Willard Franklyn Searle
Encyclopedia
Capt. Willard Franklyn "Bill" Searle Jr. USN (ret.)
(January 17, 1924 – March 31, 2009) was an American
ocean engineer
who was principally responsible for developing equipment and many of the current techniques utilized in United States Navy diving and salvage
operations.
. He graduated from Bexley High School in 1941 and received the schools Distinguished Alumni Award in 1992. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
occurred during his first year at Washington and Lee University
prompting a transfer to the US Naval Academy
where he graduated in 1945 (Class of 1946). In 1945, Searle marched with his Naval Academy Company to accompany the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt
from Union Station to the White House
. Searle then went on to graduate work in naval architecture
at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
attaining a master's degree in 1952. Later that year, Searle was assigned as an Engineering Duty Officer in salvage
, diving and ocean engineering.
Searle's first diving experience came in 1946 while serving in the destroyer USS Meredith (DD-890)
before transferring to the USS Weiss (APD-135)
where he was introduced to Underwater Demolition Team
techniques. Searle then trained at the Naval School of Diving and Salvage at the Washington Navy Yard
, where he became a deep-sea helium-oxygen
diving officer. He was then assigned to two tours at the Charleston Naval Shipyard
.
From 1957 to 1959, he was actively evaluating equipment ranging from diving watch
es to closed circuit breathing apparatus
design at the Navy Experimental Diving Unit.
Searle then served two years as Chief Engineer on the USS Providence (CLG-6)
before attending the Command and Staff Course of the Naval War College
in Newport, Rhode Island
in 1961. Following two years as Pacific Fleet Salvage Officer in Pearl Harbor, Searle returned to Washington as the Navy Supervisor of Salvage. He served in this role from 1964 to 1969, where he established the Navy Directorate of Ocean Engineering.
As the Navy Supervisor of Salvage, Searle was responsible for the planning and buildup for the salvage and harbor clearance forces in South Vietnam, as well as many major salvage and deep ocean search and recovery projects such as the location of the sunken nuclear submarine USS Scorpion (SSN-589)
. He was also responsible for coordinating the recovery of the H-Bomb lost off Palomares, Spain
as a part of Technical Advisory Group (TAG), Chaired by RADM L. V. Swanson. Speaking on the H-bomb recovery, Searle noted that "When you think about what we did, it had never been done before".
In 1968, Searle co-authored the first National Oil and Hazardous Materials Pollution Contingency Plan.
Searle participated in SEALAB III
, working with Dr. John Piña Craven
, the U.S. Navy's head of the Deep Submergence Systems Project.
The Legion of Merit
was awarded to Searle on 24 February 1970 by RADM Maurice H. Rindskopf with a citation that states "... CAPT Searle contributed more than any other individual since World War II to the high state of readiness which now exists in the Navy’s salvage and diving organization.".
s from waterways during United Nations
operations in Bangladesh
.
The Searle Consortium changed its name to MacKinnon-Searle Consortium in 1990 when Rear Admiral Malcolm MacKinnon USN (ret) joined the team. Searle also remained an active member of the marine salvage community by serving as an adviser on several committees.
Searle was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
, the American Society of Naval Engineers
, the Marine Technology Society, the Royal Institution of Naval Architects
, and the Society of American Military Engineers
. Searle helped found the American Institute of Nautical Archaeology. He also chaired the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) Committee to develop a standard addressing pressure vessels for human occupancy.
Searle became a member of the National Academy of Engineering
in 1982.
The Harold E. Saunders
Award was presented to Searle by the American Society of Naval Engineers in 1985.
Searle was awarded the 1986 Lockheed Martin
Award for Ocean Science and Engineering by the Marine Technology Society.
In 1988, Special Recognition was awarded by the Undersea Medical Society
for his continuing support of physiological and medical research in undersea development.
The potential for release of PCB
in the salvage of the barge Irving Whale
prompted the Canadian Government to contact Searle for evaluation of the aft lift cradle in 1996.
of complications from Parkinson's disease
. Searle's two marriages both ended in divorce. His survivors include three daughters from his first marriage, two stepdaughters from his second marriage, eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Searle is scheduled for interment with full military honors
at Arlington National Cemetery
on August 10, 2009.
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
(January 17, 1924 – March 31, 2009) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ocean engineer
Ocean engineering
Ocean engineering is an ambiguously defined term that may refer to:*Oceanographic engineering, also called marine electronics engineering, concerned with the design of electronic devices for use in the marine environment, such as the remote sensing systems used by oceanographers*Offshore...
who was principally responsible for developing equipment and many of the current techniques utilized in United States Navy diving and salvage
United States Navy Diver
A Navy Diver refers to a member of the community of Unrestricted Line Officer Officers, Medical Corps Officers and enlisted personnel in the United States Navy who are qualified in underwater open/closed circuit breathing apparatus, deep sea type diving apparatus and saturation diving. Personnel...
operations.
Background
Searle was born 17 January 1924 in Columbus, OhioColumbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
. He graduated from Bexley High School in 1941 and received the schools Distinguished Alumni Award in 1992. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
occurred during his first year at Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States.The classical school from which Washington and Lee descended was established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, about north of its present location. In 1776 it was renamed Liberty Hall in a burst of...
prompting a transfer to the US Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
where he graduated in 1945 (Class of 1946). In 1945, Searle marched with his Naval Academy Company to accompany the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
from Union Station to the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
. Searle then went on to graduate work in naval architecture
Naval architecture
Naval architecture is an engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction, maintenance and operation of marine vessels and structures. Naval architecture involves basic and applied research, design, development, design evaluation and calculations during all stages of the life of a...
at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
attaining a master's degree in 1952. Later that year, Searle was assigned as an Engineering Duty Officer in salvage
Marine salvage
Marine salvage is the process of rescuing a ship, its cargo, or other property from peril. Salvage encompasses rescue towing, refloating a sunken or grounded vessel, or patching or repairing a ship...
, diving and ocean engineering.
Naval career
USS Meredith (DD-890)
USS Meredith , a , was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for Jonathan Meredith USMC, a sergeant who saved the life of Lieutenant John Trippe of Vixen, during the Barbary Wars. She was laid down at the Consolidated Steel Corporation at Orange, Texas, on 27 January 1945; launched...
before transferring to the USS Weiss (APD-135)
USS Weiss (APD-135)
The second USS Weiss was a , the second ship of the United States Navy to be assigned the name Weiss, after Marine sergeant Carl W...
where he was introduced to Underwater Demolition Team
Underwater Demolition Team
The Underwater Demolition Teams were an elite special-purpose force established by the United States Navy during World War II. They also served during the Korean War and the Vietnam War...
techniques. Searle then trained at the Naval School of Diving and Salvage at the Washington Navy Yard
Washington Navy Yard
The Washington Navy Yard is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy...
, where he became a deep-sea helium-oxygen
Heliox
Heliox is a breathing gas composed of a mixture of helium and oxygen .Heliox has been used medically since the 1930s, and although the medical community adopted it initially to alleviate symptoms of upper airway obstruction, its range of medical uses has since expanded greatly, mostly because of...
diving officer. He was then assigned to two tours at the Charleston Naval Shipyard
Charleston Naval Shipyard
Charleston Naval Shipyard was a U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility located along the west bank of the Cooper River, in North Charleston, South Carolina and part of Naval Base Charleston...
.
From 1957 to 1959, he was actively evaluating equipment ranging from diving watch
Diving watch
A diving watch is a watch designed for underwater diving that features, as a minimum, a water resistance greater than , the equivalent of . The typical diver's watch will have a water resistance of around , though modern technology allows the creation of diving watches that can go much deeper...
es to closed circuit breathing apparatus
Rebreather
A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycled exhaled gas. This recycling reduces the volume of breathing gas used, making a rebreather lighter and more compact than an open-circuit breathing set for the same duration in environments where...
design at the Navy Experimental Diving Unit.
Searle then served two years as Chief Engineer on the USS Providence (CLG-6)
USS Providence (CLG-6)
USS Providence , a Cleveland-class light cruiser was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named after the city of Providence, Rhode Island.-Construction and commissioning:...
before attending the Command and Staff Course of the Naval War College
Naval War College
The Naval War College is an education and research institution of the United States Navy that specializes in developing ideas for naval warfare and passing them along to officers of the Navy. The college is located on the grounds of Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island...
in Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
in 1961. Following two years as Pacific Fleet Salvage Officer in Pearl Harbor, Searle returned to Washington as the Navy Supervisor of Salvage. He served in this role from 1964 to 1969, where he established the Navy Directorate of Ocean Engineering.
As the Navy Supervisor of Salvage, Searle was responsible for the planning and buildup for the salvage and harbor clearance forces in South Vietnam, as well as many major salvage and deep ocean search and recovery projects such as the location of the sunken nuclear submarine USS Scorpion (SSN-589)
USS Scorpion (SSN-589)
USS Scorpion was a Skipjack-class nuclear submarine of the United States Navy, and the sixth ship of the U.S. Navy to carry that name. Scorpion was declared lost on 5 June 1968 with 99 crew members dying in the incident. The USS Scorpion is one of two nuclear submarines the U.S...
. He was also responsible for coordinating the recovery of the H-Bomb lost off Palomares, Spain
Palomares, Spain
The 1966 Palomares B-52 crash or Palomares incident occurred on January 17, 1966, when a B-52G bomber of the USAF Strategic Air Command collided with a KC-135 tanker during mid-air refuelling at over the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Spain. The KC-135 was completely destroyed when its fuel...
as a part of Technical Advisory Group (TAG), Chaired by RADM L. V. Swanson. Speaking on the H-bomb recovery, Searle noted that "When you think about what we did, it had never been done before".
In 1968, Searle co-authored the first National Oil and Hazardous Materials Pollution Contingency Plan.
SEALAB (United States Navy)
SEALAB I, II, and III were experimental underwater habitats developed by the United States Navy to prove the viability of saturation diving and humans living in isolation for extended periods of time...
, working with Dr. John Piña Craven
John Piña Craven
John Piña Craven is known for his involvement with Bayesian search theory and the recovery of lost objects at sea....
, the U.S. Navy's head of the Deep Submergence Systems Project.
The Legion of Merit
Legion of Merit
The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
was awarded to Searle on 24 February 1970 by RADM Maurice H. Rindskopf with a citation that states "... CAPT Searle contributed more than any other individual since World War II to the high state of readiness which now exists in the Navy’s salvage and diving organization.".
Civilian career
Following his retirement in 1970, Searle founded a consulting firm, Searle Consortium Int. In 1971, Searle served as a special consultant in charge of removing shipwreckShipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
s from waterways during United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
operations in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
.
The Searle Consortium changed its name to MacKinnon-Searle Consortium in 1990 when Rear Admiral Malcolm MacKinnon USN (ret) joined the team. Searle also remained an active member of the marine salvage community by serving as an adviser on several committees.
Searle was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a professional body, specifically an engineering society, focused on mechanical engineering....
, the American Society of Naval Engineers
American Society of Naval Engineers
The American Society of Naval Engineers is a professional association of American naval engineers. Naval Engineering includes all arts and sciences as applied in the research, development, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and logistic support of surface and subsurface ships and...
, the Marine Technology Society, the Royal Institution of Naval Architects
Royal Institution of Naval Architects
The Royal Institution of Naval Architects is an international organisation representing naval architects. It is an international professional institution whose members are involved world-wide at all levels in the design, construction, repair and operation of ships, boats and marine...
, and the Society of American Military Engineers
Society of American Military Engineers
The Society of American Military Engineers is an organization for military engineering professionals. According to its , SAME was formed “in the interest of National Defense… bringing together all phases of U.S...
. Searle helped found the American Institute of Nautical Archaeology. He also chaired the American National Standards Institute
American National Standards Institute
The American National Standards Institute is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organization also coordinates U.S. standards with international...
(ANSI) Committee to develop a standard addressing pressure vessels for human occupancy.
Searle became a member of the National Academy of Engineering
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering is a government-created non-profit institution in the United States, that was founded in 1964 under the same congressional act that led to the founding of the National Academy of Sciences...
in 1982.
The Harold E. Saunders
Harold E. Saunders
Harold Eugene Saunders , was the leading hydrodynamicist in the United States in the mid 20th century. He is best known for the 3-volume book, Hydrodynamics in Ship Design.-Naval career and design work:...
Award was presented to Searle by the American Society of Naval Engineers in 1985.
Searle was awarded the 1986 Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....
Award for Ocean Science and Engineering by the Marine Technology Society.
In 1988, Special Recognition was awarded by the Undersea Medical Society
Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society
The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society is the primary source of information for diving and hyperbaric medicine physiology worldwide.-History:The Undersea Medical Society grew from the close associations of a small group of scientists...
for his continuing support of physiological and medical research in undersea development.
The potential for release of PCB
Polychlorinated biphenyl
Polychlorinated biphenyls are a class of organic compounds with 2 to 10 chlorine atoms attached to biphenyl, which is a molecule composed of two benzene rings. The chemical formula for PCBs is C12H10-xClx...
in the salvage of the barge Irving Whale
ATL 2701
The ATL 2701 is a Canadian general cargo barge owned by J.D. Irving Ltd. and operated by JDI subsidiary Atlantic Towing Limited.Formerly named Irving Whale, the barge underwent a refit in fall 1996 and was renamed to its present status in 1997....
prompted the Canadian Government to contact Searle for evaluation of the aft lift cradle in 1996.
Death
Searle died 31 March 2009 at his home in Alexandria, VirginiaAlexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
of complications from Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
. Searle's two marriages both ended in divorce. His survivors include three daughters from his first marriage, two stepdaughters from his second marriage, eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Searle is scheduled for interment with full military honors
Military funeral
A military funeral is a specially orchestrated funeral given by a country's military for a soldier, sailor, marine or airman who died in battle, a veteran, or other prominent military figures or heads of state. A military funeral may feature guards of honor, the firing of volley shots as a salute,...
at Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
on August 10, 2009.
External links
- Oral History Interviews taken by John T Mason, Jr. from 1971 to 1974
- Select publications from the Rubicon Research RepositoryRubicon FoundationRubicon Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization devoted to contributing to the interdependent dynamic between research, exploration, science and education. The foundation, started in 2002, is located in Durham, North Carolina and is primarily supported by donations and grants. Funding has...