THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 24, 1996 TAG: 9608260300
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 75 lines
The messages are simple but powerful.
``I lost my wife and daughter,'' says one note on a poster that hangs on the bulkhead of the Norfolk-based salvage and rescue ship Grapple.
``Thanks for finding them.''
Two such posters, from the families of victims of TWA Flight 800, are rotated among the Grapple, salvage ship Grasp and dock landing ship Oak Hill - all Navy ships based in Norfolk.
The craft have been anchored above the ocean floor just off Long Island, N.Y., for a month now. Only rarely do their divers and support crews get ashore.
But for one of the Navy ships, the long and grueling work associated with the jet wreckage is coming to an end.
The Grasp's 105-member crew got word Thursday night that they are heading home. Another ship, the Portsmouth-based Coast Guard cutter Harriet Lane, is scheduled to return at 9 a.m. Sunday. It has spent two months at sea, much of it above the crash site.
But for the Oak Hill and Grapple, the assignment will continue for an indefinite period.
The Grapple and Grasp, sister ships, arrived within a week of the July 17 crash, bringing with them more than 50 Navy divers and 200 other personnel. Aboard the Oak Hill, which serves as a command post and respite for the divers, are another 350 sailors, additional divers, utility boats and detection gear.
The crews' hours have been long, their work dangerous and emotionally draining.
The posters seem to help.
``If ever we feel we're not working hard, we go and read those,'' said Lt. Cmdr. Bill Robertson, the Grapple's captain.
``It gives us a sense of purpose to work harder out here. It's very emotional to read.''
The ships have conducted operations around the clock since they arrived in the area. Aboard the Grasp, the ship's engineers have worked a three-watch shift while cooks and deck crews worked 12 hours on, 12 hours off. There was only one day - a Sunday two weeks ago - that work was halted.
And in all that time, the Grasp moved only slightly over a quarter-mile-square box.
``It was just an incredible amount of time they (the divers) spent on the bottom,'' said Lt. Cmdr. Bill Orr, the Grasp's captain. ``We concentrated our effort in a major debris field where the majority of the aircraft landed.''
In was in that area that the valuable flight data recording devices were found by the crew.
Never did the work get any easier, Orr said. The recovery of the victims took a tremendous emotional toll on the divers and crew.
And time seemed to slow, he said.
``At the end of the first week somebody was talking about what we were going to do for Sunday,'' said Orr. ``One of the other officers said, `Hey, let's wait until we get to Friday before we start talking about Sunday.'
``I said, `What day to you think it is?' He said, `Wednesday.'
``Actually, it was Saturday. You are so focused on just doing the job that time goes out of the window.''
Divers needing some quality rest are sent over to the Oak Hill, a much larger ship than the salvage vessels. ``Here, it's noisy most of the time,'' Orr said. ``Over there, no one is going to go wake them up and say, `Hey, we can't find the dive light.' ''
Overall, said the ship commanders, the operation has been a success.
``I'm amazed how well they've done,'' Orr said. ``You saw even the most junior people take on the tasks on their own, thinking on their own, working. And they didn't need a whole lot of direction.''
Most rewarding, Robertson said, are the cards and letters from across the nation thanking the Navy for its help.
``We're getting mail every other day, and there are lots of letters from people expressing their concern,'' he said. ``They sometimes send batches of cookies, movies and books. Most just want to thank us.''
KEYWORDS: RESCUE MISSION SALVAGE U.S. NAVY TWA FLIGHT 800 by CNB