Posted on 11/20/2017 9:11:04 AM PST by BenLurkin
“The submarine, with 44 crew on board, disappeared 430km (270 miles) off the Argentine coast and no trace of it has been found.”
Spectre.
It is a sad ongoing story. I’ve been watching the news from our Navy and the US Southern Command on Twitter. Our Navy and Airforce are performing air searches, we have a mini sub and a deep sea rescue vehicle their already, one can rescue to 850 ft. And one to 2000ft..
@USNavy #BREAKING: #USNavy deploys unmanned submersibles in Argentine submarine search - navy.mil/submit/display…
@USNavy #BREAKING: Submarine rescue chamber and other assets being mobilized at @MCASMiramarCA to support search for Argentinean Navy submarine A.R.A. San Juan -
@southcomwatch BREAKING: @USNavy deploys unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) to Argentina to join in the search for the Argentine navy submarine A.R.A. San Juan. Deployment includes one Bluefin 12D (Deep) UUV and three Iver 580 UUVs. southcom.mil/News/PressRele…
@EmbajadaEEUUarg Un C-17 de @usairforce llegó esta mañana a Comodoro Rivadavia con equipos para la operación de búsqueda y rescate del #submarino #ARASanJuan
Yeah, I was just reading that area averages 3700 ft.. yikes.
Thanks again! And it’s a good quality upload.
have never been on a sub - if a normal diesel-electric sub ran into a hurricane, wouldn’t they simply submerge a few hundred feet and travel underwater to ride it out?
I keep hearing that their last communication indicated that they'd had some kind of major electrical issue, so submerged operation would likely be a problem.
You sound like someone who can answer a couple of questions. The sub surfaced, so why didn’t they send out their coordinates while communications were still up and remain at that location until rescued? Don’t subs naturally float but have to be forced to go underwater?
They spend most of their time at sea at snorkel depth. Sub suck on the surface as they wallow like a cow just before giving birth to twins.
snorkel depth allows them to operate submerged and still get the air they need for the diesels.
If as noted in the article they had battery issues then this could be catastrophic - as battery failures can lead to toxic fume release.
IF they had 20 ft seas at the time and the snorkel couldn’t get enough uncontaminated air, I could very easily see them foundering while attempting to address the battery casualty.
Diesel boats switch between battery and diesel power. They have to run a minimum of snorkel depth in order to charge the batteries with the diesels as they have to need air to cycle to prevent CO buildup.
If the seas were 20ft they would have been tossed around like a bingo ball if they completely surfaced, and the snorkel may have been taking on water. Either scenario could very well have ended up with her unable to power forward in rough seas and foundering. I think this is the most likely scenario - the loss of communications ties with that weather scenario as well.
Soitainly!
sorry I completely missed that
Yes.
“Their batteries can only be charged when they are on the surface running on diesel power.”
Well, they can snorkel, but they’re only a few feet down and still subject to surface action.
Not correct. Diesel subs cannot run all of their engines while snorkeling. They do not have enough battery power to stay transit submerged for long distances and make long transits on the surface.
Now it’s looking like the noises didn’t come from the submarine.
Mystery sound ‘did not come from missing sub’
https://news.sky.com/story/mystery-noise-could-be-missing-submarine-11136421
IDK. The only reason they wouldn’t have been able to stay on the surface would be flooding. Maybe they lost all electrical but they would have some kind of emergency battery and communications off of that. I think they sank. I hope not.
Rode subs for three years.
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