Science of the Deep submarine show

[DA Aquamaster]

50% at 150' would be a PPO of 3.4 and would be a tolerable, if extreme, exposure for the short time needed in an ESA to 70' unless you were really unlucky.

So I suppose 21% at 600' with a PPO of 4.4 would not be that much worse although you have to wonder where the limit really is even for a short exposure. On the positive side, in your cute little orange suit you will shoot to the surface when the escape trunk opens whether you are convulsing or not and you are not going to drown. Which would leave you in good shape for the slow painful death on the surface due to DCI or exposure if there is no ship standing by.

 

[diverbrian]

50% at 150' would be a PPO of 3.4 and would be a tolerable, if extreme, exposure for the short time needed in an ESA to 70' unless you were really unlucky.

So I suppose 21% at 600' with a PPO of 4.4 would not be that much worse although you have to wonder where the limit really is even for a short exposure. On the positive side, in your cute little orange suit you will shoot to the surface when the escape trunk opens whether you are convulsing or not and you are not going to drown. Which would leave you in good shape for the slow painful death on the surface due to DCI or exposure if there is no ship standing by.

When the options involve slow death by suffocation and exposure like they experienced on the Kursk, I'll take an option where I have even a slim chance to fight for survival any day.

Keep in mind, I was in the military. I would have taken any shot at survival over no chance. That is the bottom line to these devices. Most of my fellow submariners felt the same way.

That is why everybody thought that all of the "brotherhood of the dolphins" were completely crazy for volunteering for that duty.

The truth of the matter was that we never expected to be in a position to use those emergency procedures. We still don't honestly expect to be in that postition. It is nothing more than human nature.

 

[Dr Deco]

Hello Scuba Board Readers:

Submarine Escape Hoods

The exiting of a submariner from a boat has even been done though a torpedo tube (WW II). In the last several decades, escapes from several hundreds of feet have been tested by the Royal Navy. The work with which I am familiar used a full body suit and the man exited through a lock in the sub. The lock was first pressurized to ambient pressure in about ten seconds and the sailor exited. This system has been tested in the open water at a depth of about 500 feet. Yes, that is the actual depth I heard.

While the pressurization requires only ten seconds, there appeared to be no ear-clearing problems. the individual ascended to the surface by buoyant ascent and was told to sing all the way to the surface to keep his airway open. The ascent was at about 100 feet per minute. The man will be absorbing inert gas (air, I believe) during the time beneath the water. Essentially this procedure will set the deepest depth, since you must not take on too much gas or you will suffer decompression sickness when you reach the surface.

Dr Deco :doctor:

 

[hawkbill666]

Sorry I am coming in so late but I just saw the topic and could not resist.

I went through emergency ascent training at Submarine school in New London in 82. As previously mentioned on this thread we used a Steinke hood. I am sure its on the web somewhere but it was essentially a hood that covered the entire head and went about 1/3 of the way down below the neck. (Apparently technology has evolved and they are now using a full body suit.) The tower we entered was 150 feet tall but we entered 100 feet up, so we would have a 50 foot ascent. I had been in the water since I was 2 and my dad was a diver and I was pretty excited about the whole thing. But before we went we spend 4 hours straight in a room "practicing". We formed a line and then would stand in front of a diver and put our hands straight out above our heads and form a triangle with our hands that we were supposed to look through. Then we would yell (not scream) but do a deep yell of HO ! HO ! HO ! HO ! over and over again. The diver would poke us in the ribs if we didn’t do it loud and deep enough. Then we would go back and wait in line and catch our breath and do it again. It got really old but the point of the HO ! HO! HO! is probably obvious to anyone on this list, especially since our ascent would be fast from the bouyout hood. So then we went into Steinke hood training and that is when I became a bit disappointed since I wanted to do a free ascent, but that was clearly not going to happen.

So we get in the “chamber” at the 50 foot level and they pressurized? it I believe. This was the most horrific part of it since I was crammed in this tiny chamber with water up to our chins with 7 other guys. Each was inches from my face and we were just wired and breathing each others air. That it itself wasn’t so bad but you could smell the near panic in the air and all of us were feeding on it. Sub school was filled with guys who weren’t necessarily swimmers and this represented their limit. I simply wanted out of this chamber and into the main tube so I could do my ascent. Fortuantely the water was heated since this was the dead of winter on the East Coast and having water chills would have made this whole thing unpleasant. So I am all the way on the left next to the door so they put a hood on me first (thank god). The hood has clear plastic on the front so I can see through it. I am then directed to duck down and go through the opening into the main ascent tube. The diver inside our chamber as well as the diver in the tube helped me duck under the entrance to the tube and enter the main ascent tube. It is at the point that I completely relaxed. The tube is huge, warm and bright and I am out of the “panic chamber”. As per our initial class training I am looking into the eyes of the diver and he is looking into mine. So here I am holding my breath waiting for him to let go as I am very boyount and he is holding onto a strap that surrounds the hood. So I am looking at him and he is looking at me, and I am looking at him and he is looking at me and I am waiting for him to let me go. Suddenly he pushes his face right up next to mine and shakes me violently. Oh I get it ! He wants me to start the HO ! HO ! HO ! before he lets me go, so a HO-HOing I go and immediately I am off. The ascent was fun but too quick and I don’t remember the exact number of seconds. What was interesting was that the tube was lined with divers, about half of which were free diving. The tube had built in regulators at various depths so numerous Navy divers and Navy Seals were in it making sure we were safe and I imagine having fun. I didn’t feel any great sense of control over my hood and I remember several times heading towards one of the side walls only to feel a thump as a diver redirected me toward the middle. I saw the surface and punched through it only to immediately be grabbed by several hands and have the hood pulled off. They also aggressively guided me to a ladder, helped me out and stood me up. As soon as I stood up somebody grabbed my head and held it firm while a doctor started into my eyes and asked how I felt. We practiced this to and were to yell (not scream) I FEEL FINE !

As a fellow sub sailor on this board mentioned, nukes did not go to sub school, only those of us that generally had a four year enlistment and were not part of the nuclear program. But sub school was a kick with many little adventures like this one. I heard around 86 that the Navy stopped this kind of training. They sited the dangers but I think the most obvious reason was the incredible expense of running this kind of training when modern subs will most likely never hit bottom at a depth which we could actually escape from them. The days of diesel subs beached at a depth of 200 feet has passed us by.

But it was a blast !

Hello Scuba Board Readers:

Submarine Escape Hoods

The exiting of a submariner from a boat has even been done though a torpedo tube (WW II). In the last several decades, escapes from several hundreds of feet have been tested by the Royal Navy. The work with which I am familiar used a full body suit and the man exited through a lock in the sub. The lock was first pressurized to ambient pressure in about ten seconds and the sailor exited. This system has been tested in the open water at a depth of about 500 feet. Yes, that is the actual depth I heard.

While the pressurization requires only ten seconds, there appeared to be no ear-clearing problems. the individual ascended to the surface by buoyant ascent and was told to sing all the way to the surface to keep his airway open. The ascent was at about 100 feet per minute. The man will be absorbing inert gas (air, I believe) during the time beneath the water. Essentially this procedure will set the deepest depth, since you must not take on too much gas or you will suffer decompression sickness when you reach the surface.

Dr Deco :doctor:

 

[ColdH2Odvr]

I was told that, in the event of a real emergency the doc would pierce your ear drum prior to exit. The idea being that a pin prick will heal much faster than a blown ear drum. I was also told that the escape hatch was for my mother. I could tell her about it so she would feel all warm and fuzzy but the reality was we did 90% of our ops past the continental shelf so there wouldn’t be anything left to escape from.

688’s are nice but a backplate and wings are much cheaper!

Dave
MM1/SS USN-X

 

[SparkySFD]

Just saw this thread and couldnt resist posting.

I graduated from Submarine School in May of '87. They had just quit the free ascent training in the tower. I was sooo pissed. Still feel robbed.

I did go on to qualify on USS Shark SSN-591. I specifically asked the Doc about this when getting checked out on the escape hatch. He had a special "needle" for poking a hole in your eardrum.

In a real escape situation you dont have time to slowly pressurize the hatch. I was taught to pressurize it as fast as you could stand it. You better breath quickly and clear as fast as you can. We werent going to slow down because one guy was having trouble. Just didnt have time. Our hatch could only hold about 5-6 guys. Memory is a little fuzzy here. If you had a crew of 120 or so and only 6 escape at a time from two hatches and it takes say 4-5 minutes a cycle, you do the math. Thats about 50 minutes...if you can get to both hatches.

Like others have said, we were told by the old timers that escape hatches were to make mothers and politicians "feel" better. About the only real purpose they served was to deploy special ops personnel.

I wont confirm or deny the fact that a Steinke hood is in my closet. Glad to see they've gone to something better.

QM2 (SS) '86-'90

 

[ColdH2Odvr]

I shot a bag from 165 feet and the guy waiting on the surface said it cleared the water by about 5 feet (scared the snot out of him). I’ve always kinda’ wondered what five screaming sailors in bright orange hoods and flashing strobes would look like when they breached…

Dave
SSN-597/752 -X

 

[SparkySFD]

Hehe

I'd bet it would be pretty funny looking if it wasnt you.

What was the name of the 597 boat? My memory is fading on what class was what. Was 597 a Skipjack class? Ours was a real piece. But we had a really good crew. Could hold our own with the 688's most of the time.

You should have heard the laughter on my first day when I asked where the inertial navigation gear was.

 

[diverbrian]

My first boat was the Sculpin (SSN-590). We decommissioned her and I wound up on the Providence (SSN-719). By the time that I got onto the Sculpin, the Sculpin had lost her dive cert. I hated those surface transits.

I think that the 597 was a Permit class, but I am not sure.

 

[ColdH2Odvr]

Hehe

I'd bet it would be pretty funny looking if it wasnt you.

What was the name of the 597 boat? My memory is fading on what class was what. Was 597 a Skipjack class? Ours was a real piece. But we had a really good crew. Could hold our own with the 688's most of the time.

You should have heard the laughter on my first day when I asked where the inertial navigation gear was.

The 597 was the Tullibee not an S-girl, she was the only boat of her class (http://www.geocities.com/weatherman5/tullibeehistory.html). She spent her last few years welded to the pier then we took her to the yards. Same story on the crew though, lots of good guy's on the 752 but nothing like 597. The old boats just have personality.

Cheers,

Dave