''Turtle'' (DSV-3) was a 16-ton, crewed deep-ocean research submersible owned by 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 ...

. It is sister to ''Alvin'' (DSV-2) and ''Sea Cliff'' (DSV-4).

History

''Turtle'' (DSV-3) was designed and built by the Electric Boat division of

General Dynamics Corporation General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the U ...

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 The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

. ''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 The Mariners' Museum and Park is located in Newport News, Virginia, United States. Designated as America’s ''National Maritime Museum'' by Congress, it is one of the largest maritime museums in North America. The Mariners' Museum Library, cont ...

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 bathyscaphes.Forman 1999, pp. 191–194. ''Turtle'' spent her career as a unit of the U.S. Navy's Submarine Development Group 1 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 in

Mystic, Connecticut Mystic is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in Groton, Connecticut, Groton and Stonington, Connecticut, United States. Historically, Mystic was a significant Connecticut seaport with more than 600 ships built over 135 years starting in ...

Awards

''Turtle'' earned one

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 ...

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''; 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 Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...

Research submarines of the United States 1968 ships {{US-submarine-stub