would provide a basis for removi ng the restriction on surface ship operations in the area. The second phase of the plan consisted of determining the location, establish ing positive identification, and bringing the mission to an acceptable conclusion. For Phase I, the navy's newest deepwater survey ship, USNS Silas Bent (T-AGS 26) , conducted bathymetric and magnetic surveys and installed marker buoys to aid the aircraft making bombing runs over the hulk's suspected position . After several bombing runs proved unsuccessful in detonating the ship, the navy implemented Phase II. Magnetometers and deep-sea cameras that had been used to locate the 1963 wreck of USS Thresher (SSN593) in 8,400 feet of water were brought out to implement Phase II for the Stevenson operation. The Bent initiated the magnetometer search on 5 September. On 11 September, the magnetometer located what appeared to be the hulk of the Stevenson, lying upright on the seafloor but shallower than 3,000 feet, a thousand feet shy of what was needed to detonate the cargo. Underwater cameras were sent down to confirm the identity of the hulk. After deal-
ing with several equipment problems, the effort provided twenty-nine photographs, allowing the positive identification of the Stevenson on 13 September. The camera was held on target using Bent's n arrowbeam sonar to navigate and hold steady over the magnetometer target. Following identification of the Stevenson, ano ther attempt was made to detonate the cargo. On 19 September aircraft from Adak, A laska, dropped twent y-four 2,000-pound bombs on the site in groups of twos and threes, hoping for complete detonation of the cargo. The fuzing on these bombs was designed to activate at 2,500 feet, but a time delay allowed them to reach the bottom before going off. Although all of the dropped bombs exploded, not one was successful in detonati ng the ship's cargo, even though several of them exploded close enough to the hulk to, in theory, trigger the hydrostatic fuses aboard Stevenson. At the conclusion of these efforts, the navy decided that the sunken Liberty ship could not be accidentally detonated and terminated the mission. The final resting place of the Stevenson is about one nautical mile from its las t radar contact and
about ten-and-a-half miles from the intended scuttle site. In the end, the Stevenson, loaded with thousands of pounds of explosives, met its end with nary a whimper. The site merits a two-line note on NOAA Nautical C h art 16012: "Sunken ship is loaded with explosives. Vessels are warned to stay well clear of the area." SS Robert Louis Stevenson served h er country with honor in wartime, and, as was the case with many Liberty ships, her career was a short one. Few ships, however, have met their end in such an unusual fashion. Her end was not one decided by admirals, tacticians, or scientists, but by the whim of Neptune. Today, her legacy is one relegated to little more than a note on a nautical chart. J:, Kathleen Ciolfi is a technical information specialist with the Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, with a special interest in ammunition development, manufacturing and disposal. Geoffrey Carton is a senior analyst with CALIBRE Systems, Alexandria, Virginia, with an interest in environmental implications ofmilitary activities.
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SEA HISTORY 149, WINTER 2014-15
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