Eighteen Indian sailors trapped after explosion, fire on submarine

[Locut0s]

Source: Reuters

Eighteen Indian sailors were trapped after an explosion and fire on board a conventionally powered Indian submarine berthed at the coastal city of Mumbai early on Wednesday, the navy said.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/14/us-india-submarine-fire-idUSBRE97D02920130814

[Locut0s]

1. I sure hope this doesn't turn out like the Kursk disaster!...

I don't pray, but good thoughts for those on board!!

[longship]

2. "Conventionally powered" == diesel electric, not nuke power.

But going down in boats has always been a very hazardous venture. During WWII, the Silent Service sank more Japanese shipping than any other branch of the armed services. But that was at the cost of many, including my cousin, who perished in the USS Kete off the shores of Japan. Every sailor in the subs were volunteers. They helped win the war, but at a price.

To sail in a submersible takes some balls. It's kind of amazing that there aren't many accidents in modern times with these things.

Remember the Thresher. I do.

And the Kursk. Thank goodness this wasn't a nuke powered sub.

[Locut0s]

3. Yeah I knew it wasn't nuclear, I meant I hope all don't die aboard...

Yeah if it was nuclear powered that would be just that much worse.

[Eugene]

4. Updated story at link: Indian submariners die after being trapped by explosion, fire

Source: Reuters

Indian submariners die after being trapped by explosion, fire

By Kaustubh Kulkarni
MUMBAI | Wed Aug 14, 2013 6:34am EDT

(Reuters) - Divers were desperately trying to pry open the hatches of an Indian submarine in which several sailors died or were trapped after an explosion and fire on Wednesday in the navy's worst loss since the 1971 war with Pakistan.

Eighteen sailors were aboard the Russian-built INS Sindhurakshak when the blast struck after midnight.

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Defence Minister A.K. Antony said crew members inside the diesel-electric Kilo-class submarine berthed at the main base in Mumbai had died.

But he gave no details, more than 12 hours after the incident, which revived memories of explosions on the Russian nuclear-attack submarine Kursk in the Barents Sea in 2000. Its entire crew of 118 died.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/14/us-india-submarine-fire-idUSBRE97D02920130814

[Locut0s]

5. Ahh fuck. That's horrible :(

I wonder what started the fire and explosions?

[Recursion]

7. Midnight on Independence Day is striking some people as too much to be coincidence

But all the official outlets here are so far avoiding speculating

[Recursion]

6. On Independence Day

It's awful. I'm a few miles north of the shipyard and there's still a column of smoke and a ton of emergency vehicles.

[Rhiannon12866]

8. NYT update: Grim Hunt for 18 Indian Sailors Trapped on Navy Submarine After Explosion

NEW DELHI — Indian naval divers on Wednesday afternoon opened the main hatchway of a stricken, Russian-made Indian submarine that caught fire, blew up and sank at dock earlier in the day in one of the worst naval accidents in Indian history.

But visibility for the divers within the sunken boat was almost zero, and the effort to rescue or recover the 18 missing crew members was expected to take time. Three sailors who were on the outside of the ship when it exploded managed to scramble to safety.

Adm. D. K. Joshi, India’s naval chief, said at a news conference that the chances were slim that any of the missing sailors remained alive.

“There is a possibility, however remote it might be, of an air pocket,” he said. “We hope for the best but have to be ready for the worst.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/15/world/asia/explosion-partly-sinks-indian-naval-submarine.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0



The naval yard in Mumbai where an explosion and fire on the diesel-powered submarine INS Sindhurakshak partly sank the vessel on Wednesday, trapping 18 sailors.