Fig 13 2 A ■snaggaWe, but jettisonable acoustic array on STAR III (Gen Dyn./ 

 Elec. Boat) 



support the occupants until help arrives. In 

 another vein, the devices used to monitor 

 oxygen and carbon dioxide may be faulty and 

 lead to incorrect decisions regarding internal 

 atmosphere or the remaining life support 

 duration. 



Fire: The interior cabling of a submersible 

 may short circuit or overheat to a point 

 where combustion may occur and endanger 

 the occupants by burning or by evolution of 

 noxious gasses or fumes. 



Propulsion: Where a vehicle's mission may 

 require it to travel under ice, overhanging 

 ledges or under man-made structures, fail- 

 ure of the propulsion motors may make 

 emergency deballasting procedures impracti- 

 cal. 

 Instrument Failures 



Within this group are failure or emergency 

 potentials created by the physical presence of 

 instruments external to the hull, and by the 

 failure of the instrument to operate. In the 

 first case are: 



Entanglement: Instruments external to the 

 hull fairings are subject to entanglement 

 with ropes or cables. 



Implosion: Pressure-resistant instrument 

 housings may implode and create a shock 

 wave which renders inoperative other sys- 

 tems critical to the vehicle's safety. 



In the second instance are instrument fail- 

 ures which may render continued operations 

 hazardous; these are: 



Depth Gages: The failure or inaccuracy of 

 depth gages may lead the operator to de- 

 scend below safe limits. 



Obstacle Avoidance Sonar: This SOnar is USed tO 



warn the operator of distant (up to 1,500 yd) 

 obstacles. Failure of this sonar essentially 

 blinds the operator in limited visibility situa- 

 tions. 



Underwater Telephone: Failure of the under- 

 water telephone opens the possibility of sur- 

 facing into or in the path of surface traffic 

 and, in a situation where the vehicle is una- 

 ble to surface, renders surface support vir- 

 tually helpless to respond. 



Tracking Equipment: LoSS of the Submersible's 



position relative to the surface ship may 

 result in the vehicle surfacing some miles 

 from its support ship and essentially 

 becoming.adrift with slight chance of being 

 visually located, and, because of its low 

 superstructure, becoming susceptible to colli- 

 sion with oncoming surface crafts. 



Corrosive/Radioactive Materials: Certain instru- 

 ments utilize radioactive materials {e.g., sed- 

 iment probes) or corrosive liquids (battery 

 electrolytes) which, if freed, could be harmful 

 to both personnel and vehicle. 



Operator Failures 



The operation of a submersible ranges 

 from simple to extremely complex, and the 

 training, knowledge and duties of the opera- 

 tors increase proportionally. On a vehicle of 

 the DEEP QUEST variety, the pre-dive re- 

 sponsibilities of the operator commence sev- 

 eral hours before the actual dive. Into this 

 scenario are introduced different missions 

 and equipments for each dive, and the need 

 for the operator to function in concert with 

 the support ship's Master during launch/re- 

 trieval. 



The operator must have a knowledge of 

 every aspect of the vehicle's construction, 

 operation and handling capabilities, as well 

 as emergency procedures and instrument op- 

 erations. The operator's panel on DEEP 



62 7 



