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Mack Boynton

Immediately after Pearl Harbor there was a big demand for divers for the enormous salvage jobs ahead. I was on the Asiatic Station and received TAD orders to Pearl Harbor where I joined other divers from the Fleet. We soon discovered that there was a definite shortage of diving equipment. We found that the standard gas mask would work just fine if you sealed the inhale unit, removed the canister and made a fitting for the 1/4 inch hose. We obtained some World War One cartridge belts from the Army , filled with lead which made excellent weight belts and then we were we were ready for business.

The Navy desperately wanted the screws from the sunken battleships. The big problem we encountered was how to break the screw loose from the shaft. With some experimenting we found the secret was to back off the dunce cap, but leave it on the shaft which we did with the help of a crane and a spanner from the shipyard. Then, the formula we worked out for the screw was: one turn of primer cord for every inch of shaft diameter. The primer cord was wrapped around the shaft right up  against the dunce cap. A sling was secured around the screw and the crane hoisted it to the surface. BUSHIPS was very impressed with our ingenuity.

Many years later and in between UDT tours, I was Diving and Salvage Officer for the Eleventh Naval District. My divers, salvage equipment, submarine rescue bell, diving school and boats were at the Ship Repair Facility at Naval Station, San Diego. Joe Staley and Harold Nething, also between UDT tours, were with me at the diving facility.

One day I received a call to inspect the screw on an LST that was scheduled to depart for WESTPAC the following day. Divers found one of the blades bent on the port screw and I sent  our regular divers report.        

Everything went high order with ComPhibPac. There were no dry-docking facilities available and there would be none for a week. COM 11 and Ship Repair Facilities were going "round and round." I contacted the captain of the Ship Repair Facility and informed him that if I could have the LST for one day, I would change screws. Normally this is a big job for the repair facility.  Blocks have to be set in the dry docks, the dock pumped dry, going through many inspections, etc. All the facility workmen were civilians and they considered it a fairly difficult task to change screws in dry dock.

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When the captain asked me how we were going to get the screw off, I replied, "We're going to blow it off." I thought he was going to have a heart attack.  He then conferred with ComPhibPac who also thought it was insane. About that time a big sedan with a three star flag pulled up at the diving barge and Admiral Yeager stepped out. We talked it over and he said, "Go for it!" 

The LST was moved over to Pier Two beside the diving barge and we commenced work early in the morning. Divers backed off the dunce cap and approximately four turns of primer cord were placed just forward of the screw. We also had a thick, brown, gummy material that we packed over the primer cord to deflect some of the force of the shot away from the strut-bearing and hull. "Divers up. FIRE IN THE HOLE," and wham! The screw was backed off right against the dunce cap forward of the screw. Evidently, the CPO Quarters were in the stern section of the LST and when the shot was fired, the Chiefs came scrambling topside. I suspect they found Chiefs they didn't even know they had. The rest of the operations went smoothly and the LST departed on schedule. The next day I received a call from Admiral "Red" Yeager's Aide who invited me to lunch with the Admiral at NAB, Coronado. During lunch he advised me that ComPhibPac had saved thousands of dollars in repair money, but most importantly, was not tying up the ship in Repair Facility. I could see his thinking of making the operation standard procedure. I talked this over with the captain of the Ship Repair and his Department Heads. When this information got to his civilian superintendents, who were union, they  became visibly upset that Navy personnel were involved in that activity. I was ordered to cease and desist.