European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 21, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse Bumar ners will be the first part of a Rescue mis Sion system to provide a High prob ability of getting a submarine Rescue capability Down to an operating depth of about 3,500 feet anywhere in the world within a 24-hour period. By 1 70 the Navy plans to have six of those Rescue vehicles to handle trouble anywhere in the Durvis Only about 50 feet Long and weighs about 30 tons so that it can be airlifted by a c141 Star lifter trans port to the disaster site by air. Once there it will be attached to a nuclear submarine to Complete the final leg of the trip to the trapped submarine. Near the stricken submarine Sheds re s three Man Crew will take Over detach the vehicle from the Rescue submarine and ride Down to the wreck homing in with sonar if visibility i bad. Once attached to the stricken sub Marine the a sri will be Able to pickup 24 sailors at a time and take them to the waiting Rescue Navy says the Durvis designed to go anywhere a nuclear submarine can go. Probing the Depths has a Gate a a divers begin test dive. By Bob Hoyer is . Bureau Chieff or More than a half Century the United states Navy has been prob ing the Ocean Depths. In a program that began in 1912,divers have been sent to the Bottom of the sea in increasing a consequence the Navy now maintains one of the world s biggest Salvage operations with some 400 first class divers rated for maximum Depths on its payroll. It s a program that requires constant training and the development of new and increasingly sophisticated equip ment and techniques. In View of this need the . Navy embarked on a test program at the Royal Navy deep trials unit at Alver Stoke England in october. Scheduled for completion by May the tests Are intended to develop a new set of decompression schedules for deep sea divers. The Royal Navy deep trials Unitas selected for tests because it s one of the few facilities in the world adequately equipped to undertake the pro to published reports that a Large sum of Money is involved in the project the . Navy has been Given free use of the Alverston facility i Exchange for information gleaned from the . Is providing its own staff breathing equipment and divers for the project. The Navy originally asked the British to use their facility because one of its two diving Chambers at the experimental diving unit Edu in washing ton now is being 25 . Navy divers have been participating in tests on a rotational basis Between Alverstoke and the Edu in Washington. At any Given time a estimated 15 divers have been on Loca is strictly a team Effort. Person Nel have been switched throughout the tests. Currently heading the team Are Foster in charge of operational aspects and it. Carl j. Rubenstin Anavy doctor who is monitoring the scientific Side of tests and working on the decompression schedules. Providing direct support to the .team is the deep trials unit headed by Royal Navy it cmdr. R. N. Filer ret and cmdr. Phillip White Royal Navy superintendent of cooperating in the tests is the British admiralty diving unit team currently under the direction of a . Navy Exchange officer it. Jame Bladh. The deep trials unit diving Cham Ber situated in a new Brick building almost within shouting distance of the English Channel on the grounds of the Royal Navy physiological Laboratory can simulate 1,000-foot Ocean Depths. And it s the depth that a diver oper ates at plus the time he stays there that determines How Long it will take him to decompress give off the inert gases his body absorbed under pres sure. For example a diver operating at 60feet for 60 minutes normally would not require decompression but As a Gen eral Rule anything in excess of this in time or depth would require decompression. The problem is compounded because there is no direct proportion that can be set up Between death and time. Rather this time depth relationship i described by a curve. It s the increasing pressure As a diver descends 14.7 pounds per Square Inch at sea level 445 Psi at 1,000 feet that causes him to absorb inert gases. To suddenly release this pressure would be cause extreme pain and injury. It May take a diver As much As 24hours to become saturated with inert gases. The time of decompression would depend on the depth at which he was operating. Present tests a Alverstoke Are be ing conducted at simulated Depths of 200 to 450 feet for Short periods of said the decompression tables being worked out at Alverstoke might find application in Salvage work or in investigating future submarine casualties. He pointed out that the latest concept for deep sea work is the submersible chamber which makes it possible for the diver to rest and eat in Comfort under the sea. The Navy expects to test this Yea the Mark i system which consists of two submersible Chambers aboard ship equipment that will permit diving Crews to alternate on the Bottom of the this system one Crew can be working while the second Crew is gradually being decompressed so it will suf Fer no ill effects when exposed to atmospheric pressure. In View of Man s increasing interesting the sea the tests at Alverstoke take on an added new sources of food and minerals Are probed and As the oceans give up Long held secrets it s certain that the United states Navy will carry its share of the search and research projects. The stars and stripes is Gau i technician keeps tabs on divers by to. Page
