''Turtle'' (DSV-3) was a 16-ton, crewed deep-ocean research submersible owned by the United States Navy. It is sister to ''Alvin'' (DSV-2) and ''Sea Cliff'' (DSV-4).

History

''Turtle'' (DSV-3) was designed and built by the

Electric Boat An electric boat is a powered watercraft driven by electric motors, which are powered by either on-board battery packs, solar panels or generators. While a significant majority of water vessels are powered by diesel engines, with sail pow ...

division of General Dynamics Corporation at Groton, Connecticut. Turtle and her sister ''Sea Cliff'' (DSV-4) were launched on December 11, 1968. Turtle was named after Turtle Town, a small community in Polk County, Tennessee. Her name also pays tribute to the American submarine ''Turtle'' which served in the American Revolution. ''Turtle'' was accepted by the US Navy on September 25, 1970 at Woods Hole, Massachusetts. ''Turtle'' was designed to dive to 6500 feet. When DSV-2 ''Alvin'' installed a new titanium hull, the ''Alvin'' steel hull was installed in the ''Turtle''. The original steel hull was acquired by the Mariners' Museum and Park in 2000 and became a part of the exhibition. The ''Turtle'' depth rating was then increased to 10,000 feet. The ''Alvin-class'' DSV's were designed to replace older DSV, such as the less maneuverable

Trieste-class A deep-submergence vehicle (DSV) is a deep-diving crewed submersible that is self-propelled. Several navies operate vehicles that can be accurately described as DSVs. DSVs are commonly divided into two types: research DSVs, which are used for ex ...

bathyscaphe A bathyscaphe ( or ) is a free-diving self-propelled deep-sea submersible, consisting of a crew cabin similar to a bathysphere, but suspended below a float rather than from a surface cable, as in the classic bathysphere design. The float is fi ...

s.Forman 1999, pp. 191–194. ''Turtle'' spent her career as a unit of the U.S. Navy's

Submarine Development Group 1 A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

in San Diego, California. The ''Turtle'' was retired from active service on October 1, 1997. It was stricken from the US Navy Register on April 15, 1998. It was on display at the

Mystic Aquarium Mystic Aquarium is a marine aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut. It is one of only two U.S. facilities holding Steller sea lions, and it has the only beluga whales in New England. Special exhibits include a ray and shark touch pool, an African penguin ...

in Mystic, Connecticut.

Awards

''Turtle'' earned one National Defense Service Medal in 1970. In addition to that she was awarded with the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC) in 1982, 1983 and 1990.

In fiction

In fiction, she was featured in the 1980 film ''

Raise the Titanic ''Raise the Titanic!'' is a 1976 adventure novel by Clive Cussler, published in the United States by the Viking Press. It tells the story of efforts to bring the remains of the ill-fated ocean liner RMS ''Titanic'' to the surface of the Atlanti ...

''; she was one of several submersibles in the salvage fleet, and one of two (along with the fictional NUMA submersible Deep Quest) that actually discovered the wreck.

Alvin class DSV

* DSV ''Alvin'' (DSV-2) * DSV ''Sea Cliff'' (DSV-4) * ''Nemo'' (DSV-5)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Forman, Will. ''The History of American Deep Submersible Operations''. Flagstaff: Best Publishing Company, 1999. .

External links

*
DSV-3 Turtle page on navy.togetherweserved.com
Turtle Research submarines of the United States 1968 ships {{US-submarine-stub