USS Greenlet (ASR-10)

From: Dictionary of American Fighting Ships

Greenlet: Any of several grayish, plainly colored, sweet singing birds of the vireo family, found primarily in the eastern United States.

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Update: We finally got this site moved to a decent server host, so we will be updating it over the next few weeks. We also have a lot of new pictures to post - all pictures will be moved to a brand new photo gallery (which will also allow you to post your own pictures).

 

Myself (Webmaster - Warren Lauzon ETN2) and my brother (James "Pat" Lauzon EM2) served on the USS Greenlet for several years during the Vietnam era (1966-70). I also was stationed briefly on the USS Coucal (ASR-8) before re-transfer to the USS Greenlet. I left in mid-1969 and Pat left when it was decommissioned in 1970. Prior to that I was stationed on the USS Sperry (AS-12) for about 2 months awaiting transfer to the USS Coucal. Pat was on the Greenlet until it was decommissioned and turned over to the Turkish Navy.

Don't forget to check our USS Greenlet forum

"It has been many years, and things get fuzzy. You recall doing something.. but you don't recall where, or why, or exactly when.. or sometimes even what ship you were on. You begin to wonder, did I REALLY do that? Things that seemed important then are now trivial, and trivial things take on new meaning.." (Quote from a message on a webpage for submariners)

We have been collecting more information and history on the ship. This page is being totally revised and will eventually be moved to our main website. Information is still trickling in - we could use more, especially any "artifacts" from the ship, such as photos, newspaper clippings, or anything similar. The USS Greenlet earned quite a few awards, ribbons, and medals during it's service. If anyone has a list, or even a legible picture of the "ribbon plaque" that used to hang under the bridge, let us know. This site is a "work in progress". Right now we really don't have enough "stuff" to justify it's own site - and since the Greenlet only had 65 to 85 people on it, it is not like there are hordes of people trampling their way to get info on ASR's. So, at least for now, it will stay here as part of our company website.

If you have any information, pictures, anecdotes, or anything else please let us know by email.

We are looking for pictures (especially personal "non official" ones), POD's, menu's, or any other trivia you might have, and information of any type. Also, any ships patches, uniform "rockers" patches etc. or scans of those.

Somewhere stashed away we have some old personal log books from our 4 Westpac trips and tourist trips to Vietnam. We will be publishing some interesting and amusing passages from these if we can ever find them ;)

The current Executive Officer of the ship, now in the Turkish Navy with the name " TNS Tiko" from a couple years ago:

"Dear sirs,

I am a diving officer in the Turkish navy and currently the xo of TNS AKIN(EX-
USS GREENLET ASR-10).

I am trying to prepare a combined history document for Greenlet & Akn. As I
search the web I found your company profile with a special note regarding
Greenlet.

I would be very glad to have the e-mail address of any former member of
Greenlet in order to contact them on my project. The ship will be 60 years old in July of 2002.

Many regards from

Lt.(Dv) selcuk KORAY
XO,TNS AKIN selcukkoray@superonline.com

Lt. Selcuk held a 60th anniversary reunion in Turkey. We will be posting pictures and a write-up as soon as possible.

(ASR - 10: displacement. 2,040; l. 251'4"; b. 42'; dr. 14'10"; s. 15 k.; cpl. 102; a. 2 3", 8 20mm., 2 dct.; cl. Chanticleer)

Greenlet (ASR-10) was laid down by Moore Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Co., Oakland, Calif., 15 October 1941; launched 12 July 1942; sponsored by Mrs. B. P. Flood; and commissioned 29 May 1943, Comdr. F. W. Laing in command.

After shakedown, Greenlet conducted patrol and escort runs out of San Diego before sailing for Pearl Harbor 24 July. Constructed as a submarine rescue ship, she served at Pearl Harbor and at Midway for more than a year, making escort runs and conducting refresher training for patrol bound submarines. As the progress of the war advanced steadily across the Pacific, she sailed to Guam 21 December 1944 to carry invaluable submarine training closer to the patrol areas.

While at Midway and Guam, Greenlet helped train some 215 submarines among them such fighting boats as Tang, Tautog, Barb, Snook, Drum, and Rasher. Indirectly, she contributed to the sinking of 794 enemy ships, including a battleship and 6 aircraft carriers. Eleven of the submarines trained by Greenlet were lost during the war, but her charges sank more than 2,797,000 tons of Japanese military and merchant shipping.

As the bloody war in the Pacific drew to a close, Greenlet departed Guam for Japan 16 August 1945. She reached Sagami Wan, Honshu, 28 August; entered Tokyo Bay the following day and was present during the signing of Japanese surrender 2 September. After placing buoys over wrecks in the harbor and channel at Tokyo, she stripped and demilitarized Japanese miniature submarines based in Yokosuka harbor. On 1 November she escorted three Japanese fleet submarines to Sasebo and converted them for American crews. Departing Sasebo 11 December, she escorted former Japanese submarines I-14, I-400, and I-401 to Pearl Harbor, where she arrived via Guam and Eniwetok 6 January 1946.

After returning to San Francisco early in 1946, Greenlet spent the following 5 years operating primarily out of San Diego where she trained divers and serviced submarines. From September 1946 to May 1947 and from September 1948 to March 1949 she deployed to the Western Pacific. Operating from the coast of China to the Philippines, she trained and supported fleet submarines stationed in the Far East.

As result of Communist aggression in South Korea, Greenlet departed San Diego for the Far East 6 July 1950. During the next 6 months she operated out of Yokosuka while providing valuable services to the fighting submarine fleet. Sailing for Pearl Harbor 6 January 1951, she served there throughout the remainder of the Korean conflict and continued to provide assistance in the training of submarine crews.

Since the Korean Armistice in 1953, Greenlet has remained at Pearl Harbor, training divers and submariners, participating in readiness operations, and assisting in servicing and salvaging operations. On 29 May 1958 she unsuccessfully attempted to keep Sticklelback (SS-415) afloat rammed during exercises off Ohau, Hawaii.

Between 1963 and 1967 Greenlet made eight deployments to the Western Pacific. Operating from Japan and Okinawa to the Philippines and Australia, she rendered training and repair services to submarines, trained divers, and participated in mine recovery and submarine rescue and salvage exercises. During rescue training duty 6 January 1964, she sent her submarine rescue chamber to a depth of 942 feet off the coast of Japan. From the conflict in Korea to the conflict in Vietnam she helped keep the men and boats of the submarine service ready to meet the vast responsibilities in the tension filled Far East.

Into 1967 the vital task of "keeping the peace" presents a greater challenge than ever before. To meet this challenge and to preserve the peace, she remains on duty with the U.S. Pacific Submarine Fleet, filling a most useful and vital role for the security of the free world and for the forces of freedom in Southeast Asia...

The USS Greenlet was transferred to the Turkish Navy on 12 June, 1970, under the name "Tiko" (please see note above from the XO). Note: Official Navy records show the transfer date as 1973.

If anyone has any further information past this period, please let us know.
 

From Lt/DV Selcuk Koray, Turkish Navy Received 02/09/02 selcukkoray@superonline.com

Greenlet/Akin is still in active service as the only submarine rescue ship in the black sea and Eastern Mediterranean, home ported in Istanbul-Turkey.  TNS Akin has participated the SORBET ROYAL-2000 IN September 2000 a multinational NATO live submarine rescue exercise , and took several Italian submariners up from its PIRINI off the coast of MERSIN-TURKEY. Among the other participants were US DSRV MYSTIC, SSN DALLAS (MOSUB FOR MYSTIC), ITS ANTEO (SOPHISTICATED ITALIAN rescue ship with an ADS on board), ITS PIRINI and many other support ships.

Four Point Moor description (USS Sunbird site)

http://www.csp.navy.mil/othboats/415.htm
http://members.tripod.com/~breastroker/mckeansubhistory2.htm
http://www.ussicefish.com/Pages/patrol3.html
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq69-2.htm
http://www.css7.navy.mil/history.htm
http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/3210.htm
http://www.submarinebaseph.com/subbase.html
http://lin-m.com/collett/Cruise%20Summary.htm
http://hometown.aol.com/jackrogue/68hist.html
http://www.ussarcherfish.com/atravel/atravel.htm
http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/korea/chron52a.htm
 

Partial History - some taken from the above links, some from personal recollections

March 4, 1945
0157 A dozen or so B-29's flew over us close aboard, headed north.
1612 Moored starboard side to U.S.S. GREENLET, along port side of U.S.S. HOLLAND, APRA HARBOR, GUAM...

1950
"A salvage ship the U.S.S. GREENLET ASR-10, arrived out of Sasebo on December 20th, to join the 5 destroyers and 3 anti-submarine airplanes at the site of the sinking. A hard hat diver was lowered to the scene. In a very short time he returned to the surface with a pair of new binoculars. In addition the Russian submarines had deployed during the depth charge a decoy that made all the sounds of a submarine. This Black Box was so top secret the Greenlet immediately returned to Pearl Harbor with it. Rumor has it the Greenlet was not allowed to return to the war area because it had retrieved so many Russian secrets. Perhaps it got their code books? Rumor also has it that 43 days later all the B girls knew everything that happened, but the crew couldn't say anything because they had signed the letters of secrecy. The story the crew was told was that it was a "sunken jap freighter the IONA MARU". Supposedly the IONA MARU capsized on 10 December 1950. The Navy brass had already formatted their cover story with the skipper of the U.S.S. GREENLET ASR-10. "If those binoculars were from W.W.II, why wasn't there debris or barnacles, on the item". Recently a former shipmate commented, "We sunk a hulk ship that was doing 5 knots!". "

29 May 1958
 - Sabalo participated in the rescue and attempted salvage of Stickleback (SS-415) which had collided with Silverstein (DE-534) while conducting ASW training with Silverstein and the torpedo retriever boat Greenlet (ASR-10) in the Hawaiian area. Stickleback's crew of 82 was successfully removed mainly by the torpedo retriever boat. Sabalo was also joined on the scene by Sturtevant (DE-239), and combined efforts were made by Silverstein, Sabalo, Sturtevant , and Greenlet, to save the stricken submarine. The rescue ships put lines around her, but compartment after compartment flooded and, at 1857 hours, Stickleback sank in 1,800 fathoms of water.

1967

Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam - Salvage and body recovery operations on a C-141.
...recovery operations on a C-141 that had crashed into the ocean off of Cam Ranh Bay. Things were rather messy. ...it was a C-141 in Cam Ranh Bay in 1967. One of the divers that did recovery was a GM2(?) by the name of Jaskey or Jasky.

1969
C-2A AIRCRAFT

1. A U.S. Navy C-2A aircraft crashed on 30 October in the vicinity of Lat 17-54N Long 107-37E. The plane went down in approximately 240 feet of water.

2. HCU ONE's ADS IV was not available, due to maintenance in progress, and USS GREENLET (ASR 10) was tasked with the aircraft recovery. Two minesweepers were utilized for sonar search. HCU ONE provided logistic support for the operation, mixing HeO2 gas for the extended diving operations, providing divers from HCT-2, and deploying the Unit medical officer aboard GREENLET.

3. After extensive diving and searching the task unit was unable to locate the aircraft wreckage.  It was decided to load an ADS IV, leased from Ocean Systems, Inc., aboard USS GRAPPLE (ARS 7) and continue the search. Deteriorating weather conditions now became a factor, and caused a nearly disastrous accident. With divers on the bottom in the ADS IV personnel transfer capsule (PTC), heavy seas and rolling of the ship caused a PTC lift wire padeye on the boom to fail, dropping the lift wire to the back-up wire preventer. The PTC was surfaced and ADS IV operation secured.

4. Eventually, on 18 November, the entire operation was terminated as steadily deteriorating sea conditions, poor underwater visibility, inability to isolate a positive contact, and mounting expenses all combined to make success in the operation highly improbable.

1969
"COLLETT arrived on Yankee Station with CORAL SEA and BLUE on 27 October, 1969.  For the next ten days, time was divided between plane guarding for the carrier and riding “shotgun” for USS GREENLET (ASR-10), while conducting salvage operations." [Note - this was in conjunction with the C-2A salvage ops noted above]

The Greenlet had many divers on board, and was often involved in rescue and salvage operations.

ASR's are no more a part of the Navy fleet - the last ASR (USS Ortolan ASR-22) was decommissioned in 1995 and mothballed in May 1999. I have seen reference to a new ASR (Sunbird) ASR-25, but this is a mistaken reference to the ARS (Salvage Ship) of the same name. Apparently someone got confused.

Vicki Broughton

I really like your customer service department. I am hoping you can get me in contact with former members of the USS Greenlet ASR 10. I was on the USS McKean DD 784 during the Vietnam war. I maintain the web site http://members.tripod.com/~breastroker/mckean.htm for the McKean. Many of the Korean War vets told me of their sinking of a Russian submarine, I have obtained formerly Top Secret Documents and posted them on the web site. The Greenlet was involved in the recovery of objects from the sunken Russian or Chinese sub. I have also posted the war diary and action log from the Greenlet of the recovery. Your help will be greatly appreciated.

My daughter found this link to the USS Greenlet on the internet. I was transferred to the Greenlet from the Sperry at the end of 1944.I was in JAPAN for the surrender Ceremony and towed 2 Japanese subs back to GUAM. My name is John Glanski, But everyone knew me as "SKI" on ship. We just found a picture of the GREENLET on the internet. I have been hoping to locate any Shipmates from back then. I was 18 when I was on the GREENLET. The Capt. was Leut. Willhoyt, And some shipmates were Danny Mattis ---- Nick IveZic ----Rypstein ---- Serrefine Pence. Can't remember first names. If this is of any help to you at all PLEASE leave me know!  I,ll share anything I know.

Please keep in touch
 John Glanski,Jr.
  Pottstown,PA.
I have dropped JR.from my name as I am Now 74.This takes me back a good many years. Sincerely,
         John

To whom it may concern,

My father, William S. Grossman, served on the USS Greenlet in the mid fifties.  I believe he was a Lieutenant J.G..  He passed away on 2-22-01 at the age of 72.  I know my father enjoyed his time served on the Greenlet, as he spoke often and freely about it.  His ashes were scattered off the coast of Santa Cruz, CA., his hometown.  He is greatly missed.

Peter Grossman

Highlights and interesting happenings. We are slowly gathering up bits and pieces of information, and hope to soon have enough for a complete history of the USS Greenlet. We will also try to get all the information from the XO on it's service in the Turkish Navy since 1970.

Eugene M Aaron DCCM (MDV)
Gerald Anderson
Tommie Bain DV
Bob Bartlett
Ron Bular 1963-1965
John Craig early 60's
Robin Dover 1963-1964
Clyde H. Dunsing 1951-1955
Chuck Evans 1966-1967
Charles Hawes 1946-1948
Robert B. Hemming EM2 1965-1967
John Glanski 1944-1945
Larry Kiessig QM2 1967(?)- 1970
Warren Lauzon ETN2 1967-1969
James P (Pat) Lauzon 1968-1970 EM2
William Nestman 1952-1954
Chris Prow 1964-1968
Willy Reuter Early 60's
Herman Schochler DV 1961-1966
Ronald Waldron (Lt.?) 1965-1967
Captain Morgan

Guest log for the USS Greenlet pages ONLY

This is a discussion board that we have set up on our regular website.