Tragedy may be striking the Russian submarine service again, and the clock is ticking.
Russia was last nightracing against time to rescue seven sailors stranded in a mini-submarine on the Pacific Ocean floor with as little as 24 hours’ air supply – an accident with echoes of the Kursk submarine disaster in which 118 seamen died.
Though on a far smaller scale, the accident came a week before the fifth anniversary of the sinking of the Kursk, a state-of-the-art nuclear submarine.
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The Russian AS-28 mini-submarine, itself a rescue vessel, was taking part in a military exercise off Kamchatka in the Russian far east when its propeller snagged a fishing net. As it tried to pull free, naval officials said, the net became wrapped around the propeller and the submarine came to rest at a depth of 190m.
The US was last night airlifting an unmanned Super Scorpio rescue submarine from San Diego and a Japanese rescue ship was steaming towards the stricken submarine, responding to Russian requests for assistance.
But Admiral Viktor Fyodorov, commander of Russia’s Pacific Fleet, insisted the Russian navy, with 10 of its own ships in the area, could rescue the crew before its dwindling air supplies ran out. The admiral told Russian television that equipment was in place to snare the submarine with cables and tow it to shallower water.
The bulk of my submarine knowledge comes from Tom Clancy novels, so I’m not even going to pretend to speak authoritatively on this story. Let me instead direct you to members of the Silent Service on my blogroll.
Chapomatic provides a summary and several links.
Meanwhile, over at Ultraquiet No More, a relatively new group blog for “submariners and submarine enthusiasts,” PigBoatSailor has maintained a frequently-updated post all day and Bubblehead provides more info this evening. Vigilis adds some touching words to his brethren ‘neath the waves.