More than 90 people attended a recent meeting of the Southern New England Section of The American Society of Naval Engineers held at the Submarine Base Officer's Club, Naval Submarine Base, New London/Groton, Conn. Ronald Provencher from Naval Sea Systems Command gave a presentation describing the design, material, fabrication, and test of a titanium personnel sphere for the Navy's Deep Submergence Vehicle (DSV) Sea Cliff. This new sphere will replace Sea Cliff's original steel sphere installed during construction approximately 12 years ago. With the new sphere, Sea Cliff will be capable of operating to depths of 20,000 feet.
The acquisition of the sphere is managed by the Naval Sea Systems Command, construction by Mare Island Naval Shipyard, material procurement and testing by David Taylor Research and Development Center. The DSV is operated by Submarine Development Group-San Diego.