the anchor? When Halibut was anchored over a target was submarine buoyancy negative, neutral, or positive? When Halibut was winching down toward the seabed was submarine buoyancy negative, neutral, or positive? When Halibut was sitting on the seabed, with her mushroom anchors buried in the muddy seabed was submarine buoyancy negative, neutral, or positive?

  Question: When Halibut deanchored from the seabed was submarine buoyancy negative, neutral, or positive?

• Anchoring Operation, Halibut: Anchoring Operation
• Aquarium, Halibut: This is a nickname given to the sea-lock, located in the lower hangar, used to transfer hardware through Halibut's pressure hull while at sea. The sea-lock had a diameter of about 46 inches and consisted of three hatches, an inner, middle, and outer. Most often the transferred hardware consisted of towed search vehicles, remotely operated vehicles, signal recording pods, and items recovered or requested by deployed divers.
• Anchor Pool: see Anchors Aweigh.
• Anechoic Tiles or Coating: Tiles or coating applied to a submarine's outer hull which aids in sound absorption, echo distortion, and improved hydrodynamics, attributes enhancing a submarine's stealth characteristics.

• Artificial Sea Water: This is "designer water" intended to simulate the chemical composition of a particular ocean's environment, generally used in controlled simulation and testing. Salt is one significant component of most seawater. Sometimes this is referred to as ocean, salinity, but salinity refers to more than salt. a typical salinity can range from 30 to 37 grams per kilogram of seawater. Salinity - Sea of Okhotsk and hydro chemical atlas - sea of Okhotsk

  Other seawater chemicals are: chlorine,Cl; sodium, Na;magnesium, Mg; sulphur, S; calcium, Ca; potassium, K; bromine, Br; carbon, C; nitrogen, N; strontium, Sr 8; oxygen, O; boron, B; silicon, Si; fluorine, F; argon, Ar; lithium, Li; rubidium, Rb; phosphorus, P; ... for a complete list see: Ocean Chemistry and Deep Sea Sediments

  Can you think how this salt might affect the submarine's buoyancy? (hint: Does the density of the water increase or decrease when you add salt? Assume sea water has an average specific gravity of 1.0218).

  Scenario: You are officer of the deck supervising the diving office's manual control of the submarine's depth. The submarine sensors indicate you are about to enter an area of increased salinity (see thermohaline ). Would you tell the chief of the watch (cow) to pump water out of, or into the submarine, why?

  Question: Assume the cow tells you the water pump just blew out! While listening to the cow immediately call the "on watch" electrician mate, could you direct the diving officer to increase/decrease the submarine's speed and achieve the same result as pumping water into or out of the submarine?increase/decrease/why?

  Question: Do factors such as ocean temperature, ocean currents, ocean bathymetry (depth) [Sea of Okhotsk bathymetry], submarine hydrodynamics, ocean storms, and rainfall affect sea water composition and thus submarine performance? Why or Why not?

  Question: If you are a submarine designer, why is sensing and responding to changes in the submarine's hydro chemical environment so important?

• Atmosphere Independent Propulsion: tbd

Pages: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19 · 20 · 21 · 22 · 23

On this day, October 28, 1968, the USNS Mizar (T-AGOR-11) towed her magnetometer and cameras over a sunken wreckage two miles below. Two days later the United States Navy declared to the world that the sunken USS Scorpion (SSN 589) had been located. A recently published book, by Ed Offley, Scorpion Down, Basic Books, 2007 provides convincing, compelling, and conclusive primary source accounts that the Mizar’s October 28, 1968 “discovery” was nothing more than an elaborate “cover story”, by senior Navy and government officials, to obfuscate the fact that the wreckage had been located months earlier on June 9, 1968, by the USS Compass Island (EAG 153)1.

Book in WorldCat

To submarine fiction readers Scorpion Down will read like a submarine thriller that drops depth charge after depth charge until the truth about Scorpion’s sinking is finally forced to surface.

To USS Halibut (SSN 587)² submariners it will read like a detailed x-y grid plot of a target area after years of patient passes in a very dark sea, which finally promises to illuminate the target and enable recovery ... of the truth.

Offley has left many actively pinging transponders on a carefully constructed high probability, narrow confidence band grid of targets. I suspect it will not take 25 more years to recover documentary evidence of the truth about Scorpion's³ sinking.

Map Showing Compass Island's Search Track Beginning June 9, 1968

Web:

• Scorpion Down
• UPDATED Radio WNIA, Scorpion Down, Interview with Ed Offley (mp3)
• UPDATED 10/29/2008 Casualties of the Cold War: in Scorpion Down, veteran correspondent Ed Offley claims the nuclear submarine USS Scorpion was sunk in 1968 by the Soviet Navy.

-----notes-----

1. In the world of intelligence, especially military intelligence, especially superpower military intelligence it is actually very difficult and expensive to slow the relatively short half-life of a secret. Human actions will always belie randomness and thus secrecy, so intelligence officials use cover stories to explain the human non-randomness. Or as John Craven, technical coordinator of the Mizar’s Scorpion search might say: an ideal cover story must always be true and explain every aspect of non-random behavior with respect to the secret(s) being protected.

According to Offley’s compelling case the ultimate secret sought to be protected is that the former USSR intentionally torpedoed and sunk the USS Scorpion, on May 22, 1968 at 1644 (4:44 pm local time) in retaliation for the earlier US sinking of USSR’s K-129 submarine. The cover story used by senior Navy and government officials was intentionally or unintentionally articulated by Craven. Craven maintained and reasserted to Offley that the USS Scorpion sank as a result of an internally exploding torpedo (hot-running torpedo).

Later, when images (Navy and Ballard) of the sunken Scorpion showed no sign of an internal explosion the cover story was tweaked, by the USS Scorpion’s board of inquiry to say that the hot-running torpedo was jettisoned by crew members and then spontaneously locked on and sunk the Scorpion.

Offley conclusively demonstrates that senior Navy and government officials responded to the Scorpion’s sinking within hours of its May 22, 1968 sinking. This fatally torpedoes and sinks the official cover story. The old cover story cannot be tweaked, amended or salvaged, Craven's assertions notwithstanding – it has been fatally and conclusively blasted out of the water.

Offley, having successfully sunk the Scorpion’s cover story goes on to construct a theory of why Navy and government officials covered up the fact that they had begun the Scorpion search within hours not days and located the wreckage within days not months of its sinking. In this effort Offley is less successful. He unnecessarily complicates his theory by weaving in the Walker spy ring, North Korea’s proxy piracy of the spy ship USS Pueblo (AGER-2) and Russia’s access to submarine crypto gear, KLB-47, KWR-37, and KW-7.

2. Offley incorrectly associates hull number 575 with the USS Halibut (SSN 587). Submarine hull number 575 belongs to Halibut’s sister ship the USS Seawolf (SSN 575). In Offley’s book the Seawolf was scheduled to participate in upcoming NATO exercises in the then volatile Mediterranean. However, system failures forced Seawolf into the shipyard and Scorpion took her place for the Mediterranean NATO exercise.

As noted above Halibut figures into Offley’s book as the submarine that located the sunken Russian submarine K-129. According to Offley’s book Scorpion was sunk in retaliation for America’s earlier sinking of K-129, which Halibut then located and photographed. The CIA subsequently salvaged the K-129 submarine using the USNS Glomar Explorer (T-AG-193) – remember the manganese nodules cover story?

America honored a prior Russian request to provide evidence that the K-129 submariners recovered in the salvage operation were given a proper at sea burial. America presented Russian President Boris Yeltsin with photos of the sunken K-129, the at sea burial ceremony, and the flags used during the at sea burial of the recovered K-129 Russian submariners.

3. Another book on the USS Scorpion by Kenneth Sewell and Jerome Preisler, All Hands Down: the true story of the Soviet attack on the USS Scorpion, Simon and Schuster, 2008 is schedule for publication around April 15, 2008 (Sewell is also co-author, with Clint Richmond, of Red Star Rogue: the untold story of a Soviet submarine's nuclear strike attempt on the U.S.).

What submariner, as described in All Hands Down, in the entire US Submarine Force, officer or enlisted, standing an in port 15 hour engineering watch would ever request the below decks watch to wake the captain so he (engineering watch) could take a piss?