European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 26, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday july 26. 1986 the stars and stripes la Petty officer 3.c. Carol Haley far left Deans Pilot House windows on a 73-Focl-Lang lcm8 Mike boat and Petty officer 3.c. Marjoric Hernandez left climbs from the engine room of the 125-passuirer Mike boat on which she spends her working Day. It s All ashore at Ardna dam pier above after the 800-Yard trip from submarine refit site one which can be seen in the background. Sailors shuttle sailors Between site Shore Slot and photo Byj. Kin Cruger . Bureau holy Loch Scotland sailors of the . Navy s submarine refit site one depend upon members of the Boa operations div to be their drawbridge. The site s ships with submarines berthed alongside them lie about 800yard offshore in the Middle of the deep sheltered Loch. The site s sailors about 2.400 in eluding submarine Crews live in essence on the other Side of the Moat. The Only Way people can gel Between the floating site and Shore is by one of the division s 19 boats. The division s 119 sailors transport More than 3,000 passengers each Day said chief warrant officer Jefferson Decker site one s Boatswain from an Niston Ala. He said the division s boats including its five 33-Fbol-Long officers motor boats capacity 22 passengers and its five 73-fool-Long Landing Craft mechanical 8 Mike boats each capable of transport ing 125 passengers Roll up Well in excess of 50,000 Miles per year on their various runs. The division also has a quintet of 50-foot-Tong, steel hulled lcm6 work boats that shuttle parts and supplies from ship one of the division s fire Ujj Foo Hong officers motorboats capable of carrying 22 passengers makes its War toward share. To ship and from ship to Shore a Tolhur of its assets is a 42-year-Oldfloating Crane that has a Crew of 17 and a i fling capacity of 100 tons. It moves around the site three or four times a week to Load torpedoes ballast and batteries on subs said la. . Hugh Cox the division officer. Basically it loads and unloads anything that can t be done by the smaller port and starboard cranes aboard the Hundley the site s Fleet ballistic missile submarine tender and Headquarters of submarine so 14 although a Ito passenger . Any Type to boat makes a daily ,40-Minutc run to ferry passengers to and from Cardwell Bay on the South Side of the Clyde River most of the division s runs Are Short haul. The most frequent shuttle is the five minute 800-Yard trip Between the site and Ardna dam pier atthe Village of Sandbank. The boats must operate in Alt kinds of weather fair or foul and in Winter the weather in the Loch often is enter cml foul Wilb winds of 45 to 70 Mph blowing regularly. A storm in March produced winds that exceeded 100 Mph. We gel lived going Back and Forth on the shuttle run but you can t do anything about it. It s your duty Day said 20 year old Seaman Kevin Labargo from Buffalo. . A Bow Hook or deckhand on a Mike boat. But Overall it s Good duty and makes the Day go by  each Mike boat has a Crew of three a coxswain who drives the boat the Bow Hook and a snipe or Engineer. Nineteen year old Mariorie Hernan Dez a Petty officer third class from Oak land. Calif., is an Engineer aboard a Mike boat. I pretty much spend the whole Day Down below in the engine room watching the gauges. I be got the Best Job on the boat in the bad weather and the worst Job in the Good weather she said