K-129 Project Jennifer - Are these photos of the "claw"?

[tom dougherty]

Just came across this website, primarily about the USS Halibut. It does mention the Glomar Explorer and the effort to recover the K-129 Golf submarine in 1974. Roughly 1/2 down the page are some shots (the page author specifically says, "Don't ask...") that appear to show the grasping claw "Clementine". There are 3 or 4 very grainy shots that appear to be from a 16mm film (at least they look that way to me).
Thoughts? Comments? As many of you know, this is an interest of mine, and I've written about it in the pages of the SCR....

Halibut Page with Glomar Explorer

[gerwalk]

Very interesting, one of the

Very interesting, one of the photos even show a "Clementine" sign on a beam or tube. The photos are too small and there are no good scale references but to me the structure looks a little bit weak. What do you think the white "hive-shaped" thing in the last photo is?

[tom dougherty]

Very interesting, one of the

Very interesting, one of the photos even show a "Clementine" sign on a beam or tube. The photos are too small and there are no good scale references but to me the structure looks a little bit weak. What do you think the white "hive-shaped" thing in the last photo is?

The white hive-shaped piece is easy; it has been printed before in books. It's a joint in the pipe lift system. The 60 ft long pipes were literally screwed together, and you are looking at one of the screw joints. It was coated with a white sealant manually prior to joining it to the preceeding pipe piece. There are two photos of the joints in Collier & Varner's book "A Matter of Risk".

I agree these photos are just small enough and grainy to be tantalizing. Looks to me as if they were printed off a film. Clementine was painted yellow, but I also agree that the structure depicted doesn't look that sturdy, but without some scaling, that's impossible to really determine. Supposedly, Clementine's main framework was one huge, single forging for strength, and the largest made to that point. As you mentioned, without reference points, it's tough to say what we are looking at in the photos.

It does mean that (not surprisingly) that extensive photo-documentation of the entire operation exists. One wonders why, some 32 years after the lifting and almost 38 years after the Golf K-129 sank why this material is still held so closely.



Edited By Tom Dougherty on 1136312635

[gerwalk]

Thanks,
once again the lack of

Thanks,
once again the lack of a scale reference cheated my eyes. I thought that the white thing was bigger! Now I can see the threaded part on the male connector. It is some kind of drill pipe threaded connection! I should have known this! Shame on me! (in my defense I should say that I work mainly with oil and gas tubing connections and my knowledge on drill pipes is limited)

BTW: this is the kind of pipes you would expect to find onboard the Glomar Explorer and Glomar Challenger since they are drilling ships...

[gerwalk]

After analysing the photo with

After analysing the photo with a friend who knows the subject a little bit more we think that is some sort of the so called "fishing tools". These tools are used in the drilling industry to "fish" and raise pipes. which is exactly what the Glomar Explorer was doing. The conicity of the thread and the lack of some characteristics of the standard drill pipes indicate this. The upper part shape can also indicate that this could be the raising tool or the last connection of the system.

[tom dougherty]

Yes, that is exactly what

Yes, that is exactly what they are. The entire operation is described in both "A Matter of Risk" as well as in Burleson's "Project Jennifer " During descent of the "capture" device (Clementine) to the ocean floor, the individual pipes were brought up a conveyor system from a hold in the Glomar Explorer to the top of the central derrick. Sequentially, the lower part of the new pipe was screwed into the preceeding pipe in the "string". The bulge above the pipe was the gripping point for massive hydraulic "jaws" that clamped onto the pipe to lower it. While a new pipe was being fitted, the jaws were clamped onto the preceeding piece of lift pipe at its bulge. When the new pipe had been fitted, a "parking brake" was set, the jaws removed and lifted up to engage the new pipe joint at the bulge. The brake was released and the hydraulic jaws slowly lowered the pipe string another 60 feet, setting the stage for another new piece of pipe to be fitted. Each cycle took about 10 minutes, hence the string descended by 60 feet X 6 cycles or 360 feet per hour. The pipe had a central channel and this was pressurized with water, which acted as the "hydraulic fluid" to control the gripping arms of the lifting device (Clementine). The process was reversed to lift Clementine (and anything in her grip), with each 60 foot pipe section lifted and then unscrewed from the pipe string. The trip down to 16,000+ft & back up took a couple of days each way.



Edited By Tom Dougherty on 1136322624

[gerwalk]

Seems like I should read

Seems like I should read those books!

It's a fascinating topic. BTW: did the moon pool had a roof? Or the rig on top of it was a enough cover? In some photos I've seen there was no roof but those photos are post Jennifer.