Seawolf Class Submarine: Hunting the Soviet Typhoon

Simon Whistler from Megaprojects (after a broad geopolitical Cold War overview) here and above clearly explains:

3:38 - summary of Russian Typhoon class SSBN 

4.22 - a few words on US Seawolf Project

6:58 - gets down to detail (specs and all) on US Seawolf Project.

Much Debris Recovered from KRI Nanggala, Indonesian Submarine

Debris of (or from) KRI Nanggala recovered. The following is based on this report.  

On April 24, 2021, the Indonesian Navy announced the finding of debris, including a part associated with torpedo tubes, a coolant pipe insulator, a bottle holding periscope grease, and prayer rugs. 

Because the debris was found within 10nm of the point of last contact and no other vessels were believed to be in the area, the debris was believed to have come from KRI Nanggala, hence the submarine was declared sunk.

Chief of Staff, Indonesian Navy, Admiral Yudo Margono stated that a sonar scan had shown Nanggala at a depth of just under 850m ie. fatally below its crush depth of about 500m. 

On 25 April, after a more accurate sonar and magnetometer scan by KRI Rigel (933) (an Indonesian Navy Hydro-Oceanographic Assistance Ship with more powerful sonar equipment) the Indonesian Navy confirmed that all 53 of Nanggala’s crew were lost.

Underwater scans have identified parts of the submarine, including the rudder, external parts of the pressure hull, diving plane, anchor, and other miscellaneous items such as the MK11 submarine escape suit. The remotely operated vehicle (ROV) from Singapore Navy's MV Swift Rescue also made visual contact with the wreck and determined that KRI Nanggala had split into three parts (broken up in fragments). Nanggala is located at a depth of 838m at coordinates 7°48′56″S 114°51′20″E Coordinates: 7°48′56″S 114°51′20″E."

ANZAC Day 2021 Songs & Photos - In Remembrance

 

Anzacs (or 'diggers') at Gallipoli in a rare quiet moment in 1915.

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Australia and New Zealand commemorates ANZAC Day on April 25th each year. It is our secular "holiest" day. The day commemorates the sacrifice of troops of the combined Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) in World War One and of Australians and New Zealanders who fought in all later wars (including some being waged right now). 

The following are songs and photos I've put together to remember them.

This great song And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda by Eric Bogle is about the life of a digger wounded at Gallipoli.

There is a myth that true Anzacs were and are all front line infantry. Some other occupations were more dangerous than infantry. Pilots and aircrew often suffered the highest casualties of any service. Sailors, in particular submariners, were often in great danger both from the enemy and also from accidents. Here is the Navy Hymn for Submariners.

 The hymn Abide With Me is traditionally sung at ANZAC Day services. The singer is Hayley Westernra from Christchurch, New Zealand.
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Iconic Vietnam War photo by Michael Coleridge. Diggers of 5 Platoon, B Company, 7RAR, waiting for Iroquois helicopters to land and take them back to Nui Dat at the end of an operation.

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 The song I Was Only 19 (by that under-appreciated Australian group Redgum) is in memory of Australians who fought, died and were injured in Vietnam (early 1960s to 1972).

I think Eric Bogle’s The Green Fields of France (also known as "No Man's Land" and "Willie McBride)  (above) is the best anti-war song ever written. As a haunting poem, march, song of love and injustice it is a fitting anthem to remember the men and women, living and dead, who are our poeple,  our Anzacs.

A Remembrance poppy.

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For more songs see "Rembrance Day Songs 2018" on this website.

Pete
(Australia, US)

KRI Nanggala's Oxygen Has Just Run Out - No Hope.

KRI Nanggala's oxygen runout time has passed (at 3am in Jakarta, Indonesia time (4am in Bali. Indonesia) Saturday 24 April 2021. The lack of oxygen on KRI Nanggala (402) (if it is intact on the seafloor) means survivors are highly unlikely.

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Submarine Matters' special Southeast Asia correspondent, "Shawn C" advised just over 5 hours ago: 

"No seismic activity [that could have been caused by KRI Nangalla imploding at extreme depth] was detected around the time of Nanggala’s disappearance.

"This [video here and above] is an interesting timeline from Singapore's Straits Times, and recounts eye witness accounts of the submarine ‘disappearing’ during its torpedo drill. This, combined with the lack of an acoustic datum, might account for the Indonesian Navy stating that the submarine suffered an electrical failure. Nanggala was performing trials at 13 metres with periscope up when it’s safety light went out. Then the submarine was observed to sink." 

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Also see this Indonesia advised video (here and above) via Germany's DW.

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Furthemore former  US submariner (sonar specialist) Sub Brief  (here and above) suspects worn seals and pipes may have allowed seawater into the 40-41 year old Nanggala.

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PETE COMMENT

If KRI Nangalla had its periscope just above the sea surface - this may have coincided with Nanggala's snorkel also being deployed on the surface. If Nanggala was "snorting" that means sucking in air for the diesel engines and crew, then expelling carbon dioxide and smoke (poisonous carbon monoxide) through the snorkel. A snorkel failure to expel the carbon dioxide and monoxide could gradually poison the air in Nanggala, putting the crew to sleep. 

Alternatively, for the very (41 year)  old Nanggala a equipment failure in the shape of a blockage in the snorkel mast, with the diesels still running could have caused a rapid evacuation of breathable air in the sub - very quickly killing the crew - as happened with Chinese Ming-class submarine Number 361 in 2003.

Another potential snorkel problem is seawater coming down the snorkel into Nanggala. Seawater could have entered the snorkel, as in Argentina's ARA San Juan, lost in 2017. Seawater gushing through the snorkel down to Nanggala's 100s tonnes of lead-acid Batteries could cause a release of poisonous, highly flammable, hydrogen gas. It is this that could have caused electrical failure - as suspected by the Indonesian Navy. No electrical power could have prevented surfacing, prevented radio transmissions and prevented  emergency oxygen supplies being provided to the crew.

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Here is the naval hymn for submariners in memory of KRI Nanggala's crew.  

Peter Coates
Director, Submarine Matters
Reporting to Australia and the US.

Likely CAUSES of Indonesian Submarine Nanggala's Sinking

On April 21, 2021, the Indonesian Navy reported that its submarine KRI Nanggala (402)  disappeared in waters about 95km north of Bali.^[16] Nanggala had been conducting a torpedo drill, but failed to report its results as expected.^[17] The navy stated that Nanggala had requested permission to dive to perform firing of a SUT torpedo^[18] at 3am (Indonesian time) Wednesday April 21.  Around an hour after being given clearance, Nanggala  lost contact with surface personnel.^[20][21] The Indonesian Navy subsequently sent a distress call to the International Submarine Escape and Rescue Liaison Office to report Nanggala missing and presumably sunk.^[22] The Indonesian Navy stated it was possible that Nanggala experienced a power outage before falling to a depth of about 700m.^[20]

No usual radioing-in from Nanggala to Indonesian ships, naval bases or satellites or other distress signals (eg. flares) have been heard or seen. Based on a similar case, that of Argentine submarine ARA San Juan, in 2017, total loss of contact of a sub, usually indicates it has been lost with all hands (ie. no hope for Nanggala's 53 officers and crew). 

On April 23 it was reported that magnetic anomaly sensors had detected an object of "high magnetic force" floating at a depth between 50m and 100m near to where Nanggala was last seen. Hopes are that this is Nanggala.

KRI Nanggala's approximate last position. (Map courtesy Sydney Morning Herald)
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A much larger scale, locating KRI Nanggala's last known position, map (Courtesy BBC) 

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Around 7am Indonesian time, an aerial search revealed traces of oil spill on the surface of the water near the location where the submarine was believed to have dived.^[25][19] Oil slicks, if from Kri Nanggala, can indicate its diesel fuel tanks have ruptured under extreme crush depth water pressure - which may indicate KRI Nanggala was "lost with all hands" ie. sunk with the whole crew. The seabed is reported to be a submarine crushing 700m deep where Nanggala was lost.

Indonesia has requested assistance from the Singaporean and Australian Navy submarine rescue ships which can deploy deep diving rescue submersibles. Indonesia has an agreement with Singapore for submarine rescue. The Singaporean Navy's MV Swift Rescue has already departed Singapore's Changi naval base and can be seen on this marine satellite tracking site.

Significantly KRI Nanggala is 41 years old -  a German built TKMS (was HDW) Type 209 conventional diesel-electic submarine. It was commissioned into the Indonesian Navy in 1981 and its last reported major maintenance/overhaul was in South Korea, in 2011. 

A 41 year old submarine, perhaps with decades old torpedoes, can suffer many technical defects.

Kri Nanggala exterior and specs (Courtesy Indonesian Navy via the Straits  Times)
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5 POSSIBLE CAUSES FOR KRI NANGGALA's SINKING:

1. Human error and/or failure of torpedo tube equipment in the torpedo firing drill Nangalla intended to conduct. The main danger is to leave the tube's outer and inner doors OPEN simultaneously - thus allowing seawater to rush in. This quickly makes a sub "nose-heavy" with too much weight for Nanggala's usual buoyancy air-tanks to counteract. This would cause Nanggala to sink to around 300m "crush depth", and then imploding, totally destroying, Nanggala.

2. seawater leaks through the snorkel when sucking in surface air at shallow depth. In the  2017 (Argentine submarine ARA San Juan) lost submarine case seawater gushed through the snorkel down to the submarine's 100s tonnes of lead-acid Batteries causing a release of poisonous, highly flammable and explosive hydrogen gas. This sank San Juan. It is possible similar has happened to Indonesia's KRI Nanggala. 

See Pete's very early (proven correct) judgement that ARA San Juan was lost with all hands, just a few hours after its disappearance in 2017.

3. Deploying and/or dropping very old "live torpedoes" during test firing always carries risks that the torpedoes' highly flammable/explosive propellent manages to leak. Any sparks/electrical equipment can set the propellent on fire - leading to smoke/poison gas and ultimately catastrophic explosion. This is what happened to the sunk Russian submarine Kursk in the year 2000.

4. Submarines are normally decommissioned after 20 to 25 years. One major reason is too many "cycles" of immersion/contraction of their Pressure Hulls and cutting into the hull for engine maintainence accelerates Metal Fatigue. This makes a submarine unsafe to dive anywhere below about 200m deep. If Nanggala dived to (say) 250-300m its pressure hull may have "failed" ie. collapsed inward/imploded instantly destroying Nanggala.

5. The Indonesian Navy said an electrical failure may have occurred during the dive, causing the submarine to lose control and become unable to undertake emergency buoyancy procedures that would have allowed it to resurface. Still, the equipment to make a sub buoyant, allowing it to then resurface, can often be manually operated without electrical inputs needed. 

KRI Nanggala (see video here and above) if still intact, is running low on oxygen, due to run out 3am Satuday, April 24, morning.
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FINALLY DETERMINING WHAT HAPPENED

Sidescan sonar and deep sea manned or unmanned submersibles might locate Nanggala, or fragments of it, on the seafloor in the next 24 hours, or longer,

Failing that undersea sensors, belonging to the US Navy, that are nearby eg. about 100km  away from where KRI Nanggala was lost, will be able to detect any loud sounds, like an imploding submarine hull. Due to secrecy the US may need to claim that it was the loud sound/nuclear test sensors of the international civilian "Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO)"  that picked up Nanggala's last sounds (especially any metal pressure hull cracking implosion). 

There is a remote chance  Nanggala is intact and on a shallow seafloor, with most crew alive. If that were the case Nanggala's use of its loud-booming active sonar could be heard 100s kms away, by fixed undersea sensors or on surface ships, aircraft or on other submarines. But unfortunately it is unlikely any crew are alive to trigger active sonar pulses from KRI Nanggala. This is because the seabed is reported to be a submarine crushing 700+m deep where Nanggala was lost.

This is the international naval hymn for submariners to mark Nanggala's sinking.  

Peter Coates
Director, Submarine Matters (Australia-US)

1st RAAF Triton may initially be based on US island of Guam.

Kym Bergmann, editor of Australia's superb Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter (APDR) on
April 21, 2021 reports:

"UPDATED: First RAAF Triton to possibly be based outside Australia"

"At a media briefing in Canberra [Australia's capital] MQ-4C Triton Remotely Piloted Vehicle (RPV) [photo below] prime contractor Northrop Grumman explained that despite the delay to the delivery of the first Triton to the RAAF there may still be opportunities for the first vehicle to demonstrate interoperability with the USN in the region without impacting the schedule. The initial RAAF Triton is expected to be completed in Palmdale, California, in 2023 – but since the infrastructure work at [RAAF Base] Edinburgh will not finish until 2024, the question arises: where to situate it in the meantime.  Northrop Grumman made it clear that they cannot comment on matters of location – those are decisions entirely for the RAAF and USN to make.

Leaving a massively capable surveillance platform sitting on the ground in the US would seem to be a huge waste – and while it can fly for a long time it cannot remain aloft for a full year until its Australian home is ready.  APDR observes that the USN currently has two Tritons operating from Guam out of a total of six that will eventually be deployed to constitute a complete a flight, or more correctly “Orbit” of the aircraft.  Currently, seven Tritons are awaiting transfer to the USN – and some might go to Guam or be deployed to other parts of the world, depending on operational priorities...." 

SEE REST OF GREAT APDR ARTICLE

MQ-4C Triton RPVs (Photo coutesy USAF and Northrop Grumman in Australia)
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