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Naval Undersea Center - NUC


Bearmon
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The Naval Undersea Center (NUC) was the Command which tested all kinds of undersea equipment and ideas which utilized sea creatures to aid in undersea operations for the US Navy. They later became the Naval Undersea Research and Development Center.

 

The command was headquartered in San Diego in the 60's and 70's many of the projects were handled in the Hawaiian location. The patches in this thread were all from the same person, who was an Engineer in Hawaii. I acquired them from his son, who told me his father worked on all of the projects for which he had patches.

 

First up some general command patches from San Diego

NUC post-582-0-01599500-1536973933.jpg

 

NRDCpost-582-0-81306500-1536973976.jpg

 

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Malakai was a two man submersible introduced in the mid 1970's

I don't believe it was a success but there many exciting new innovations like a clear pressure hull for deep submergence

post-582-0-89402400-1536974513.jpg

post-582-0-01647200-1536974526.jpg

 

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Nemo was another manned underwater vehicle circa 1971 and CURV 3 was the third variation of an Unmanned Recovery Vehicle. CURV 3 was used to do major repairs to the underwater systems in the Atlantic

 

post-582-0-10187500-1536974913.jpg

post-582-0-56065500-1536974931.jpg

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RUWV Remote Unmanned Work Station the programs name for deep submergence unmanned undersea vehicles (20,000 on the patch 20,000 leagues)

 

post-582-0-43901600-1536974968.jpg

 

Kaimalino was a floating platform know as a SSSWP Stable Semi-Submerged Floating Platform

Developed to allow work to be done while afloat

post-582-0-35340800-1536975041.jpg

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Finally one I have posted before and probably the most well known of the projects, Quick Find, which used Sea Lions to recover submerged ordinance the program was developed and refined by NUC but later handed over to the Inshore Undersea Warfare Group.

manned by SEALS, I always thought it ironic that SEALS trained Sea Lions...

post-582-0-45065200-1536975521.jpg

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Salvage Sailor

Nemo was another manned underwater vehicle circa 1971 and CURV 3 was the third variation of an Unmanned Recovery Vehicle. CURV 3 was used to do major repairs to the underwater systems in the Atlantic

 

attachicon.gif2 man submersible 1971.jpg

attachicon.gifunderwater recovery vehicle.jpg

 

Aloha Bearmon,

 

Nice set of NUC patches, really brings back memories of the program in Hawaiian waters. Thanks for starting up this topic as it's been on my "to post" list for quite awhile. I worked with NUC in Hawaii from 1977 to 1979 on the CURV II and CURV III projects plus others as my first ship, USS GRASP (ARS-24) was a test bed vessel for NUC Hawaii, as was my second ARS, the BOLSTER. We would spend weeks out in the Barking Sands Missile range cruising the Kauai Channel between Kauai and Niihau, using Port Allen (Hanapepe) as our base.

 

CURV III was first used in the Pacific (dispatched from San Diego) prior to it's Atlantic service at Andros and Autec. We would go to sea with a CONEX box welded to our fantail where the NUC techies would control the CURV's as we worked with test torpedoes and recovery vehicles. We would also work with the NUC dolphins and I've got a bunch of slides of them surfing in our bow wake in the Kauai Channel.

 

This is my CURV III patch from 1977 and I've also got many of those that you've posted plus others. You put up some new ones I've never seen too. Thanks again for posting this collection.

NUC CURV III 001.jpg

NUC CURV III 002.jpg

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A 1972 RIMPAC (Rim of the Pacific) exercise patch New Zealand DSE (Defense Scientific Establishment) and NUC

Matia is a bay in NZ. I like the Kiwi and Eagle

 

post-582-0-33495400-1537026935.jpg

 

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Salvage Sailor

That's yet another great NUC patch Bearmon, I like the combination of the NZ scientific program with the RIMPAC exercises and it's an early one too. RIMPAC started in 1971.

 

Here's another NUC program from my collection.

 

NUC LAMBDA (SURTASS) - https://www.darpa.mil/about-us/timeline/lambda-and-antisubmarine-warfare

NUC LAMBDA 001.jpg

NUC LAMBDA 002.jpg

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  • 8 months later...
Salvage Sailor

USS ELK RIVER (IX-501) Undersea Research NUC diving platform and SEALAB support ship

IX 501 USS ELK RIVER NUC 001.jpg

IX 501 USS ELK RIVER NUC 002.jpg

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