FIRE, FLOODING FORCED CREW TO ABANDON SUB

Twenty years ago, on May 21, 2002, a leaking gasket caused the submarine Dolphin to flood in heavy seas about 100 miles southwest of San Diego. The 41 crew members and two passengers barely escaped, and only their extraordinary efforts kept the sub from sinking.

The Navy spent $50 million on repairs and upgrades before returning the Dolphin to service in late 2005. But a few months later, budget pressures prompted the Pentagon to decommission it Sept. 22, 2006.

The Dolphin is now part of the Maritime Museum of San Diego.

From The San Diego Union-tribune, Thursday, May 23, 2002:

SUB ADRIFT AT SEA - 43 RESCUED

ROUGH SEAS DELAY SALVAGE OF STRICKEN VESSEL AFTER FLOODING AND FIRE FORCE CREW TO ABANDON

The Navy was waiting for calmer seas late yesterday before trying to tow its last diesel submarine, the Dolphin, back to San Diego after it began flooding and caught fire Tuesday night, forcing its crew to abandon ship. All 43 people on board were rescued. The stricken sub was drifting last night about 100 miles southwest of San Diego, near the Cortes Bank. A Navy-leased ship, the Kellie Chouest, was dispatched to tow the Dolphin, but the seas were too rough, Navy officials said.

“Right now, the vessel’s stable and safe and we want to keep it that way,” said Lt. Cmdr. Greg Geisen, a Navy spokesman.

Many crew members leaped overboard in 10-foot waves and frigid waters about 1 a.m. Wednesday before being rescued by a research boat, a Navy frigate and a Coast Guard helicopter. There were no serious injuries.

The pilot of a rescue helicopter described a harrowing scene as sailors scrambled onto the sub’s cylindrical hull, holding onto a single steel safety cable while being hammered by waves. About a dozen sailors were swept off the narrow deck into the violent sea.

More jumped voluntarily and swam about 100 yards to the research boat William Mcgaw, which was operating with the sub.

“It was complete chaos when people got washed off (the submarine),” said Coast Guard helicopter pilot Lt. Cmdr. Mark Ryan. “The sub was black, dead in the water and taking heavy rolls.”

The submarine was commissioned in 1968.

Built for research and equipment testing, the Dolphin is 165 feet long and 18 feet across, much smaller than the Navy’s nuclear attack submarines. It doesn’t have torpedoes.

It holds the official world record for deepest submarine dive, 3,000 feet, set soon after its commissioning. During its long career, the vessel has been modified several times and was last overhauled in 1993.

Unlike nuclear submarines, the Dolphin uses batteries to power electric motors for submerged cruising. It must surface for fresh air and to run diesel generators to recharge its massive lead-acid batteries.

The sub left San Diego Monday for a weeklong test of torpedoes, Geisen said.

The Dolphin was cruising on the surface, recharging its batteries, when it started flooding, said Capt. Bruce Smith, who oversees local submarine operations. Soon, a fire was reported on board.

After 90 minutes, Cmdr. Stephen Kelety, the Dolphin’s skipper, ordered the crew to abandon ship. Navy spokesmen yesterday did not know whether the threat of fire, poisonous fumes or flooding prompted the decision to leave.

“The commanding officer is paid to make that decision and apparently they executed it quite well,” said Smith.

A crew of 41 and two civilian Navy employees were on board, officials said.

Navy officials yesterday said the incident is under investigation.

“They got some incursion of water and possibly that caused the fire,” Smith said. Early reports suggest that water flowed into the sub through an open hatch used to ventilate the diesel generator that recharges its batteries, according to Navy sources who asked not to be named.

A pump may have shorted, failed or overheated, causing a fire, possibly in the vessel’s battery compartment, several sources speculated.