This web site is dedicated to the world of Undersea Exploration, or to be more exact the use of "Remote Operated Vehicles" and "Deep Submergence Vehicles" to explore and retrieve from the ocean floor.  I will also be placing a few scuba diving  pictures from both Australia and Hawaii.  This is a great format for relaying some of the adventures I have had and its great practice for building web pages, I hope you enjoy.  I encourage feedback about the site, and will appreciate any stories of your own.

I first became exposed to ROV's when assigned to the Deep Submergence Unit  (DSU) in San Diego Ca.  After four and a half long years of serving aboard the Trident Missile Submarine USS Alaska SSBN 732.  I opted for a change of scenery and sunny San Dog sounded like the place to be.  The one opportunity that was offered to me was with the Unmanned Vehicles Detachment (UMV) there I would learn from the ground up how to operate, maintain, ready for dive, and recover from dive, an Ametek Straza Scorpio.

    Some of my duties as an ROV Pilot and Supervisor, would be continuing maintenance on the vehicle as well as keeping it ready for action at a moments notice.  The original reason the Navy formed DSU was to be a ready asset to help rescue personnel from a submarine in distress.  A good example is the movie "Grey Lady Down".   The actual compound where the DSRV's (Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle) are kept is shown in the movie, but back then they called it "Submarine Rescue Unit". Another example of the DSRV in use is the movie "The Hunt For Red October". No actual submariners rescues  have taken place from a DSRV, but they remain ever ready to be loaded on board a Mother Submarine or into a C-5 cargo plane, and can be anywhere in the world within 24 hours.

  My favorite part of the job is recovering objects from amazing depths for research or national security.  There is a great sense of accomplishment when you are able to bring up a lost piece of equipment from several thousand feet.  The work can be long, cold, and if you get sea sick your probably not going to last long, but the adventure of being on the open ocean and playing with a great big robot is a thrill that few people can ever know.  

My worst experience came from the recovery of a CH-46 Helicopter off the coast of southern California.  The large dual propeller helicopter had just landed on the deck of an LHD amphibious assault ship, or Gator Freighters as they are referred to in Navy jargon. One man had gotten off, then as the Helo went to take off, a prop snagged a ships antenna.  The resulting G-force of having one rotor stop caused the aircraft to corkscrew and flip onto it's back into the water.  Witnesses said it happened so fast that no efforts to recover the aircraft while on the surface were made.  The U.S. Marine Corp's try to always bring the bodies of their own home for burial, so it became a Chief of Naval Operations directive to find and  recover the four men.  We spent about three weeks at sea doing survey and video operations of the crash site.  The wreckage had come to rest in 2500 ft. of water, a depth that is almost ideal for the Scorpio.  The decision was made, and a team of Navy Doctors from the Knight Riders squadron (Camp Pendleton Ca.) accompanied us with aluminum caskets and plastic body bags to recover the  lost Marines.   It was hard for me to see the bodies at first and in this job you spend hours doing rigging and separating wreckage.  After a while you don't see them as people but as objectives that have to be completed, the job that has to be done, and a kind of solemn bond is felt as you do your best to remain professional and respectful, even to the point of hearing the co-pilot apologize out loud as he accidentally shuts the recovery basket door on the arm of one man.  It was necessary to secure them for the long ride to the surface.  We would all sit down at chow later that night and talk about the experience, the squeamishness had disappeared almost immediately, and had been replaced by a sad but purposeful sense of duty.  The job was done, we were on our way home, and we felt good that the families could have their sons back.

    Not all the experiences were as serious, or as necessary.  Many of the missions   were for surveys of the bottom type or to recover some kind of sea creature that was to be studied and hopefully better mankind somehow.  And some were to recover equipment that had been lost or placed on the bottom for any number of unmentionable reasons. Working with a Hydraulic, Electronic, Mechanical robot gave me experience, and confidence that I will carry with me forever.  The time spent at sea was never what I'd call fun but what an adventure.  I've out run hurricanes off the Eastern seaboard, caught giant squid off Kauai, and picked up Grey whale bones near Baja California.  What a Life!

But as all things do my time at DSU came to an end.  I now teach Submarine Sonar Tactics and Oceanography at the Naval Submarine Training Center Pacific, Pearl Harbor Hawaii.  At this facility the U.S. Navy teaches not only American submarine crews but also the Japanese, Australian, and Republic of Korea's Submarine fleet.

UPDATE

As of January 2001 I have made the change to civilian life.  I am busy as you can tell by the other pages linked to this one.  My wife Lisa and I and our new little boy Cody will be moving to Jacksonville Florida in November.  Please send comments and email to our new address davidevensen@yahoo.com

Check out my Australia Dive trip pictures here!

Or  my latest adventures around the Islands of Hawaii.

There is more to come just keep checking in for new pictures and pages.

Contact me here