Indian Submarine Accident
(Mumbai, India)
Two officers were feared killed and seven sailors injured when a fire erupted on board a submarine, INS Sindhuratna, around 40 nautical miles off Mumbai in the early hours of Wednesday.India has suffered serious problems with its underwater vessels. Last August, eighteen crewmen died from a series of explosions aboard INS Sindhurakshak, a Russian Kilo-class submarine like INS Sindhuratna.
The Navy said the two officers, a lieutenant commander and a lieutenant, both from the electrical branch, were "still to be accounted for". The seven sailors were airlifted by Sea King helicopters to INS Ashwini hospital in Colaba. "The sailors fell unconscious on inhaling the heavy smoke engulfing the submarine's third compartment. They are now stable," said an officer.
An upset defence ministry sought a detailed report from the Navy since this is the second major accident in the country's ageing submarine fleet in the last six months, which has further dented India's underwater combat arm.
1 comment:
Having been assigned to subs here in America, my guess is they are trying to use those old subs far beyond their realistic life. Russian, you say? Those things were built to sink fresh. If those are titanium hulled, they were probably not wielded rightly ~ glass hulled. Even the US stayed away because the process was so... too... demanding. Russia? :p They definitely don't improve with age. I have some notion of the money solidly built subs had to have sunk into them to keep them afloat, all puns aside. I don't think India has that kind of political will to dump that much raw cash on a white elephant.
If you have subs, it isn't to get you rich, or even do much. It simply enhances the overall fleet, which is nearly defunct as a notion, just a little bit. National pride.
The other thing? Even in Britain, the people, and culture, don't allow for things like submarines very well. The officers are above work in highly tiered cultures, and the lower tiers are too ignorant and coddled. Yes, they coddle the lower classes to keep them there. India? Iran? North Korea? They have no chance. I've seen British ships. They are the pits. That was decades ago. Not sure about their subs, and US sub crews are... different. Still, because of the social tiers and mechanisms that keep that in place, I have my doubts. Sloth in the mechanism of running them. Didn't see them all, I suppose. Saw several. Wasn't impressed.
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