Explosion on British Sub Kills 2

[Skeptik]

Oxygen device sparked sub blast

An explosion on a submarine which killed two British sailors was caused by an emergency oxygen device, the US military has said.

The men died on board the Devonport-based nuclear submarine HMS Tireless during a joint British-US operation under the Arctic icecap.

A third sailor was airlifted to a US military hospital in Anchorage. He is expected to make a full recovery.

A Board of Inquiry has begun into the accident on Wednesday morning.

Forward compartment

The Trafalgar-class submarine made an emergency surface after the explosion, breaking through the ice off the Alaskan coast.

Tireless is nuclear powered, but it does not carry nuclear-armed missiles

US authorities said air-purification equipment, known as a self-contained oxygen generation candle, was the source of the blast.

The air purification system, which is not the submarine's main oxygen supply, is in the forward escape compartment - a "quiet" area at the front of the vessel, where submariners go to relax when they are not on duty.

A Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesman said its use on other vessels has been restricted as a precaution until safety checks were carried out.

The former First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Alan West, told Radio 4's Today programme there had been no previous problems with the equipment.

"These particular oxygen generators, they're a secondary system. There's another, the primary system, that produces oxygen all the time; and there's one forward and one aft," he said.

"A new type was produced and fitted, I think, to Tireless in about 2001 or something like that and the same type is fitted across the fleet.

"These ones, these particular new ones, nothing has happened with them up to date. They replaced a much older system that really stemmed from the second world war which there had been problems with, which is why we out these new ones in."

Map graphic showing the location where the injured sailor is being treated

The nuclear reactor of HMS Tireless was unaffected and the ship itself was not in danger, the MoD said.

Vice Admiral Jay Donnelly, commander of the US submarine force, said: "I am deeply saddened at the loss of the crew members from the Tireless.

"Submariners are brothers at sea and we all feel the loss as if it were our own. We stand by to continue to assist in any way we can."

The accident took place on board the Trafalgar-class submarine, which does not carry nuclear missiles, on Wednesday morning. The families of both dead sailors have been told.

Tomahawk missiles

Oxygen candles are emergency devices that create oxygen through a chemical reaction. Some devices burn at high temperatures during the reaction.

HMS Tireless was launched in 1985. The piece of air-purification machinery thought to have failed was fitted as part of an update in 2001.

The submarine is the third of seven Trafalgar-class SSN submarines in the Royal Navy, and usually carries of crew of 130.

All Trafalgar-class submarines are armed with five tubes capable of firing Tomahawk missiles.

The MoD will now hold an investigation, known as a Board of Inquiry, to prevent a reoccurrence of the tragedy and to see what lessons can be learned.
==
Oxygen candles are fitted to all Trafalgar-class submarines.

HMS TIRELESS
Class - Trafalgar
Commissioned - 1984
Crew - 130
Weapons - Tomahawk missiles, Spearfish torpedoes
Propulsion - pressurised water-cooled nuclear reactor
Speed - 32knots (dived)
Depth - 400m (operational), 600m (maximum)
Length - 85.4m (280ft)
==

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/6478127.stm

If I remember rightly, this is exactly what happened on board a Russian sub. Don't they learn from mistakes ..??
These things carry Tomahawks. Don't they put nuclear tips on those.

 

[RichardP]

The Kursk submarine did not have the same explosion.

The mission began in earnest on the morning of August 12, 2000. As part of the exercise, Kursk was to fire two dummy torpedoes at a Kirov-class battlecruiser, Peter the Great, the flagship of the Northern Fleet. At 11:28 local time (07:28 UTC), high test peroxide (HTP), a form of highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide used as propellant for the torpedo, seeped through rust in the torpedo casing. The HTP reacted with copper and brass in the tube from which the torpedo was fired, causing a chain reaction, leading to a chemical explosion.

The watertight door separating the torpedo room from the rest of the sub was left open prior to firing. This was apparently common practice, on account of excess compressed air being released into the torpedo room when a weapon was fired. The open door allowed the blast to rip back through the first two of nine compartments on the huge sub, probably killing the seven men in the first compartment, and at least injuring or disorienting the thirty-six men in the second compartment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_submarine_Kursk_explosion

 

[Skeptik]

The Kursk submarine did not have the same explosion.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_submarine_Kursk_explosion

So what killed the sailors in the end?? ... you didn't read your own quote dude.

There has been much debate over how long the sailors might have survived. Some, particularly on the Russian side, say that they would have died very quickly; water is known to leak into a stationary Oscar-II craft through the propeller shafts and at 100m depth it would have been impossible to plug these. Others point out that the many superoxide chemical cartridges, used to absorb carbon dioxide and chemically release oxygen to enable survival, were found used when the craft was recovered, suggesting that they had survived for several days. Ironically, the cartridges appear to have been the cause of death; a sailor appears to have accidentally brought a cartridge in contact with the sea water, causing a chemical reaction and a flash fire. The official investigation into the disaster showed that some men appeared to have survived the fire by plunging under the water (the fire marks on the walls indicate the water was at waist level in the lower area at this time). However the fire rapidly used up the remaining oxygen in the air, causing death by asphyxiation.

 

[RichardP]

So what killed the sailors in the end?? ... you didn't read your own quote dude.

It was not the explosion that caused the submarine to sink. The scrubber went bang 'cos someone brought it in to contact with the seawater inside the sub. (or the water got inside the scrubber due to circumstances)

A Lack of Oxygen will kill everyone! .. the scrubber became non-functional due to water... and the fire "ate" all the remaining oxygen.

 

[kilo39]

Tomahawk (also known as cruise missile) can be fitted with a variety of warheads (including nuclear.) Usually not though.

BGM-109 Tomahawk

 

[Skeptik]

It was not the explosion that caused the submarine to sink. The scrubber went bang 'cos someone brought it in to contact with the seawater inside the sub. (or the water got inside the scrubber due to circumstances)

A Lack of Oxygen will kill everyone! .. the scrubber became non-functional due to water... and the fire "ate" all the remaining oxygen.

As you can see, the same thing happened to the British sailors and they died. Lessons sadly not learnt, as per original point. If the Russian sailors had lived, they might have helped the enquiry.

The scrubbers are made of an oxide that is highly inflammable when in contact with water.(Sodium/Potassium?) Seems daft to use that in a submarine ..

 

[RompelStompel]

As you can see, the same thing happened to the British sailors and they died. Lessons sadly not learnt, as per original point. If the Russian sailors had lived, they might have helped the enquiry.

The scrubbers are made of an oxide that is highly inflammable when in contact with water.(Sodium/Potassium?) Seems daft to use that in a submarine ..

IIRC the scrubbers use Lithium Hydroxide.