By LS Rachel Irving

All photos in this spread (with the exception of Remora) by ABPH Tony Barclay-Jeffs and ABPH Phil Cullinan. Photo of Remora and LARS supplied by SETF.

Australian submarine escape and rescue has undergone a significant change recently with the civilianisation of training and a new focus on rescue.

After 16 years, the water-work staff at SETF (Submarine Escape Training Facility) at HMAS Stirling are civilians - employees of Fraser Diving International and part of the new Submarine Escape and Rescue Centre (SERC), encompassing SETF and Remora, the Australian submarine rescue vehicle (ASRV).

The civilianisation will mean essentially two things.

Firstly water-work staff will be better trained and more experienced with no posting cycles to impact on training.

Secondly, the new SERC organisation will also be responsible for Remora. This ensures an operationally-ready rescue group is available should an emergency occur, as the SETF staff double as the fly-away rescue team.

The first course of trainees under the new system took place in July with a full booking schedule for the rest of the year.

OIC of SETF, LCDR Ross Halsell said the changes were a positive step for the rescue organisation.

“Due to difficulties in manning the building here at Stirling coupled with the long training time needed to qualify water-work instructors, it was deemed to be more efficient to commercialise,” LCDR Halsell said.

“The take-over was timed to occur when the contract for Remora was due for renewal. With both activities overseen by the same company, it creates a synergy between the two organizations - training and rescue.”

As well as a busy training schedule at the tower, the staff is on alert any time an Australian submarine sails, should they be called upon for an emergency.

With kit ready, they standby, ready to be sent to the nearest port to any emergency where they will be met by the ASRV.

“The Australian submarine rescue and training organisation is regarded as the best in the world and many countries look to our programs for their own submarine safety.

We have trained members of the US, Indian and Singaporean Navies and continue to be seen as a benchmark for others.”

While the US is building a new submarine escape training facility in Connecticut, he said Australia and the British would train the US in the meantime.

Inside SETF

Take a quick look inside this state-of-the art facility and it’s not hard to see that submarine escape and rescue is serious business.

The building is more correctly a tower, and at the core is a 5.5m diameter, 20-metre deep water column. The water is heated to around 38 degrees celsius for the health of the water-workers who spend much of their time in the tank.

There are two different types of escape practiced here - ascents from the 9m lock and ascents from the single-man escape tower at the base of the tank - the same as those found on our Australian submarines.

Whenever trainees are in the water, there is a doctor in the building and two medics at the top of the tank.

At the control officers’ console at the tank top, there is a closed circuit tv and a large screen which allows the staff to know the exact moment the trainee leaves the escape tower.

There are also underwater voice communications, alarm systems, lighting switches and master controls.

Once the trainee hits the surface after an escape under pressure, they are required to stand on a line for a period of four minutes where they are observed by medical staff for signs of any difficulties.

Twenty minutes is the crucial time after the escape, and trainees are required to remain within the building for that period.

There are two six-man decompression chambers in the building should they be required.

All submariners are required to complete escape training. ‘Dry’ training is conducted eight-monthly and wet re-qualifying training three-yearly.

Escape & rescue

With over 200 hundred submarines lost in the past 100 years, including the recent loss of two Russian and one Chinese sub, navies of the world are refocussing on escape and rescue.

If there is an accident onboard, survivors of the original incident are faced with threats of CO2 poisoning, oxygen depletion, pressure and possibly cold from the surrounding water.

If the sea pressure exceeds the submarine hull strength, the hull will collapse and the crew will die quickly.

Should the hull remain intact, the crew face the prospect of escaping by buoyant ascent or waiting for rescue forces.

Excercise Black Carillon, held regularly by the RAN, puts the search and rescue organisation to the test.

One submarine will play the role of a disabled sub (DISSUB) and the rescue team must mate Remora with the boat and rescue crew members.

Rescue is always preferable to escape, as escape lends itself to many variables, including the depth of water.

The new contract with Fraser Diving is initially for a period of five years.

Remora in brief

16.5 tonne remotely operated rescue vehicle Room for seven people - the operator and six survivors Capable of operations in excess of 500m in a current of three knotsn Can mate to a sunken submarine lying at an angle up to 60 degrees from the vertical. Rescue and transfer under pressures up to five bar achieved through mating to a Transfer Under Pressure chamber, connected by spool pieces to two 36-man recompression chambers. Powered and controlled by use of a 914m armoured electro-fibre optic umbilical. This passes sonar, communications and video date to a containerised Control Van onboard the rescue ship. In a separate compartment, the Naval Coordinator Rescue Forces communicates with the sunken sub via underwater telephone, with the shore-based authorities via INMARSAT and with local rescue assets via VHF radio.

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