![]() The ship is stuffed with electronics, machine shops, laboratories, scientific equipment and hustle-bustle workaholics who operate around the clock.īesides the regular ship’s crew were seven young men (attached to the U. Everything aboard her is geared to the launch, retrieval and maintenance of that amazing submarine, including her extremely able crew of 23 men and women, who work like well-oiled machinery day in and day out in a very complicated and hazardous routine that they take in their good-natured stride. 210 feet in length, she is the mother ship to ALVIN. To orient you, the R/V Atlantis II is owned and operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Three of us, including Bob Grieve, were descending one and a half miles to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. At this moment however, we were going a long way DOWN. Rich is Director of the Center for Deep-Sea Ecology and Biotechnology at Rutgers University. Suffice it to say, that October I was on the crew list of 44 aboard Atlantis, one of a group of 14 scientists, and was the guest of Rich Lutz, chief scientist. ![]() Why I was there is a more than two-decade-long story of career changes, enduring friendship and my eyes-always-open search for wondrous things. 2584 of the world’s best-known deep-submergence vehicle, ALVIN, was underway, and I was aboard, bracing for the most mind-blowing experience of my days on planet Earth. ![]() You are clear to dive when the swimmers are clear.” ![]() I’ll do it on the way down, request a launch altitude and permission to dive as soon as you’re clear.” And as my mind tumbled in and out of focus in the novelty and excitement of my situation, the almost lyrical response of Bobby Lee Williams back aboard the R/V Atlantis II came over our speaker saying the words I’ll never forget: “ALVIN, you’re launch altitude is 2531. ![]() Chief ALVIN pilot, Bob Grieve, was busy reading instruments and flipping switches as he ran through his final pre-dive checklist: “Hatch is shut, O2 on, scrubbers scrubbing, tracking on 8.1, PC check. ![]()
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