Missing Argentinian sub

josip

It’s starting to look now like it’s been lost with all hands.
Has the Argentinian Ministry of Defense been too slow requesting assistance from other countries?
I doubt if they have the capability to perform any kind of sea floor rescue themselves.
I think the water depth on its planned course was 100m – 120m so that scenario should have been on the list of possible scenarios they were dealing with from the off.
Given that they had max 7-10 days of oxygen on board and the length of time it would take foreign military to get rescue vessels to the area, should they not have covered that possibility early on?
Or would cost/national pride have been a factor?
I can understand national pride with the Russians and the Kursk, but Argentina would not have had as much naval pride to lose.

sparky42

To be fair, I don't think they knew she was lost until she missed her scheduled check in on Wednesday, after that they did tell everyone when they launched the search mission and took support from other nations, the issue of course being that even their neighbours have a fair travel time in order just to get on site to search.

Added to that there's the sea state's they are dealing with, 6-8m swells or so making the searches difficult. Added to that there's the issue of where she might have gone down, could have been on the continental shelf, reachable, or not in which case the hull would have collapsed anyway.

josip

sparky42 wrote: »

To be fair, I don't think they knew she was lost until she missed her scheduled check in on Wednesday, after that they did tell everyone when they launched the search mission and took support from other nations, the issue of course being that even their neighbours have a fair travel time in order just to get on site to search.

Added to that there's the sea state's they are dealing with, 6-8m swells or so making the searches difficult. Added to that there's the issue of where she might have gone down, could have been on the continental shelf, reachable, or not in which case the hull would have collapsed anyway.

The planned route would have had it well within the continental shelf, so resting on the bottom requiring rescue should have been a potential scenario from the beginning.
Especially since they knew the last location of the sub on Wednesday when it reported a mechanical failure.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42045380

sparky42

josip wrote: »

The planned route would have had it well within the continental shelf, so resting on the bottom requiring rescue should have been a potential scenario from the beginning.
Especially since they knew the last location of the sub on Wednesday when it reported a mechanical failure.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42045380

The route did have that path, whether she ended up there is another question, the search area takes in significant areas. As for rescue sure, but it still requires the US to mobilise their assets, air lift them down, get them on to a support ship capable and getting out to site, can they even operate with the sea states that have been reported?

Tabnabs

The assets currently engaged in the SAR mission



and the conditions on scene

https://twitter.com/protector_hms/status/932703128893435904

sparky42

Has the Clyde arrived already? Thought she was still transiting from the South Georgia islands?

josip

Did they only find out now about the explosion?

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42100620

The Argentine navy says an event consistent with an explosion was recorded near where a submarine disappeared last week with 44 crew on board.
A navy spokesman said an "abnormal, singular, short, violent, non-nuclear event" had been detected in the south Atlantic.
The ARA San Juan disappeared last Wednesday.
More than a dozen countries including Russia and the US have sent assistance.
Spokesman Captain Enrique Balbi said the Argentine navy had been informed of the suspected explosion, which took place near the submarine's last known location.
Captain Balbi said the navy only knew the location of the suspected explosion, not its cause.

sparky42

josip wrote: »

Did they only find out now about the explosion?

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42100620

I'm guessing that it might have been picked up but taken this long to get identified, processed and then up the chain from whoever picked it up to all the way back down to the Argentinians.

A sad end to the crew.

knucklehead6

sparky42 wrote: »

I'm guessing that it might have been picked up but taken this long to get identified, processed and then up the chain from whoever picked it up to all the way back down to the Argentinians.

A sad end to the crew.

yes, but a better end than slowly sinking to the bottom as a result of mechanical fault and asphyxiating over the course of a week

sparky42

knucklehead6 wrote: »

yes, but a better end than slowly sinking to the bottom as a result of mechanical fault and asphyxiating over the course of a week

But if that had been the case and they could have used their emergency gear perhaps not?

Either way the families are in for a hard time, just finding the site is still going to be tricky I would think. Some hard questions must be asked as to the Navy ready state and funding given their record.

josip

Do submarine batteries still explode when submerged in saltwater ?
Or has the design moved on since the days of the Squalus?