[Illusion]

A sign of hope from Argentina’s vanished submarine: Seven mysterious signals
By Cleve R. Wootson Jr. November 19 at 9:20 AM
Argentine authorities received a few blips of hope in their effort to find a three-decade old submarine — and 44 crew members — that suddenly stopped communicating during a routine mission Wednesday.

That hope came in the form of seven signals to a satellite, which defense officials believe may have been attempts to communicate. Contact wasn’t made and nothing was transmitted, but the signals, if from the sub, are the first signs of life from the ARA San Juan.

“We received seven satellite calls that likely came from the submarine San Juan. We are working hard to locate it,” Argentine Defense Minister Oscar Aguad tweeted. “To the families of the 44 crew members: We hope you’ll have them home soon.”

The calls came into different bases Saturday between 10:52 a.m. and 3:42 p.m., according to CNN. The shortest was four seconds, while the longest was 36.

It was unclear Sunday whether authorities could use the signal attempts to determine the sub’s location. A U.S. company that specializes in satellite communication is trying to help the Argentines pinpoint the location of the sub.

The communications company is part of a growing international search mission combing the waters of the Atlantic and listening to all frequencies for signs of the sub.

The diesel-electric ARA San Juan was returning to its base south of Buenos Aires after a routine mission to Ushuaia, near the southern tip of South America, on Wednesday. Then, suddenly, it went silent.

Complicating matters: strong winds and high waves that were battering search-and-rescue ships.

The Argentine government has received logistical help from several governments, including Britain, Chile and the United States. The U.S. Navy sent several assets to help, including vehicles capable of conducting underwater rescues.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.2cf326ebf125

[kellyhound]

If they sank it's a race against the clock.

Dr Davies said submariners are trained to rescue themselves in certain circumstances, but survival depends on the vessel's depth and what else has happened on board.

"There are escape suits. You can basically pop out of the submarine in an inflatable suit and bob to the surface," he said.

"That's always a possibility, although you would think that if that was the case, that might have already happened by now."

The San Juan is reported to have enough oxygen for two weeks. But survival for that long would depend on what has caused the submarine to lose communications.

"If there has been a fire, that consumes a lot of the oxygen."

In August 2000, the Russian "Kursk" submarine disappeared in the Arctic reaches of the Barents Sea.

Only later did authorities learn there had been a series of explosions on board. All 118 crew on board died. A small number of crew survived the initial explosions, but in a part of the submarine where escape was impossible.

Dr Davies said unfortunately bad news stories outweigh good news stories when it comes to submarines.

In 1968, a US nuclear submarine disappeared after leaving Spain. Like the San Juan, it too dropped off the radar and lost communication.

It was later found to have been lost in very deep water with 99 crew on board.

[Bletch]

I think it has sunk with all hands. And horribly, they were probably alive for a while before the oxygen ran out.

[spudigitti]

Davey Jones locker !!

[fredy]

The Navy deployed unmanned underwater vehicles Tuesday in the search for the missing Argentine submarine as officials worry about the crew’s remaining oxygen.

Under the worst-case scenario, the ARA San Juan—missing since Wednesday – could be running out of oxygen if the sub hasn’t been able to surface, Argentine Navy officials said Tuesday, according to news reports.

The search is focused on an area off the coast of Argentina, which for the past few days has been hammered by rough weather, including reports of 20-foot seas. Tuesday’s forecast called for calmer conditions to assist the search.

“This phase of search and rescue is critical,” Argentine Armada spokesman Enrique Balbi said.
“This is why we are deploying all resources with high-tech sensors. We welcome the help we have received to find them.”

The U.S. Navy is providing four unmanned vehicles to search underwater for clues to missing sub’s location, according to a Navy statement. The recently established Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Squadron 1, based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, brought to Argentina one Bluefin-12D (Deep) unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) and three Iver 580 UUVs.

The Bluefin-12D can conduct search operations at 3 knots and down to a depth of nearly 5,000 feet, for 30 hours, according to a Navy statement. This is a smaller version of the UUV used by the Navy in 2014 to search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, thought to have crashed into the Indian Ocean.

The Iver 580s can operate at a depth of 325 feet, traveling at 2.5 knots, for up to 14 hours, according to a Navy statement. These UUVs cans search wide areas of the ocean using side scan sonar, which creates images of large areas of the seafloor, according to a Navy statement.

Also assisting the search is a Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft and a NASA P-3 research aircraft. If a rescue is to be attempted, the Navy’s specialized undersea rescue team, based in San Diego, is already staged in Argentina if asked to help.

ARA SanJuan

[Vorgrus]

Reminds me of Kursk.

[Bletch]

Sadly, it’s too late now.

[Azimuth]

After a week of searching for a missing Argentine Navy submarine off the coast of the country, the families of the 44 crew members aboard have been told that their loved ones are believed to be dead. That news came Thursday after naval officials announced they had detected a sound believed to be an explosion aboard the vessel shortly after it went missing on Nov. 15th. A spokesman described the sound as “abnormal, singular, short, violent” and "consistent with a non-nuclear explosion.”

Awful news.

[Bletch]

Most likely implosion.

[kellyhound]

So they knew about that ex or implosion for over a week.