Deep-diving Mystic restored at Navy's undersea museum in Keyport
Josh FarleyKEYPORT — The Mystic, a deep-diving submersible built to save submariners and withstand the pressures of the deep ocean, has been restored to weather the elements of the Pacific Northwest.
The rescue vessel, which came to the Naval Undersea Museum at Keyport in retirement in 2014, had begun to deteriorate in the parking lot where it is displayed. It spent its first six years after its deactivation in San Diego, where it was weathered by the sun, followed by the wind, rain and wildfire smoke of the Pacific Northwest for another six. The hull was degraded and its exterior fiberglass was damaged.
"In the ideal world we'd be able to bring them indoors," Beth Sanders, collections manager for the museum, said of its outdoor artifacts. "But we have to deal with the reality that some vessels are too large to fit in the building."
Its hull was restored and painted, thanks to $180,000 in funding from the Naval History and Heritage Command. It's not exactly the same color scheme the vessel had in its prime, but the museum wanted to ensure it could last as an exhibit for as long as possible. The museum got help from historic aircraft restoration specialists from the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida.
"We had to think about how we're going to preserve the vehicle long term," she said.
The restoration work — which included sanding down the degraded fiberglass, resurfacing the hull and finally priming and painting the exterior — was completed in the fall and early winter by Brownsville-based Infocus Marine.
"They did a really fantastic job," Sanders said.
Mystic was developed in the wake of the loss of USS Thresher in April 1963, in which 129 sailors and civilians died off the coast of Massachusetts. The Navy developed the Deep Submarine Rescue System, or DSRV, as a way to provide a rescue vehicle in an emergency for submerged submarines. Two such vehicles, Mystic DSRV-1 and Avalon DSRV-2, were built.
Mystic and its counterpart could dive up to 5,000 feet and was on watch to help any submarine in distress in the world, thanks to international agreements. Mystic was based in San Diego from 1977 until its deactivation in 2008.
“DSRVs Mystic and Avalon served as the U.S. Navy’s primary submarine rescue system for almost 40 years, able to deploy anywhere in the world to rescue survivors of a submarine accident," said museum curator Mary Ryan. "They were also two of the most technologically advanced submersibles in the world and carried out research and object recovery missions in addition to providing rescue capability.”
Mystic and Avalon, it turns out, were never needed for such an emergency. While Mystic came to Keyport, Avalon was saved for the Morro Bay Maritime Museum in California. The vessels have been replaced by a next-generation submersible known as the Submarine Rescue Diving Recompression System, still based at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego.
The Keyport museum's parking lot is also home to Trieste II, which could dive up to 20,000 feet during its long career, as well as the submarine sail of the former fast-attack submarine the USS Sturgeon.
The museum hopes to one day bring its outdoor vessels undercover. The museum's foundation is looking for ways to do that, including funding an atrium, Sanders said.
More:New documents show doomed USS Thresher submarine lacked training, preparations
While the museum remains closed because of the pandemic, there's access at the parking lot at 1 Garnett Way in Keyport to view the Mystic.
Josh Farley is a reporter covering the military for the Kitsap Sun. He can be reached at 360-792-9227, josh.farley@kitsapsun.com or on Twitter at @joshfarley.
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