An escape trunk is a small compartment on a submarine which provides a means for crew to escape from a downed submarine; it operates on a principle similar to an airlock, in that it allows the transfer of persons or objects between two areas of different pressure. [1]
The water pressure on the outer hatch is always greater than the air pressure inside the submarine, which prevents opening the hatch. Only when the pressure inside the escape chamber is equal to the sea pressure can the hatch be opened. Thus the compartment must be sealed off from the interior of the submarine and the pressure inside the chamber must be raised to sea pressure in order to make it possible to open the escape hatch. [2]
The escape trunk can also be used for the rescue of a crew inside a disabled submarine using a Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV). The crew of the DSRV will maneuver the vessel above the upper hatch of the escape trunk and then latch on to the submarine using the built-in eyes on the outer hull of the submarine. Most submarines do not have the built-in eyes and rely on the DSRV establishing a watertight seal on the area surrounding the hatch. Once the sub has settled on the correct location the skirt is pumped out and the hydrostatic pressure on the exterior of the skirt is enough to maintain the seal when the hatches are opened and the transfer undertaken. The crew can then quickly equalize the pressure in the small chamber between the DSRV and the submarine and open their own lower hatch.
On the outside of the upper hatch of the escape trunk is often a shaft connected to the wheel that operates the locking mechanism. The crew of the DSRV can attach a wheel to the shaft and turn the shaft to unlock the hatch, thus providing access to the interior of the submarine. This is a risky operation, as when a submarine has been damaged enough to sink, it is possible there was an ingress of water into the pressure hull raising the internal pressure above the normal 1 bar. [5] [6] [7]
A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes.
An airlock, air-lock or air lock, often abbreviated to just lock, is a compartment with doors which can be sealed against pressure which permits the passage of people and objects between environments of differing pressure or atmospheric composition while minimizing the change of pressure in the adjoining spaces and mixing of environments. The lock consists of a relatively small chamber with two airtight doors in series which do not open simultaneously.
BAP Pacocha (SS-48) was a submarine of the Marina de Guerra del Perú named for the 1877 Battle of Pacocha, in which the Peruvian ironclad Huascar clashed with the Royal Navy. Formerly USS Atule (SS-403), a Balao-class submarine with a GUPPY IA upgrade, she had been sold to Peru and commissioned on 28 May 1974. She was rammed and sunk by a fishing trawler on 26 August 1988.
A Steinke hood, named for its inventor, Lieutenant Harris Steinke, is a device designed to aid escape from a sunken submarine. In essence, it is an inflatable life jacket with a hood that completely encloses the wearer's head, trapping a bubble of breathable air. It is designed to assist buoyant ascent. An advancement over its predecessor, the Momsen lung, Steinke first invented and tested it in 1961 by escaping from the USS Balao at a depth of 318 ft (97 m); it became standard equipment in all submarines of the United States Navy throughout the Cold War period. The U.S. Navy replaced Steinke hoods on U.S. submarines with escape suits called Submarine Escape Immersion Equipment in the late 2000s.
Charles Bowers Momsen, nicknamed "Swede", was born in Flushing, New York. He was an American pioneer in submarine rescue for the United States Navy, and he invented the underwater escape device later called the "Momsen lung", for which he received the Navy Distinguished Service Medal in 1929. In May 1939, Momsen directed the rescue of the crew of Squalus (SS-192).
A diving bell is a rigid chamber used to transport divers from the surface to depth and back in open water, usually for the purpose of performing underwater work. The most common types are the open-bottomed wet bell and the closed bell, which can maintain an internal pressure greater than the external ambient. Diving bells are usually suspended by a cable, and lifted and lowered by a winch from a surface support platform. Unlike a submersible, the diving bell is not designed to move under the control of its occupants, nor to operate independently of its launch and recovery system.
HMS Thetis (N25) was a Group 1 T-class submarine of the Royal Navy which sank during sea trials in Liverpool Bay, England on 1 June 1939. After being salvaged and repaired, the boat was recommissioned as HMS Thunderbolt in 1940. It served during the Second World War until being lost with all hands in the Mediterranean on 14 March 1943.
There are three major types of submarines in the United States Navy: ballistic missile submarines, attack submarines, and cruise missile submarines. All submarines in the U.S. Navy are nuclear-powered. Ballistic missile submarines have a single strategic mission of carrying nuclear submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Attack submarines have several tactical missions, including sinking ships and subs, launching cruise missiles, and gathering intelligence.
С-178 (S-178) was a Project 613B diesel submarine of the Soviet Navy. On October 21, 1981, in the Sea of Japan, the submarine under the command of Valery Marango was hit by a cargo ship. The collision killed 32 sailors.
The Momsen lung was a primitive underwater rebreather used before and during World War II by American submariners as emergency escape gear. It was invented by Charles Momsen. Submariners trained with this apparatus in an 80 ft (24 m) deep Escape Training Tank at New London, Mare Island, or Pearl Harbor. It was introduced as standard equipment on Porpoise (P)-class and Salmon-class boats.
Byford Dolphin was a semi-submersible, column-stabilised drilling rig operated by Dolphin Drilling, a Fred Olsen Energy subsidiary. It drilled seasonally for various companies in the United Kingdom, Danish, and Norwegian sectors of the North Sea. It was registered in Hamilton, Bermuda.
The nuclear-powered Project 949A Antey submarine Kursk sank in an accident on 12 August 2000 in the Barents Sea, during the first major Russian naval exercise in more than 10 years, and all 118 personnel on board were killed. The crews of nearby ships felt the initial explosion and a second, much larger, explosion, but the Russian Navy did not realise that an accident had occurred and did not initiate a search for the sub for over six hours. The submarine's emergency rescue buoy had been intentionally disabled during an earlier mission and it took more than 16 hours to locate the sunken boat.
A diving chamber is a vessel for human occupation, which may have an entrance that can be sealed to hold an internal pressure significantly higher than ambient pressure, a pressurised gas system to control the internal pressure, and a supply of breathing gas for the occupants.
A deep-submergence rescue vehicle (DSRV) is a type of deep-submergence vehicle used for rescue of downed submarines and clandestine missions. While DSRV is the term most often used by the United States Navy, other nations have different designations for their vehicles.
The Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus, was an early type of oxygen rebreather invented in 1910 by Sir Robert Davis, head of Siebe Gorman and Co. Ltd., inspired by the earlier Fleuss system, and adopted by the Royal Navy after further development by Davis in 1927. While intended primarily as an emergency escape apparatus for submarine crews, it was soon also used for diving, being a handy shallow water diving apparatus with a thirty-minute endurance, and as an industrial breathing set.
An escape set is a breathing set that allows its wearer to survive for a time in an environment without (sufficiently) breathable air.
Submarine Escape Immersion Equipment (SEIE), also known as Submarine Escape and Immersion Equipment, is a whole-body suit and one-man life raft that was first produced in 1952. It was designed by British company RFD Beaufort Limited and allows submariners to escape from a sunken submarine. The suit also provides protection against hypothermia and has replaced the Steinke hood rescue device. The suit allows survivors to escape a disabled submarine at depths down to 600 feet (183 m), with an ascent speed of 2–3 meters/second, at a rate of eight or more sailors per hour.
The McCann Submarine Rescue Chamber is a device for rescuing submariners from a submarine that is unable to surface.
A built-in breathing system is a source of breathing gas installed in a confined space where an alternative to the ambient gas may be required for medical treatment, emergency use, or to minimise a hazard. They are found in diving chambers, hyperbaric treatment chambers, and submarines.
I-33 was an Imperial Japanese Navy B1 type submarine. Completed and commissioned in 1942, she served in World War II, making one war patrol that included the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, before sinking accidentally in September 1942. Refloated and repaired, she sank again in a diving accident during post-repair sea trials in June 1944.
