Down the memory line

[Jan K]

After uneventful voyage from Hawaii to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands I now
found my new Home on the Range. Missile range, it is. The Californians are shooting
missiles across the Pacific Ocean at this place, hope it is safe
As soon as we arrived at Kwajalein, we were getting into gear for the first medical trip. We got no help from the local harbor guys who gave us an EVIL eye since they did not liked the fact that our Liktanur II took away their Liktanur I job. They were operating US Army’s LCU boat for few years, but since LCU is not designed to cross large open ocean waters and they almost sunk on one of the voyages, their contract was terminated. The LCU was very well suited for working once inside the lagoon since it can run up on the beach, lower the bow ramp and people can walk on and off quite safely. So there were lot of people who thought ( and wished) that we will fail miserably, since we had to anchor offshore and ferry people in a small skiffs. And moving earth moving equipment and tons of supplies would make us fail for sure.

Our first mission takes us to Rongelap Atoll some 160 miles north from Kwajalein.

[Jan K]

Next stop on our first medical mission: Utirik Atoll.


I did not get much diving in on this trip, since there was so much to do on the surface.
But diving close to our anchorage proved rewarding, nevertheless.


On our way back to "civilization", baby boy was born aboard the Liktanur II.
Every time we returned to Utirik, we always visited that little guy and
brought him presents. I wonder where he is now...

[Jan K]

Two weeks later, we find ourselves sailing to yet another atoll in the Northern Marshalls - Enewetak.








Major cleanup effort underway to make the former Pacific Proving Ground atoll more friendly for the
returning Marshallese population. We took just a small part in it, providing food and shelter, plus
assist the scientific team in soil sampling mission in the northern portion of Enewetak Atoll.

On this trip we had the chance to visit even the smallest islets, many which were ground Zero
locations for many of the nuclear bomb tests. I admit, it felt weird to walk and swim on spots
which look so apocalyptic in the pictures from US Government's archives (public domain photos).
I had the good fortune to get helicopter rides to capture some of the scenes from way above:)

[Jan K]

One doesn't realize the size of these vehicles until standing next to them.
THE LARCs were very well suited in transporting trucks and equipment between the
islands where the waters were too shallow for even a landing craft.

Food was good and plentiful Dining on the aft deck, watching sunsets in the
tropics after a busy day - life is good

Looking at photos of nuclear explosions,it is hard to believe that after two decades colonies
of birds will return and nest here, fish and turtles swim in these waters. No monster creatures sighted




I tried to dive as much as I could, but this was not a dive trip :(

[oldsalt]

Jan: Fascinating stuff. I look forward to each installment. It reminds me of my time on Amchitka Island in the Aleutians. This is where we conducted our last nuclear tests. The blast craters, amid what is essentially arctic tundra, had filled with water and it was covered with ducks, loons, and other birds we associate with arctic wilderness. I hope nature can rebound from all of our damage. Thanks for your postings.
-oldsalt

[Jan K]

Thank you OldSalt, seems like you too visited the less traveled corners of this world
While still at Enewetak, we slided right into another mission, this time supporting
marine scientists from LAwrence Livermore National Laboratory :


And after finishing grueling 41 days at Enewetak Atoll, we finally head back to Kwajalein home base...

[Jan K]

It did not take long and we were loading up the little ship again for
another mission to yet another atoll. This one, although a small and
remote like most of the Marshallese atoll, is known all over the world,
even if most people probably could not point its location on the globe.
BIKINI.

Embedded in modern man's conscience, after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the
mushroom cloud rising from Bikini lagoon symbolizes the atomic bomb more
then any other photographs of nuclear explosions taken before or after
this Baker shot.

But it was this nuclear test on the same atoll, which created the most
suffering for the population of the northern Marshall Islands.
The Bravo shot.


Other test followed, but by now the more precautions were taken and closer
attention was paid to the weather patterns...

This was first mission for the Liktanur II where we had to land heavy machinery
on the island without a benefit of tying up to a land based dock. Many have
doubted that our design of landing pontoons will work, even bets were placed
that the whole thing will sing when we load the bulldozer on top and push the
pontoons towards the land with our "puny" 17' Boston Whaler...

We had two groups of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory scientists aboard,
the "farmers" and " marines".

The last time they moved native population off Bikini, lot of equipment was
left behind, rusting monuments to modern civilization ...

I am sure the venerable World Heritage Committee did not mean to preserve THIS :

[Jan K]

And time for another medical mission, load the two modified containers aboard,
resupply the freezers and pantry for yet another journey through the northern
islands.

We not only bring free medical help, but also gift food. At the time I found it
difficult to understand that we had to almost bribe people to come and get medical
care. For free. As the time past, I started to see that other forces were involved here.
The belief that they are being used as "guinea pigs" by the U.S.Government was very
strong especially among the Rongelap population. Their lawyers were also probably
behind some of this, whatever reason, I thought that refusing medical help was not
the most reasonable tactic... Fortunately, as a ship's crew, we were not involved in
the politics of it and managed maintain good relationship with the locals.

I noticed that some seabirds were kept as pets..

At free time, we explored the lagoon floor around our anchorage.


At Utirik Atoll, we ventured out onto the reef drop-off. In those days sharks were
viewed as rather dangerous creatures ...

[Jan K]

This guy was studying the Grey Reef Shark behavior at Enewetak Atoll when the
attack occurred. He thought it was a territorial thing with the shark. Well, it sure made
an impression on me
The underwater picture is not an attack, we caught this shark and it is hooked, so its
swimming range is limited ..

[Jan K]

This time they added another atoll, not because it was affected by the
fallout, but some of the people moved there and needed to be transported
to Kwajalein. Rich in World War II history, I was looking forward to see it.

Somewhere, somehow there was failure in communications. They did not
expect us to show up and no directions were given to who and when should be
medivaced. And frequent rain squalls made exploration difficult.

[Jan K]

To keep the chronological line . the next trip was not much to write about,
maybe because the bottom sampling became a routine now for us. Oh, yes,
we were hunting for grasshoppers, they needed to take them back to
California and study them for contamination by Cesium and other nasty remnants
from nuclear testing left in the soil. Apparently, the insect accumulates that
in their bodies and this is helpful in determining the status of contamination of
different islands in the atoll chain..

And after this Safari, I flew to California to help sail another Lady Lee
across the pond to Hawaii. Ironically, the winds that summer were almost
non existent at times and the motor part of the motorsailer became our
very handy ..

Some boats in the Transpac race were running out of food, planning on nine/ten day
crossing and starting engines is not an option in that race..

Reading lot of books. This trip was not much of stuff memories are made of ..

[Jan K]

Back to the Marshall Islands, mission to support terrestrial studies at Bikini


On this trip, we had little bit more time to dive. And of course the Bikini Atoll
has something to offer which is not found anywhere else. Real aircraft carrier with
ammunition, airplanes and all that within scuba limits. USS SARATOGA.

First little bit of history:



Unfortunately we had only 17' Boston Whaler without a depth sounder to our disposal,
only a rough idea where the target fleet was anchored, but off we went to search out Sara.

Amazingly, since the target ships were fully armed and fueled, there was still bunker oil
leaking from the aircraft carrier and as we followed the oil slick to its source, we could make
up the superstructure below the surface !

Eagerly, we dropped anchor and rolled overboard. WOW. We found Sara!

It is a HUGE wreck. These photos I took on Saratoga cover are not from one dive. We returned many
times in next couple years, diving on single tank with no chamber nowhere even remotely close, we
had to be careful. This dive nowdays is considered almost a tech dive..

The superstructure of course is quite shallow, but since the deck is in 90 feet and lot of the
"neat stuff is deeper, there was not much time to spend on photography.

But then the Nikonos held only 36 exposure film. :(


Sorry if this is little too much of the same stuff, but Saratoga is the best wreck
I ever dove, so I get carried away ..


I wish I had a better camera rig, there was so much to take pictures of

Copy of drawing of the wreck by the U.S. Park Service



There was a diving operation at Bikini for many years, long after we departed the islands.
They had chamber and much better equipment. But the Marshall Islands airline became
too unreliable, they shut down the operation, at least to my knowledge.

[oldsalt]

Jan: Thank you. Your history of the Saratoga is especially appropriate as today (January 18th) is considered by many the birthday of naval aviation. Eugene Ely landed his Curtiss biplane on the USS Pennsylvania on January 18, 1911 for the first shipboard landing.
Curt

[airsix]

Sorry if this is little too much of the same stuff, but Saratoga is the best wreck
I ever dove, so I get carried away ..

Too much? No. Not too much. You are doing great. Please continue.

[Jan K]

Monitoring the population affected by the fallout requires the use of
sophisticated equipment.

The background radiation is too small to be
measured with Geiger counters, so we brought along a contraption
lined with lead bricks to shield the person from any of the surrounding
naturally existing radiation ..

There were automatic air sampler stations on Rongelap and Utirik powered
by batteries charged by windmills, but we brought along windmill fixer-upper
to work on them, I guess they did not really worked too well... We threw nice
parties on this trip, since the workload was not as heavy as on normal medical
mission.

Of course, movie nights were most popular with the kids ..

[Jan K]

And the time arrived to take doctors to the islands again. This time we mounted
a dental chair into one of the trailers.

First stop at Rongelap Atoll.

Dental work was the most welcome addition to the medical mission, the dentist was one
busy guy the whole trip ...


Too bad that the waters near the beach were murky and the manta pictures
did not come out too well. But it was fun to swim with the large fish ...

[Jan K]

It sure took long time, but finally, I manage to starts exploring some of the World War II
wreck in Kwajalein Lagoon, not so far from the Echo pier where we docked the Liktanur II.
Maybe it was because I lacked a dive buddy. When Keith arrived to become the new skipper,
my prayers were answered. Although much older, he joined me enthusiastically, of course,
first he had to take a scuba course first. Fortunately there was an instructor on Kwajalein
and Keith became my best buddy, above and below the ocean .. The wreck of AKIBASAN MARU
was our first wreck, and Keith's first deep dive. So on October 12, 1979 the explorations
commenced...

We were just late comers to the wreck diving here, hordes of divers before us made sure
that all the souvenirs were removed long before we arrived. Scuba was introduced to Kwaj
in 1965 and by the time we descended to the relics of the WWII - only what was "not bolted down"
remained :(

My Nikonos camera and one very small strobe was not a match for the size of the wreck.
Especially in the depth, where available light was scarce...


The 500 pound unexploded bomb was later removed by Navy divers, I learned many years later.
In our time on Kwaj, it was always a point of interest.

I wish I paid more attention to critters then, but unfortunately, I had to grow older before
I realized that there is so much to see in the world of small living subjects.

Yes, Keith was my dive buddy ...

More wrecks yet to be visited ...

[Jan K]

Back on the science circuit, sampling water near the Runit Dome where most of the
contaminated soil and debris is buried. Celebrating my birthday very close to Ground Zero

Since none of the scientist aboard are divers, we helped up with the underwater installation
and sample collection.

Curious remoras swim around the collecting site. No, they did not glow in the dark

[Jan K]

At Enewetak we unload the marine science guys and load up the terrestrial scientists and
head east to Bikini Atoll.

The pigs left behind after the last evacuation of the Bikinians went wild and used the rain water
collecting pool as place to wallow in, destroying it in the precess. After hopefully hunting them
finally down, at least on Enyu Island, we put in a new liner to keep the precious fresh water in.

The palm trees on Bikini are different from trees on rest of the Marshall Islands where they tower
over the landscape. They are special low trunk trees, so it doesn't require climbers to
collect the nuts. The downside is that the Morning glory tends to climb all over the trees
and probably require more ground maintenance. (Just my opinion). After all, the Morning Glory
completely covered up the D6 bulldozer left in the palm grove years ago. We had to really search
till we found it and mechanic could work on it...

Coconuts are very important part of Marshallese life, not only food, but also source of cash
when turned into copra for export.

Exploring the shallows along the lagoon shores often provides us with some piece of
wreckage, since Bikini was once very busy place and lots of equipment was left to rust
away providing now silent shelter for sealife...


This was the last trip of 1979. And busy one it was ...

[Jan K]

Taking the opportunity of having some World War II wrecks close to our home base,
my buddy Keith and I continued our explorations in Kwajalein lagoon ...

[Jan K]

Heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen survived two nuclear blasts at Bikini test grounds, was towed to Kwajalein where it sunk, much to delight to future scuba divers. Too bad that it capsized after hitting a reef, so much of the structure is buried beneath the inverted hull. When I got to dive the sunken warship, it was already forbidden to do any penetration diving on Eugen as few divers died there and the local military command was not too keen in adding to the casualties. So unfortunately, I don't have nothing to show from inside the wreck. But it is a great wreck to dive on because its history is well documented and there is
lot of historical photographs to add to the my underwater photos.
First, little bit of history:

After it was awarded to the United States as a war price, mixed German and American crew sailed the Prinz Eugen across the
Atlantic, then through the Panama Canal to the west coast.

It then continued across the Pacific to the Pacific Proving Ground and joined the target fleet in the Bikini Atoll lagoon.




Fortunately it sunk in shallow waters and so making it accessible to scuba diving

Unlike the other nearby Japanese merchant ships sunk in Kwajalein lagoon, this one has real guns ! Again, too bad that they are buried beneath the hull.








Hard to believe, but I was not much of a critterwatcher then :(
Now I wish I paid more attention to the marine life instead being fascinated by piles of rusty metal...


The stern area made for a nice safety stop ...

Nice big prop to hold onto


The third prop was already gone back to Germany when we arrived on Kwajalein.

I wish I could go back and dive it again, with little better camera gear, but it will not happen, so
here I have to enjoy the memories captured on slide film which is now showing signs of deterioration.
The wreck was still leaking bunker oil ... Note the black little bubbles rising among the coral growing on the hull ..

Resting place of the Prinz Eugen ...

[oldsalt]

Jan: Amazing. My first cruise in the Navy was on a WWII heavy cruiser similar to the Prinz Eugene. Unlike you, I never carried a camera, nor sketchbook, nor kept a journal. I really appreciate your remembrances.
Thanks - Curt

[Jan K]

Back into the Kwajalein Lagoon. During the World War II there was a Japanese seaplane base on Ebeye Island and
couple of the seaplanes, or what is left of them, were sunk off the island's shore.

[Jan K]

And yet another Japanese merchant ship sunk during the WWII.




and something more modern on different atoll.

[Jan K]

For you who still follow this rather long and rambling thread
It was time to get the good ol' boat to the dry dock, the closest one happens
to be in Guam...





After the Liktanur II got new bottom paint, I said goodbye to the crew and flew back
to the States to become part of another chapter in our company growth.
In the bayous of Louisiana we found a fleet of supply boats which lost their usefulness
and were rundown after years of hard work in the offshore oil field, carrying drilling mud
and drilling pipe to the platforms. It would discourage most of people, but we decided to
roll the dice and see if we can make it work - thus Egabrag II is born...