Donald Creed, 91; helped Navy learn from Thresher sinking

As a naval architect and marine engineer, Donald L. Creed had the solemn responsibility of repairing damaged battleships during World War II and the Korean War. In 1966, the former Navy captain led research on the development of a new, safer steel after the USS Thresher, a nuclear attack submarine, sank 220 miles off the coast of Boston in 1963, taking the lives of 129 officers, crewmen, and civilian technicians.

''He had a responsibility to keep those ships at sea," said his son Gordon, of Johnstown, Pa.

The hard-working Marshfield native enjoyed life with the same vigor he employed in his work. An active theatergoer, opera enthusiast, and world traveler, Mr. Creed took a canal trip from Moscow to St. Petersburg just last year.

On April 16, Mr. Creed died of pneumonia at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He was 91.

Mr. Creed graduated in 1931 from Marshfield High School, where he was a member of the undefeated football team. He earned a marine engineering degree from the Massachusetts Nautical School, now Massachusetts Maritime Academy, in 1933. He received a naval architecture degree from the University of Michigan in 1942 and a management engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1951.

''My father was a scholar . . . always, reading, studying, and sleeping on the pillow of curiosity," his son said.

After graduating from Massachusetts Nautical School, Mr. Creed was an engineer on ships of the United Fruit and Mystic Steam Ship fleets sailing out of Boston. He was commissioned in the Naval Reserve in 1937 and ordered to active duty in 1941. From 1943 to 1950, he served as an engineering duty officer in the Boston Navy Shipyard and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, and was ship repair superintendent in Guam.

''He liked taking something and making it better," said another son, Donald L. Jr. of Rockville, Md. ''He instilled in us a work ethic that we could achieve anything we wanted to if we believed in it and we were willing to put the work and effort in."

Both sons recalled many weekends spent in the driveway with their father looking under the hood of a car. Mr. Creed took great pride in his restored 1956 Mercedes Benz, which he drove into his final years, they said.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Mr. Creed worked on ships in Washington, D.C., and Norfolk, Va.

In April 1963, the USS Thresher was conducting deep-diving exercises accompanied by the submarine rescue ship Skylark (ASR-20). Just minutes after reaching its target test depth, Skylark received garbled telephone communications of troubles aboard the submarine. Within moments, the connection was lost and the submarine sank.

Mr. Creed was appointed to the board of inquiry in the case. An investigation concluded that the submarine probably sank because of a piping failure and subsequent loss of power.

As a direct response to the loss of the Thresher, Mr. Creed led research on new high-yield steel in 1966.

The research corrected problems with the Navy's nuclear submarines and reduced the chances that such a tragedy would be repeated.

''He was looking toward the Navy of the future," said Donald Creed Jr.

Mr. Creed retired from the Navy in 1966 to become a marine engineer at the Western Gear Corporation in Everett, Wash. After two years there, he accepted a civil service position with the Naval Ship Systems Command in Washington, D.C., eventually heading a unit where he managed and directed technical analysis and assessment of advanced ship and submarine combat systems.

In 1981, Mr. Creed retired for a second time. Still, he continued to work part time as a marine surveyor. Gordon Creed said that well into his 80s, his father was often sought out for his expertise.

Donald Creed Jr. said his father owned a 34-foot Morgan sloop, the Fair Lady, that he sailed and raced on Chesapeake Bay.

''The sea was his link to adventure and exploration of the world," he said.

Mr. Creed remained very active all his life, exercising daily. In the summers, he loved to visit his vacation home in Weare, N.H. He also enjoyed exploring the world with his longtime companion, Terrie Sweeney of Annandale, Va. The couple traveled with Elderhostel, an educational travel group for seniors, that landed them in France, Russia, Japan, and Bali.

''He was interested in the pursuit of world travel and wanted to understand and improve the world community," Donald Creed Jr. said.

In addition to his sons, Mr. Creed leaves his former wife, Helen C. (Kraynek) of Silver Spring, Md.; another son, Andrew L. of Pensacola, Fla.; a daughter, Laura C. Gordon of Johnstown, Pa.; eight grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Services have been held. Burial was in Cedar Grove Cemetery in Marshfield.