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''Trieste II'' (DSV-1) was the successor to ''Trieste''—the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
's first bathyscaphe purchased from its Swiss designers.


History

The original ''Trieste'' design was heavily modified by the
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in
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and built at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. ''Trieste II'' incorporated the original
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, Italian-built sphere used in ''Trieste'', after it was made redundant by the new high-pressure sphere cast by the German Krupp Steelworks. The ''Trieste'' sphere was suspended from an entirely new float, more seaworthy and streamlined than the original but operating on identical principles. Completed in early 1964, ''Trieste II'' was placed on board USNS ''Francis X. McGraw'' (T-AK241) and shipped, via the Panama Canal, to Boston. Commanded by Lt Comdr. John B. Mooney Jr., with co-pilot Lt. John H. Howland and Capt. Frank Andrews, ''Trieste II'' conducted dives in the vicinity of the loss site of —operations commenced by the first ''Trieste'' the year before. She recovered bits of wreckage, positively fixing the remains as that of the lost ''Thresher'', in September 1964. Between September 1965 and May 1966, ''Trieste II'' again underwent extensive modification and conversion at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, but there is no clear record that she was ever operated in that new configuration, i.e., the addition of
skeg A skeg (or skegg or skag) is a sternward extension of the keel of boats and ships which have a rudder mounted on the centre line. The term also applies to the lowest point on an outboard motor or the outdrive of an inboard/outboard."A small fin f ...
s or outriggers on both sides of the sphere. During that same time period work was under way on a third configuration of the bathyscaphe. This work resulted in yet a new appearance for the ''Trieste II'', and included the installation of a new pressure sphere, designed for operation to . As the bathyscaphe continued her operations as test vehicle for the deep submergence program, she qualified four officers as "hydronauts"—the beginning of a burgeoning oceanographic operation. ''Trieste IIs valuable experience in deep submergence operations has helped in the design and construction of other deep-diving submersibles which could be used in rescuing crews and recovering objects from submarines in distress below levels reachable by conventional methods. This unique craft was listed only as "equipment" in the Navy inventory until the autumn of 1969. On 1 September 1969, ''Trieste II'' was placed in service, with the hull number X-1. She was reclassified as a deep submergence vehicle (DSV) on 1 June 1971. On 25 April 1972, ''Trieste II'' recovered a satellite package called a "bucket" weighing several hundred pounds from a depth of greater than , a record at the time. ''Trieste II'' (DSV-1) continued her active service in the Pacific Fleet into 1980. The Trieste class DSV were replaced by the Alvin class DSV, as exemplified by the famous ''Alvin'' (DSV-2). The ''Alvin''s are more capable, more maneuverable, less fragile, but also can not dive as deep, reaching only a maximum of 20,000 feet (for the ''Sea Cliff'' (DSV-4)). ''Trieste II'' is now preserved as a museum ship at the
Naval Undersea Museum The United States Naval Undersea Museum is a naval museum located at Keyport, Washington. It is one of the 10 Navy museums that are operated by the Naval History & Heritage Command. It sits next to a branch of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center. ...
,
Keyport, Washington Keyport is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The community is located at the eastern terminus of State Route 308 on the Kitsap Peninsula. As of the 2010 census, the Keypor ...
.


Awards

*
Navy Unit Citation The Navy Unit Commendation (NUC) is a United States Navy unit award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944. History Navy and U.S. Marine Corps commands may recommend any Navy or Marine Cor ...
with star * Meritorious Unit Commendation with star *
Navy E Ribbon The Navy "E" Ribbon or Battle Efficiency Ribbon (informally the Battle "E" ribbon) was authorized on March 31, 1976, by Secretary of the Navy J. William Middendorf as a unit award for battle efficiency competition. The service ribbon replaced t ...
*
National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It is awarded to every member of the US Armed Forces who has served during any one of four ...
with star


See also

* * * (DSV-2)


References


External links


An Underwater Ice Station Zebra: Recovering a Secret Spy Satellite Capsule from 16,400 Feet Below the Pacific Ocean



History of the Bathyscaph ''Trieste''





Trieste Program Dive Log from the Collection of the Naval Undersea Museum
{{coord, 47.70024, -122.62381, type:landmark_region:US-WA, display=title Submarines of the United States Navy Trieste-class deep-submergence vehicle Museum ships in Washington (state) 1964 ships