There are many ways to collide with submarines

There are many types of submarine collisions

Among all kinds of collision accidents at sea, collisions involving submarines are always the most talkative aspect. Due to its special performance and structure, submarines are invisible or semi-invisible on the sea surface and underwater. Therefore, when encountering other ships at sea, they need to assume the responsibility of active avoidance. But many times, even if the captain or watch officer is extra careful, it is still difficult to avoid the fate of a collision. According to statistics, among the collision accidents of submarines in various countries, the largest number of collisions occurred when the submarine was in the periscope state, followed by the surface navigation state, and the number of collisions that occurred while submerged was smaller. However, in addition to these situations, there is another incredible situation, and many submarine collisions have also occurred.

Submarine docks in many countries often berth multiple submarines side by side. When the inner submarine sets sail, the other submarines side by side need to unmoor and leave the dock to make way for the outgoing boat, and then return to the dock. In windy weather or typhoon season, due to the influence of strong winds and wave surges in the harbor, the operation of the submarine will face considerable pressure. If the vehicle, rudder, and fenders are not coordinated properly, collisions will easily occur. The non-pressure-resistant hull steel plates of submarines are very thin and are easily dented and deformed due to collision and extrusion.

There was a submarine dock in the early Soviet Union that was T-shaped, with one horizontal side being the dock berm and one vertical side being a floating dock for submarines to dock. This kind of pier is almost designed after the W-class submarine. The floating pier is so short that when the F-class, T-class, and J-class submarines built later move up, their tails will extend beyond the pier by a large distance, like A big man slept on a short bed, half of his calves hanging out. It is difficult to berth at this kind of pier. If you stop early, the boat body is not in place and cannot take the cable. If you stop late, the bow of the boat will hit the dock berm. At that time, the heads of many Soviet submarines were often pitted, which had a lot to do with this kind of dock.

This T-shaped floating dock also has many advantages, that is, it has a high utilization rate of the dock coastline. The reason is very simple. It takes less space to dock the submarine vertically than docking along the embankment, allowing the military port to dock more and more submarines. boats. Our military's North Sea Fleet submarine bases are basically this kind of Soviet-style docks.

Not only are submarines prone to colliding with piers when docked, but even submarines that are docked securely are also prone to being hit at piers. In 1920, a submarine in the United States was hit and sunk by a cargo ship while it was docked. In 1969, a British ferry hit another Oberon-class diesel-electric submarine that was docking. In 1971, the British submarine "Artemis" sank while refueling at the dock. Later analysis suggested that a ship berthing next to it may have hit the submarine and knocked open its sea valve, causing the water tank to flood and sink.

Here is something even more funny. In 1961, a Swedish submarine was hit by a car at the dock. The reason was that the driver of the car was in a daze and mistook the accelerator for the brake. He stepped on the brake pedal and turned the car to oil. The car flew out and hit the submarine. If there weren't pictures and truth, who could believe such a bizarre car accident!

Not only at the dock, but also at the submarine anchorage, there are even incredible collisions. Here is a short story about our country’s navy submarine. Once, a certain submarine stage of training was completed, and the submarine temporarily anchored at an anchorage to rest in order to avoid a typhoon. Because the typhoon disrupted the original plan, the boat was in urgent need of replenishing supplies. The base sent a transport boat to deliver supplies, and also delivered letters, newspapers, etc. along the way. When the crew members are out training, their life is not as boring as usual. They can read an old newspaper over and over for a long time. The love letters and letters from home are certainly exciting.

When the two boats approached, they saw the traffic boat drawing a graceful arc on the sea. The cable groups on the ship were ready to be put in place. Some were holding the rope, and some were holding the rope. fender. However, I didn't expect that the speed of the traffic boat approaching was a bit fast and the angle was a bit wide. According to the rules, when two ships are approaching and about to approach each other, the traffic boat should slow down and reverse in time so that it can use inertia to slowly approach each other. However, the traffic boat seemed to be overconfident in its own technology. When it approached, it only slowed down but did not reverse. Then it heard a "bang" sound and collided with the submarine. The submarine shook violently. However, due to the displacement of the traffic boat, It was only about 120 tons, while the displacement of the submarine reached thousands of tons, so the crew members on both sides did not take it seriously.

After the transport boat and the submarine were close to each other, the crew moved the supplementary supplies and news bags to the submarine. The captain of the submarine was more attentive. After the traffic boat left, he felt that the collision just now was a bit heavy, so he carefully checked the port side of the submarine and found that a main water tank had been hit with a small triangular opening, so he quickly reported the situation. The base then ordered the aircraft to stop training and return for repairs. The hull has been welded and repaired. After pressure and watertight tests, everything is good, and the matter is settled. It is a routine operation of the submarine force to use traffic boats to provide supplies at the anchorage, but it is rare for a traffic boat to knock a hole out of a submarine, but this is not a big deal.

Anchor slipping often occurs when submarines are anchored. If not handled in time, it will lead to a series of consequences. Therefore, when anchoring, the submarine will perform anchoring deployment and arrange an anchoring watch (one duty officer and one helmsman each) to monitor the boat position at any time. Although it is generally not a big deal if the anchor breaks off, it is hard to say if the ship next to you loses anchor and bumps into it.

On March 22, 1986, at the anchorage near Midway Island, the American tugboat "Sekta" came to pick up the crew of the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine "Georgia" and disembark.

Due to strong sea surges, the two collided, causing the tugboat to be damaged, flooded, and lose power. It sank a few minutes later, killing two engineers in the cabin, and the "Georgia" was also slightly damaged and returned to the factory. Overhaul. On November 25, 2015, at the anchorage along the coast of Florida, the "misfortune" "Georgia" collided again, this time hitting a large buoy. The boat had to be sent back to the factory for repairs again. The chief was also dismissed because he bore the main responsibility.