This Sub is Trapped 1601 feet UnderWater

on Wednesday the 29th of August Pisces 3 and its two pilots plunged to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in an accident that could have been avoided the accident Sparks a 76-hour International Rescue operation [Music] Pisces 3 is built by International hydrodynamic of North Vancouver British Columbia and launched in 1969. the Canadian commercial submersible vessel measures six meters long two meters wide and 3 meters high it can take two crew it's built to work in and explore areas of the ocean as deep as 1100 meters Pisces 3 is purchased by British company Vickers oceanics in 1971. because oceanics has the largest Fleet of commercial submersibles with nine subs and five support ships the subs support the offshore oil industry conducting surveys of the sites for new pipelines and underwater structures they're used to inspect and maintain rig structures pipelines and well heads they find and recover lost equipment or photograph the condition of the underwater parts of drilling platforms manipulators are fixed to Pisces three these are mechanical arms that can have a variety of tools attached to them for gripping cutting sawing Drilling and pumping the tools can be changed while the sub is underwater originally Pisces 3 is built with tail fins but Vickers Oceanic removes the tail fins to improve access and handling on Tuesday the 28th of August 1973 Roger malinson spends the day repairing a broken manipulator on the submarine during the repair he changes the half empty oxygen tank for a full one even though the half empty would have been sufficient for the next dive just good practice after working day and night pushing into the morning of the 29th of August Roger Chapman and Roger mallinson begin a routine dive at 0 1 15. they're working on laying a transatlantic telephone cable on the seabed their current position is 130 nautical miles Southwest of cork in southern Ireland Chapman is a former Navy Submariner and malinson is the engineer who rebuilt the submarine when it was received from Canada both men are highly experienced and malinson knows the sub inside out the job is scheduled to take 20 days making eight hour Dives in the submersible it takes about 40 minutes to reach the depth of 488 meters at the sea floor Pisces 3 uses water jets to liquefy the mud lay the cable then cover it over again it's difficult and exhausting work to stay focused in the near zero visibility as they spray water jets at the mud a cloud of silt kicks up and it's almost impossible to see further than the manipulator arm the crew describe it like riding down a Motorway in thick fog and trying to follow a white line in order to see through the portal window the men kneel down with their heads between their knees the portal window faces forward and down towards the seabed in front of them so they can see the cables they're laying they control the submersible in one hand and the manipulator in the other it requires 100 concentration at all times in order to avoid exhaustion the pilots take turns and rotate positions frequently every 40 minutes they scrub the air they turn on a lithium hydroxide fan to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and also add additional oxygen to the cabin to keep the air breathable if they don't scrub the air carbon dioxide builds up in their chamber which makes them light-headed and weak they also maintain a video log throughout every dive after their eight hour shift the Two Men start their Ascent at 0 9 18 after a successful dive the Pisces 3 reaches the surface the two men hear the toe line being attached to the support chip Vickers Voyager a voice through the radio notifies them that the toe Line is now attached by but the message is quickly drowned out by a high-pitched wine it's a sound that's familiar to Chapman and malinson they've heard it before it's the alarm in the AFT sphere a self-contained part of the submersible holding machinery and oil storage condensation has set off the alarm before it usually stops as soon as it starts with nothing to worry about so the men ignore it but this time it stops and then the whining noise starts again which isn't normal the toe line has become entangled with the art sphere and wrenched a hatch open Chapman and malinson hear the sound of water rushing through the open hatch flooding the AFT sphere with over a ton of water Pisces 3 begins to tip backwards as the weight of the water destabilizes the Sun the sub slips below the water line in melaton's shouts to watch the depth they're already 30 meters below the surface and descending rapidly at 53 meters the submersible jolts to a stop the nylon toe line has arrested their descent the submersible sways in the sea currents for several moments while the men gather their bearings then with a loud crack the Rope snaps and the men plummet towards the seabed as they descend malinson and Chapman hear pieces of the sub breaking off loud cracking sounds echo in the tiny chamber they're locked in they close down all the electrical systems which leaves them in total Blackness then they release a 400 pound lead ballast weight which helps to slow their descent they stuff their mouths full of cotton as they brace for impact the cotton will reduce the chances of biting their tongues on impact at 0 9 30 Pisces 3 collides with the sea floor 488 meters deep kicking up a cloud of silts the sub remains intact Chapman and malinson are still alive but they're trapped in a 1.8 meter sphere at the bottom of the ocean using a flashlight they get their bearings then call their support ship to update them at 0945 malinson and Chapman make radio contact with the Vickers Voyager above they let them know they're okay and in good spirits the full tank of oxygen has a capacity to last Almost 72 hours but eight hours are already used leaving 64 hours the men know there's no vessel at the surface that can reach them it'll take at least two days before any helpful equipment can be transported to the site the men spend the first few hours getting organized and making plans to survive as long as they can it's cold and wet and they have a limited supply of oxygen to make matters worse the sub is upside down now that the cloud of silt has settled mallets and shines the torch out of the porthole window half hoping to see a rescue party already coming to save them all he can see is the dummy lit beam of light disappearing into the darkness carbon dioxide is heavier than air so the men lie at the top of the cabin to stay in good air they lay completely still without speaking by minimizing their movement they're able to cut down on the oxygen usage they have just a single sandwich and one can of lemonade they also decide to allow the carbon dioxide in the air to build up beyond the normal 40 minutes to conserve oxygen making them lethargic and drowsy thick as Voyager notifies the Royal Navy U.S Navy and Canadian Coast Guard of the emergency they coordinate an emergency rescue plan at 10 35 sistership Vicar's Ventura is in the North Sea when it gets in order to return to the nearest port with the submersible Pisces II at 1200 the Royal Navy survey vessel HMS Hackett steams to the accident location to offer assistance with special hoist ropes the United States Navy offers a submersible belonging to the U.S Salvage Department called Curve 3 or controlled underwater recovery vehicle it's loaded into an aircraft in California curve 3 is designed to pick up bombs from the seabed after arriving in Swansea it's loaded aboard the John Cabot a Canadian Coast Guard ship the John Cabot leaves port and sails towards the accident site the next day Thursday the 30th of August at 2015 the Vickers Voyager arrives in Cork and loads the submersible Pisces II and Pisces 5 which are flown in overnight by 2230 the Vickers Voyager is loaded and headed back to the site three and a half hours after that at 0-200 Vickers Voyager reaches the location and launches Pisces 2 with a polypropylene rope attached while descending the lifting rope breaks free of the Pisces II manipulator arm and the rescue submersible has to return to the surface for repairs Pisces 5 is put in the water for the next rescue attempt the rescue sub makes it to the ocean floor with a polypropylene rope and snap hook Pisces 3 has landed in a trench and is barely visible on the sea floor Pisces 5 searches until its batteries run low it returns to the surface without citing Pisces dream on its second dive at 12 44 Pisces 5 finds the crew [Music] on board the rescue sub attempt to attach the Rope but can't connect into Pisces 3. Pisces 5 now Waits with Pisces three Pisces two goes back in the water but has to be brought back on board because of a leak curve 3 arrives on board the John Cabot it's also unable to launch because of an electrical fault at midnight going into Friday the 31st of August Pisces 5 is ordered to return to the surface it ascends and joins the other two disabled submersibles with everything going wrong the rescue team begins to lose hope for Chapman and malinson the men have now been in the sub for 72 hours their window is closing and there's no submersible in a position to bring them to the surface they're running out of both oxygen and the lithium hydroxide to scrub the carbon dioxide from the airspace in the submersible both men are cold wet and suffering from severe headaches with the 72-hour oxygen limits on their minds the rescue crew know they only have one last chance if it's not too late already oh on Saturday the 1st of September at 0402 Pisces 2 is deployed an hour later it reaches a sub and successfully attaches a purpose-built toggle and polypropylene tow rope to the AFT sphere at the back of Pisces three but malinson isn't confident the lift will work the AFT sphere isn't the strong point they're in the four sphere and he's annoyed they aren't being lifted by that he thinks it's the wrong decision but the only way the rescue crew can attach a line is using the toggle the device has two arms that open and close like an umbrella the rescue crew insert the toggle through the open hatch of Pisces three's flooded aft sphere once inside the toggle arms are opened and locked in position at zero nine thirty curve 3 begins a descent at 10 35 it reaches Pisces 3 and manages to fasten another tow rope to the AFT sphere of the stranded submersible once again using the same type of custom-made toggle when the second lines attached malinson and Chapman share the sandwich and lemonade there's no point to saving it now at 10 50 the lift begins and as soon as the sub lifts off the ocean floor it starts swaying and spinning violently malinson and Chapman are weak and disorientated the spinning compounds they're already severe headache the rescue crew in Pisces 2 watch helplessly as Pisces three spins and jolts out of control they wonder if the two men will even make it to the surface at least they're off the sea floor and on their way up the lift makes slow progress until the sub is 106 meters from the water line when it comes to a stop curve 3 is Tangled in the toe line Pisces 2 helps to untangle curve 3 and the lift continues until it reaches 30 meters divers attach heavier lifting cables to the submersible at 1317 on Saturday the 1st of September Pisces 3 finally breaks the surface to the rescue crews relief Chapin and Melanson are still alive divers immediately try to open the hatch to allow fresh air into the submersible malinson and Chapman are at the end of their oxygen supply they've been spun and tossed violently during the lift which has taken almost three hours the pounding in their heads is at a fever pitch and now the divers can't open the hatch it's jammed shut from the impact with the sea floor the rescue crew hoist Pisces three onto the deck of Vicar's Voyager it takes nearly 30 more minutes to open the hatch malinson and Chapman struggle to leave the craft they've been cramped inside for 84 hours and 30 minutes they survived the deepest rescue from a submersible in history first men recover from the accident with only minor PTSD Chapman goes on to become the leading Authority on Rescue submersibles and plays an instrumental role in rescuing the seven men crew on the Russian submarine as-28 prince in 2005. malinson continues working with Vicars Oceanic for several years restoring steam engines he and Chapman stay in touch meeting up every year until Roger Chapman dies at the age of 74 in January 2020. the full oxygen tank that malinson replaced in the Cyber almost four days before had approximately 12 minutes of oxygen left

Channel: Waterline Stories

Views: 188,960

Keywords: submersible, submarine, accidents

Id: GjeFWr9Xymw

Length: 14min 37sec (877 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 30 2023