One second, five seconds, 30 seconds, the clock ticks away. Bubbles occasional rise to the surface from under the dozen First Coast Guard District cutters moored at Naval Station Newport, R.I., Aug. 25, 2011. The seconds turn into minutes, and minutes lengthen into hours.

Beneath the water’s surface, Regional Dive Locker East divers skim along the cutters’ hulls – they’ve been working beneath the waves all week.

“We’re performing annual hull inspections, cleaning when necessary, removing lines from around the cutters propellers and unfouling anchors,” said Petty Officer 1^st Class Don Selby, RDLE dive team leader.  “It’s important work because it lessens equipment wear and tear and prevents damage from fouled propellers. It’s one piece of a maintenance program that ensures Coast Guard’s cutters are ready for operations.”

The divers inspected the cutters’ protective paint, checked the anti-corrosion systems, scraped away barnacles and growths, and cut away line wrapped around the propellers. They even relocated a crab living in a cutter’s salt-water intakes. This important work would cost thousands of dollars per cutter if contracted outside of the Coast Guard and allows each ship to achieve greater speed and fuel efficiency.

“Our team inspected 11 cutters including the buoy tenders, Abbie Burgess, Bollard and Juniper, as well as the 87-foot patrol boats, Hammerhead, Ridley and Sailfish,” Selby said. “The divers worked underwater for more than eight-hours ensuring the job was done right."

Doing the job right became even more important as Hurricane Irene headed for New England, and the cutters began preparations to get underway and avoid the storm.

“As Irene approached, we realized this was more than an annual inspection,” said Petty Officer 1^st Class Bobby Foucha, RDLE dive supervisor. “We were helping the cutters crews be ready for incoming storm.”

The buoy tenders were loading extra chain and supplies for repairing aids to navigation as the divers finished inspecting the last cutter. 

Hull inspection is one way Coast Guard divers hone their skills to support their normal missions which include the repair, maintenance and placement of aids to navigation; polar operations; ports, waterways and coastal security missions; salvage and recovery operations; and coral reef and environmental surveys. Altogether, they conduct more than 1,000 dives a year.

It’s a broad range of operations for a young program - the regional dive lockers are commemorating their third anniversary on Oct. 1, 2011, and the divers have quickly learned that proficiency and dedication to professionalism is vital to their undersea mission.

“We’re still building our reputation,” said Foucha. “This might be the first time these cutter crews have worked with Coast Guard divers. Each time we deploy, it’s a chance to show we’re proficient professionals able to support a multitude of Coast Guard missions.”

NEWPORT, R.I. – Regional Diver Locker East divers prepare their scuba tanks before conducting the hull inspections on the Coast Guard Cutters Bainbridge Island and Ridley, Aug. 24, 2011. The divers inspected and cleaned 11 cutters' hulls, removed line from their propellers and also inspected the ships' anti-corrosion systems. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Anderson.

NEWPORT, R.I. – A Regional Diver Locker East diver dons his fins before conducting an annual hull inspection on the Coast Guard Cutters Hammerhead and Sailfish, Aug. 25, 2011. The divers inspected and cleaned 11 cutters’ hulls, removed line from their propellers and also inspected the ships' anti-corrosion systems. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Anderson.

NEWPORT, R.I. – A Regional Dive Locker East diver front steps into the water to conduct an annual hull inspection on the Coast Guard Cutters Bainbridge Island and Ridley, Aug. 25, 2011. RDLE inspected and cleaned 11 cutters' hulls, removed line from their propellers and also inspected the ships' anti-corrosion systems. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Anderson.

NEWPORT, R.I. – A Regional Dive Locker East Diver signals how much air he has remaining after completing the annual hull inspection and cleaning of the Coast Guard Cutters Hammerhead and Sailfish, Aug. 25, 2011. The divers cleaned 11 cutters’ hulls, removed line from their propellers and also inspected the ships’ anti-corrosion systems. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Anderson.

NEWPORT, R.I. – A Regional Dive Locker East dive supervisor ensures a diver is OK following an annual hull inspection dive on the Coast Guard Cutters Abbie Burgess and Bollard, Aug. 24, 2011. The divers inspected and cleaned 11 cutters' hulls, removed line from their propellers and also inspected the ships' anti-corrosion systems. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Anderson.

NEWPORT, R.I. – A Regional Dive Locker East diver stands aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Bollard after inspecting its hull, Aug. 24, 2011. The divers inspected and cleaned 11 cutters' hulls, removed line from their propellers and also inspected the ships' anti-corrosion systems. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Anderson.

NEWPORT, R.I. – A Regional Dive Locker East divers conduct hull inspections on First Coast Guard District cutters, Aug. 24-25, 2011. The divers inspected and cleaned 11 cutters' hulls, removed line from their propellers and also inspected the ships' anti-corrosion systems. U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Anderson.

Click on the image above to view the video on the Coast Guard's Visual Information site.