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Posted on 08/05/2005 4:12:44 AM PDT by visagoth
Russian Mini-Submarine Stuck on Sea Floor
Aug 5, 6:57 AM (ET)
By YEVGENY KULKOV
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VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (AP) - A Russian mini-submarine with seven sailors aboard snagged on a fishing net and was stuck on the sea floor off Russia's Pacific Coast, and a Navy spokesman said the seamen had enough air to survive one more day.
Navy authorities scrambled to figure out how to raise the vessel from a depth of some 625 feet. The Interfax news service said Russia's Pacific Fleet commander was in talks with U.S. Navy officials over how the United States might help.
"There is air remaining on the underwater apparatus for a day - one day," Capt. Igor Dygalo said on state-run Rossiya television.
"The operation continues. We have a day, and intensive, active measures will be taken to rescue the AS-28 vessel and the people aboard," he said.
Pacific Fleet spokesman Capt. Alexander Kosolapov said contact had been made with the sailors, who were not hurt, and that authorities were preparing to send down a similar vessel to assess the situation.
The sub's propeller became entangled in a fishing net Thursday, trapping the craft, Dygalo said.
The mini-sub, called an AS-28, was too deep to allow the sailors to swim to the surface on their own or for divers to reach it, officials said.
Dygalo's statement about the amount of air remaining, which he said came after "all the information was checked," followed conflicting statements from officials who said there was enough air for anything from one to five days. The range of estimates may have come because there were seven people aboard the vessel; the crafts usually carry three.
The accident occurred early Thursday after the mini-submarine was launched from a rescue ship during a combat training exercise, Kosolapov said.
Kosolapov said nine warships were in the area to aid the rescue operation.
Officials said the accident occurred in Beryozovaya Bay, approximately 100 miles south of Kamchatka's capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
The accident occurred almost exactly five years after the nuclear submarine Kursk sank to the bottom of the Barents Sea after explosions on board, killing all 118 seamen aboard in a painful blow to the Russian navy. Some of the Kursk's sailors survived for hours after the accident as oxygen ran out, and Russian authorities came under sharp criticism for their handling of the crisis.
The same type of vessel that is now stuck, called a Priz, was used in the rescue efforts that followed the Kursk disaster, Interfax reported.
The AS-28, which looks like a small submarine, was built in 1989. They are about 44 feet long and 19 feet high and can dive to depths of 1,640 feet.
Russian news agencies reported that Japan decided to send four ships in a response to a request for help. A Japanese Marine Self Defense Force spokesman, Mitsyasu Yokoe, said the press service had no information on such a dispatch and could not comment.
They used these subs at the Kursk.
http://www.yenra.com/russian-submarines/kursk/
Deep submergence rescue vehicles Project 1855 (PRIZ). Designed by Lazurit Central Design Bureau, principal designer: Ye. Krylov. 4 vehicles were built in Gorkiy from 1986 to 1989. They are intended for rescuing the crews of wrecked submarines by "dry" method. Displacement 55 cub.m. Length: 13.5 m. Beam: 3.8 m. Full speed: 3.3 kn (horizontal), 0.5 kn (vertical). Range: 21 miles at 2.3 kn speed. Diving depth 1000 m. Complement: 4 crew's members and 20 salvaged. Endurance submerged 2-3 hours. These vehicles can carry every vessel with 60-tonn lifter.
That's "free-diving" and the physiology of it is not all that well understood. Some free divers have been injured or killed because they were reluctant to take an emergency breath of air from their safety divers. Lung expansion injuries and/or DCS are real possibilities the moment you introduce air at depth.
Obviously a free diver can't accomplish anything meaningful on a 'bounce dive'.
A scuba diver in one hundred feet of water puts his foot on the muddy bottom. Immediately his foot would be subjected to 44psi downward force. Depending on the size of his foot and the type of foot gear he would have one thousand pounds or more pushing down on his foot. Amazing that any divers ever surface after getting to the bottom.
The sub's hull is under enormous stress at that depth. A localized increase in stress from lifting cables might crack the hull. But then again, they're not a lot of options here.
Refer to my post 46. I wasn't suggesting sending a naked guy with a pair of clippers.
Russian guy: "It seems one of our submarines has gone missing."
State Dept Guy: "Not again."
So who played the state department guy???
I don't remember his name. But (puke, choke, hack) Alec Baldwin (puke, choke, hack) was Jack Ryan. Sean Conery was the Russian sub captain.
And, even though it had (puke,choke,hack) Alec Baldwin (puke choke, hack), still one of my favorite movies.
One of my favorite lines, "Russians don't take a crap without a plan."
Thanks, I couldn't place him. He's one of those actors who seems to be all over the place but when you need to remember his name, it just slips away.
Time for Russia to stay out of the water.
Prayers up! uhh, down for them.
Just to pick nits here, it won't weigh 10lbs., it will weigh 10lbs minus the weight of the water it displaces.
Maybe. If they have grippers/arms/manipulators/waldos (whatever the heck they're called) They might be able to cut them free.
Worth a try anyway.
Or perhaps they can grapple them loose.
If one of the ships is a mine sweeper they might be able to use the cable cutters to free them.
Too early to give up...
Shhh, don't tell him. He was willing to bet a pile of cash on it.
Pacific Ocean (May 7, 2004) - A Sailor inspects the "Super Scorpio" remote operated vehicle (ROV), equipped with remotely operated video cameras and robotic manipulators aboard the Military Sealift Command
I believe that this is the device that is on it's way for the rescue effort. (MSC) special missions ship M/V Kellie Chouest.
Nit picking is fine. I was so caught up in the 'pressure vs. weight' aspect that I totally neglected the water displacement part. Good thing he didn't take me up on that bet. A 10 lb lead weight probably displaces a pint of water, and as I'm sure you know: 'a pint's a pound' (fresh water at least, sea water is heavier) so that 10 lb weight would weigh 9 lb...
There are thousands (tens of thousand ?) fishing nets left on the ocean floor snagged on reefs, wrecks, and rocks underwater.
Identification alone is nearly impossible, recovery unreasonable (billions of dollars), and even if you tried, your never get all of the pieces, nor even all of the of the major parts up.
And, to what end?
10 lb lead weight (at .410 lb/ cubic inch) = 24.4 cubic inches.
Seawater, at 64.08 lbs/cubic feet (at the surface in "room" temperature water) = .03708 lbs/cubic inch, so 10 lbs of lead only displaces .9 lbs of seawater.
"Net" weight means you need to lift 9.1 lbs of lead.
"Steel cable" is less dense at .284 lbs/cubic inch.
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