Mission preparations Operation Sandblast

loading ship s stores

beach , henry arrived in new london @ 5:45 a.m. on 5 february. later morning, after breakfast, beach briefed officers, whom beach had insisted needed know, new shakedown orders , mission objectives operation sandblast. officers , crew of triton had 12 days complete preparations more ambitious, top secret, shakedown cruise. exception of chief quartermaster (qmc) william j. marshall, enlisted personnel did not know true nature of upcoming mission. cover story devised that, following shakedown cruise, triton proceed caribbean sea undergo additional testing required buships. crew , civilian personnel instructed file federal income taxes , take care of other personal finances might arise through mid-may.

lt. commander m. adams, triton s executive officer, , lt. commander robert w. bulmer, operations officer, along chief quartermaster marshall, prepared precise, mile-by-mile track of upcoming voyage in secure chart room, located @ comsublant headquarters. lt. commander robert d. fisher, triton s supply officer, coordinated loading of stores sufficient 120-day voyage (pictured). eventually, 77,613 lb (35,205 kg) of food loaded on board, including 16,487 lb (7,478 kg) of frozen food, 6,631 lb (3,008 kg) of canned meat, 1,300 lb (590 kg) of coffee, , 1,285 lb (583 kg) of potatoes. vice admiral hyman g. rickover, head of u.s. navy s naval reactors branch, sent special power-setting instructions triton s reactors, allowing them operate greater flexibility , higher safety factor.

a key personnel change occurred on 2 february when triton s veteran chief engineering officer, lt. commander leslie d. kelly, left duty @ rickover s naval reactors branch of u.s. atomic energy commission. relief former assistant engineering officer, lt. commander donald g. fears.

also, number of supercargo personnel joined triton shakedown cruise, none aware of top-secret nature of operation sandblast. joseph baynor roberts well-known photographer national geographic magazine, , commander in u.s. naval reserve, recalled active duty serve press pool voyage u.s. navy office of information. additionally, roberts , first class photographer s mate (ph1) william r. hadley, usn, detached naval air force u.s. atlantic fleet, coordinated photo-reconnaissance aspects of operation sandblast.

the other civilian personnel included dr. benjamin b. weybrew, psychologist @ u.s naval submarine medical research laboratory, carry out battery of psychological studies volunteers crew. geophysicist michael smalet, civil engineer gordon e. wilkes, , oceanographer nicholas r. mabry coordinated various scientific , technical aspects of operation sandblast u.s. navy s hydrographic office. eldon c. monitored ship inertial navigation system (sins) prototype, newly installed onboard triton sperry gyroscopic company. frank e. mcconnell electric boat guaranty representative assigned triton s shakedown cruise.

on 15 february 1960, triton went sea final check of shipboard equipment. except malfunctioning wave-motion sensor, triton deemed ready shakedown cruise.