Race Against Time to Save Russian Sailors

Fox News ^ | August 05, 2005 | Fox News

[stm]

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia — The United States and Britain raced help to Russia in an effort to rescue seven Russian sailors stuck in a crippled submarine (search) deep in the Pacific Ocean.

[Graybeard58]

By Russian standards 600 feet is "deep" with western equipment it isn't. That said, I hope they are rescued. It doesn't matter to the trapped seamen who rescues them either.

[brbethke]

Quick, call Tom Clancy! He knows how to do it!

[Boundless]

A site with frequent updates and few cloggy graphics is:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/world/

Scroll down to:
Europe and Russia

[dfwgator]

Prayers for their rescue.

[maestro]

Amen,.....Infinite Grace and Mercy,......In Jesus' Precious Name, Amen!!!

(Romans 10:17)

[PGalt]

BTTT! Hooray for rescue attempt!

[bill1952]

600 feet is still deep.

Very, very deep. The fact that, in some circumstances, rescue is possible of Western personnel from a Western vessel, with Western equipment isn't going to save them here.

The problems are manifold, and I suspect that the Russian agreement to request aid is mainly to see our technology in removing bodies at depth.

That DSRV is gone, and those sailors are, in all likelihood, dead.

[M Kehoe]

I have to believe that a Russian submariner is one of the bravest people on earth. Seems like they lose a boat or two every year.

"Yuri, have you lost ANOTHER submarine?" - The Hunt for Red October

5.56mm

[Nuc1]

600 feet is deep for any unprotected man. As I recall bottom stay time at 600 feet is one second. Even if they had an escape trunk they would be dead from the bends. Horrible way to die, dark, cold , and alone. When it comes to this all men are brothers. Prayers.

[Graybeard58]

Do you think they will be able to drag the sub to shallower water in time or is it too far away for that?

[magslinger]

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who biddest the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy Word,
Who walked on the foaming deep,
And calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Trinity of love and power!
Our family shield in danger’s hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect us wheresoever we go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.


http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/e/t/eternalf.htm

[FinallyBackInNH]

Do you think they will be able to drag the sub to shallower water in time or is it too far away for that?

From the sounds of reports earlier, they don't even know what it was they had snagged and were "towing". All they know is that the line went taut. Regardless, the line went slack at some point, so last I heard there was no "towing" going on.

[skimbell]

I read another article concerning this and in that piece they said that this Russki boat is 34' long and routinely operates at 1000 meters. I guess that that around 3200'.
This boat got a fishermans net caught in its prop and went down after being dragged toward shore. All in all it sounds like an incredible SNAFU!

[ArmstedFragg]

Last report I saw, they'd pulled something for about a hundred yards, then come to the conclusion progress was too slow and gave it up.

The Brits should be on the ground and unpacking by now. The U.S. Navy went wheels up out of San Diego at about 2:30 pst, with a 10 to 12 hour flight time.

[MilspecRob]

Even after the world's Navies spending billions on submarine rescue vessel's, the last successful submarine rescue was most of the crew of the submarine Squalus in 1939.

[Nuc1]

I don't know enough about the situation or the design and construction of the submersible to make a viable judgment as to how it would hold up to dragging. Dragging any type of vessel along the bottom puts a lot of strain on the hull, and that could lead to a breach. As far as time is concerned Fox news showed the location of the incident on the continental shelf probably about 30 miles out. So..with a soft bottom, no canyons crossing the path, and a strong hull they might be able to drag it to a shallower location. But the whole idea is very strange. This is not something you do with vessels. There is something odd about all this. I bet the Ruskies are up to something and they think moving the sub will help cover it up. Since the best thing to do in this situation is to stabilize the crew to the best of your abilities and then bring in the help you need from the outside, trying to move the sub doesn't make sense. I think they are trying to hide something. Regardless, I hope we get there in time to save the crew.

[Sidebar Moderator]

Let's all make an effort to avoid funny quips regarding this situation for the next few hours. As it stands right now, it's a dramatic struggle to rescue seven people, and the US is doing everything it can.

It's not a funny situation.

[Buffalo Head]

"Let's all make an effort to avoid funny quips...."

Don't you mean 'attempted' funny quips? There is too much of that on most technical threads. Why do the same posters over and over try to be cute on this forum? That is not the purpose of Free Republic as I understand it.