Kendall Welch stand in front of the DSRV-Avalon at the Morro Bay Maritime Museum. Photo by Judy Salamacha
‘Morro Bay’s Biggest Movie Star’
When Morro Bay Maritime Museum’s Board President Kendall Welch was seeking the most alluring movie to book for its third film presentation fundraiser at the Bay Theater, she learned the large green submarine at the museum’s entrance was used in the 1990 film “Hunt for Red October.”
She smiled, “That makes our DSRV-Avalon Morro Bay’s biggest Hollywood movie star. And who wouldn’t want to see a young Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin on the big screen?” Once she confirmed it for May 18, she began her “hunt” for retired U.S. Navy servicemen once assigned to the submersible’s program to join supporters of the museum in Morro Bay as VIP guests. Tickets are available at the museum or www.morrobaymaritime.org.
The film is loosely based on a Tom Clancy book by the same name that introduces his favorite series character, Jack Ryan. The movie’s trailer on imdb.com states, “Moscow, Washington D.C. and a CIA analyst track a rogue Soviet Captain and his new submarine.” Connery plays the Soviet Captain; a young Alec Baldwin is the D.C. analyst; and the ‘new Soviet submarine’ that was cast for the role was the U.S. Navy submersible, the DSRV-Avalon, that visitors encounter while driving along the Embarcadero on their way to view Morro Rock.
And what will you see in the movie that you can’t see by visiting the DSRV-Avalon at MBMM? As it once operated on training mission in the Pacific near San Diego, the submersible will be in full ocean-action and even show the interior control panel. And three VIP guests, three men that were assigned duty as the vehicle was being built, during its transport to San Diego and while on training maneuvers in the 1970-80s, will be in attendance before and after the film.
Also, MBMM’s inaugural founder/board president and current curator, Larry Newland, will have rarely seen artifacts on display. He reminds us how lucky Morro Bay is to have one of the two DSRVs built by the U.S. Navy.
“It all started back in 2010 with an offhand question by my friend, David McConnaghay. A Navy man, I’ve known him since fifth grade. He asked if our future maritime museum might want a DSRV? I said, ‘Maybe – what is it?’ He got me on the base to see the submersible, but I questioned if the City of Morro Bay would want it?”
Larry talked to then Mayor Bill Yates and City Attorney Rob Schultz. “They were excited by the opportunity and got Congresswoman Lois Capps to write a support letter. She had a staff member hand carry it to Dave Lindley, the commander in charge of the Deep Submergence Unit, now called Submarine Rescue, at NAS Coronado (North Island). Next Mayor Yates said he had a meeting with Senator Dianne Finestein in D.C. Suddenly, after 13 months and now with two California politicians supporting us, things happened.”
Dwight Peterson Trucking discounted trailering the large vehicle from San Diego while Larry, Jack Hunter, and Peterson followed it. “And did we get the looks along the way!” Larry said. “Some thought it was a missile.”
The Embarcadero parking lot next to the future museum site became the submersible’s first home. The MBMM board and volunteers would spend every weekend drumming up interest and funds for a permanent museum site to showcase Central Coast maritime history and display representative vessels.
The DSRV retired servicemen attending the May 18 movie presentation are Merle Vogel, the communications director for the online Deep Submergence Group that Kendall contacted plus group members Barney Bakara and Corky Palmer. I was able to interview both Merle and Barney for this column.
Now retired, Merle spent 30 years in the Navy from 1959-89. He was assigned to factory duty at the Lockheed plant in Sunnyvale where both DSRV 1 and 2 were built from 1969-72. “We were never very busy during DSRV-1 and DSRV-2’s development years. Then I became part of the transport team to San Diego.” At the group’s first reunion, which happens every two years, Merle accepted the assignment as communications director. The next reunion is September at the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, CT.
I wondered what typical questions people would ask when their members were invited for guest appearances like their weekend in Morro Bay. “They’ll want to know that it was deactivated in 2009; wonder how deep the vehicle will dive; how long it can stay under; how many the submersible can rescue at a time.” He also explained, “Training would include simulations at sea. The ‘mother ship’ which transports the DSRV would often have men onboard who had already gone through the training. They would share their experiences during the sea trials.”
Barney and Corky will be coming from their retired homes in Arizona. Barney shared, “I’m now 79 and I say I grew up in the DSRV program.” He was assigned to Moffit Field in Sunnyvale, CA in January 1970. “The DSRV-1 and DSRV-2 were built there by Lockheed Missile & Space Company. It would be April 1972 before I flew inside one of three C1-41 aircrafts transporting the vehicle to San Diego.” Either by land or at sea, the DSRV is always transported before engagement. Barney’s base then and the DSRV’s home base became San Diego’s North Island.
“In the mid-seventies,” Barney continued, “my friend and I were looking for names instead of calling the vehicle DSRV-1 and 2. We wanted to memorialize the program by giving it names of places. The DSRV-1 was named for Mystic Seaport in Connecticut and DSRV-2 became DSRV-Avalon. When we asked Catalina Island leadership if they would like us to name it Avalon, they were pleased.”
Barney would also work on writing many of the operations and repair manuals for the submersibles. I mentioned to Barney I had visited a diving shop on Catalina Island, retail shop and museum that’s part of famed Casino. I was surprised it has artifacts and pictures of the DSRV I recognized being in Morro Bay. The owner had lots of stories, including “…The Navy wanted to have it here, but we couldn’t find a place big enough to keep it.” Barney laughed, “Yes, they had a big party in Catalina to dedicate its name, but I was out of the Navy by then and not on the invite list.”
Here are some questions you might ask Barney or Corky. Why did DSRV training missions only dive to 2500-ft. when it was capable of 5,000-ft? Was the DSRV ever used for a rescue mission? Explain “ship of opportunity.”
Recently, MBMM’s DSRV-Avalon received a stunning green paint job supported by a $100,000 donation by the Ludwick Family Foundation of SLO. I just might ask one of our May 18 guests how true the vivid green is to the submersible’s original color. Tickets are limited especially for the VIP advance session. Purchase at the MBMM or morrobaymaritime.org.
