European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 25, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stars and stripes saturday june 25, 1977 dry Dock keeps subs sleek silent Oak Ridge works around clock by Mikk Spear staff write Rhota. Spain ssi there in the Bay of the ship it Lay like a whale recently har pooled and pulled aboard it was smooth Anil sleek and almost Hydro dynamically perfect. Except or its conning Tower huge mul Tib Lade propeller at the Stern and size it might easily be taken for a whale. But it was a ballistic missile submarine and it was undergoing a Hull refurbishing unlike it can gel any place else on this Side of the Atlantic. Mystery yarn gives clue to girl s illness London Al i Agatha Christi s 16 year old detective Story. The i ale  Savod the life of a 19-month-old girl dying of a mysterious condition that baffled London doctors tie Lillish Jour Nal of Hospital Medicine has reported. Pie Arab baby was to Man from Qatar on lie persian i if for Treal nit fit and was Semi conscious when admitted to in Mon s Llama Nesmith Elliis vital. In spite intensive Are. Bet blood pressure increased her breathing u rare increasingly difficult did she appeared on the bunk of death but doctors could not diagnose her illness. As the Dik tors were making their morn ing rounds of the wards nurse Marsha Maitland suggested that her tiny patient tin Tiht have been  by a compound if tha iliuts. It soft bluish White Metal whose salts Are ois Inous. Nurse Maitland said she was Reading the Pale horse a Ltd the Bain s symptoms were remarkably similar to those of a thallium ease in thelk. The doctors decided to test the theory thallium is rarely found in Britain and the Hospital lacked Hie in Cussary testing equipment the doctors went to Scotland Yard which referred them to a Laboratory with the equipment. Tests confirmed Thal Lium Poison no. And the baby recovered alter getting the right treatment. Hie article in the medical journal Sug rested thai a thallium preparation had been used to kill Roaches and rats around the child s Home it was getting the kind of expert help that a ballistic missile submarine has to have about once a year a Hull cleaning and repainting. And while that is going on men from the nearby sub tender canopus work on its innards. The men on the Oak Milidge. A submarine dry Dock who keep these submarines ship shape externally sometimes feel As if they might he in exile. To put it mildly they Are suffering from an extreme Case of identity crisis. The Oak Ridge has been stationed Here for 12 years and As often As not when you ask someone what the Oak i Ridge is they la say they Aren t sure. I eople have been asking. Where Are you attached " said u. Hob bawls the Oak fudge s executive officer. "1 say i m attached to the Oak Ridge. And icy say what s that what we want to do is let everyone know what we Are. We be got some talented people on this ship. We do a lot of hard work and work Long hours. We have submarines come in Here Back to Back and some of them come for 45 Days and that s work 24 hours a Day for  for the record the Oak Milidge is an Altum. Which Means that it is a medium auxiliary repair dry Dock. It is basically submarine dry Dock although other Small ships use it occasionally. It comes under the operational control of submarine so 16 my is a tenant command of the naval Sta Tion  it is a vastly different ship from what it was 12 years ago when it was towed across the Atlantic behind a Fleet tug from America. A comparatively recent refitting included extensive replacement of piping Reno vation of its huge ballast pumps and the addition of Hydro blasting gear for clean ing hulls. And with the renewing came a raised morale when Crews Clem a Hull nowadays they use a Hydro blast ing Hose that shoots either water or water with Sand against the Hull under High pressure it s a far cry from the old Days of using wire hand scrub Wijers and cold Salt water. The mechanical work capability of the ship is amazing for example it can sink into the water take in a sub. Then raise itself again in several hours. There Are millions of Gallons of water in the Dock Basin and in the void tanks m the sides and Bottom of the Oak Lidge. But four huge pumps spewing out 15.000 Gallons of water per minute each make Short work of it. Submarines come into the Oak Lidge for either 10-Day or 45-Day work periods and a submarine nestles inside he dry Dock Oak Milidge. Is by Lloyd Perkins chief Boatswain mate Ralph Mcgrew sets up a 14-Man Dock Basin Crew for the Shorter work period and an in Man Crew for the longer periods these Crews labor 12-hour shifts around the clock until the work is done supported by four duty sections of the ship. New Dock Basin Crews arc formed from the Oak Ridge Crew for each new sub Marine so that everyone gets a Chance at it. We Don t want anybody to miss out on a the hulking submarine dry Dock Oak Ridge lakes up More than its share of the port Skyline Al Kola. Spain. Sets Jerkins Good  Law is said with a smile. When Mcgrew s men go to work icy clean the sub s Bottom from one foot above the water line to the keel. On a 10-Day Job they la use about $  Worth of paint laying on three coals of primer and one coat of Antifouling paint. On a 4 Day Job the Hull is cleaned Down to Hare Metal and s65.000 to $70.000 Worth of paint is put on. The Long hours create some morale problems but they arc few. Said chief Hull technician Roy Russell. When the men Are out there working on the Hull Al 4 o clock in the morning and they see the submarine sailors coming Back after a Good night of Liberty it Cre ates some animosity he said. But the men realize the importance of what the Yare  keeping a ballistic submarine Hull clean is vital. Kussell said adding that even a Small barnacle or growth on the Hull can make sounds under water that can be picked up easily by enemy sonar. They be come in Here to change a screw sometimes and i could t see any thing wrong with in but they said it had a Little Nick in in he said. So we Lake it off find change it. On the other hand. I be seen ships come in Here Wilh their screws chopped All to pieces and they la say  s All right right now we re working Only 14 hours a Day because we re ahead. We re meeting our schedule and when we get through with this submarine it la look pretty Good. It won l he shiny like an automobile but it la be smooth and it won t make noise when it s moving under  the Oak i dec is one of a kind Over Here and if cowls said it becomes extremely important when you consider that the nearest other dry Dock for . Subs is 3.000 Miles away in the i s