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Thanks, Keith Boger!
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Commissioning
Ceremonies
THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
ON JUNE 6,1961. It was buried between an article about teachers
visiting U.C. Berkeley on the left and a fire in a hay storage shed
in Williams on the right. The tonnage and length quoted are
different than the first article and wrong, again.
COMMISSIONING CEREMONIES FOR A-SUB
Two thousand persons attended the
commissioning of the nuclear-powered submarine Scamp at the Mare
Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo yesterday.
The new vessel is the Navy's 20th nuclear sub
and the fourth to be built at Mare Island. Classed as a fast attack
submarine, the 3400-ton Scamp is 253 long. (Polaris subs are 8000
tons, conventionally powered ones 1560 tons.) The Scamp has a crew
of 90 officers and men, under Commander Walter N. Dietzen, Jr., of
Chattanooga, Tenn. Lieutenant Commander Robert W. Dickieson of
Freeport, N. Y., is executive officer.
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New A-Sub Has First
Sea Trials off Golden Gate
THIS ARTICLE WAS BURIED IN THE MIDDLE OF A SECTION OF
LOCAL NEWS IN THE APRIL 11, 1961 ISSUE OF THE SAN FRANCISCO
CHRONICLE. It was embedded next to an article about a runaway kid on
one side and a bank robbery on the other with train wreck above and
a fire in a Chicago university dorm fire below. The figures quoted
for tonnage and length are wrong.
NEW A-SUB HAS FIRST SEA TRIALS OFF GOLDEN
GATE
The nuclear submarine Scamp, built at Mare
Island Naval Shipyard, completed her initial sea trials off the
Golden Gate yesterday. Vice Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, Assistant
chief of the Navy's bureau of atomic-powered ships was aboard for
the test. Scamp, the fourth nuclear-powered submarine launched at
Mare Island, is 2800 tons, 275 feet long and "very fast". She will
undergo further sea trials and will probably be commissioned here in
about two months. |
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A-Sub Dives Into Trouble Off S.F.
THIS ARTICLE APPEARED ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE SAN
FRANCISCO CHRONICLE ON DECEMBER 6, 1961. The article was in the
lower right corner above "THE INDEX" and next to an article about 25
East Germans hijacking a train and fleeing East Berlin (seven of the
total 32 people on board returned with the train to East Berlin and
hour later!). The article below the tail of Scamp's write-up on page
16 was for the USS Coral Sea - she, of course, is not a cruiser, but
an aircraft carrier! Guess they all look alike to
reporters? Meanwhile back at a depth
of 400 feet>>
A-SUB DIVES INTO TROUBLE OFF S.F.
The nuclear-powered submarine Scamp was
backing down deep beneath the ocean surface 40 miles off the Golden
Gate yesterday when her football-shaped hull abruptly halted.
A hurried check by the Scamp's 90-man crew
indicated the sub's single propeller shaft had suffered a
"mechanical failure" and apparently had shaken off the propeller.
Disabled, the 3400-ton craft went "dead" in the water.
First word of its distress was received
shortly before 1 a.m. at the Navy's Western Sea Frontier Base. The
radio message from Scamp's skipper Captain Walter N. Dietzen, Jr.,
indicated no dire emergency. He had returned his disabled craft to
the surface by the usual method of "blowing tanks". Compressed air
drove out sea water ballast to lighten the sub for a controlled
ascent.
But shorn of its driving force, the Scamp now
wallowed like a barrel in the seas. It was drifting. It needed a
tow.
The coast guard cutter Comanche was sent to
aid. But until the rescue ship arrived five hours later, the crew of
the Scamp rolled and rolled; the seas sang a rough lullaby. The
sub's nuclear power plant itself was undamaged by the mishap, and no
crew members were injured or endangered, a Navy spokesman
said.
OVERHAUL: The Scamp has been only five months
in operation. She was built at Mare Island Naval Shipyard at Vallejo
and had just completed an overhaul following its shakedown cruise.
One of the changes during the overhaul was installation of a new
type "instrumented propeller shaft" which the Navy wanted to test.
It was this part that failed.
The Scamp will be returned to Mare Island
today and its regular propulsion shaft re-installed. The Scamp is
one of the few modern submarines with only one shaft and propeller.
A Mare Island spokesman said late models have an auxiliary
propulsion system for emergency use.
Webmaster's Editorial Comment . . . then the
article after ours>>>
"Farewell Party for US Cruiser"! (The USS
Coral Sea!)
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Why
Nuclear Sub Went "Dead" At Sea |
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THIS FOLLOW-UP WAS BURIED IN THE SAN FRANCISCO
CHRONICLE'S EDITION OF DECEMBER 9, 1961. The article was sandwiched
between an ad for dishwashers, pianos and stereos and a story about
the first Wave to go to sea. Ironically, she was assigned to the
Navy transport General W. A. Mann, and headed for Japan. This was
the transport that brought my family back from Japan in 1952...small
world! (GUSTAV ERBES)
Meanwhile, back on the surface, damage
control is in progress!
WHY NUCLEAR SUB WENT "DEAD" AT SEA
The Navy disclosed yesterday the disabling of
the nuclear submarine Scamp off the Golden Gate earlier this week
was caused by a propeller shaft that broke in two.
The section containing the propeller was
carried away leaving the Scamp "dead" in the water. It had to wait
five hours for a Coast Guard cutter which towed the craft into the
bay.
A Navy spokesman said his earlier information
that Scamp was submerged when the accident occurred was in error.
The submarine was surfaced and backing to test the propeller shaft
when "the stress caused a fracture in the shaft".
No crewmen were injured nor was the nuclear
power plant affected, he said.
The Scamp is getting its shaft replaced at
Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo.
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