Deep-submergence rescue vehicle
Rescue submarines (English: Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle ( DSRV ) ) are special U- boats to rescue other submarines or their occupation. There are basically two different types of rescue submarines: Manned and Unmanned rescue submarines. The former are usually to rescue the crew, while the latter are mainly U- boats that have caught exempt.
Unmanned rescue submarines
They are usually the liberation of submarines which have been caught in nets, cables or the like, and on its own can not resurface. In order to make such a bailout, the submarine needs to be able at least, after the liberation independently reappear. Technically speaking, in such systems, usually with specialized variants of robots for deep sea drilling for oil or gas.
The submersible units are equipped normally with headlights, sonar, cameras and two robot arms. The robotic arms are used for actual rescue, they can cut through up to 7 cm or lift loads up to 300 kg depending on model steel cables.
Due to their small size and weight unmanned rescue submarines are transported by air and so can be used worldwide in smaller aircraft.
Such mini- submarines were used until recently only by Great Britain ( Royal Navy ) and the U.S. ( U.S. Navy ). Both use U- boats of the type ROV Scorpio, but in different versions. The Royal Navy has such a submarine, the U.S. Navy has two.
One of the more well-known operations of an unmanned mini- submarine took place in August 2005 when a Scorpio the Royal Navy freed a manned Russian rescue submarine at Kamchatka. Russia has expressed this occasion the intention to create even British Scorpio- diving robot. Meanwhile, another navies purchased such diving robot or intend to. These include the Singapore Navy and the tri-national NSRs.
Manned rescue submarines
Manned rescue submarines serve at least to rescue the crew of a sunken submarine, even if there is no hope to recover the entire submarine.
Thus, the crew from the sunken submarine can change the rescue submarine, equipped rescue submarines below the hull via a docking station with which it can dock with most major submarines. The rescue submarines may vary according to type from a few to accommodate over 30 people per dive.
Manned rescue submarines have the disadvantage that they are relatively large and therefore only limited transported by air (only in very large aircraft ). The U- boats also differ greatly in their maximum diving depth, which can range from a few hundred meters and well above 1000 meters. Lifeboats, reaching a depth such are also referred to as deep-sea rescue submarines.
User States
- France, Great Britain and Norway jointly operate the NATO Submarine Rescue System ( NSRs ), which includes a manned rescue submarine and an unmanned component. The Royal Navy previously had a manned rescue submarine type LR5.
- Australia operated a manned rescue submarine called Remora, but which could not meet the requirements. Meanwhile decommissioned in the Royal Navy LR5 was taken. This has a capacity of 16 people.
- The U.S. Navy decreed to 2000, two until 2008 or via a manned rescue submarines of the Mystic class, called DSRV (Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle) and could accommodate 24 persons each per dive. Meanwhile, the Submarine Rescue Diving Recompression System ( SRDRS ) is in service, which includes not only an unmanned component manned rescue submarines of the type Pressurized Rescue Module ( PRM ), Falcon.
- The Russian Navy has five or six manned rescue submarines, of which four or five of the Pris - class, which can accommodate 20 people each.
- Sweden has the URF a powerful, but with a weight of 52 t very limited luftverladbares rescue system. The capacity is 35 people per dive.
- Italy has a rescue submarine named SRV 300 with a maximum depth of 300 meters and the capacity for the rescue of twelve people per dive.
- South Korea operates its own submarine rescue ship with its own rescue submarine type LR5K, which can save ten people per dive.
- Japan operates two submarine rescue vessels, each with a manned rescue submarine. The system is considered efficient, but t is not transported by air and therefore very limited in range due to the high weight of 40.
- China also operates manned rescue submarines, the number and skills, however, is not known.
- Singapore has recently acquired a private submarine rescue vessel having its own manned rescue submarine and an unmanned component.
Other countries such as Brazil, India, Spain and Turkey also operate their own means of submarine rescue. This is however are simple escape pods, which can not come close to the performance of rescue submarines.
Trivia
The DSRV the U.S. Navy come in several movies before, including in " The Hunt for Red October," where a DSRV is used to " board " to the ( fictional ) Russian submarine "Red October".
In the movie U- boat in distress the DSRV the U.S. Navy used to rescue survivors from the sunken nuclear submarine USS Neptune.