HANDLING CHARACTERISTICS 99 



60 ft. At this point, a short stop was made to disconnect excess lines and to inspect it for leaks. 

 Some of the ports developed gas leaks. To minimize gas loss, the Sealab was lowered to the 

 bottom as soon as possible. 



When Sealab landed, instrumentation indicated that it had a 10-degree trim by the stern and 

 a list to port of three degrees. It was then lifted about ten feet off the bottom and rotated to 

 another position. It ended up with a list to port of six degrees and a trim by the stern of also 

 six degrees. No. 2 tank was then flooded, and Sealab was hard on the bottom. 



The counterweight system on the lowering tackle performed extremely well, and readily 

 absorbed shock loads imposed by the swells and the movement of the Berkone. The Dynaline 

 Tensiometer, which measured the tension in the lowering wire at all times, showed maximum 

 loads of about 25 percent over the negative weight of Sealab II, which was 9500 lb. 



Sealab was then ready for occupancy. The following day, on Aug. 28, the first ten aquanauts 

 entered Sealab to begin their existence in 205 ft of water. 



Shortly after Aquanaut Team 3 surfaced on Oct. 10, preparations were begun to raise Sealab 

 to the surface. The items shown in Phase I of the raising plan were accomplished by Team 3 

 prior to their surfacing. The same day, most of the preparations to be made by surface divers 

 were carried out, with the exception of blowing ballast tank 2. 



On Oct. 11, the Gear was placed in a four-point moor in a position to control Sealab as it 

 started to surface. Refer to the Sealab n Raising Plan, Phase II. 



Then tank 2 was blown, and a strain was taken on the lifting wire and the counterweight 

 system, to pull the spades of Sealab out of the soil. From the original six-degree port list and 

 six-degree trim by the stern, both of these values reduced to about three degrees. However, 

 despite 20,000 to 25,000 lb pull, Sealab II would not raise. Additional pulls were also taken by 

 the Gear and Berkone at the stern, and bow chocks with 3-1/2-in. nylon, but Sealab apparently 

 was too heavy. 



It was decided to add a 3000-lb anchor to the 13,500-lb counterweight to reduce chafing of 

 the wire under heavy strain. A dive was made to blow tank 2 clean and to blow tank 1 for three 

 minutes and tank 3 for two minutes. This procedure reduced the load somewhat, to about 

 17,000 lb. Three of the porthole plugs were also capped to minimize gas loss. Later, another 

 dive was made to blow tank 2 clean and tank 3 for three minutes. This raised the bow and re- 

 duced the tension in the cable to about 15,000 lb. Sealab was raised to 65 ft, and six-inch lines 

 were run, as shown in the Raising Plan. At 1500, Oct. 11, Sealab was brought to the surface, 

 after the conning tower was blown. She remained in this position overnight, with 33.5 psi ab- 

 solute being maintained. On Oct. 12, the pressure was reduced via the umbilical and opening 

 of valve B-3. To expedite this, the conning tower was pressurized to open the hatch leading 

 from the conning tower to the Sealab. However, when this was done and Sealab opened to the 

 atmosphere, it began to take in water, apparently through the ballast-tank equalizing system. 

 The Sealab was then quickly repressurized to 25 psi. It was decided to take her back to Long 

 Beach as it was, without opening Sealab on the surface. The primary reason for opening up 

 Sealab was to install the interior strongback over the large access hatch. After the water was 

 blown out of it, Sealab was repressurized to 25 psi. The low-pressure light indicator was set 

 to 10 psi. In addition, a pressure gage was provided on Sealab. Facilities were provided so 

 that air could be supplied by the Gear while under tow. Four Sealab II divers rode the Gear to 

 assist in the event of an emergency. Sealab was taken in tow at about 1800, Oct. 12, 1965, and 

 arrived at Long Beach at about 1400, Oct. 13, 1965. It was lifted out of the water shortly after 

 arrival. 



The sea and weather conditions during both tows were good and essentially State 1. 



SEALAB II LOWERING PLAN 



Conditions : Sealab n outfitting is completed, and it is sitting out of the water at Long Beach 



Naval Shipyard. All stores and dry (nonfrozen) provisions are stowed aboard. See 

 Figure 49 for location and function of valves. 



