Sub Disaster Action Hero

[Jack Ray]

FYI

Sub Disaster Action Hero
Naval officer specializes in deep-sea rescues
By Sharon A. Heilbrunn, Staff Writer
San Diego Union-Tribune
September 6, 2008
CORONADO � Capt. James Bates spends much of his time doing things most people only see in the movies: practicing for life and death emergencies on the ocean floor.

As a diving medical officer with the U.S. Navy, Bates is part of the Deep Submergence Unit, a team that develops and executes submarine rescues and escapes.

�Our job, specifically, is to be able to rescue people off a submarine that's sunk to the bottom of the ocean,� Bates said. �You rescue living members that survive the catastrophe that causes a sub to sink.�

That's not his only job. Bates is an orthopedic surgeon by day, performing surgeries at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego, Sharp Coronado Hospital and Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa.

Although Bates and his team simulate rescues, they have yet to do one in real life.

�It's one of those jobs where it's very intense training,� he said. �You never wish for a sub to sink, but you hope that all this training you've done works in a real scenario.�

Bates, a Coronado resident, began his career with the Navy in 1987 while still in medical school. He was accepted into the Armed Forces Health Profession Scholarship Program and received room, board, a stipend and help with school needs.

After graduation, Bates served his first active duty assignment as a surgical intern at Balboa Naval Hospital � now known as Bob Wilson Naval Hospital � then underwent naval flight surgeon training in Pensacola, Fla.

He spent time with the Marines, then returned to school to pursue orthopedic surgery. He continued with the Navy � but this time undersea.

�I've always been a diver,� he said. �I went to the Navy's diving school in Florida in 1998, then took a job with the Naval Special Warfare Command, or Navy SEAL team.�

In 2005, the native New Yorker joined the Deep Submergence Unit, the only team in the country that works on procedures for rescuing and administering medical help to people aboard a sunken submarine.

The unit is on North Island Naval Air Station in Coronado, a short drive from the home Bates shares with his wife and two children.

�Not a day goes by that I don't do something related to the Navy,� Bates said.

He recently walked around the unit in Coronado. Inside the cream-colored building, he pointed out the wires, tubes and boxes surrounding the massive submersibles used for rescues. An indoor pool is used for simulations, while cranes overhead hoist the submersibles into the water.

Bates just returned from an international mission in Norway � called Bold Monarch 2008 � where he lived aboard a Dutch ship.

There, they facilitated rescues for practice, �individually working with transfers of people from submarines at depths of 500 feet,� he said.

The only known rescue of this type occurred in 1939 aboard the Squalus. The sub sank to about 240 feet, where the water temperature was just a few degrees above freezing. Thirty-three sailors spent up to four days on the submarine before being rescued by a submarine rescue chamber.

Submarines frequently sink because of damage from a collision.

�The hull of a large ship might punch a hole in the hull of a sub,� Bates said. �Collisions with subs actually happen more commonly than people would like to know.�

Other causes include explosions or fires that lead to system failures or flooding that occurs when valves aren't properly sealed.

To rescue submariners, the Deep Submergence Unit uses submersibles, which are basically mini-submarines. The smaller vessels attach to the sub's hatch and the people on board use a ladder to climb from the sunken sub to the submersible. The unit also is prepared to provide medical help and relieve atmospheric pressure changes.

In the instance when a rescue can't happen quickly enough, or when atmospheric conditions are deteriorating aboard the submarine, those on board may attempt an escape. It's a tricky, dangerous diving maneuver.

Bates performed an escape during a Navy simulation exercise in 2006. Wearing a specialized escape suit, he was able to ascend from a submarine 130 feet below the surface of the ocean in a mission off Alaska.

�It's dark, black at the bottom of the ocean,� Bates said. �There was no light. You ascend at 10 feet per second. It's a rush.�

Bates' job has allowed him to work with people of many nations, including Russia and China.

�Nothing is top secret or confidential,� Bates said. �We're allowed to exchange ideas and theories. We're working together to make the rescue of the submarine possible.�

Staff researcher Beth Wood contributed to this report.

[Walt]

I don't understand this at all.. Most submarines if they have a critical situation and "sink" in water over 2800' deep the boat is a goner and there will be nobody to rescue ( IE Thrasher and Scorpion). If a 688 boat or later sinks in shallow water and the cause of the sinking is flooding then the chances are that it too is a goner..this is basicly due to the fact that 688s SSNs and newer Virginias have only 3 compartments, all 3 of which except the reactor compartment if flooded will result in very caustic or even explosive situations especially in the operations compartment where the ships batterys are located. ( The Ohios and Seawolfs may have 4 compartments I don't know ) The newer Boats are designed more for function than battle damage survivability.. Given the knowledge that the designers know that in modern warfare a hit on a SSN or SSBN will be sufficent to sink the boat regardless the amount of compartments it has..
The newer boats compartments are basicly fire barriers.. flooding in any of them will be enough to sink her. A recent example of how close the bouyancy curve is was demonstrated by the 711 boat (San Francisco) that suffered damage to her fwd ballast tanks after colliding with a mountain at high speed.. The boat had to "drive" to the surface and thay had to run the blowers on the fwd tank just to maintain a decent positive bouyancy.. Scary sight for sure. But the 711 had a excellent crew and very well built boat..
With many of the earlier SS, SSN, and even SSBNs in the US Navy compartments were more numerous and chances of crew survival at lower depths was better.
I hope this system is never needed and I guess if anything it will add a little more comfort to the newer bubbleheads and aid with the Submarine Force's recruiting eh??? It worked for me LOL..

[Werner]

Why was the DSRV built, and why do they practice recoveries, etc?

[Timmy C]

Could be that they are maintaining the boat and the training so that they can help rescue other nations' submarine incidents, like in novels...

[Werner]

I heard the DSSV program was a cover for covert submarine operations (ala Ivy Bells), but nothing like that for DSRV.

[Walt]

I heard the DSSV program was a cover for covert submarine operations (ala Ivy Bells), but nothing like that for DSRV.

Maybe !!!!
And with the older boats especially SS boats there was more of a probability of a shallow water accident with the boats structural integrady remaining intact than there is today. Also the DSSV was designed for "recovery" as well as "rescue". We used to say it was a recruiting aide.. During the Cold War I remember the "rescue" bouys being welded or strapped down to the hulls pre-deployment to avoid accidental release either by the crew or malfunction and it kept them from vibrating against the hull etc... The only time I personally saw them painted any color than black and in operational mode was on sea trials. This always was a sober reminder of how expendable the boats really were.

[NucSub]

I heard the DSSV program was a cover for covert submarine operations (ala Ivy Bells), but nothing like that for DSRV.

Maybe !!!!
And with the older boats especially SS boats there was more of a probability of a shallow water accident with the boats structural integrady remaining intact than there is today. Also the DSSV was designed for "recovery" as well as "rescue". We used to say it was a recruiting aide.. During the Cold War I remember the "rescue" bouys being welded or strapped down to the hulls pre-deployment to avoid accidental release either by the crew or malfunction and it kept them from vibrating against the hull etc... The only time I personally saw them painted any color than black and in operational mode was on sea trials. This always was a sober reminder of how expendable the boats really were.

DSRV program started shortly after Thresher went down. Much politics involved. The result were the two DSRV's that are very capable and rumor is they even performed some covert operations. As to cost over runs in the program, they had the political backing so likely anything black would have been added to the program budget without much question.
As to their usefulness as rescue vehicles, they are very capable but the boat being rescued would have to be in shallow water as stated elsewhere. Submarines during the cold war were not likely to be in shallow waters unless near port or where they shouldn't be.
Rescue buoys were usually removed after seatrials and the covers welded shut.

[Jack Ray]

I always wondered why submariners got extra pay...