The Indonesian Navy is racing to find the missing KRI Nanggala 402 submarine. However, the ship was capable of slipping to such great depths that the rescue team could not recover it. This means that the chances of surviving 53 people on board are increasingly slim. The world has recorded many submarine-related accidents, but only a few have been successfully rescued.
Priz AS-28 was successfully rescued New chapter in rescue history In the military history of the United States, the rescue of the Sargo-class USS Squalus submarine of the US Navy has become a major event and also a lesson in operational deployment of submarines. The incident took place on the morning of May 23, 1939, the Sargo-class submarine USS Squalus with 59 crew members began their usual test dives off Portsmouth, New Hampshine, without knowing they were about to experience a disaster. USS Squalus was the new and best submarine of the US Navy at the time. The ship was launched in September 1937 and has undergone 18 successful trials. No one thought it would fail on the 19th test, because all the systems on board were still working fine. However, due to a technical error, the technician wrongly announced the coordinates of the submerged vessel up to 8km down. Squalus dives while the main air intake valve remains open, causing tons of seawater to enter the engine bay at the rear of the ship. The sailors on board were shocked to hear the news and rushed to find a way for the ship to float. They built flooded compartments and tried to close the air intake valves but failed, before putting compressed air into the ballast tanks to allow the ship to float. The Squalus is stable with the bow pointing upwards. However, when the sailor tried to prevent seawater from entering through the vent pipe, there was a tremendous increase in pressure. The sea water suddenly flooded the front compartments and the ship began to sink to the ocean floor due to the large amount of seawater. The incident caused 26 sailors at the back of the ship to be immediately killed by water, 33 men in front of the ship survived. The Squalus sank to the bottom with the bow pointing upward at an angle of about 11 degrees, lost power completely, was unable to communicate and was in waters with temperatures just above freezing. The Sculpin was then dispatched to the Squalus’ coordinates on the last contact, but did not detect any signs of disaster such as debris or oil spills. No one aboard the Sculpin knew that they were 8km away from where the submarine was sunk. Meanwhile, the surviving sailors aboard the Squalus try to send out a call for help. Captain Naquin quickly ordered the release of a floating buoy attached to the cable and left a phone inside with the words “submarine sinks here, there is a telephone inside”. The crew constantly fired smoke bullets out, as well as pumped oil through the toilet so that the rescue team could detect smoke and oil spills in the sea. A sailor aboard Sculpin detected a streak of smoke rising into the sky and reported to the captain. The Sclupine arrives, finds the beacon and cell phone and communicates with the Squalus ship. That night, the US Navy deployed several ships anchored around the search area and turned on the headlights on the sea surface, while the crew on the Sclupine submarine tried to get close to the Squalus. The Squalus submarine salvage was rejected because it was too dangerous and risky. The rescuers had only two options: to transfer diving equipment to sailors to float to the surface, or to use a rescue cocoon from above, but this equipment had not been verified. The first option was canceled because when the sailors exited the submarine, it was very susceptible to cold and high pressure under the sea. The next day, the divers used the rescue cocoon. They performed four rescues with the last man on the surface at midnight May 25. This rescue campaign opened up a new chapter in the history of underwater rescue. Difficult to save because of “invisibility” Military submarines are originally designed to travel undetected under the ocean. Except when there is a need to contact headquarters, the ship will not transmit any signal. Meanwhile, the submarine detector is only really effective when finding a ship that is “in the middle of the sea or floating on the surface”. In fact, the submarine’s submarine stealth is a double-edged sword. With each passing hour, the hopes of saving the ship became less and less. Sailors will have to reduce their activity and move to reduce their oxygen consumption while they wait to be rescued. Although they have been trained in emergency self-rescue, their chances of survival depend on the depth of the ship. On August 5, 2005, the Russian submarine Priz AS-28 and its crew of seven were trapped at a depth of 190 meters below sea level after the propeller was caught on an undersea cable. The sailors were trapped in darkness on the cold ship and the oxygen supply dropped. This accident has attracted much attention because it happened just five years after the sinking of the nuclear submarine Kursk (in 2000), killing all 118 sailors. The Russian government immediately requested US and UK assistance; at the same time to plan to rescue the ship. The first was the scheme to detonate the anchor system of the Russian surveillance antenna system installed under the sea (weighing 60 tons), but was rejected because it was not feasible. By the end of August 6, the command decided to hook the cable to the ship, tow the ship up close to the water surface so that the crew could rescue the sailors. But this plan also failed. On the night of August 6, the race against time reached its peak because the oxygen in the train was only able to endure until August 7. The British Super Scorpio 45 unmanned submersible has entered the game. According to commander Jonty Powis, an expert on British submarine rescue and rescue, the campaign went smoothly. The ship has successfully severed the cables that are clutching the Priz submarine. Commander Powis praised the Russian government’s openness to allow rescue parties to intervene in the area that was once one of the most secretive parts of the Soviet Union before. After just 3 days of being stranded under the sea, the ship finally emerged. All 7 crew members are healthy. Although suffering from the cold and the oxygen in the ship was gradually running out, when rescued, sailors were able to open the submarine’s cover and move to the lifeboat without assistance. According to the examination results at the hospital, the health of all 7 people was still normal and did not need any special treatment. This shows that the crew responded very professionally to the extremely strict situation in the ship stranded at a depth of 190 meters under the sea. They wore insulation to keep their bodies warm, maximized energy savings by only intermittent contact with the mainland and tried to stay calm so as not to lose the meager oxygen on board.
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