Posted on 11/28/2017 7:13:27 AM PST by Kaslin
Enrique Balbi, a spokesman for the Argentine Navy, told reporters that in it the ARA San Juan's last message, the vessel’s captain said water had entered through the snorkel when the sub was charging batteries.
He said the water entered through the ventilation system to a battery connection tray in the prow and “caused a short-circuit and the beginning of a fire, or smoke without flame.”
Balbi said the captain later communicated via satellite phone that the problem had been contained.
“They had to electrically isolate the battery and continue sailing underwater to Mar del Plata using another battery circuit,” he added.
The San Juan, a German-built diesel-electric TR-1700 class submarine, was last heard from Nov. 15.
Hopes for survivors have been largely crushed by reports of an explosion detected near the time and place the sub went missing.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Very sad
Unlikely there’s any rescue at this point. It’s a retrieval.
RIP.
Sea water + batteries = chlorine gas
RIP indeed
Didn’t know that
Seems a poor call to continue subsurface after the accident. Rough seas?
And hydrogen
I can’t say I’m familiar with submarine operations, but it seems that the best move would be to surface as quickly and safely as possible, then continue repairs.
I suppose rough seas or the need to remain hidden might prevent that.
The “Navy Hymn”
Verse 1: Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
Verse 2: O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy word,
Who walked’st 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!
Verse 3: 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!
Verse 4: O Trinity of love and power!
Our brethren shield in danger’s hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe’er they go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.
The “Navy Hymn” is Eternal Father, Strong to Save. The original words were written as a poem in 1860 by William Whiting of Winchester, England, for a student who was about to sail for the United States. The melody, published in 1861, was composed by fellow Englishman, Rev. John Bacchus Dykes, an Episcopalian clergyman.
The hymn, found in most hymnals, is known as the “Navy hymn” because it is sung at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It is also sung on ships of the Royal Navy (U.K.) and has been translated into French.
Eternal Father was the favorite hymn of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and was sung at his funeral in Hyde Park, New York, in April 1945. It was also played by the Navy Band in 1963 as President John F. Kennedy’s body was carried up the steps of the U.S. Capitol to lie in state. Roosevelt had served as Secretary of the Navy and Kennedy was a PT boat commander in World War II.
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/nav_legacy.asp?id=172
Submariner is a very dangerous job, especially in wartime - but as we see, even in peacetime, the risks are still there.
RIP
The bad news from that last transmission keep on trickling out and is worse each time.
Unless it was wartime, there was really no practical need to stay hidden; based on some of the reports I read, the seas were fairly heavy, around 20-foot swells. Those would be tough on a boat like that.
Why did they wait so long to release this critical information?
Did this sub recently go through an overhaul in a ship yard?
“Seems a poor call to continue subsurface after the accident.”
my exact thought ...
Surfacing would have been my call, unless you were where you weren’t supposed to be.
Germans backed out of maintenance and upgrading due to non payment. Argentines have been cannibalizing two more hulls for parts to try to keep it afloat......a corrupt, miserly government got those fine sailors killed. Hope it doesn’t happen here. Prayers for those sailors.
>>I can’t say I’m familiar with submarine operations, but it seems that the best move would be to surface as quickly and safely as possible, then continue repairs.
Submarines are very unstable on the surface. If you can stay submerged to do repairs, you do that. I had to change a large Trim Pump motor on the surface in the North Atlantic and everyone involved came away with some kind of injury.
Obviously, this figured into their decision, but something catastrophic happened next.
15-21 foot seas in the hours it was having trouble....and subs can’t take that on the surface...they would have capsized and foundered. The South Atlantic is VERY unforgiving. Submerging was the only call, unfortunately.
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