The third USS ''Pigeon'' (ASR–21) was the
lead ship
The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels.
Large ships are very complex and may ...
of her class of
submarine rescue ships. Laid down on 17 July 1968 by the Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co., Mobile, Alabama, the ship was launched on 13 August 1969, sponsored by Mrs. Allen M. Shinn, wife of Vice Admiral Shinn, Commander Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, and commissioned on 28 April 1973. She was a sister ship to .
Design
The leader of a new class of submarine rescue ships designed to operate with the Navy's new
deep submergence rescue vehicle
A deep-submergence rescue vehicle (DSRV) is a type of deep-submergence vehicle used for rescue of downed submarines and clandestine missions. While DSRV is the term most often used by the United States Navy, other nations have different design ...
s, ''Pigeon'' was the first seagoing catamaran warship built for the Navy since
Robert Fulton
Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steamboa ...
's twin-hulled steam warship ''
Fulton
Fulton may refer to:
People
* Robert Fulton (1765–1815), American engineer and inventor who developed the first commercially successful steam-powered ship
* Fulton (surname)
Given name
* Fulton Allem (born 1957), South African golfer
* Fult ...
'' was built at the close of the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
. Her twin hull gave great stability for deep water operations and provides ample deck working space. She was able to carry two deep submergence vehicles on her main deck. These craft were capable of docking to a disabled submarine on the sea bottom, removing survivors and transporting them to the surface. ''Pigeon'' also carried the
McCann diving bell or rescue chamber of the type which was used to rescue the survivors of submarine in 1939. ''Pigeon''s mooring system enabled her to maintain a precise position over a disabled submarine during rescue operations.
''Pigeon's'' rescue control center used a three-dimensional sonar system for continuous tracking of the rescue vehicle. During rescue operations it served as a floating command post with specialized communications equipment for contacting the disabled submarine and any other craft, planes or ships working with her.
Struck from Naval Register on 31 August 1992, ''Pigeon'' was laid up in National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay Group. On 18 December 1998, the vessel was transferred to the Maritime Administration for disposal. However, training requirements at Fleet Training Center San Diego (FTC San Diego) identified a need for this vessel. It was reacquired by the U.S. Navy on 23 March 2002 and tied-up at Pier 11 (across from West 19th Street),
Naval Base San Diego, as a non-operational training platform.
During the period of 2002 to 2005, ''Pigeon'' was used by the
Naval Education and Training Command
The Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) is an enterprise level shore command of the United States Navy with more than 19,000 military and staff personnel at more than 1,640 subordinate activities, sites, districts, stations, and detachmen ...
's Center for Security Forces (CENSECFOR;
Master-at-arms
A Master-at-Arms (US: MA; UK & some Commonwealth: MAA) may be a naval rating, responsible for law enforcement, regulating duties, security, anti-terrorism/force protection (AT/FP) for/of a country's navy; an army officer responsible for physical ...
) to conduct pier-side anti-terrorism
Counter-terrorism
Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...
/
Security forces
Security forces are statutory organizations with internal security mandates. In the legal context of several nations, the term has variously denoted police and military units working in concert, or the role of military and paramilitary forces (su ...
(AT/SF) training. CENSECFOR developed the curriculum for classroom training, and provided the on-site instructions aboard ''Pigeon''. Curriculum and administrative support services were provided by Training Support Center San Diego (TSC San Diego; previously FTC San Diego). In October 2004, ''Pigeon'' was designated to be replaced by a new harden training structure constructed ashore (adjacent to waterfront) to continue AT/SF training. A source selection evaluation board chaired by Dr. Stephen Berrey (Director of TSC San Diego/Training Facility Department) was formed to ultimately have ''Pigeon'' transferred to the
Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet
The Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet is located on the northwest side of Suisun Bay (the northern portion of the greater San Francisco Bay estuary) in Benicia, California. The fleet is within a regulated navigation area that is about long and wide. It ...
(SBRF).
[One of three anchorages maintained by the Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) for national defense and national emergency purposes.] In coordination with Fleet and Industrial Supply Center San Diego (FISCSD), Dr. Berrey arranged with the staff of Commander, Sealift Logistics Command Pacific (SEALOGPAC) to provide towing support by
USNS Sioux (T-ATF-171) from ''Naval Base San Diego'' to
Suisun Bay. Additionally, contractual arrangements were made with ''Crowley Marine Services, Inc.'' who provided tractor tug towing services from San Pablo Strait to the ''SBRF'' basin,
Benicia, California. The ''Pigeon'' vessel was placed at Anchorage 5, in September 2005.
''Pigeon'' was towed to Brownsville, Texas for scrapping in January 2012.
In fiction
In
Tom Clancy
Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of his novels have ...
's novel ''
The Hunt for Red October
''The Hunt for Red October'' is the debut novel by American author Tom Clancy, first published on October 1, 1984, by the Naval Institute Press. It depicts Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius as he seemingly goes rogue with his country's cutt ...
'', USS ''Pigeon'' was the ship that rescued
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
seamen from renegade
ballistic missile submarine ''Red October'' after Captain Ramius fakes a shipboard emergency.
USS ''Pigeon'' and her DSRV were prominently featured in the 1978
disaster film ''
Gray Lady Down
''Gray Lady Down'' is a 1978 American submarine disaster film directed by David Greene and starring Charlton Heston, David Carradine, Stacy Keach, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox and Rosemary Forsyth, and includes the feature film debut of Christophe ...
''.
References
*
*
External links
*
globalsecurity.org: ASR 21 ''Pigeon''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pigeon (ASR-21)
Pigeon-class submarine rescue ships
Ships built in Mobile, Alabama
1969 ships