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There's surely an obvious answer to this, but assuming the goof doesn't cripple the submarine's ability to move, and ignoring issues of secrecy, is there a reas

by majos 9y ago

There's surely an obvious answer to this, but assuming the goof doesn't cripple the submarine's ability to move, and ignoring issues of secrecy, is there a reason it can't just head for the surface and be there in a few hours? There's nothing like the bends here for the passengers, right?

Spooky23 9y ago
No, there isn’t. Diesel subs always operate near the surface, they are basically floating mines.
- tzs 9y ago
  I don't know about Argentina's submarines, but the diesel submarines in WWII could get down to around 1000 feet. I wouldn't consider that to be "near" the surface. Most diesel submarines are actually electric submarines, with a diesel generator to provide the electricity for the electric motors and to charge batteries that can be used when the submarine is too deep to run the diesel generator.
  - fapjacks 9y ago
    What the parent is saying is that diesel subs don't get to stay down like nuke subs. Nuke subs regularly stay underwater for the duration of their deployments, which last months. Diesel subs cannot stay underwater for very long at all. We're talking on the order of hours.
  - Spooky23 9y ago
    In WW2, they could do that for like 60-90 minutes. Most time was spent on the surface. Today, a diesel sub snorkels near periscope depth.
JshWright 9y ago
Subs control their depth by flooding internal tanks with water (more water = sub goes deeper). They can surface very quickly (seconds to a few minutes, depending on the depth) by blowing all the water out of those tanks with compressed air. That's assuming something hasn't gone wrong that has caused the sub to take on water somewhere other than those ballast tanks. If a portion of the sub fills with water, the empty ballast tanks may not provide enough buoyant force to lift the sub.
- TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
  Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe a neutrally buoyant, or even (a little?) negatively buoyant sub can adjust depth, perhaps even surface?, under its own power.
  - evgen 9y ago
    It can, but there are actually very few of those types of subs around and they tend to be limited to research and recreation. Keeping several hundred tons neurally buoyant is kinda hard and if the sub has positive buoyancy then it requires propulsion to stay down or else an elevator ride to the surface is a one-way trip. Needing constant propulsion is bad for a military sub, and being stranded on the surface after any sort of emergency surface action (even a test) would also be a bad thing.
trhway 9y ago
Fire (and fire suppression system) is another major hazard.
ocschwar 9y ago
It's not just the ability to move. It's the ability to control bouyancy that's vital. Anything that compromises that, and the sub goes into an irrecoverable dive.

by majos 9y ago

Spooky23 9y ago

No, there isn’t. Diesel subs always operate near the surface, they are basically floating mines.

tzs 9y ago
I don't know about Argentina's submarines, but the diesel submarines in WWII could get down to around 1000 feet. I wouldn't consider that to be "near" the surface. Most diesel submarines are actually electric submarines, with a diesel generator to provide the electricity for the electric motors and to charge batteries that can be used when the submarine is too deep to run the diesel generator.
- fapjacks 9y ago
  What the parent is saying is that diesel subs don't get to stay down like nuke subs. Nuke subs regularly stay underwater for the duration of their deployments, which last months. Diesel subs cannot stay underwater for very long at all. We're talking on the order of hours.
- Spooky23 9y ago
  In WW2, they could do that for like 60-90 minutes. Most time was spent on the surface. Today, a diesel sub snorkels near periscope depth.

JshWright 9y ago

Subs control their depth by flooding internal tanks with water (more water = sub goes deeper). They can surface very quickly (seconds to a few minutes, depending on the depth) by blowing all the water out of those tanks with compressed air. That's assuming something hasn't gone wrong that has caused the sub to take on water somewhere other than those ballast tanks. If a portion of the sub fills with water, the empty ballast tanks may not provide enough buoyant force to lift the sub.

TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe a neutrally buoyant, or even (a little?) negatively buoyant sub can adjust depth, perhaps even surface?, under its own power.
- evgen 9y ago
  It can, but there are actually very few of those types of subs around and they tend to be limited to research and recreation. Keeping several hundred tons neurally buoyant is kinda hard and if the sub has positive buoyancy then it requires propulsion to stay down or else an elevator ride to the surface is a one-way trip. Needing constant propulsion is bad for a military sub, and being stranded on the surface after any sort of emergency surface action (even a test) would also be a bad thing.

trhway 9y ago

Fire (and fire suppression system) is another major hazard.

ocschwar 9y ago

It's not just the ability to move. It's the ability to control bouyancy that's vital. Anything that compromises that, and the sub goes into an irrecoverable dive.