Sorbet Royal 2005 Submarine Rescue Exercise

Five serials were today carried out off of the Italian Coast in the Bay of Taranto. Day six serials were completed in excellent warm weather, flat seas and once again a 0.5 Knot Southerly current.

The following types of serial were performed,

SURVEYEX - The approach and survey of a distressed submarine by divers.

MATEX - The mating and de-mating of a submarine rescue chamber with a distressed submarine.

RESCUEX - The rescue of personnel from a distressed submarine.

PODEX - The posting of a POD to resupply essential life support stores, by passing the POD through either an escape trunk or torpedo tube.

VENTEX - This is where the distressed submarine is ventilated from the surface through a salvage air system.

SPAGEX - The Submarine Parachute Assistance Group exercise.

ESCAPEX – Where personnel escape from a distressed submarine using Immersion Suits.

SEARCHEX – The process of searching for a missing submarine.

COORDEX – Choreographed process of rescuing personnel from a distressed submarine with two or more assets.

The Italian Submarine PRIMO LONGOBARDO was involved in a COORDEX with the ITS ANTEO and her Rescue Vehicle SRV300, as well as the MV FENNICA and her Rescue Submersible LR5. The COORDEX was conducted in 90 m of water and took a total of 12 hours to complete. Divers were utilized from Turkey to complete two RESCUEXs with successful exchange of personnel.

USS GRASP, her Submarine Escape Chamber (SRC) and Advanced Diving Suit (ADS) conducted a RESCUEX on the Turkish Submarine PREVEZE. The TGC PREVEZE was bottomed for a total of 12 hours in which two hours of ADS operations took place to a maximum depth of 40 m. The RESCUEX included a sonar search and the connection of an SRC downhaul cable. Six surface supplied dives with two divers each were also completed down to a depth of 100 feet with total bottom time being 240 minutes. The SRC mated with the distressed submarine three times and exercises included submarine fairing removal, underwater open hatch operations and the transfer of personnel.

The Spanish NEPTUNO and Russian SHAKTYOR performed a SURVEYEX and PODEX with the HNLMS DOLFIJN. The submarine was bottomed in 28 m of water for a total of nine hours. During this time two surface supplied air dives were conducted as well as five SCUBA dives (Two Spanish, One Russian and 2 Greek Divers) with one pod being delivered successfully.

HNLMS MERCUUR and Ukrainian KREMENETS carried out a SURVEYEX and PODEX using the SPS SIROCO as the distressed and disabled submarine. The SPS SIROCO was bottomed for seven and a half hours in 50 m of water and during this operation divers from Turkey, Spain, Canada, Greece and Ukraine participated.

A VENTEX was also carried out in approximately 107 m of water by the French Ships AILETTE and PLUTON. The ADS was used to conduct the deep dive, US and Israeli Divers observed the exercise.

A MEDEX was also carried out today where a RESCUEX simulated the evacuation of six personnel from a distressed submarine. The simulated casualties were as follows,

Water in the battery room;

Pressure at 2.3 ATA;

Two cases were treated, the first being in triage with the second needed recompression. The patients were treated quickly and successfully by the doctors and were then pressurized with the other four cases in the hyperbaric chamber for 15 minutes. All six cases recover from the symptoms.

Today was also the first ever live stretcher transferring of a patient from a Turkish submarine into a Vessel of Opportunity (VOO), in this case the USS GRASP. The first patient was transferred into a decompression chamber for simulated treatment with the second being half back stretcher from the submarine to the Submarine Rescue Chamber (SRC). Briefs were also given by medical staff on Emergency Evacuation Hyperbaric Stretchers (EEHS) and the Morgan Breathing System (MBS 2000).