MARINE TECHNOLOGY REPORTER October 2017 www.marinetechnologynews.com Paul G. Allen & the successful quest to Find Indianapolis The Promise and Peril of Subsea Mining Autonomous Fleets and Unmanned Forces Harsh Environments ‘Roomba’ Volume 60 Number 8 Volume in the Arctic Marine Technology Reporter Cover October 2017.indd 1 9/29/2017 9:30:16 AM USS Indianapolis (CA 35) off the Mare Island ROVs Navy Yard in California, July 10, 1945. (U.S. Navy fi le photo) The Quest to fi nd the USS Indianapolis By Eric Haun Sunk by Japanese torpedoes near the end cently a team of civilian researchers led 1945. The story of the USS Indianapo- Portland Class heavy cruiser USS In- of World War II, heavy cruiser USS India- by Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen set lis is one of military might, heroism, dianapolis (CA-35) entered service in napolis disappeared to the darkest depths out equipped with an arsenal of high-tech tragedy, controversy and mystery. Built November 1932, serving through cam- of the Philippine Sea, where it remained search equipment on a mission to locate by New York Shipbuilding Corporation paigns that earned the ship 10 battle undiscovered for more than 70 years. Re- the historic vessel last seen on July 30, in Camden, N.J., the 623-ft., 9,800-ton stars over the course of World War II. Photo courtesy of Paul G. Allen Reprinted with Permission from the September 2017 edition of Reprinted with Permission from the September 2017 edition of Marine Technology Reporter www.marinetechnologynews.com Marine Technology Reporter www.marinetechnologynews.com ROVs But afterROVs much success in battle, the fate of the Indianapolis Microsoft co-founder, philanthropist and entrepreneur Paul G. eventually turned tragic as World War II neared its end. In the Allen is fascinated with World War II history. Combining this earlydata hours management of July 30, and 1945, archival having system just providescompleted ease a secret of access mis- belowpassion the with surface a spirit in the of Philippinetechnological Sea innovation, where it will Mr. remain Allen and sionto toa wealth deliver of materials data (past from and California present) such for thethat fi operatorsrst operational can undisturbedhis Seattle-based as a naval company war grave. Vulcan The Inc. wreck’s set out exactto hunt location for the In- atomicmaintain bomb, situational “Little Boy” awareness to a naval and basemonitor on the vehicle Pacifi chealth island wasdianapolis. provided The to teamthe U.S. embarked Navy exclusively,with several ashigh-profi the wreck le marineis Tinian,with minimumIndianapolis effort was to enmaintain route fromfocus Guam on mission to Leyte goals.” when it propertyarchaeology of the projects U.S. Navy. already under their belt, including the dis- was Synchronizedtorpedoed by Japanesepilot and submarineco-pilot chairs I-58. allowed vehicle con- covery“To be of able Japanese to honor battleship the brave Musashi men of inthe March USS Indianapolis2015 and Italian Indianapolistrol and navigation sank quickly to be –switched reportedly between in just 12pilots, minutes complete – leav- andWWII their destroyer families Artiglierethrough the in Marchdiscovery 2017, of asa ship well that as the played recovery ing little time for the crew to deploy lifeboats or for an emergency of the bell from the HMS Hood for presentation to the British with touchscreen displays to support simultaneous operation such a signifi cant role during World War II is truly humbling,” (Photos courtesy of Paul G. Allen) signal to be sent. It is estimated that 800 of the nearly 1,200 Sail- Navy. of lights, cameras, positioning and hydraulics. The system Mr. Allen said in a press release announcing the discovery. The AUV returns to the R/V Petrel. The au- orseven and Marinesincluded onan board automated survived ascent the sinking,and descent but a forcommunica- the um- “AsOther Americans, search missionswe all owe to locatea debt Indianapolis of gratitude have to the been crew under- tion error prevented Navy command from having any knowledge taken by various groups over the years, but all have come up short tonomous underwater vehicle can operate on bilical winch that enabled pilots to automatically synchronize for their courage, persistence and sacrifi ce in the face of hor- a submerged run for up to 20 hours. of ROVthe sinking, depths. and rescuers were not immediately dispatched. rendous– partly circumstances.due to a lack of While suffi cient our technology.search for theFor restthe Indianapo-of the This“Greensea’s left survivors OPENSEA to battle exposure, control system dehydration, is crucial drowning to our suc- and wreckagelis search, will Mr. continue, Allen deployed I hope everyone an exploration connected team to outfi this tted his- with sharkcess attacks for extreme for a gruelingdeep diving four operations. to fi ve days Never at sea before until havehelp fiI - toricthe latestship willstate-of-the-art feel some measure deep search of closure and exploration at this discovery equipment nallyexperienced arrived. In an the ROV end, control only 316 environment were rescued as unifi in whated, confi remains gu- soaboard long inthe coming.” newly acquired 76-meter-long DP2 vessel RV Petrel. the largest loss of life at sea in U.S. naval history. Vulcan Inc. purchased the offshore service vessel in 2016 from rable or integrated as this one,” Kraft said. ROV pilots aboard RV Petrel. Greensea’s Due to the ship’s rapid sinking and lack of a distress call, the subsea engineering, construction and servicesAcknowledgements company Subsea With help from some of the most capable and advanced OPENSEA enabled the use of synchro- ship’s location had long remained a mystery – until recently. 7. The ship wasSpecial converted thanks into to aCarl bonafi Barrett de deep and submergence the team at re- equipment available, the Vulcan team located the wreckage nized pilot and co-pilot chairs of the USS Indianapolis on August 19, resting 5,500 meters 3U Technologies, LLC. Making of a Modern ROV Title Manufacturer Model Interface # ROV Assembly Argus Remote Systems BXL79 1 Electric Propulsion Argus Remote Systems 230 VAC 8 8 Station Hydraulic Manifold Sub-Atlantic Serial 1 18 kW Tooling HPU Innova 440 VAC 1 6 kW Manipulator HPU Argus Remote Systems 230 VAC 1 Water Removal Hydraulic Filtration Cardev 2 Fiber Optic Multiplexer Focal 907 1 Umbilical Cortland Cable Custom 17 mm 1 Automation & Datalogging Greensea OpenSea Network 1 Manipulator Schilling Robotics Titan 4 Serial 2 HD-3G Broadcast Quality Video Camera Insite Mini Zeus MkII Fiber 1 HD-SDI Video Camera Argus Remote Systems HD-SDI 1 Scale Reference Red Spot Laser Cathex 24 VDC 2 SD Video Insite Sculpin NTSC - SMB 6 LED Spot Light Cathx Aphos Serial 4 LED Flood Light Argus Remote Systems Serial 8 Electric Pan & Tilt Remote Ocean Systems P15 Serial 3 Fiber Optic Gyro iXblue Phins Serial 1 Doppler Velocity Log Rowe Seapilot Serial 1 USBL Positioning System Kongsberg HiPAP 102 Serial 1 Acoustic Transponder Kongsberg cNode LF Acoustic 1 Acoustic Responder Kongsberg cNode LF Serial 1 Mechanical Scanning Sonar Tritech Seaking Serial 1 Multi Beam Sonar Blueview M450 Ethernet 1 Future Multi Beam Sonal R2Sonic 2024 Gigabit 1 Ethernet Sound Velocity Pro ler Valeport MiniSVP Serial 1 Digital Depth Sensor SAIV AS TD301 Serial 1 24 MTR October 2017 Reprinted with Permission from the October 2017 edition of Reprinted with Permission from the October 2017 edition of Marine Technology Reporter www.marinetechnologynews.com Marine Technology Reporter www.marinetechnologynews.com MTR #8 (18-33).indd 24 9/29/2017 8:47:38 AM ROVs search vessel in 2017, and now sails as one of the select few ships Allen’s team contracted 3U Technologies LLC to manage overall focus on mission goals.” naval war grave. The wreck’s exact location was provided to the worldwide equipped to explore 6,000 meters below the ocean’s system design and integration. Vulcan had initially contracted 3U Synchronized pilot and co-pilot chairs allowed vehicle con- U.S. Navy exclusively, as the wreck is property of the U.S. Navy. surface. in 2012 to investigate 6,000-meter rated ROV solutions to extend trol and navigation to be switched between pilots, complete with “To be able to honor the brave men of the USS Indianapolis and For the Indianapolis search, the Vulcan team conducted a signif- its exploration and archeology capabilities to a majority of the touchscreen displays to support simultaneous operation of lights, their families through the discovery of a ship that played such a icant amount of research, leveraging a combination of historical world’s ocean depths. 3U worked under the direction of Robert cameras, positioning and hydraulics. The system even included significant role during World War II is truly humbling,” Mr. Allen records, detailed undersea topographical data and advanced tech- Kraft, Vulcan’s Director of Subsea Operations, to engineer what an automated ascent and descent for the umbilical winch that en- said in a press release announcing the discovery. “As Americans, nology to explore a 400 square nautical mile search area between Kraft called “arguably one of the most technologically advanced abled pilots to automatically synchronize ROV depths. we all owe a debt of gratitude to the crew for their courage, per- Guam and Palau in the Philippine Sea. A key data point came and capable deep diving ROV systems in the world today.” “Greensea’s OPENSEA control system is crucial to our success sistence and sacrifice in the face of horrendous circumstances. from a discovery by Dr. Richard Hulver, a historian with the Na- “Vulcan’s project team consists of experienced diving systems for extreme deep diving operations. Never before have I experi- While our search for the rest of the wreckage will continue, I val History and Heritage Command, who identified a naval land- professionals and was expressly determined to push the boundar- enced an ROV control environment as unified, configurable or hope everyone connected to this historic ship will feel some mea- ing craft that had recorded sighting the USS Indianapolis hours ies and capabilities in the deep submergence realm,” said Carl integrated as this one,” Kraft said.