3 ms·
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, dependin
by 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 agoCorrect 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 agoIt 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.