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Submarine Rescue
One of the scariest things for a submariner is to fall powerless to the bottom of the sea. Unfortunately this has happened all too often to all the navies of the world. The most recent case was a Russian Nuclear Submarine. This has not gone unnoticed by the U.S. Navy. Unlike NASA which still hasn't built any escape mechanisms into the space shuttle, the U.S. Navy is doing everything it can to make survival for crews of downed submarines a reality. But how are they doing this?
The new Submarine Escape and Immersion Equipment will facilitate
escape and survival. Depth plays an important part in the risk to escaping from a downed submarine. The suit pictured above is going to replace the current Steinke Hoods. These suits will provide thermal protection as well as allowing a person to escape a submarine that is not below 600 feet of water. 600 feet is quite deep, but we all know that submarines could be a lot further down. There are 2 Submarine Rescue Chambers (SRC) that can be called upon and carried by any ship. This chambers allow rescue to a depth of 850 feet. These SRCs are especially constructed to mate to every U.S. submarine hatch and are hauled down by cable. A special transport ship is unnecessary to transport them, they can go on any ship.
Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) If the downed submarine is down too deep for the SRCs then the navy goes to its big gun, the Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV). The DSRV is easily transportable by aircraft, so it can be flown quickly to a waiting submarine, where it would be mated and taken to the area where it is needed. It is estimated that it can be taken to any site within 36 to 48 hours. The DSRV Mystic will be on ready status until her inactivation in the year 2005 except for 3 weeks of maintenance. The DSRV can perform rescues down to 2000 feet.
USS Dolphin Picture Source: U.S. Navy How deep do our submarines go? The Dolphin is a U.S. Navy research submarine. It powered by a diesel-electric engine. Its a research and development submarine and has an admitted diving capacity of over 3000 feet. We are talking about U.S. Navy submarines here, but there are many other specialized submarines that can go a lot deeper. For example the Kaiko, was the worlds deepest diving submarine. It held the record which was an incredible 36,008 feet in 1995. Unfortunately it was lost when its tether line broke in a typhoon. It had dived to the bottom of the Challenger Deep, this is the deepest point in the ocean. Fortunately it is an unmanned submarine. The Navy is working on a system that will allow the transfer of personnel under the incredible pressures of the deep right to decompression chambers. This system will be called the Submarine Rescue Diving and Recompression System (SRDRS) and will modernize the Navy's rescue system. But this is only a part of the story. A dramatically improved deep diving system is being developed along with a pressurized rescue system. These systems form a 3 part rescue system. The new Atmospheric Diving Suit is part of the system and it allows divers to go as deep as 2000 feet in the suit. The suit makes it easier to assess damage by conducting the assessment in a mobile environment. All of these systems will be able to go on any ship and will all be air transportable. The Navy is making sure that it doesn't phase out any of it old assets before the new ones are fully capable. The Navy has joined other nations around the world who have rescue capabilities and their rescue assets are compatible. Practice rescues are carried out with these nations
Mystic in Shipyard Here are the statistics on the DSRV Mystic Builder: Lockheed Missiles and Space, Co., Sunnyvale,
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