140 people nearly crushed: British nuclear submarine experiences near-disaster

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140 soldiers are on a mission in the Atlantic Ocean when their submarine suddenly malfunctions and quickly sinks to the seabed: What sounds like an action movie happened Sunday, according to British media reports.

A British Navy submarine equipped with nuclear missiles was in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with a crew of 140 men when its depth sounder suddenly failed. The failure caused the crew to believe the Vanguard-class ship was in a horizontal position. In reality, he dived deeper and deeper into the ocean.

Fortunately, engineers discovered a second depth gauge at the back of the submarine, indicating they were approaching the ‘danger zone’. They immediately raised the alarm.

Engineers can prevent disasters

“It’s not the engineers’ job to check the depth of the submarine, but they saw how deep they were. That’s when they realized something was wrong,” a source told The Sun. “Technically, the submarine was still at a depth where it could actually operate.” Normally, there would be certain operational protocols in place for such depths. These were not activated. ‘The submarine should not have been in that place. “It’s hard to imagine what would have happened if it had sunk even further,” the source continued.

In a race against time, the engineers finally managed to prevent the submarine and its nuclear reactor from sinking further. This lasted only a few minutes before the enormous water pressure would have crushed the entire crew.

Maximum working depth: 500 meters

A Navy source said after the failure that the near-disaster showed the safety systems were working. “If one system fails, you can fall back on the other.”

The Navy did not comment specifically on the depth sounder failure: “We do not comment on operations. Our submarines continue to operate around the world to protect national interests.” Due to safety standards, the exact depths at which the submarine was operating during Sunday’s incident are not known. What is clear is that the Vanguard class submarines normally operate directly below the surface of the water during patrol missions. The maximum working depth is 500 meters below the water surface.

Since 1969, at least one Royal Navy submarine, equipped with nuclear missiles, has patrolled in case of a sudden attack. The Vanguard submarines can carry 192 warheads, but are currently allowed to carry a maximum of 48 warheads. The force’s four submarines are each over 149 meters long. (An)

Source: Blick