Note: Only forum leaders may delete posts.
*HTML is ON *UBB Code is ON Smilies Legend
Smilies Legend
[b]Space Cover 509: USS W.S. Sims Challenger Recovery[/b] The space shuttle Challenger exploded at 11:39 a.m. on January 28, 1986 killing its crew. The events leading up to the tragedy are well documented but the search, rescue, and recovery efforts are not. The search effort would begin immediately and would close out on August 29, 1986, with the majority of effort taking place through April. Over the course of the recovery effort a total of thirty ships participated at some point of time – including US Navy, US Coast Guard, UTC SRB retrieval, commercial, and submersibles. In addition, multiple types of aircraft, planes and helicopters, also participated. The search went as far north as the North and South Carolina coast. Right after the explosion the Cape Leader began coordinating ships and aircraft to stay out of the area because of falling debris. After the range safety officer gave the all clear, ships and aircraft were vectored into the impact area to commence the search in the Atlantic Ocean. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Dallas, On-Scene Commander, and Cape Leader at the Cape comprised the hub for the operations. Usually, one of the on-scene C -130 aircraft was used each day to be in charge of aircraft assets involved in the search. Cover servicer Bob Boudwin was able to confirm many of the ships involved and was able to provide collectors with covers for the recovery effort – these will usually have his "recovery fleet" RSC added to the front of the cover. In addition, Ross Smith has done a tremendous job of cataloging the ships involved in the effort and associated covers on his recovery ship web site expanding on the knowledge Boudwin began. Interestingly, years after all of this research was done, in roughly 2017, a "new" ship was added to the recovery list catalog – the USS W. S. Sims. In researching further, here are some "Sea Stories" from crewmembers at the time. EM4 Bobby Hall: [i]This was one of the sadest times I had in the navy. We was on our way back home when we was told that the space shuttle Challenger blew up in midair. We was one of many ships who was looking for any parts that was floating. I still have alot of pics of the stuff that our ship picked up. This is a day that is hard to forget just like 9-11. I also only had about 2 months left to go before I was getting out of the service.[/i] RMC Walter Carpus: [i]We had been down at the Andros Range [Bahamas], and things were just quiet and peaceful on our journey back to Mayport. I took the opportunity to tune in some music on an old (OLD) receiver. I found a real strong station coming out of Florida. It was within minutes then that I heard the tragic news of the explosion that took so many of the wonderful folks on the Challenger. I got a quick radio check with Cinclantflt [Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet] on the red phone and called the skipper up on the bridge with the sad news. He immediately called Cinclantflt and was assigned to kick it up to flank (as I remember it) and get to the scene to assist. We were the first ship on station, and, subsequent to some super efforts by our deck/air ops guys managed to only recover a deck full of destruction. There were a great many of the guys teary eyed, but worked their tails off nevertheless. I still cherish the beautiful award certificate we received for a truly wonderful effort. The ship was awarded the Coast Guard Meritorious Service Medal. Every time another shuttle goes up, I, as well as many of you I am sure, hope it never happens again.[/i] The covers shown are from the USS W.S. Sims, with the USS W.S. Sims ship cachet added on one of the first days of participation (February 3rd) and days in March (20th and 26th, with the 26th having wording about the Challenger search added to the cover). So while searching naval covers be on the lookout for the STS 51L recovery ships, they are still out there to be found...
[i]This was one of the sadest times I had in the navy. We was on our way back home when we was told that the space shuttle Challenger blew up in midair. We was one of many ships who was looking for any parts that was floating. I still have alot of pics of the stuff that our ship picked up. This is a day that is hard to forget just like 9-11. I also only had about 2 months left to go before I was getting out of the service.[/i]
[i]We had been down at the Andros Range [Bahamas], and things were just quiet and peaceful on our journey back to Mayport. I took the opportunity to tune in some music on an old (OLD) receiver. I found a real strong station coming out of Florida. It was within minutes then that I heard the tragic news of the explosion that took so many of the wonderful folks on the Challenger. I got a quick radio check with Cinclantflt [Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet] on the red phone and called the skipper up on the bridge with the sad news. He immediately called Cinclantflt and was assigned to kick it up to flank (as I remember it) and get to the scene to assist. We were the first ship on station, and, subsequent to some super efforts by our deck/air ops guys managed to only recover a deck full of destruction. There were a great many of the guys teary eyed, but worked their tails off nevertheless. I still cherish the beautiful award certificate we received for a truly wonderful effort. The ship was awarded the Coast Guard Meritorious Service Medal. Every time another shuttle goes up, I, as well as many of you I am sure, hope it never happens again.[/i]
Contact Us | The Source for Space History & Artifacts
Copyright 1999-2024 collectSPACE. All rights reserved.