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August 06, 2005
Russian sub snared by submarine monitoring antenna
7 Russian sailors are in grave peril, trapped under 625 feet under water off the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Far East. Ironically, their submarine is described as a "rescue submarine".
Although the Russians initially claimed their submarine was snared by "fishing nets", they are now admitting that it is ensnared by an "undersea military antenna", part of a larger "coastal monitoring system" Russia operates to track American subs.
The New York Times reports:
The Russian navy initially said it had snagged on a fishing net, which entangled the propeller and sent the vessel to the sea floor. By late Friday night, however, Admiral Fyodorov began describing an accident of a different order.
When pressed by Russian journalists on live television, he said the vehicle had in fact become entangled on what he described as an undersea military antenna, which itself was secured to the sea bed by at least one 60-ton anchor.
The U.S. Air Force has delivered two Remotely Operated Super Scorpio undersea vehicles to assist with the rescue of the 44 foot long Russian sub, known as an AS-28 Priz.
The sailors are minimizing movement, have shut down nearly all power, and donned thermal suits to preserve oxygen. Estimates say they'll run out of oxygen at 8:00 p.m. MDT, tomorrow (Sunday August 7th).
Hopefully, they'll make it. At least the Ruskies had sense to ask for help fairly promptly this time, unlike the Kursk, wich sank almost exactly five years ago.
Update: If you speak Russian, there's an Internet chat group dedicated to submariners in Russia here http://www.submarine.ru/
Update 2: There is some speculation in the Washington Post about what a "rescue sub" was doing on the ocean floor:
The accident occurred Thursday during a combat training exercise, according to Russian naval officials. But Felgengauer and other analysts questioned what the mini-sub, which is designed to rescue personnel from larger submarines, was doing on the ocean floor.
"To get in the vicinity of that [antenna] equipment, which no doubt has an intelligence function, they were either so stupid to dive where they shouldn't or more probably they were there to inspect it, to see if the Americans planted some kind of bugs," said Felgengauer. "And that sub is not designed for that. So there was some bad judgment somewhere."
Update 3: Apparently, a British Super Scorpio is currently on location attempting to cut the cable that has ensnared the submarine. Two additional American Super Scorpios are on the way to the site.
Update 4: USA Today is saying that the British Scorpio has cut the cables that had ensnared the rescue submarine.
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Posted by Peenie Wallie on August 06, 2005 at 08:38 AM
Comments
Could it be the submarine story is a distraction from other events taking place around this anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Japan?
In any case, the sub story holds its own mysteries, as the original story of a fishing net was proven to be BS, as any awake news junkie ahead of time. and why are the U.S. and Britain so eager to help Russia, considering the recent heightening of political and military tensions between the nations?
for further queries/observations
http://mentalgongfu.blogspot.com/
p.s.
peeniewallie is on the mark
Posted by: Mentalgongfu on August 07, 2005 at 02:46 AM
i was there on the flightline downloading the rescue equipment... in this pic, i dont know how you got it but i was in about that location.
Posted by: jeff on March 27, 2006 at 09:18 AM
Jeff,
That's pretty wild. I just snagged the photo from the web somewhere last year. Must have pretty cool to have been involved in the rescue operation.
Posted by: Peenie Wallie on March 28, 2006 at 09:26 AM