bowditch

USNS BOWDITCH T-AGS-21
OCEANOGRAPHIC UNIT ONE

USNS Bowditch T-AGS-21 was converted from the WWII Victory ship SS South Bend Victory. South Bend Victory was a type VC2-S-AP3 cargo hull, built in 1945 by the Oregon Shipbuilding Co., Portland OR, Maritime Commission hull number (MCV) 694. Her keel was laid on May 11, 1945 and she was delivered on Jul 27, 1945, an incredible construction time of 77 days! SS South Bend Victory was converted to an Oceanographic Survey Ship (AGS) at the Charleston Naval Shipyard from 10 Oct 1957 to 30 Sep 1958.

	Portrait of Nathaniel Bowditch (1773-1838). This is the portrait which hung aboard USNS Bowditch T-AGS-21. The photo of the portrait was taken in 1974. USNS Bowditch was named in honor of Nathaniel Bowditch, the author of Bowditch's American Practical Navigator, Edmund M. Blunt, 1802. Click the photo for a higher resolution display, PLUS an original poem by P. Blain, 3rd Officer, USNS Bowditch, 1974. (The photo and accompanying material are from The Crew's Cruise Book, May 4, 1974, courtesy of Richard Newman.)
	Bowditch at anchor in Lisbon harbor, ca. Apr 1967.
	Bowditch at anchor, again in Lisbon Harbor, ca. Jul-Aug 1967. These ships didn't look like much from the outside. Come to think of it they didn't look like much from the inside either. But for an enlisted sailor in the 60s and early 70s, accommodations were luxurious beyond belief!
	Bowditch, docked in Bremerhaven, Germany, May 1968. (Courtesy of William "Ace" Hunter.)
	Bowditch underway, ca. 1971-1972. She even looks racy! (Contributed by Jim Bohnsack.)
	Another print of Bowditch underway, identical to the above, this one contributed by Matthew Ekdahl.
	In the same series, bow down. (Courtesy of Matthew Ekdahl.)
	Bowditch, dead in the water, pre-1963. Lifeboat No.1 has been lowered; presumably this picture has been taken from the lifeboat. (Photo courtesy of Chet Headley. Chet comments: this photo was given to me when I went aboard Bowditch in 1966.)

- AWARDS -


Meritorious Unit Commendation	Period: 03-SEP-1982 to 16-NOV-1983 Source: MASTER LIST OF UNIT AWARDS AND CAMPAIGN MEDALS, OPNAV NOTICE 1650 Citation: Unknown

- EARLY OPERATIONS -

Loran-C Development.
	A single reference, "A History of Coast Guard Aviation: Coming of Age (1957-1975)", reports that Bowditch and Dutton were involved in the evaluation of the prototype radio navigation system that would become Loran-C ( http://uscgaviationhistory.aoptero.org/history03.html ). This project would have been conducted soon after their conversion to Oceanographic Survey Ships, probably ca. early 1959. The timing is uncertain, since Bowditch is reported to have completed her conversion on 30 Sep 1958 and Dutton on 16 Nov 1958, but here is the relevant text :
	" By the early 1950s, the Department of Defense required a highly accurate long range radio navigation capability. The Sperry Company had proposed a navigation system which would use phase comparison and operated on two frequencies. This was later reduced to one frequency and the Air Force tried to adapt it for tactical needs but had given up on it. The system was known as Cytac. Capt Peter V. Colmar USCG saw the value in the system as a long range precision navigation system. He convinced the Navy to fund a test using the CG Cutter Androscoggin which showed it would work. A test chain was set up on the East Coast and the Navy Survey Ships USNS Bowditch and USNS Dutton conducted a controlled survey test out as far as Bermuda. This convinced Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, father of the nuclear submarine, to go operational with it. He fought for money, got it, and Capt Loren “Zeke” Brunner USCG drove the effort and the system would become known as Loran C. The Coast Guard was up and operational in a year and a half during which time Sperry designed and built the equipment. Lcdr. Al Manning, who had been assigned to oversee equipment design, inspection and delivery flew out with the final pieces of equipment on December 28,1958. The Mediterranean Loran C Chain was up and operational nine months later. The Norwegian Sea Chain was commenced in late March of 1960. Loran C operates in the 90khz – 110khz band. Under Coast Guard operation provided a repeatable accuracy of 18 – 90 meters with a 99.7% availability factor. "

- SIGNIFICANT OPERATIONS - (Noteworthy events and activities above and beyond normal survey ops.)

Scorpion Subsearch, ca. Jun-Sep. 1968


Sometime after May 21, 1968, we lost our brothers aboard USS Scorpion SSN-589. On 03 June, Bowditch was ordered underway early from a scheduled inport in Bremerhaven Germany, and to proceed to Southampton England. Bowditch arrived in Southampton at 2000, 04 June. We embarked communications technicians and got underway 1300, 05 June, proceeding to an operations area south of the Azores Islands to join the Scorpion Subsearch mission. In early September, 1968, Bowditch is ordered to terminate survey operations, proceed to Holy Loch, Scotland, and ship a load of deep ocean transponders to USNS Mizar T-AGOR-11 at Lajes Field, The Azores. The transponders are to be launched by USNS Mizar in the continuing search for USS Scorpion. One technician, ETR-2 Adams, is assigned to accompany the transponders and facilitate their use.
	Mizar underway from The Azores.
	Preparing a transponder for launch. Adams is the skinny guy with glasses.
	Launching a transponder. Adams is on the right with his back to the camera.
	The loss of Scorpion, and the involvement of Bowditch in the search, was reported worldwide. All of those news reports have now disappeared behind pay-per-article archives, and I have only this badly reproduced copy of one article left. The source is unknown. Note the accompanying article, "Petty Officers Can Command". The article describes the Navy's recruitment of Petty Officers to command PBRs in Vietnam.
	Portraits of every crewman can be found at: http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-scorpion-589.htm
	See the excellent entry in Wikipedia, which includes a crew roster and links to memorial and historical sites.

Bowditch Records the Siege of Malta

Bowditch was in the yards in Valetta, Malta, in Oct-Nov, 1967. The OcUnits had photo labs with enormous cameras for map making, and OcUnit One also had an outstanding photographer. The government of Malta requested that OcUnit One make archival quality copies of the original records of the Siege of Malta (1565), records which had never been copied. Our photographer was kind enough to make copies for the crew. I do not know how many pages were in the original document, but I have 11 of them.

	The Siege of Malta took place in 1565 when the Ottoman Empire attempted to invade the island. Malta was held, and successfully defended, by the Order of the Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem, known as the Knights of Malta since 1530. The siege is considered one of the greatest in military history.

	Click the thumbnail for an album of the 11 prints. The correct order of the pages is unknown, so I did my best. These pages represent only a fraction of the complete document. My Latin is a little rusty, so you will have to translate for yourself.

- CREW PORTRAITS -
The crew of Oceanographic Detachment One, Fall 1965. Photograph taken by PH2 Dave Gross in the fall of 1965. Left: LCDR V.L. Harris (Our CO), LT David Crestin (Our XO) Front, kneeling: ET1 Adair, STG3 Chester Veltman, ET3 John Bayne, STG3 Paul 'Boot' Swagler, ET3 John Valade, IC2 Jenkins, STG3 Bill Lutz Rear, standing: SK2 'Weasel' Alano, ET1 Charlie King, STG3 Bill Bundy, ET1 Pete Comstock, ET1 'Fred' Frederick, ET3 'Epsi', HM2 Billie 'Doc' Peacock, ET2 Carroll 'Frog' King, unknown, YN2 Jackson, STG1 Fred 'Fury' Johnson, unknown (Courtesy of Dave Gross)
The crew of Oceanographic Detachment One, July 1966. Photograph taken July 1966 by PH1 Don Hayes & PH2 David Gross. Row 1, kneeling: LT Crestin, LCDR Ramstead, LT Mac ? Row 2, kneeling: ET3 John Bayne, Lee Medeirus, STG3 Paul 'Boot' Swagler, Omar Garrison, ET3 Ripley, HM2 Billie 'Doc' Peacock Row 3, standing: ET2 Carroll 'Frog' King, STG3 Chester Veltman, unknown, IC2 Jenkins, ET1 Gibby, STG3 Bill Lutz, ET1 Tim Chaisson, ET1 'Fred' Frederick, STG2 Chet Headley Row 4, standing: unknown, Goforth, ET1 Charlie King, Stan Mudd, STG3 Bill Bundy, unknown, ET1 Pete Comstock, unknown, Johnson, Baxley, Jackson (Courtesy of Paul Swagler)
The crew of Oceanographic Unit One, ca. 1967-1968. (Cliff Krouse dates this photo to 1967.) Kneeling, L-R: LCDR Ramstead, our CO; the XO; IC1 Sweeney; CWO Thompson, our EMO; and our ETC. First Row standing: ET1(SS) Pete Comstock; ET1 Davis; HM1 Billy "Doc" Peacock; ETR2 Earl Adams; SK2 Kelly; SN Hal Burnett; ET2 Carroll "Frog" King; ET2 John Bayne. Back Row: JD Powell; Ray Larkin; ET1 Bob Gibby; ?; Bill Sugg; ET2 Bill Goldrup; ?; ?; MacCourt. - He was the "Chief Master at Arms"! See the Badge? Why did we need a CMAA? I don't know! (Courtesy of Earl Adams.) ________________________________________________
The crew of Oceanographic Unit One, ca. 1969. Kneeling, L-R: ?; David A. Bell; ?; HM1 Billy "Doc" Peacock; ET2 Peter S. Hellman; LTJG Thom Herrold; LCDR Byrd; LTJG Jim Herriford; ET2 Al Duvgan; ST1 Edward Anzalone; ?; ? Standing: PH2 Ron Gazboda; R.L. Chaffin; IC2 Larry F. Shallert; ?; Michael L. ?; ?; ?; ?; ST1 Donald Holcomb; ET2 Raymond Larkin; ?; ?; ?; ET2 David L. Perkins (Courtesy of Ron Gazboda.) ________________________________________________
The crew of Oceanographic Unit One, September, 1971. A formal picture of the crew during the change of command in which LCDR Sturr is being replaced by LCDR Schram (on the left). I am standing next to him. (Contributed by Jim Bohnsack.) ________________________________________________
The crew of Oceanographic Unit One, July, 1976. Group picture of the Navy, Navoceano and tech reps. Back row, standing, left to right: Blangerd-XO, Kirk Evens-CO, Martin, Tony Genevia (Sperry Rep), Mike L., Ch Martin, Mike Childers (BRN Rep), Larry, Tom Pusateri, Bill "Stretch" Lechnard, Randy Foot, Gary Humber, Paul Farwell, ?, ? Middle row, kneeling: Reba Hebenthal, Tony “Doc” Charinentio, Dale, ?, Matt, Neil Schmidt, Gilbert, Calvin Carter, Bernard "Buddy" LaPorte, Ch Frye. Front row, sitting: "Buzz", ? , Carroll "Frog" King, Bill "Worm" Kress, Larry Anderson, ?, Denny (ET), Ray, Wright, Cordell, John. If I've mangled anybody's name or mislabeled you, sorry, it's been 30 years! (Contributed by Tom Pusateri.) ________________________________________________
The crew of Oceanographic Unit One, April, 1978. (Contributed by John Livingston.) ________________________________________________
The crew of Oceanographic Unit One, April, 1979. (Contributed by John Livingston.) ________________________________________________
The crew of Oceanographic Unit One, July, 1979. (Contributed by John Livingston.) ________________________________________________
The crew of Oceanographic Unit One, ca. 1980-1981. Navy, OGOs and Tech Reps. Chuck Stalnaker is first row kneeling, far right (in the hard hat). (Contributed by Chuck Stalnaker.) Who is this guy? (Click to enlarge) THE T-AGS SITE WANTS HIS T-SHIRT!!.....and Chuck Stalnaker comes through! Go here for photos of the T-Shirt, and an enlargement of the artwork.

- CREW ROSTERS -
Oceanographic Unit One crew roster, 1971. (Contributed by Jim Bohnsack.)
Oceanographic Unit One crew roster, 1972. (Contributed by Jim Bohnsack.)
MSTS Crew roster, ca. 1971-1972. (Contributed by Jim Bohnsack.)

- SHIPS' NEWSPAPERS -

The Phantom Reporter, 1967
	Bowditch’s newspaper, “The Phantom Reporter” from July 1967 and August 1967. Definitely not a family oriented effort, its purpose was to roast everyone on the crew. Your friendly Admin gets skewered at least twice in each issue. The first issue was basically the effort of one crewman, while the second had some input from others. It’s mostly pretty funny, although some of the comments are no longer understandable after 40 years. These pubs exceeded the bounds of even our poor taste and restraint, so it only lasted two issues.
	“The Phantom Reporter”, August 1967
The "No Slack"
	July, 1969. This is completely incomprehensible. (Unless you were there, in which case, your memory is probably GONE!) (Contributed by Ron Gazboda.)

Cruise Books, 1971-1972
	Cruise Book: Oct 1971, Lisbon, Portugal. (Contributed by Jim Bohnsack.)
	Cruise Book: Jan 1972, Falmouth, England. (Contributed by Jim Bohnsack.)
	Cruise Book: Feb, 1972, Rota, Spain. (Contributed by Jim Bohnsack.)
	Cruise Book: Apr, 1972, Rota, Spain. (Contributed by Jim Bohnsack.)
	Cruise Book: May, 1972, Malaga, Spain. (Contributed by Jim Bohnsack.)
	Cruise Book: May, 1972-Jun, 1972, La Coruna & Rota, Spain. (Contributed by Jim Bohnsack.)
The Bowditch Crew's "Cruz" Books, 1972-1973 The "Cruz" Books were produced on large format 44" x 32" photographic paper and folded to 11" x 8". The material was laid out in 11" x 8" format on the front half to produce eight pages. The back half took advantage of the large format to display photographs, so it is not easily divided into normal-sized pages. These presentations attempt to divide the original Cruz Books into sixteen sequential pages: click on the first thumbnail to display the pages. A mosaic assembly of the complete front and back sheets is also included, linked to the second and third thumbnails. I recommend you do NOT attempt to display the complete front and back sheets in your browser but right-click and save to your local hard drive, then display the images locally. The Firefox web browser does a much better job of displaying these large mosaics than MS Internet Explorer. These graphic files are very large: about 9500 x 6000 pixels and 7MB each. (I'll make an attempt at a later time to reduce the size of these files without loss of resolution.)
	STERN SHOT, Southampton, England. December, 1972 (Courtesy of Cecil "Art" Dayson.)		Front half:	Back half:
	FULL SPEED AHEAD, Barcelona, Spain. March, 1973 (Courtesy of Cecil "Art" Dayson.)		Front half:	Back half:
	BOWDITCH HOME JOURNAL, Naples, Italy. April, 1973 (Courtesy of Cecil "Art" Dayson.)		Front half:	Back half:
	THE LAST BOAT DRILL, Southampton, England. July, 1973 (Courtesy of Cecil "Art" Dayson.)		Front half:	Back half:
	ANCHORS AWEIGH. ca. August, 1973 (Courtesy of Cecil "Art" Dayson.)		Front half:	Back half:
	SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND. September, 1973 (Courtesy of Richard Newman.)
The Bowditch Crew's Cruise Books, 1974-1975
	SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND. April, 1974 (Courtesy of Richard Newman.)	Front half:		Back half:
	SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND. May, 1974 (Courtesy of Richard Newman.)	Front half:		Back half:
	GREENOCK, SCOTLAND, July 15, 1974 (Courtesy of Richard Newman.)
	ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND, May 5, 1975 (Courtesy of Richard Newman.)
The Bowditch Spitoon, 1976-1978 The Spitoons are actually single sheets 44" X 32", folded to be 11" X 8". The Firefox web browser does a much better job of displaying the large mosaic full sheets ("Front half" and Back half") than MS Internet Explorer. (All of these "Spitoons" are courtesy of Tom Pusateri.)
	The Bowditch Spitoon, Jul 1976.		Front half:	Back half:
	The Bowditch Spitoon, Aug 1976. That's Carroll "Frog" King on the cover!		Front half:	Back half:
	The Bowditch Spitoon, Oct 1976.		Front half:	Back half:
	The Bowditch Spitoon, Jul 1977. For the 4th of July I set up a "mail buoy" watch. I found some photos of an air dropped weather buoy system for a C-130. A little creative writing and pasting and I had a page from what appeared to be an official US Navy publication. The page started in the middle of the “Ship born mail delivery” section. It then went on to the "Buoy, mail, air delivery" section (with accompanying photos) and finished with the beginning of the “Submarine mail delivery section”. We had a dozen people on watch that day, waiting for the plane to swoop in, rock it's wings, shoot flares, everything! What fun!		Front half:	Back half:
	The Bowditch Spitoon, Aug 1977. See here for the original cover photo and commentary. This issue reports the strange disappearance of the XO's door and also the "Great Seabat Hunt"		Front half:	Back half:
	The Bowditch Spitoon, Oct 1977.		Front half:	Back half:
	The Bowditch Spitoon, Nov 1977.
	The Bowditch Spitoon, Dec 1977. The cover illustrates a notional Christmas course track from St. John's Newfoundland to Pt. Canaveral, FL. The track is annotated with these comments: OK, FORGET THE ROLL BIAS. HOVE-TO. “GET THOSE MILES”. HOW MANY CROSS CHECKS DO YOU WANT, GROVER? BRIDGE, YOU BETTER CHECK YOUR COMPASS AGAIN! I WANT TO SEE THEM SMOOTH THIS LINE! NOT ANOTHER T-S. BRIDGE, THAT’S TO CANAVERAL NOT THE CANARIES! SPD INCREASE 2000RPM.
	The Bowditch Spitoon, Jan 1978. Here's the story behind the cover photo. The whole crew needed a shot for something, but who was going to give Doc Smith his shot? Here was an opportunity to make some money for the Unit at someone else's expense! We raffled Doc's shot off. The winner got to stab Doc. I don't remember who the winner was but in front of the crew, in the movie lounge, Doc spilled his blood for the good (and the money) of the Unit. Doc was a good sport about it but we all made sure we had our shots first!
	The Bowditch Spitoon, May 1978.

- SHIP'S DOCUMENTS -

FOOD SERVICE MENUS

	The daily menu for June 1, 1973. (Thanks to Matthew M. Ekdahl. See his photoessay entry.)

- SHIPS' MOVEMENT -

Ships' movement (itinerary) 26 NOV 1966 - 22 NOV 1968:
The only explanation for this record is OCD. I was starting to recover around Aug 1968.
Now all I need is a record of the remaining 28 years!

USNS BOWDITCH T-AGS-21
DATE/TIME	LOCATION	COMMENTS
26 NOV 1966, 1130 - 28 NOV 1966, 0800	Army Terminal, 58^TH St AND 1^ST Ave., NY, NY
28 NOV 1966, 1100 - 6 JAN 1967	Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, Hoboken, NJ	Yard period
6 JAN 1967, 1800 – 9 JAN 1967	Pier North #3, NSD Bayonne, NJ
9 JAN 1967, 1400 – 12 JAN 1967	Underway	Sea Trials
12 JAN 1967, 2015 – 17 JAN 1967	Pier North #3, NSD Bayonne, NJ
3 FEB 1967, 0913 – 8 FEB 1967	Barcelona, Spain	Inport
6 MAR 1967, 0600 – 7 MAR 1967	At anchor outside Barcelona breakwater
7 MAR 1967, 0803 – 11 MAR 1967, 2000	Barcelona, Spain	Inport
7 APR 1967, 0810 – 13 APR 1967, 2016	Lisbon, Portugal	Inport
15 MAY 1967, 0730 – 21 MAY 1967, 2200	USNAVSTA, Rota, Spain	Inport
23 MAY 1967, 0700 – 23 MAY 1967, 0900	At anchor off Cascias, Portugal
13 JUN 1967, 1200 – 13 JUN 1967, 1300	At anchor off Plymouth, England
22 JUN 1967, 0815 – 29 JUN 1967, 0615	Thompson’s Warf, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Inport
31 JUL 1967, 0930 – 7 AUG 1967, 1215	Lisbon, Portugal	Inport
7 SEP 1967, 0900 – 14 SEP 1967, 1322	Swansea, South Wales	Inport
12 OCT 1967, 0820 – 12 OCT 1967, 1900	USNAVSTA, Rota, Spain	Drop off equipment for calibration. **
16 OCT 1967, 0830 – 20 NOV 1967, 0800	Valetta, Malta, G.C.	Yard period
20 NOV 1967, 0800 – 22 NOV 1967, 1133	Underway	Sea Trials
22 NOV 1967, 1133 – 27 NOV 1967, 1630	Valetta, Malta, G.C.	Yard period
1 DEC 1967, 0900 – 4 DEC 1967, 1620	Naples, Italy	Inport
	La Spezia, Italy	A brief 18 hour stop to drop off a Navy ET1 for hospital admission (submitted by Cliff Kroouse). Exact date unknown.
30 DEC 1967, 0830 – 7 JAN 1968, 0230	Barcelona, Spain	Inport
23 JAN 1967, 0800 - 23 JAN 1967, 1130	At anchor off Barcelona, Spain
7 FEB 1968, 0830 – 14 FEB 1968, 1630	Barcelona, Spain	Inport
8 MAR 1968, 1100 - 8 MAR 1968, 1315	At anchor Malaga, Spain	U.S. Navy Lt. from the Underwater Sound Lab., New London, CT, and a Spanish Naval Officer observer come aboard.
8 MAR 1968, 1315 – 11 MAR 1968, 0841	Surveying in Straights of Gibraltar	This is called playing in traffic!
11 MAR 1968	Majorca (aka Mallorca), Spain	Spanish Naval Officer is put ashore.
11 MAR 1968, 0841 – 18 MAR 1968, 1830	Lisbon, Portugal	Inport
22 MAR 1968, 1415 – 23 MAR 1968	La Caruna, Spain	Dropped off a sick Navy sailor, picked up new Corpsman. **
18 APR 1968, 1730 – 25 APR 1968, 1730	Lisbon, Portugal	Inport
27 MAY 1968, 0230 – 3 JUN 1968, 1600	Bremerhaven, West Germany	Inport
4 JUN 1968, 2000 – 5 JUN 1968, 1300	Southampton, England	Picked up Navy "Communicators" for Scorpion subsearch. **
5 JUL 1968, 0900 – 12 JUL 1968, 1300	Amsterdam, The Netherlands	Inport
12 AUG 1968 – 19 AUG 1968, 20 AUG 1968 – 24 AUG 1968	Plymouth, England	Inport
11 SEP 1968 – 18 SEP 1968, 19 SEP 1968 – 23 SEP 1968	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Inport
OCT 1968 *	Lisbon, Portugal	Inport
22 NOV 1968	Hoboken, NJ	Yard period
* - Dates uncertain ** - From John Prough's reminiscences

- COLLISION AT SEA, 13 Nov, 1973 -

	This photo of Bowditch with heavy bow damage (click to enlarge) has been posted at NavSource Online: http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/10/1021.htm The caption reads: "Bowditch (T-AGS-21) moored pierside, date and place unknown. Note the heavily damaged bow caused by a collision with a merchant ship." (The photo is credited to Bill Valashinas.)
This commentary was received from Bruce Voigts, 1/20/2008: "I was on the ship in November 1973 when we had the collision with the Ivory Coast Freighter Penelope. I believe the picture is taken after we made it back to Cartagena, Spain. They did some minor repairs there, and then sent us back to the states (Bethlehem Shipyard in Baltimore, MD) for a bow replacement and a few other repairs. Our crossing speed was limited to 8 knots forward progress and took a long time. I was OcUnit 1's Radioman at the time and had to process all the emergency traffic that occurred during this incident. In this picture of the broken ship, I am third from the right. The individual on the extreme right was the unit's Photographers Mate. I unfortunately do not remember his name."
This commentary and the great color photos were received from Richard Newman, 4/23/2008: "Our keel punctured the Penelope below the water line. We then pivoted and slammed side to side causing damage to the super structure. We lost a fresh water tank in the bow causing Bowditch to came up out of the water. The Penelope circled us once, then headed for port. We sat dead in the water while an assessment was made and then headed for port."
	A nicely composed photo of T/N Penelope framed by the gash in Bowditch's bow, contributed by Richard Newman. The photo was taken in Cartegena, Spain, before the "minor" repairs mentioned above by Bruce Voights. Penelope appears to be sitting very low in the water on an even keel, with a badly crumpled bow. Note Penelope's deck cargo of trimmed tree trunks. Click to enlarge.
	The gash enlarged. Click to enlarge.		Bowditch's bow, peeled open like a tin of sardines. The photo was taken straight down from the starboard side of the fo'c's'le.
	Damage to the superstructure.		T/N Penelope
			T/N Penelope, viewed from the starboard deck of USNS Bowditch, just aft of the superstructure. The photographer was probably standing on the No. 5 Hold cover. Penelope's operator is "AFRICA-LINE", as painted on her side.
		Bowditch, her bow now straightened.
		Bowditch sports a cool Band-Aid. The ship's comedian suggested we paint the patch orange with a sign that said “OUCH!”. NAVOCEANO said we did not need the publicity.

This document in the National Archives, 1974STATE002144, is a copy of a telegram dated 042349Z JAN 74 from the U.S. Secretary of State to the American Embassy in Abidjan. The subject is "USNS BOWDITCH - T/N PENELOPE - COLLISION 13 NOV 1973".

Here is an abstract of the telegram:

"The owners of the Penelope have not submitted a claim for damages resulting from this collision, resulting in a delay in settlement. A preliminary survey of damage to the Penelope was made in Cartegena in November, 1973, and a supplemental damage survey will be made when Penelope is dry-docked in Genoa in January, 1974.

Navy JAG cannot determine liability until collision investigations and damage reports are completed. Navy MSC reports will not be completed for a minimum of 60 more days. Preliminary results, however, indicate no Navy liability as Bowditch was the privileged vessel in a crossing situation prior to the collision.

The U.S. Navy will promptly pay up, but only if we're found liable."

The telegram was signed by Henry Kissinger.

So the NavSource photograph was taken when Bowditch docked in November, 1973, after her collision with Penelope.

The telegram was sent to the US Embassy in Abidjan, of all places! According to my Geographer, Abidjan is/was the Capital and largest city of the Ivory Coast. I'm supposing that this is because T/N Penelope was registered in the Ivory Coast or the owners are located there. It looks like the collision happened in the Med near Spain, as a preliminary damage survey of Penelope was made in Cartegena.

Bowditch was "the privileged vessel in a crossing situation". In other words, the collision was the fault of T/N Penelope.

Our shipmate Matthew Ekdahl was transferred from Bowditch in Malaga, Spain, in November 1973, just prior to the collision. A likely scenario is that the collision occurred soon after Bowditch sailed from Malaga. Matthew heard about the collision later, when he was a student at the Naval Postgraduate School.

- FINAL FATE OF USNS BOWDITCH T-AGS-21 -
Sea Technology, June 1987 This article from the trade journal Sea Technology describes events in Rio de Janeiro Harbor which ended Bowditch's distinguished thirty-year career in oceanographic survey. (Contributed by John Livingston.)
Naval Oceanographic Office Bulletin, Apr/May 2003 An article by HMC Dennis Hunt, published in the Naval Oceanographic Office Bulletin, Apr/May 2003. Chief Hunt served on Bowditch in 1986-1987 during what was probably her last deployment. This is a sad ending. I'm glad to see that the brass plate ended up at NAVOCEANO. I wonder what happened to her bell? (Provided courtesy of the Naval Oceanographic Office, 4/11/2007).
The Naval Vessel Register
Mariners. World Ship Society

- LINKS -

Carl Friberg ("Slowbell")
Ramon Jackson's "Blue Pages": Navy Survey Ship (AGS) Designator Listing
NavSource Naval History (Photo from NavSource courtesy of Ed Lanni and Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.)
Naval Historical Center, Dictionary of American Fighting Ships