From Bradetonton.com: Replica ship headed to St. Augustine
ST. AUGUSTINE -- In a boat yard in Malaga, Spain, workers are piecing together wooden ribs and other brigantine parts to produce a replica of the Galveztown, a sailing vessel that was important a couple centuries back to St. Augustine and the American Revolution.
“They are well on the way to getting that started,” said Kathy Fleming, executive director of the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum.
The Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program is a sponsor of the project.
“We’re looking for a little bit of support to get that rolling,” she said.
But the project has been revised.
Several months ago, the naval architect working on the Galveztown found historical documentation that changed the plan, said Samuel Turner, director of archaeology at the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program.
The vessel that workers had been building was too large, Turner said.
The replica was designed to be 68 feet on deck, but the real brig was actually 53 feet on deck.
Turner said starting over was a “blessing in disguise” because it brought down the building time and the cost of the project.
The exact cost is still undetermined.
Officials held a conference to restart the project about a week ago.
After completion, the replica Galveztown should be sailing to St. Augustine next year, but official dates have not been firmed up yet, Fleming said.
The Galveztown replica will help people learn about Bernardo de Gálvez, Spanish governor of Louisiana. He played a critical role in the American Revolution by, among other things, capturing Pensacola in 1781.
The Galveztown was originally christened as the West Florida after being built by the British in New England, according to historical articles.
Bernardo de Gálvez later gained possession of the ship, changed its name to Galveztown and converted it from a sloop to a square-rigged brig.
“We’re trying to high- light this project as a way to share how the Spanish positively influenced the American Revolution,” Fleming said.
Turner, primary coordinator of the project, helped arrange for the Lighthouse program to donate many tons of timber to the project.
Around 17 tons of live oaks came from St. Augustine.
“We’re going see part of our town come sailing up one day,” Turner said.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Unidentified Sunken Object: Probably Not Alien
From News Discovery Com: Unidentified Sunken Object: Probably Not Alien
team of Swedish researchers has found what some are calling a UFO under about 300 feet of water between Finland and Sweden. According to a piece in the Vancouver Sun,
There are plenty of theories about what the USO (unidentified sunken object) might be. Lindberg offered a "new Stonehenge," though some suspect it's a natural formation, such as the rim of a small underground volcano, which certainly create a very round, prominent ring.
Others see clear evidence that the object, whatever it is, is too perfectly round to be anything but man-made. Of course, one of the most popular -- and most outlandish -- theory is that it's a crashed extraterrestrial spacecraft.
Yet there's another theory: the USO is neither an extraterrestrial craft nor a natural feature but instead a rotating gun turret from a World War II era battleship. It's possible that an explosion on the ship’s deck could have blown it out of the deck ring where it was anchored and it slid into the ocean’s depths, more or less intact. Such an explosion would not necessarily have sunk the ship, so the lack of nearby wreckage may not be a mystery.
The turret-less ship might have made it back to port, or may have continued to another location where it eventually succumbed and sank. The top-heavy turret would likely have sunk with the cannons face down in the ocean floor, and would not necessarily have been seen in the sonar image. In fact, Lindberg and his crew were originally drawn to the area in search of Swedish merchant ships sunk by the German navy in World War I.
So what is it? Until someone actually goes down to search the object more closely (or recover it) -- a potentially time-consuming and expensive proposition -- we may never know. It’s a genuine mystery, and, as is often the case, the most mundane explanation may be the most likely.
team of Swedish researchers has found what some are calling a UFO under about 300 feet of water between Finland and Sweden. According to a piece in the Vancouver Sun,
"While using sonar to survey the Gulf of Bothnia last month, Ocean Explorer commander Peter Lindberg noticed an unusual 60-foot round object. According to the Ocean Explorer website, Lindberg said he had "never seen anything like it" even though has "spent hundreds of hours watching sonar images of the sea floor." While the object seems unusual, it's entirely possible that it could have occurred naturally. Lindberg refused to speculate on the object's origins, but in doing so he may have generated even more conjecture, making reference to one of the most famous and mysterious sites in the world "Since it might be nothing we cannot afford spending funds just to have a look at it," he adds. "Even if it might be a 'new' Stonehenge standing on the bottom."
There are plenty of theories about what the USO (unidentified sunken object) might be. Lindberg offered a "new Stonehenge," though some suspect it's a natural formation, such as the rim of a small underground volcano, which certainly create a very round, prominent ring.
Others see clear evidence that the object, whatever it is, is too perfectly round to be anything but man-made. Of course, one of the most popular -- and most outlandish -- theory is that it's a crashed extraterrestrial spacecraft.
Yet there's another theory: the USO is neither an extraterrestrial craft nor a natural feature but instead a rotating gun turret from a World War II era battleship. It's possible that an explosion on the ship’s deck could have blown it out of the deck ring where it was anchored and it slid into the ocean’s depths, more or less intact. Such an explosion would not necessarily have sunk the ship, so the lack of nearby wreckage may not be a mystery.
The turret-less ship might have made it back to port, or may have continued to another location where it eventually succumbed and sank. The top-heavy turret would likely have sunk with the cannons face down in the ocean floor, and would not necessarily have been seen in the sonar image. In fact, Lindberg and his crew were originally drawn to the area in search of Swedish merchant ships sunk by the German navy in World War I.
So what is it? Until someone actually goes down to search the object more closely (or recover it) -- a potentially time-consuming and expensive proposition -- we may never know. It’s a genuine mystery, and, as is often the case, the most mundane explanation may be the most likely.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Remains of WWII Pilot Found in France
From ABC News: Remains of WWII Pilot Found in France
When a French farmer dug an irrigation ditch in this quiet corner of northern France last week, he stumbled upon pieces of metal which brought back the terror that gripped this part of Europe during World War II.
As if digging through history, the farmer uncovered the remains of Lt. William Patton's Mustang P-51 plane. French authorities said the pilot had been identified by his military badge, although checks were still being carried out.
The discovery is helping to tell the story of Patton's last moments, as his plane crashed in Longueville, France, near the Belgian border more than 50 years ago.
Along with his plane, French authorities found his uniform, his life vest, his military tie, his aviation scarf, riddled with bullet holes.
His silk parachute, made in Lexington, Kentucky, and on display at a local police station, was discovered unopened, a sign that he had gone down too fast to bail out. Lt. Patton's engine was also bullet-marked.
Historians say late in WW II, Mustang pilots sometimes went on missions on their own. The Mustang was the workhorse of the U.S. military, enabling the Allies to gain air superiority over the Germans.
The young Americans who flew them were considered brave, and daring, and glamorous _ and Lt. Patton was one of them.
Did the Town Hide the Incident?
The reason why people in the town of Longueville never reported the accident remains a mystery.
According to a newspaper article, dated Jan. 17, 1945, an airplane crash was reported two days earlier but the incident was never mentioned again.
Town authorities believe that not knowing whether the wreckage was American or German, townspeople probably simply covered up the accident.
Lt. Patton was a victim of both Luftwaffe bullets and French civilian fatigue.
But today this community paid tribute as the discovery was displayed at a local police station.
"He's someone who died for us so we could be free," said one French policeman. "We are very moved by this."
So who was Lt. Patton? Where is his family now? American officials will now investigate. Even his bones, not on display, will be examined for clues.
His remains and belongings will be sent home.
For now what remains of his torn uniform, his plane, his parachute, have told us at least some of his story and reminded us of the thousands of Americans who were lost or buried somewhere throughout the battlefield of Europe and will never return home.
When a French farmer dug an irrigation ditch in this quiet corner of northern France last week, he stumbled upon pieces of metal which brought back the terror that gripped this part of Europe during World War II.
As if digging through history, the farmer uncovered the remains of Lt. William Patton's Mustang P-51 plane. French authorities said the pilot had been identified by his military badge, although checks were still being carried out.
The discovery is helping to tell the story of Patton's last moments, as his plane crashed in Longueville, France, near the Belgian border more than 50 years ago.
Along with his plane, French authorities found his uniform, his life vest, his military tie, his aviation scarf, riddled with bullet holes.
His silk parachute, made in Lexington, Kentucky, and on display at a local police station, was discovered unopened, a sign that he had gone down too fast to bail out. Lt. Patton's engine was also bullet-marked.
Historians say late in WW II, Mustang pilots sometimes went on missions on their own. The Mustang was the workhorse of the U.S. military, enabling the Allies to gain air superiority over the Germans.
The young Americans who flew them were considered brave, and daring, and glamorous _ and Lt. Patton was one of them.
Did the Town Hide the Incident?
The reason why people in the town of Longueville never reported the accident remains a mystery.
According to a newspaper article, dated Jan. 17, 1945, an airplane crash was reported two days earlier but the incident was never mentioned again.
Town authorities believe that not knowing whether the wreckage was American or German, townspeople probably simply covered up the accident.
Lt. Patton was a victim of both Luftwaffe bullets and French civilian fatigue.
But today this community paid tribute as the discovery was displayed at a local police station.
"He's someone who died for us so we could be free," said one French policeman. "We are very moved by this."
So who was Lt. Patton? Where is his family now? American officials will now investigate. Even his bones, not on display, will be examined for clues.
His remains and belongings will be sent home.
For now what remains of his torn uniform, his plane, his parachute, have told us at least some of his story and reminded us of the thousands of Americans who were lost or buried somewhere throughout the battlefield of Europe and will never return home.
Long-lost shipwrecks discovered in Lake Huron
From Science@ MSNBC.com: Long-lost shipwrecks discovered in Lake Huron 'Project Shiphunt' documents remains of ships that went down in 1889 and 1905
PRESQUE ISLE, Mich. — A team of underwater explorers has found two long-lost shipwrecks in northeastern Lake Huron.
Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary on Wednesday announced the discovery of the schooner M.F. Merrick and the steel freighter Etruria in deep water off Presque Isle.
They were detected during an expedition called "Project Shiphunt," which involved scientists and historians from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and five high school students from Saginaw, Mich.
Both ships sank after colliding with steamers in dense fog.
The 138-foot-long Merrick went down in 1889. Five crew members were killed. The intact hull was found resting upright on the lake bottom.
The Etruria, which was 414 feet long, sank in 1905 — just three years after it was launched. Today the steamer sits upside down in deep water.
NOAA said the wrecks are being documented in 3-D imagery for the first time. A documentary about the expedition, sponsored by Sony and Intel, is to air Aug. 30 on the Current cable network.
"This research will help us protect the Great Lakes and their rich history for future generations," Jeff Gray, superintendent of Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary, said in a NOAA news release. "It is also an extraordinary opportunity to inspire the next generation of explorers and introduce them to technology and experiences that could shape their futures."
PRESQUE ISLE, Mich. — A team of underwater explorers has found two long-lost shipwrecks in northeastern Lake Huron.
Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary on Wednesday announced the discovery of the schooner M.F. Merrick and the steel freighter Etruria in deep water off Presque Isle.
They were detected during an expedition called "Project Shiphunt," which involved scientists and historians from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and five high school students from Saginaw, Mich.
Both ships sank after colliding with steamers in dense fog.
The 138-foot-long Merrick went down in 1889. Five crew members were killed. The intact hull was found resting upright on the lake bottom.
The Etruria, which was 414 feet long, sank in 1905 — just three years after it was launched. Today the steamer sits upside down in deep water.
NOAA said the wrecks are being documented in 3-D imagery for the first time. A documentary about the expedition, sponsored by Sony and Intel, is to air Aug. 30 on the Current cable network.
"This research will help us protect the Great Lakes and their rich history for future generations," Jeff Gray, superintendent of Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary, said in a NOAA news release. "It is also an extraordinary opportunity to inspire the next generation of explorers and introduce them to technology and experiences that could shape their futures."
Roman first-aid kit discovery sheds new light on medicines used in ancient times
From Daily Mail Online: Roman first-aid kit discovery sheds new light on medicines used in ancient times
A first-aid kit discovered on a Roman-era shipwreck has shed new light on the kinds of medicines used in ancient times.
Pills made of ground vegetables, herbs and plants were found in 136 tin-lined wooden vials on a 50ft-long trading vessel wrecked around 130BC off the coast of Tuscany.
The tablets, which were so well sealed they survived more than 2,000 years under water, could have been used to treat sailors suffering from gastrointestinal complaints like dysentery and cholera, scientists believe
They contain ingredients referred to in classical medical texts like celery, alfalfa and chestnuts.
Dr Alain Touwaide, from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Washington DC told the Sunday Telegraph: 'It's a spectacular find. They were very well sealed.
'The plants and vegetables were probably crushed with a mortar and pestle - we could still see the fibres in the tablets.'
The tablets also contained clay, which is still used by doctors to treat gastrointestinal problems, he added.
They are the oldest known archaeological remains of ancient pharmaceuticals, and the chest also contained spatulas, suction cups and a mortar and pestle.
The vessel on which the medicine chest was found had been transporting wine, glassware, ceramics and oil lamps.
It sank in 60ft of water between the Italian mainland and the island of Elba.
The presence of the chest suggests that the ship may have had a doctor, or at least someone trained in first aid, historians believe.
Dr Touwaide said the discovery indicated ancient Greek medical knowledge was being put into practice in the Roman Empire.
The Romans learned much of their medical knowledge from the ancient Greeks, including use of a range of sophisticated instruments.
The ship was discovered off the port of Piombino in the Seventies, and the medicine box was found in 1989.
But it is only now, with the advent of DNA sequencing technology, that scientists have been able to analyse the contents of the pills.
Gino Fornaciari, a paleo-pathologist from Pisa University, told the Sunday Telegraph: 'As well as understanding how the ancient Romans treated each other, we are learning more about what illnesses they suffered from.'
A first-aid kit discovered on a Roman-era shipwreck has shed new light on the kinds of medicines used in ancient times.
Pills made of ground vegetables, herbs and plants were found in 136 tin-lined wooden vials on a 50ft-long trading vessel wrecked around 130BC off the coast of Tuscany.
The tablets, which were so well sealed they survived more than 2,000 years under water, could have been used to treat sailors suffering from gastrointestinal complaints like dysentery and cholera, scientists believe
They contain ingredients referred to in classical medical texts like celery, alfalfa and chestnuts.
Dr Alain Touwaide, from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Washington DC told the Sunday Telegraph: 'It's a spectacular find. They were very well sealed.
'The plants and vegetables were probably crushed with a mortar and pestle - we could still see the fibres in the tablets.'
The tablets also contained clay, which is still used by doctors to treat gastrointestinal problems, he added.
They are the oldest known archaeological remains of ancient pharmaceuticals, and the chest also contained spatulas, suction cups and a mortar and pestle.
The vessel on which the medicine chest was found had been transporting wine, glassware, ceramics and oil lamps.
It sank in 60ft of water between the Italian mainland and the island of Elba.
The presence of the chest suggests that the ship may have had a doctor, or at least someone trained in first aid, historians believe.
Dr Touwaide said the discovery indicated ancient Greek medical knowledge was being put into practice in the Roman Empire.
The Romans learned much of their medical knowledge from the ancient Greeks, including use of a range of sophisticated instruments.
The ship was discovered off the port of Piombino in the Seventies, and the medicine box was found in 1989.
But it is only now, with the advent of DNA sequencing technology, that scientists have been able to analyse the contents of the pills.
Gino Fornaciari, a paleo-pathologist from Pisa University, told the Sunday Telegraph: 'As well as understanding how the ancient Romans treated each other, we are learning more about what illnesses they suffered from.'
Friday, July 29, 2011
Michigan students help discover pair of wrecks during shiphunt in Lake Huron
MLive.com: Michigan students help discover pair of wrecks during shiphunt in Lake Huron
ALPENA -- A small, clearly defined image flickered on the screen as the research crew of Project Shiphunt combed the chilly waters of northern Lake Huron this spring.
The double-masted schooner had an obvious hole near the bow along its starboard side, evidence of a collision that sent the 19th-century cargo ship and its crew of five to the lake floor almost exactly 122 years before.
It was literally history come alive.
Within a week, the crew of Project Shiphunt — which included five high school students from Saginaw — had identified two previously undiscovered wrecks in more than 300 feet of water just outside of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
"That was just powerful, to be the first human eyes to look at these since they went to the bottom," said James Delgado, director of Maritime Heritage at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and expedition leader for Project Shiphunt. "We were looking for a ship that was sunk in a collision, and we ended up finding two other ships that were sunk in a collision."
The project was a joint venture sponsored by Sony and Intel corporations that incorporated technology, oceanography, archeology and history into a hands-on curriculum that brought history to life for the Saginaw students during six days in May. The students directed the mission, charted the map in search of the steamer Choctaw, and manned the massive research vessels as they painted the floor of Lake Huron with triple-beam and side-scan sonars.
That was just powerful, to be the first human eyes to look at these since they went to the bottom," said James Delgado, director of Maritime Heritage at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and expedition leader for Project Shiphunt. "We were looking for a ship that was sunk in a collision, and we ended up finding two other ships that were sunk in a collision."
The project was a joint venture sponsored by Sony and Intel corporations that incorporated technology, oceanography, archeology and history into a hands-on curriculum that brought history to life for the Saginaw students during six days in May. The students directed the mission, charted the map in search of the steamer Choctaw, and manned the massive research vessels as they painted the floor of Lake Huron with triple-beam and side-scan sonars.
Shiphunt team member James Willett operate the underwater ROV via a Sony VA10 laptop and joystick.
"We expected them to do everything, other than the diving," Delgado said.
The crew didn’t locate the Choctaw, but instead found the 138-foot schooner M.F. Merrick and the steel freighter Etruria. The students used historical records and diving experts to identify the ships, and helped to document the vessels in 3-D for the newest exhibit at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center.
The mission was filmed for a documentary airing on the Current cable channel at 10 p.m. Aug. 30.
Students explored the ships with remote-operated underwater vehicles and directed divers who collected samples of the century-old cargo. Once the identity of the ships was confirmed, students learned that five crew members -- five men and a female cook -- lost their lives on the Merrick in 1889, when the wooden ship collided with a steamer in dense fog off the coast of Alpena.
The Etruria met the same fate in 1905, and the frigid temperatures in the depths of Lake Huron have preserved both vessels relatively undisturbed for more than a century.
Both ships represent what once was the lifeblood of the American economy, transferring cargo along the Great Lakes shorelines. Their discovery reveals a peek into history often eroded on land by weather or human influence, said Jeff Gray, superintendent of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
"Each (shipwreck) really tells a new story and a new chapter in history," Gray said. "It really shows how they fueled the industrial revolution. The men and women who worked these vessels really made that happen.
"It tells the bigger picture story of the economic history of our country, but also the individual stories of the men and women who worked on these ships."
ALPENA -- A small, clearly defined image flickered on the screen as the research crew of Project Shiphunt combed the chilly waters of northern Lake Huron this spring.
The double-masted schooner had an obvious hole near the bow along its starboard side, evidence of a collision that sent the 19th-century cargo ship and its crew of five to the lake floor almost exactly 122 years before.
It was literally history come alive.
Within a week, the crew of Project Shiphunt — which included five high school students from Saginaw — had identified two previously undiscovered wrecks in more than 300 feet of water just outside of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
"That was just powerful, to be the first human eyes to look at these since they went to the bottom," said James Delgado, director of Maritime Heritage at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and expedition leader for Project Shiphunt. "We were looking for a ship that was sunk in a collision, and we ended up finding two other ships that were sunk in a collision."
The project was a joint venture sponsored by Sony and Intel corporations that incorporated technology, oceanography, archeology and history into a hands-on curriculum that brought history to life for the Saginaw students during six days in May. The students directed the mission, charted the map in search of the steamer Choctaw, and manned the massive research vessels as they painted the floor of Lake Huron with triple-beam and side-scan sonars.
That was just powerful, to be the first human eyes to look at these since they went to the bottom," said James Delgado, director of Maritime Heritage at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and expedition leader for Project Shiphunt. "We were looking for a ship that was sunk in a collision, and we ended up finding two other ships that were sunk in a collision."
The project was a joint venture sponsored by Sony and Intel corporations that incorporated technology, oceanography, archeology and history into a hands-on curriculum that brought history to life for the Saginaw students during six days in May. The students directed the mission, charted the map in search of the steamer Choctaw, and manned the massive research vessels as they painted the floor of Lake Huron with triple-beam and side-scan sonars.
Shiphunt team member James Willett operate the underwater ROV via a Sony VA10 laptop and joystick.
"We expected them to do everything, other than the diving," Delgado said.
The crew didn’t locate the Choctaw, but instead found the 138-foot schooner M.F. Merrick and the steel freighter Etruria. The students used historical records and diving experts to identify the ships, and helped to document the vessels in 3-D for the newest exhibit at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center.
The mission was filmed for a documentary airing on the Current cable channel at 10 p.m. Aug. 30.
Students explored the ships with remote-operated underwater vehicles and directed divers who collected samples of the century-old cargo. Once the identity of the ships was confirmed, students learned that five crew members -- five men and a female cook -- lost their lives on the Merrick in 1889, when the wooden ship collided with a steamer in dense fog off the coast of Alpena.
The Etruria met the same fate in 1905, and the frigid temperatures in the depths of Lake Huron have preserved both vessels relatively undisturbed for more than a century.
Both ships represent what once was the lifeblood of the American economy, transferring cargo along the Great Lakes shorelines. Their discovery reveals a peek into history often eroded on land by weather or human influence, said Jeff Gray, superintendent of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
"Each (shipwreck) really tells a new story and a new chapter in history," Gray said. "It really shows how they fueled the industrial revolution. The men and women who worked these vessels really made that happen.
"It tells the bigger picture story of the economic history of our country, but also the individual stories of the men and women who worked on these ships."
Diving into the abyss aboard Britain's world-leading submarine rescue system
From Mail Online: Diving into the abyss aboard Britain's world-leading submarine rescue system
Eleven years after 118 submariners met a grisly death at the bottom of the ocean in the Kursk, a British team has developed the most advanced underwater rescue system in the world. Andrew Preston watches them go into action
The British co-pilot of the rescue vehicle speaks slowly and deliberately into his microphone: ‘Lima, Lima, Lima.’
The signal is broadcast directly into the Mediterranean Sea via ‘underwater telephone’ using low frequency sound waves. The message is picked up in the control room of the Alrosa, a Russian submarine from the Black Sea fleet. The code words mean that the Nato rescue vehicle, known as Nemo, has successfully ‘mated’, or docked, with the Russian sub.
At the same time a diver clambers through a hatch in the floor of Nemo with a spanner. He follows up the message with two loud taps on the hatch of the submarine casing beneath him, then after a short pause taps a third time. This is the signal that it is now safe for the Russian crew to open the outer hatch. The two vessels have established a hydrostatic water-tight seal, and suction is now the only thing holding them together 300ft underwater.
All this is happening on the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea just off the coast of Cartagena in south-east Spain. Shortly afterwards the submarine hatch of the diesel submarine opens and a smiling Russian face appears. History has been made.
When it was built during the Cold War, the Kilo-class Alrosa was designed for anti-submarine and anti-ship warfare. Its mission was to snoop, avoid detection, and try to track and, if required, attack Nato forces. Now, for the first time, a Russian submarine is actually taking part in a Nato exercise.
Inside the rescue vehicle it is cramped and humid. In the forward compartment, with its bulbous clear acrylic nose on the front, the pilot and co-pilot sit surrounded by joysticks and a myriad of dials and switches. Behind them, a Navy diver acts as the operator for the rescue chamber, which in an emergency can deliver up to 15 people at a time to the surface, or two injured submariners on stretchers.
But today special guests are moving the other way. Squashed together in the back of Nemo, their heads bent forwards and knees touching from benches on either side, are military VIPs from Russia, the U.S. and other Nato nations, who cross from the module into the submarine, led by General Nikolai Makarov, Chief of Defence Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
This exercise comes 11 years after the Kursk disaster, when 118 Russian submariners were left to die 350ft down in the Barents Sea. Back then the Russian government refused to ask for assistance after an explosion onboard sank the submarine.
It is still unclear how many died in the initial explosion and how long the other survivors stayed alive, although grim tales have since come out of tapping being heard from inside the hull. What remains a possibility is that some of those men might have been saved.
‘The Russians learned many lessons after that,’ says Captain David Dittmer of the U.S. Navy.
‘But when a Russian auxiliary sub with seven men on board became entangled in lines and stuck on the Pacific Ocean floor in 2005 they did ask for help, and a British remote vehicle was sent to cut them free. They were just one hour short of their oxygen running out.
‘Now the Russians have changed further and are very enthusiastic to participate. They publicly want to be portrayed as leaders in this field. Submariners are a family too; we all understand that we have an enemy in common: the sea.’
Nato’s submarine rescue system is the most advanced in the world and is based in Faslane just north of the Firth of Clyde.
Nemo was built in North Yorkshire and Britain is a world leader in this technology. The system is jointly owned by Britain, France and Norway, and is now managed by Rolls-Royce. The £75 million cost for development, construction and the first ten years of its life is shared three ways.
Nemo can operate in heavy seas, in waves up to 16ft high, and can rescue from depths of 2,000ft beneath the surface. Beyond that, submariners recognise that there is no hope – their boat will simply implode and be blasted into pieces.
This latest ‘free-swimming’ vehicle replaced an earlier LR5 rescue vehicle, the idea for which came to former Royal Navy submariner Roger Chapman after he almost died when he was trapped 1,575ft down in a civilian mini-submarine in 1973. He and a colleague had been laying a telephone cable in a two-man sub on the bed of the Atlantic, 150 miles off the cost of south-west Ireland. After three and a half days they were found and pulled to safety.
The LR5 has since been leased to Australia, while the British have also sold systems to Singapore, South Korea and the LR7 rescue vehicle to China. At a recent submarine rescue conference a Chinese admiral made it clear to members of the British contingent, through an interpreter, that China would have bought more had our defence export rules not forbidden it.
For the ‘Bold Monarch’ exercise in the Mediterranean, diesel submarines from Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Russia were ‘bottomed’, with rescue vehicles from Italy, the U.S., Russia and Sweden as well as Nemo, along with specialist divers and hyperbaric medical teams working to help rescue them.
The 2,000 participants in the exercise included representatives from more than 20 nations; so as well as a historic meeting for Russian submariners with Nato, it also gave a Greek officer the chance to go onboard a Turkish submarine.
‘By their very nature submarine missions are secretive, except in the conduct of search and rescue, which brings nations together,’ says Rear Admiral Ian Corder, commander for allied submarine operations in the north Atlantic region.
He is based in the Nato building at the high-security military headquarters in Northwood, just outside London. Down a spiral staircase from his office and below ground is the Maritime Operations Centre, with one side wall covered in giant screens.
At the moment counterpiracy is a major focus here, but if a sub were to get into trouble in the north Atlantic region, for which he is responsible (from the North Pole as far south as Gibraltar), then this is where the rescue operation would be co-ordinated.
If a submarine is in danger it will release UHF/VHF indicator buoys, which broadcast using reserved maritime frequencies. They can also release buoys linked to satellites which send signals with an ID for the submarine which can only be recognised by its own country’s authorities.
Rescuers can then log on to a password-protected website, which holds details of all the potential rescue systems around the world, and their availability, and they can plan via instant messaging and in secure chat rooms.
But it’s once they are alerted that the problems begin: how deep is the stricken submarine, how bad is the damage, what is the state of the sea, how is the submarine positioned, is there debris around it, and how many injuries are there?
Submariners can evacuate via escape locks if it is not too deep, but nowadays they are encouraged to wait – they can survive for up to seven days on a bottomed boat, unless something catastrophic has happened. Nemo is designed to make its first rescue within 72 hours.
First, a ‘vessel of opportunity’ has to be chartered. This must have at least 4,400sq ft of deck space, and will deliver Nemo to the location of a stricken submarine. A total of 1,007 such vessels are being tracked at the moment, most of them working in the offshore oil industry. They cost between £17,000 to £40,000 per day to charter. Today’s ‘mother ship’ is Norwegian, the second biggest tug in the world, which is so new it still smells of paint.
But Nemo is just one part of an entire rescue system. First an ROV (Remotely Operated Vessel) is sent to check the state of the sub, look for debris and, if required, deliver a pod containing equipment for oxygen generation and carbon dioxide extraction, as well as water and food
If a submarine is damaged then those on board will more than likely be experiencing high levels of pressure deep under the sea – so the other vital part of the Nato set-up is the TUP (transfer under pressure) system, which is designed to prevent rescued men suffering decompression sickness, or the bends. If Nemo acts like an ambulance then this is the hospital.
When it returns to the surface and is raised into its cradle it docks with two decompression chambers, which can house 72 crew members. A special medical chamber holds up to six. If required there are also two pods, which look like Apollo capsules, which can be used to air-transport under pressure anyone seriously injured to a hospital.
A control room above the chambers is manned by British and French divers who together monitor those inside using CCTV cameras, and watch gauges that measure the oxygen, carbon dioxide and pressure levels. It takes 28 lorries and seven giant transport planes (four C-17s and three Antonov AN124s) to carry the entire system.
The Affray was the last British submarine to be lost with all hands, off the coast of Alderney in 1951, but there have been many accidents since.
Most of these have been in relatively shallow water,’ says Commander Charlie Neve, the UK authority on submarine escape and rescue.
‘Accidents are most likely to happen in busy shipping lanes when a submarine is on the surface and also at night when the black submarine is difficult to see.
‘There have been plenty of potential disasters. In 2002 Trafalgar hit the seabed off the Isle of Skye, in 2008 Superb struck an underwater pinnacle in the Red Sea, and then last year the new Astute ran aground. There’s also the memory of the Thetis in Liverpool Bay in 1939, which stunned people at the time. The water was not that deep, only about 150ft, and her bow became wedged on the bottom while her stern was sticking up in the air. People couldn’t believe that we couldn’t get the men out – it just seemed unbelievable – but we lost 99 men there.’
Once the Alrosa has surfaced again, some of the submariners come out into the light to gather on the upper deck of the Spanish ship Galicia, to mingle with other nationalities and shake hands in the early evening sun. One Royal Navy medic, who is back from a trip to see how Russian sailors live and work aboard one of their ships, says they were ‘surprisingly welcoming. It was just like one of ours really, with family pictures everywhere and lots of dead pot plants.’
The next time they will all gather will be in three years’ time in the seas around Poland.
‘We all hope never to have to use these skills but it does give confidence that it won’t matter who or where you are, help will be there,’ says Captain Damiar Shaykhutdinov of the Russian navy.
‘Maybe one day Russia can host a similar exercise in our waters.’
Then, for his submarine crew, it’s back down below to return to Sevastopol or wherever the Alrosa is ordered to go, once more unseen and unheard.
Eleven years after 118 submariners met a grisly death at the bottom of the ocean in the Kursk, a British team has developed the most advanced underwater rescue system in the world. Andrew Preston watches them go into action
The British co-pilot of the rescue vehicle speaks slowly and deliberately into his microphone: ‘Lima, Lima, Lima.’
The signal is broadcast directly into the Mediterranean Sea via ‘underwater telephone’ using low frequency sound waves. The message is picked up in the control room of the Alrosa, a Russian submarine from the Black Sea fleet. The code words mean that the Nato rescue vehicle, known as Nemo, has successfully ‘mated’, or docked, with the Russian sub.
At the same time a diver clambers through a hatch in the floor of Nemo with a spanner. He follows up the message with two loud taps on the hatch of the submarine casing beneath him, then after a short pause taps a third time. This is the signal that it is now safe for the Russian crew to open the outer hatch. The two vessels have established a hydrostatic water-tight seal, and suction is now the only thing holding them together 300ft underwater.
All this is happening on the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea just off the coast of Cartagena in south-east Spain. Shortly afterwards the submarine hatch of the diesel submarine opens and a smiling Russian face appears. History has been made.
When it was built during the Cold War, the Kilo-class Alrosa was designed for anti-submarine and anti-ship warfare. Its mission was to snoop, avoid detection, and try to track and, if required, attack Nato forces. Now, for the first time, a Russian submarine is actually taking part in a Nato exercise.
Inside the rescue vehicle it is cramped and humid. In the forward compartment, with its bulbous clear acrylic nose on the front, the pilot and co-pilot sit surrounded by joysticks and a myriad of dials and switches. Behind them, a Navy diver acts as the operator for the rescue chamber, which in an emergency can deliver up to 15 people at a time to the surface, or two injured submariners on stretchers.
But today special guests are moving the other way. Squashed together in the back of Nemo, their heads bent forwards and knees touching from benches on either side, are military VIPs from Russia, the U.S. and other Nato nations, who cross from the module into the submarine, led by General Nikolai Makarov, Chief of Defence Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
This exercise comes 11 years after the Kursk disaster, when 118 Russian submariners were left to die 350ft down in the Barents Sea. Back then the Russian government refused to ask for assistance after an explosion onboard sank the submarine.
It is still unclear how many died in the initial explosion and how long the other survivors stayed alive, although grim tales have since come out of tapping being heard from inside the hull. What remains a possibility is that some of those men might have been saved.
‘The Russians learned many lessons after that,’ says Captain David Dittmer of the U.S. Navy.
‘But when a Russian auxiliary sub with seven men on board became entangled in lines and stuck on the Pacific Ocean floor in 2005 they did ask for help, and a British remote vehicle was sent to cut them free. They were just one hour short of their oxygen running out.
‘Now the Russians have changed further and are very enthusiastic to participate. They publicly want to be portrayed as leaders in this field. Submariners are a family too; we all understand that we have an enemy in common: the sea.’
Nato’s submarine rescue system is the most advanced in the world and is based in Faslane just north of the Firth of Clyde.
Nemo was built in North Yorkshire and Britain is a world leader in this technology. The system is jointly owned by Britain, France and Norway, and is now managed by Rolls-Royce. The £75 million cost for development, construction and the first ten years of its life is shared three ways.
Nemo can operate in heavy seas, in waves up to 16ft high, and can rescue from depths of 2,000ft beneath the surface. Beyond that, submariners recognise that there is no hope – their boat will simply implode and be blasted into pieces.
This latest ‘free-swimming’ vehicle replaced an earlier LR5 rescue vehicle, the idea for which came to former Royal Navy submariner Roger Chapman after he almost died when he was trapped 1,575ft down in a civilian mini-submarine in 1973. He and a colleague had been laying a telephone cable in a two-man sub on the bed of the Atlantic, 150 miles off the cost of south-west Ireland. After three and a half days they were found and pulled to safety.
The LR5 has since been leased to Australia, while the British have also sold systems to Singapore, South Korea and the LR7 rescue vehicle to China. At a recent submarine rescue conference a Chinese admiral made it clear to members of the British contingent, through an interpreter, that China would have bought more had our defence export rules not forbidden it.
For the ‘Bold Monarch’ exercise in the Mediterranean, diesel submarines from Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Russia were ‘bottomed’, with rescue vehicles from Italy, the U.S., Russia and Sweden as well as Nemo, along with specialist divers and hyperbaric medical teams working to help rescue them.
The 2,000 participants in the exercise included representatives from more than 20 nations; so as well as a historic meeting for Russian submariners with Nato, it also gave a Greek officer the chance to go onboard a Turkish submarine.
‘By their very nature submarine missions are secretive, except in the conduct of search and rescue, which brings nations together,’ says Rear Admiral Ian Corder, commander for allied submarine operations in the north Atlantic region.
He is based in the Nato building at the high-security military headquarters in Northwood, just outside London. Down a spiral staircase from his office and below ground is the Maritime Operations Centre, with one side wall covered in giant screens.
At the moment counterpiracy is a major focus here, but if a sub were to get into trouble in the north Atlantic region, for which he is responsible (from the North Pole as far south as Gibraltar), then this is where the rescue operation would be co-ordinated.
If a submarine is in danger it will release UHF/VHF indicator buoys, which broadcast using reserved maritime frequencies. They can also release buoys linked to satellites which send signals with an ID for the submarine which can only be recognised by its own country’s authorities.
Rescuers can then log on to a password-protected website, which holds details of all the potential rescue systems around the world, and their availability, and they can plan via instant messaging and in secure chat rooms.
But it’s once they are alerted that the problems begin: how deep is the stricken submarine, how bad is the damage, what is the state of the sea, how is the submarine positioned, is there debris around it, and how many injuries are there?
Submariners can evacuate via escape locks if it is not too deep, but nowadays they are encouraged to wait – they can survive for up to seven days on a bottomed boat, unless something catastrophic has happened. Nemo is designed to make its first rescue within 72 hours.
First, a ‘vessel of opportunity’ has to be chartered. This must have at least 4,400sq ft of deck space, and will deliver Nemo to the location of a stricken submarine. A total of 1,007 such vessels are being tracked at the moment, most of them working in the offshore oil industry. They cost between £17,000 to £40,000 per day to charter. Today’s ‘mother ship’ is Norwegian, the second biggest tug in the world, which is so new it still smells of paint.
But Nemo is just one part of an entire rescue system. First an ROV (Remotely Operated Vessel) is sent to check the state of the sub, look for debris and, if required, deliver a pod containing equipment for oxygen generation and carbon dioxide extraction, as well as water and food
If a submarine is damaged then those on board will more than likely be experiencing high levels of pressure deep under the sea – so the other vital part of the Nato set-up is the TUP (transfer under pressure) system, which is designed to prevent rescued men suffering decompression sickness, or the bends. If Nemo acts like an ambulance then this is the hospital.
When it returns to the surface and is raised into its cradle it docks with two decompression chambers, which can house 72 crew members. A special medical chamber holds up to six. If required there are also two pods, which look like Apollo capsules, which can be used to air-transport under pressure anyone seriously injured to a hospital.
A control room above the chambers is manned by British and French divers who together monitor those inside using CCTV cameras, and watch gauges that measure the oxygen, carbon dioxide and pressure levels. It takes 28 lorries and seven giant transport planes (four C-17s and three Antonov AN124s) to carry the entire system.
The Affray was the last British submarine to be lost with all hands, off the coast of Alderney in 1951, but there have been many accidents since.
Most of these have been in relatively shallow water,’ says Commander Charlie Neve, the UK authority on submarine escape and rescue.
‘Accidents are most likely to happen in busy shipping lanes when a submarine is on the surface and also at night when the black submarine is difficult to see.
‘There have been plenty of potential disasters. In 2002 Trafalgar hit the seabed off the Isle of Skye, in 2008 Superb struck an underwater pinnacle in the Red Sea, and then last year the new Astute ran aground. There’s also the memory of the Thetis in Liverpool Bay in 1939, which stunned people at the time. The water was not that deep, only about 150ft, and her bow became wedged on the bottom while her stern was sticking up in the air. People couldn’t believe that we couldn’t get the men out – it just seemed unbelievable – but we lost 99 men there.’
Once the Alrosa has surfaced again, some of the submariners come out into the light to gather on the upper deck of the Spanish ship Galicia, to mingle with other nationalities and shake hands in the early evening sun. One Royal Navy medic, who is back from a trip to see how Russian sailors live and work aboard one of their ships, says they were ‘surprisingly welcoming. It was just like one of ours really, with family pictures everywhere and lots of dead pot plants.’
The next time they will all gather will be in three years’ time in the seas around Poland.
‘We all hope never to have to use these skills but it does give confidence that it won’t matter who or where you are, help will be there,’ says Captain Damiar Shaykhutdinov of the Russian navy.
‘Maybe one day Russia can host a similar exercise in our waters.’
Then, for his submarine crew, it’s back down below to return to Sevastopol or wherever the Alrosa is ordered to go, once more unseen and unheard.
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