SINKING OF THE USS FOSS
DE-59
A LIVE TORPEDO TEST
BY USS
SABALO SS-302
6 September 1966
Personal accounts and recollections of the event; links
to photos
©
Copyright 2015 reserved
by Jeffrey S. Owens, Nicholson, PA
|
Photo
of
the USS Foss during her active duty days.
taken by W. Ross Yates from the ship's whale
boat while
she was at anchor at Palau Island in 1954. |
Added 18 Feb 2015:
A video of the first torpedo shot can be found at:
http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675076556_United-States-Navy_USS-Foss_smoke-arises_periscope-of-submarine
It's 2:40 min. long. Copies can be purchased -
expensive - HD version $200
|
[Jeff Owens wrote: In case you
were not
aware, I would like to let you know that the Foss was sunk
as a torpedo
test target by the USS Sabalo SS-302 in about August 1966.
]
Text of email from Ross Yates, former crewman on
Foss: A
few years ago, I discovered in the online National Archives
a film of
that event, apparently taken simultaneously from two
helicopters.
I acquired that film on VHS tape, and have since digitized
the relevant
parts of it for play from a CD in a PC. Attached are a few
still scenes
from the tape. Incidentally, the tape makes it clear
that the
date of the event was Sept. 6, 1966. Do you have any
info
regarding the location?
[Jeff Owens wrote: It is a
sad
kind of discovery knowing your home for a time was
destroyed so
quickly. Sabalo herself met the same fate in 1973.
]
Your are right about this not being easy to take for
Foss
shipmates who spent so much time treading those decks.
W. Ross Yates
chompersnv earthlink.net
|
| Recollection
of Pete Ouellette and Murray Craig: At some
time shortly
before the upcoming yard period, Sabalo
participated in a live torpedo firing exercise off San
Diego. A
Mk
16 torpedo (or maybe two) with a hydrogen peroxide engine
was used
on a small auxiliary vessel of some type [from photos, the
hull
number was 59]. The target ship partially sank by the
stern,
and when Sabalo surfaced the vessel's bow was still above
water.
A fleet tug on the scene cut some holes in her with a torch
to allow
air to escape and facilitate sinking. See Photo
of
bow section submitted by "Pete" Ouellette. |
| Recollection
of Ed Heistermann: At some time... When we
left Pearl (I
have film) we went to Acapulco
for a couple of days (I have film) then to San Diego. We
picked up the
two MK16's and headed out for the exercise, sinking hull 59,
which I
seem to think was a destroyer escort. We probably spent a
few days in
San Diego then headed to Hunters Point SF(I have maneuvering
watch film
going under the Golden Gate). Shortly after arriving at the
yard the
skipper(I guess) posted on the yard barge bulletin board 2
periscope
pictures of the ship we sank. They were only up a short
time. The first
showed just after the first torpedo hit. The fish hit dead
center. The
bow and stern were in the water but the center of the ship
was perhaps
25 or 30 feet in the air. Water from the explosion was way
above the
ship. The ship was clearly broken in two. The second picture
showed the
stern section floating with the insides of the ship nearly
straight on.
After surfacing we went topside and only the bow section was
remaining.
I have 8mm movies of that. My memory is not for sure but I
think we
fired the second fish into the stern section. At any rate it
was gone
when we surfaced. |
Recollection
of Wiliam Parks: I was the weapons officer
during this
period until we got to the yard in SFRAN when I became
OPS/NAV. The
shoot was to test a new design proximity exploder for the
MK16 torpedo.
I was in the conn on the TDC for the test. We fired the
first torpedo
that blew the target into two pieces. After I got a
periscope peek, the
CO -Art Barke- asked me if I thought we could hit "half a
ship" with
the other torpedo. I told him I thought the Sabalo torpedo
gang could
hit anything so we set up the second shot. It hit the target
too. The
test was judged a great success by the flotilla staff and
the photos
were spectacular. Photo
(373Kb)
of first hit submitted by W.Parks.
|
These PHOTOS contributed by W.
Ross Yates
clarify exactly what happened to the Foss.
They are in two series:
The first is the view from Sabalo's
perspective.
| 1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
| 6
|
The second series is taken from a helicopter overhead the
Foss.
| 1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
| 7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
|
ANALYSIS- Ross Yates sent me two CD's with
the continuous footage
from which he extracted the above series. From the
continuous
action it is confirmed that Sabalo did fire two
torpedos. While
both sections of the ship were still floating, the second
torpedo hit
the bow section.(see
photo
#10, 2nd series) While the stern section continued to
sink on
its own, the bow section, even though hit the second time,
sank only
until it was pointing with the bow straight up.
This
resulted in the remaining, forward most part of the hull
having enough
trapped air to hold her up. This necessititated
intervention of
the fleet tug as reported.
-- Jeff Owens
|
