Grasp (ARS 51) - Naval Cruise Book

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by: Mick Dumke Soundings Staff Navy diver Lt.j.g Billy Block still wore a simple white ribbon pinned to his uniform as a memorial to victims ofTWA Flight 800 he hadn't yet stepped off the USS Grasp after more than a month of painstaking. crucial salvage work at the site of the plane's horrifying, disastrous July l7 crash. Around him the ship -just returned to Na- val Amphibious Base. Little Creek - was abuzz with the happy homecoming greetings of lovers, children and parents of crew members. as well as the attentions of news reporters and camera- men. Attempting to being the two worlds together, to keep things in context, Block offered some thoughts, impressions and memories of those 38 days of recovering victims - all 230 people aboard the plane died - and collecting crash debris off the Long Island coast. Though at times both grueling and gruesome, he said more often than not the TWA salvage efforts were just a huge job the had to be done - yet unlike anything he and the ship's divers had taken part in before. Let's just say you felt pretty lucky you didn't know anyone on the plane, he concluded. Even veterans of previous rescue opera- tions were troubled by what they saw at the TWA crash site. Lt. Chris Austin, operations officer aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane, said details he observed at the disaster scene left him rattled far beyond anything he saw during the l990 Haitian exodus and an air crash in the Caribbean several years ago. 1 In those situations we were pickings up life. That's what was so frustrating about this one: as time went by we knew we couldn't achieve our mission of saving lives, he said. 6'When you look over the side and see baby shoes and bottles floating by, it's very frustrating. I know those families want to know why. l didn't feel like I was getting them enough answers. No shortage of impressions After serving at the crash site as an on- fcene commander, Austin's vessel returned to its Portsmouth home a week and a half ago. The GfHSp. concluding its critical role in recovery ef- forts, pulled into port last Wednesday showing the briny wear of serious deployment. . Two other Hampton Roads-based vessels ' the USS Grapple, the Grasp's sister salvage Ship, and the USS Oak Hill, a dock landing ship - are still working to wrap up the wreckage re- covery The Grapple and the Oak Hill are all that's left now. but the effort of all these ships hasjust been incredible. said the Cmdr. Gordon Hume, a spokesman for the Navy's salvage operations off the coast of East Moriches. New York. l've really been impressed. The missions have left no shortage of im- pressions - especially with divers from the Grasp, who recovered most of the bodies and wreck- age from the disaster's most littered debris ar- eas. At a frenetic pace, in a dark region well beneath the ocean's surface. they came across images they simply didn't want to discuss after- ward. nl don't think you want the know what I saw - it's something I hope to forget, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Douglas lrish. He lowered his voice. 'fl tried not to imagine them being real people. Imagine what shape you'd be in ifyou fell 13,700 feet. It took a toll on every one of us. Return brings relief The Grasp left for the salvage operation on July 2 l ,just three days after completing a five- month Mediterranean deployment. So it wasn't surprising that, just after returning to port, the divers weren't talking about exasperation or hor- ror. They were instead offering a perspective of the mission that altemated between relief, thank- fulness and commitment, though tempered at times by uneasy recollection. i'When we were told we were going home, we were happy, admitted Petty Officer 3rd Class Aaron Knight. Irish, one of the men who discovered the plane's black boxes several weeks ago, shrugged offany suggestion of heroism or glorious home- coming. f'None of us were anything special -just part of a team. he said. It was a serious job, but I didn't feel any pressure to finish quickly. I knew we'd be out there until everybody was happy with our progress. The ship's morale, in fact, stayed high throughout the salvage mission, said Lt. Cmdr. William Orr, Grasp's commanding ofiicer. Its 90 crew members spent the trip tip to the area off the Long Island coast preparing themselves for the immense tasks ahead. Initially we kind ofwalked through the plans in our minds. Orr explained. I'd never been in- volved with anything ofthis magnitude before, we'djust salvaged a 62-foot fishing trawler off Sfax. Tunisia. but this was different. We had mixed emotions. obviously, but once we were up there everyone got focused. The first days were hectic. Block recalled. as crew members worked to establish a stable mooring for the 255-foot vessel and establish a diving schedule. Even befor'e arriving. divers had been assigned an immediate, unenviable task: re- cover victims' bodies. Assisted by an underwater remote operat- ing vehicle CROVJ. a device tethered by cable to the ship and eqtripped with an underwater cam- era. divers were able to locate primary wreck- age piles. With victims' families pressing for the quick recovery of remains, divers were grouped into two I2 hour shifts, each of which consisted of I6 to 20 men. Offtime was used for essential sleep and recovery i'All ofus were petty well trained for it, but some guys still got decompression sickness com- ing up from l IO, l20 feet, Block confessed. Any thing over 100 feet is dangerous. Others were shaken by evidence ofthe nor- malcy of victims' lives mixed among the wreck- age. In coming across personal belongings divers were abrtrptly reminded of what had been cut short when the plane exploded. 'fOne of our guys found a set of engage- ment rings, Knight noted grimly. It was one of the things that really got to us. Most ofthe divers took on an attitude like Block's: don't mull things over too deeply. It was something that had to be done. We had to disassociate ourselves. he said. Divers are pretty tough as a rule. The next job: recovering wreckage The diving teams gradually spent more and more of their time on task number two: bringing plane parts and pieces to the surface in as pre- served a condition as possible. Many ofthe divers were shocked bye the sheer volume of debris on the ocean fioor. i'You don't realize how big one of those planes is until it's spread overan area like that, said Knight, shaking his head. You don't realize how thin the actual structure ofa plane is. Although portions of the aircraft were im- mediately identifiable. much of the debris had fallen into piles as chunks and shreds. divers said. The pieces ranged from being as small as something that would fit into the palm of your hand up to those that would barely fit on board the ship. like a wing. Irish offered. The heavy. large and cumbersome plane parts were raised with the aid of the Grasp's hook and crane. Divers collected smaller pieces into eight bye I2 foot baskets that were subse- quently pulled tothe surface. Orr reiterated that the support network for salvage vessels was tremendous Anything we needed we called into shore. The next day it would show up - you know, anything, from equip- ment on down to toilet paper. USS GRASP

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The USS Grasp and USCGC Harriet Lane come home after spending more than a month spearheading TWA Flight 800 salvage efforts. - u . , P N A .- 1 ,M . .. 4 4 , . . uf 4' , U ' -.wi A Q. ' nop? S.-for -IU' -. I . nf A - . -'tn '7 s THE INDEPENDENT NAVY NEWSWEEKLY Fon HAMPTON ROAD s redlbl

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