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On the bright side, if there is such a thing in these circumstances, is that it's summer in the southern hemisphere, up to 18 hours of daylight would help the search, if the weather wasn't so bad.
Apparently the British Royal Navy is also assisting in the search according to this report from Sky News. This report from ABC News provides more background on this situation.
A break in the weather is expected tomorrow, Monday at the latest. But time is not on the crews' side. If the boat is submerged, air quality will be an issue, not so much a lack of oxygen as much as an overabundance of carbon dioxide in the air. Scrubbers aboard most submarines are designed to remove the carbon dioxide from the air which we humans produce as a byproduct of breathing. OSHA considers 3% carbon dioxide to be the maximum level where a normal human can continue to function. 10% is lethal, fatal within 30 minutes.
No one not aboard San Juan knows what happened or what is happening at this moment. As you can see from the next graphic, there's a big area where the boat could be (yellow circle). For rescue purposes, shallow water is better, rescues from very deep water are problematic to say the least.
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#/media/File:Submarino_ARA_San_Juan_(33866567363).jpg){kind=link}
Prayers Up!
ReplyDeleteThanks Brig. Those sailors need all the help they can get.
DeleteWe lost the Thresher and the Scorpion so I'm not trying to stand in a glass house and throw stones, but I don't know how well the Argentine boats are maintained. My sense is that their standards are not the very highest, which makes the possibility of a mishap under water more likely. She underwent refit in 2013 (Wikipedia), but she's a 30 year old boat. Prayers for those who brave the deep.
ReplyDeleteMoney for the Argentine Navy tends to be tight. One might draw certain conclusions from that, as I'm sure you do.
DeleteYou can be tight with surface ships and can cut corners. It happened a lot during the years of Obamanation in America. You can't do that with submarines, as you know. I'd be willing to risk the finest steak dinner in this hemisphere on a wager that's what happened. (Porta Madera in The Polanco, Mexico City DF, Mexico State, Mexico. I'll be there in two weeks.
DeleteTrue.
DeleteNot wishing to detract from the story and please correct me if I am wrong but the Royal Navy doesn't need the "British" prefix, though if it unclear to readers then putting it in brackets might be OK.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I thought about that, because in English it is the only Royal Navy. I should have run that by the Department of Redundancy Department.
DeleteThere is the Royal Norwegian Navy, the Royal Dutch Navy, the Royal Thai Navy, and others, as well.
DeleteIndeed.
DeleteI hope and pray for the best and fear for the worst May the Lord protect them or keep them in either case.
ReplyDeleteThis story in the LA Times indicates there may be hope. Too early to tell, weather is really bad in that area right now.
DeleteIf they were able to release the rescue buoy, there'd be a signal no matter how rough the ocean is. Absent that, it's long odds.
DeleteYes, that's a concern.
DeleteI will defer any opinion to those who know whereof they speak.
ReplyDeleteSee my response to Juvat above.
DeleteThanks for the update. My best thoughts are with the crew.
ReplyDeletePaul L. Quandt
We're still praying.
DeleteLooks like they have received some broken satellite comm signals from the sub and may be heading towards locating it. Sat signals means relatively shallow water. Relatively being still too friggin deep for me.
ReplyDeleteMay God please keep them safe.
And may the rescue, if possible, go well. (And we know which navy is going to be called in for that. Go USN, save these fellow sailors.)
Fortunately DSRVs fit quite nicely inside C-5s, so one can be there fast.
DeleteRoger that Andrew.
DeleteScott. Think C-17.
DeleteI just hope there's time. Time, or lack of, is always of critical import in a downed sub situation. Especially diesel boats, since their batteries are not good for long-time.
DeleteTrue.
Deletea u-boat, missing, at sea. Hold on. It's going to take me a while to care.
ReplyDeleteDid you never think to consider what it is that submarines do? Unlike other warships, they only do that one thing. They prey on ships.
True.
DeleteSo do other warships.
DeleteJust the margin of error on a submersible is significantly less than on a surface ship. Just look at the numbers of deaths in the USN Pac Fleet this year due to 'personnel and policy' failures.
There's a reason that the USN bubbleheads absolutely 100% have to have their shit straight every time they leave the dock. That service has paid too high a price in the post WWII period already.
Subs are warships, designed to kill other warships. They are also some of the best intel gatherers and can be used for spec-ops transports.
Denigrating subs for being ship-killers is like denigrating fighters for being only useful for killing people. True, but...
And, in a state of conflict between the USA and the Argies, a loss of a combatant is to be celebrated.
In time of peace, they are still people. Like the death of the Kursk, not something to be happy about.
Sorry, stepping off soapbox now.
"Unlike other warships, they only do that one thing. They prey on ships."
DeleteWith all due respect, I think the crew of any one of our 'boomers' would beg to differ.
One thing I think sailors of all nations instinctively agree on is that at war they have two opponents--the other navy and the sea. And even at war in the face of the sea they are all sailors first. Of course, I'm saying this as a former soldier but I doubt there would be much disagreement....
ReplyDeleteConcur.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteNobody likes a sniper
ReplyDeletesubmarines are the sniper of our world.
It needed a b.