Argentina: Water got in sub's snorkel, caused short circuit

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 27, 2017

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Water entered the snorkel of an Argentine submarine and caused one of its batteries to short circuit before the vessel went missing 12 days ago, a navy spokesman said Monday.

Hopes for survivors have been largely crushed by reports of an explosion detected near the time and place where the ARA San Juan was last heard from on Nov. 15.

Since then, there have been no signs of the sub or debris despite an intensive multinational search. Experts have said the 44 sailors aboard had only enough oxygen to last up to 10 days if the sub remained intact but submerged.

The navy said last week that before the submarine went missing, the captain reported an electrical problem in a battery compartment and the vessel was ordered to return to its base in the coastal city of Mar del Plata, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) southeast of Buenos Aires.

Read more: https://www.stripes.com/news/us/argentina-water-got-in-sub-s-snorkel-caused-short-circuit-1.499716

[marble falls]

1. What bad news. Snorkling has been used for 100 years and very rarely fails or causes trouble when...

it does have problems.

On diesel boats sea water and battery acid makes chlorine gas when mixed, too. But this hasn't been a real problem since before WWII.

They'll be able to tell a lot when they find the hulk.

[csziggy]

5. Some of the old WWII subs were sold to South American countries

The USS Spot (SS-413) that my Dad served on in WWII was later sold to Chile and recommissioned as the Simpson (SS-21). It was not disposed of by the Chilean Navy until 1982. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Spot_(SS-413)

Dad was assigned to the Spot straight out of submarine school before it was commissioned as a brand new submarine. He did two war patrols on the Spot. The boat went out without him on its third patrol since he had to take some leave time. At the end of the war he was on the USS Menhaden (SS-377):" She again decommissioned at Mare Island 13 August 1952 and began a GUPPY IIA overhaul and conversion to a snorkel submarine." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Menhaden_(SS-377)

[marble falls]

6. We gave a lot of those old boats away and still were using them ourselves for secret stuff ...

because the pig boats were very, very quiet. The crews of those boats looked like the Hells Angels were in port. I mustered the transient BEQ for a while and those guys were veeerrry interesting.

At sub school in Groton you'd have to double time it to your station because once the anthems started when the colors went up it'd make you late. Sometimes I swear there were 6 or 7 flags to wait out.

[csziggy]

7. I suspect the Menhaden may have been used for some secret stuff

Before they began using it for target practice.

Dad never talked about his time in submarine school other than the coincidence that he was in the same class as a high school buddy who graduated from the Naval Academy. Dad had dropped out of Michigan Tech to get into the war "before they ran out of war" and was an ordinance draftsman in DC before getting sent to Midshipman School at Columbia in NY. Then they sent him on to Groton to train on subs.

He was on the Spot's first patrol - if you read the Wikipedia article on the USS Spot about the ship they shot up, Dad was the guy on the boarding party carrying the munitions to blow up that ship. The entire boarding party got the Navy and Marine Medal for that incident.

[marble falls]

8. Good stuff, I was at Groton in '72 and the diving tower was the best thrill ride ever...

thank G*d for guys like your dad.

[AllyCat]

2. This is very sad.

[Submariner]

3. The snorkel valve on U.S. boats slammed shut when a wave would wash over 2 of the 3

electric probes to prevent water from entering the engine main induction valve. If that does not work, then a catastrophic failure resulting in rapid flooding can occur if the boat does not have enough speed on to surface as it is taking on tons of water through the snorkel mast.

Explosion could be hydrogen gas in battery well exploding, if it wasn't the pressure hull collapsing causing the explosion sound.

[Nitram]

9. My first thought about an explosion is that if the sub lost power it would sink to a depth where it

would implode. There might not be much left intact if that is the case.

[trusty elf]

4. How horrible!

What a terrible way to die! Those poor people!