Diver Dave, eh? You had an interesting rating, no doubt...I'll bet it was a damned tough job sometimes. How the heck did you do that screw change? Did you guys have a block and tackle or something to pull it into place once it was underwater?
First, we utilized our ship's crane (USS PIEDMONT AD-17). The new prop was attached to a balance beam (yellow I-beam in the photos). A chain fall was hooked from the end of the beam to the hook and tension applied to hold the weight and balance the beam level.
Next, after all the prep work was done, the damaged prop was attached to the other end of the beam. The we simply switched ends, guiding the new prop onto the shaft. Next came tightening the "boss nut" and the duncecap.
I've made it sound easy, but it was a 14 hour job involving 4 divers and the rigging crew on the PIEDMONT.
We had some GREAT times working out of the Diving Locker aboard PIEDMONT. btw, my primary mos was Shipfitter/Pipefitter. Second class diver was secondary MOS
USN - SFP2 (DV)63-67