Re: Two US submariners die


Arved Sandstrom wrote:


This may seem a very naive question, but then again, I was a Marine, not a
sailor,

My condolences... ;)

Question being, for
sailors working on the hull of a surfaced sub, tethered by lifelines, do
they also have lifejackets, and if so, how easy is it to release the line?

When I was in... Yes, we wore kapoks and the safety harness. It was
near impossible to release the safetyline. The Harness was worn
beneath the Kapok if memory serves correctly.


Because it seems to me that in some circumstances if you had a lifejacket it
might be better to release the line and wait for other means of rescue, *IF*
the consequences of staying attached were more severe than the risks of
detaching.

That's a whole lot of *IF* there Arved. The safety track runs down one
side or the other at various places. If you fall to tthe opposite side
you normally stay dry and get up again. IF you fall to the near side
you get wet, but normally not submereged. Without a fair amount of
turns going the boat isn't very maueverable. Normally, when on the
surface with crew topside they won't be making much speed. In all but
a very few cases it is better to be tethered than to ride the side of
the hull down to the prop. There might be the rare occasion when
release would be preferable, but I can't imagine when it would be.


How much training, if any, do sailors get in adopting the best body position
to take an impact with something solid in the water with them?

Next to none. There are drills and training for rescue of overboard
personel. But I never had any time spent as Oscar, isn't that Vince's
billet?


Would it make
any sense to have lightweight helmets with excellent shock absorption for
topside crew...a lot of drownings in these situations (falling from a sub or
people coming through surf) happen precisely because the potential drownee
gets knocked out or dazed.


Maybe, but storage is not a comfort issue on a sub, it is a critical
issue. If you want to add a dozen or so helmets taking up maybe a sq.
ft. of storage space what are you going to give up? Food? Spare
parts? Medical supplies?
There haven't been a lot of drownings in this situation, they're
rare.

BB

I guess everybody has some mountain to climb,
it's just fate whether you live in Tibet or Kansas...

AHS

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