“0845
fired ASROC to starboard. Successful flight. 0849 Sighted
green smoke flare bearing 290. 0857
Submarine surfaced with ASROC torpedo lodged in sail.”
February
3, 1961.
USS
Valador with our Asroc missile sticking out of it's side,
1961.
Note from Message Board :
August 31 2003 by
C. G. Farnham
Golfing buddy, former XO VOLADOR, says it was a Mk 46
exercise torpedo (ASROC version) that impaled the
SS. Seems it could have been a Mk 44, since the replacement
Mk 46 did not enter TECHEVAL until 1962, production
in
1963, and fleet introduction until 1964. Source indicated
that the event occurred after the torpedo acquired
but then failed to cut out as intended in exercise shots.
There may be more detailed descriptions of the event
available from those on board KING at the time. CGF,
XO 1964-65
email
to Webmaster from Ray Marshall:
November
27, 2003
The picture
of the torpedo in the sail of the Valador note
submitted by the XO suggests that those onboard at the
time might have
more definitive info. As I recall Dave Nesbitt was
on the stack at the
time of the actual shot. Harry Pate and Tom McKinney
were at the fire
control console that actually took the shot. Dave had
relieve me on the
stack shortly after we gained contact and I was manning
the UQC,
(Gertrude the underwater telephone).
As the sub surfaced and we came along side
the two skippers chatted via bull horns and I distinctly
remember CDR
Bustard telling
their Skipper, after he told our CDR that they were
okay, we were
actually aiming at the zero!
email
to Webmaster from Dave Nesbitt:
October
21,
2004
To
amplify what was written; the torpedo was a Mk 44 (not
46). Normally the Mk 44 had cut-off switches
in it to prevent the torpedo from striking the sub and
it had a limited run time. Our torpedo was slightly different,
we had a NOSOPAC Technician onboard at the time that asked
the question; "that sub is rigged for impact, isn't
it?". When he got an affirmative response, he went
into the torpedo and bypassed the cut-off switches and
while he was there, he extended the run-time by 3 additional
minutes.
We had all kinds of problems that day, the sonar kept breaking
down, the sonar conditions were poor, we could not hold
contact on the sub except at close range. ASROC required
a minimum range of 1000 yds, so when we would open up to
a 1000 yds, we would lose contact. With these poor ranges
and problems with sonar, Capt. Bustard was getting slightly
impatient, and would call down to sonar frequently to give
us words of encouragement (LOL).
Finally, in desperation we picked up the sub on one ping,
beyond a 1000 yds, and immediately started feeding the
information to the computer, by the third ping the computer
had a solution, we fired the ASROC on the fourth ping,
and on the fifth ping the sonar broke down! We had announced
to the Valador that we had a torpedo (BLOOD HOUND) in the
water and a few minutes later the sub reported that he
had heard nothing of our torpedo. A few seconds later he
called to say he was coming to the surface "Emergency" and
believed he had our torpedo on-board! The rest is history.
