USS Mystic (DSRV-1)
Following the loss of USS Thresher and USS Scorpion in the 1960s, the US Navy realized they had no realistic way to rescue submarine crew from sunken vessels. In the 1930s, most of the crew of the USS Squalus had been rescued by divers, but that was in relatively shallow water. Nuclear-powered submarines could dive much deeper, to depths divers could not reach. With this in mind, the Navy issued a requirement for a deep submergence rescue vessel (DSRV) in 1965. Lockheed won the contract in 1967, which culminated in the construction of the Mystic-class; two DSRVs, USS Mystic and USS Avalon, were constructed in 1970 and 1971 respectively.
The concept behind the DSRV was that they be small enough to be air transportable (in a USAF C-141 or C-5), but big enough to rescue 24 people at a time. The Mystic or the Avalon would be flown rapidly to the nearest naval base, then carried aboard a mother ship or submarine; several Navy attack submarines were fitted with special collars to allow them to carry the Mystic-class. Once at the site of a sunken submarine, the Mystic would then deploy to the submarine, attach to an outer hatch, and take aboard survivors. The Mystic itself carried a four-man crew, including two to operate the boat and two rescue personnel--specialized divers or corpsmen.
Undoubtedly to the relief of their crews, neither the Mystic nor the Avalon were ever called upon to rescue a submarine crew; the Scorpion was the last US Navy submarine to be lost to date. The Mystic-class was replaced by the remote-controlled Submarine Rescue Diving Recompression System (SRDRS), and so both the Mystic and Avalon were retired in 2008. Both are preserved in museums.
I was surprised to see the Mystic at the Naval Undersea Museum at Keyport, Washington in 2018. I saw it in both movies it was featured in (Gray Lady Down and The Hunt for Red October), but never thought I would see the real thing! It is on display outside the museum, on its transportation dolly, showing the wear and tear of a long naval career.
USS Mystic (DSRV-1)
Following the loss of USS Thresher and USS Scorpion in the 1960s, the US Navy realized they had no realistic way to rescue submarine crew from sunken vessels. In the 1930s, most of the crew of the USS Squalus had been rescued by divers, but that was in relatively shallow water. Nuclear-powered submarines could dive much deeper, to depths divers could not reach. With this in mind, the Navy issued a requirement for a deep submergence rescue vessel (DSRV) in 1965. Lockheed won the contract in 1967, which culminated in the construction of the Mystic-class; two DSRVs, USS Mystic and USS Avalon, were constructed in 1970 and 1971 respectively.
The concept behind the DSRV was that they be small enough to be air transportable (in a USAF C-141 or C-5), but big enough to rescue 24 people at a time. The Mystic or the Avalon would be flown rapidly to the nearest naval base, then carried aboard a mother ship or submarine; several Navy attack submarines were fitted with special collars to allow them to carry the Mystic-class. Once at the site of a sunken submarine, the Mystic would then deploy to the submarine, attach to an outer hatch, and take aboard survivors. The Mystic itself carried a four-man crew, including two to operate the boat and two rescue personnel--specialized divers or corpsmen.
Undoubtedly to the relief of their crews, neither the Mystic nor the Avalon were ever called upon to rescue a submarine crew; the Scorpion was the last US Navy submarine to be lost to date. The Mystic-class was replaced by the remote-controlled Submarine Rescue Diving Recompression System (SRDRS), and so both the Mystic and Avalon were retired in 2008. Both are preserved in museums.
I was surprised to see the Mystic at the Naval Undersea Museum at Keyport, Washington in 2018. I saw it in both movies it was featured in (Gray Lady Down and The Hunt for Red October), but never thought I would see the real thing! It is on display outside the museum, on its transportation dolly, showing the wear and tear of a long naval career.