Calif.) coasts of the U.S. and are designated 

 MK I and MK II, respectively. The DDS-MK 

 I supports two 2-man teams of divers 

 through a 14-day mission; the DDS-MK II is 

 designated for saturation diving (i.e., where 

 one spends about 24 hours at depth) and 

 supports two 4-man teams for an extended 

 mission time. Both systems require a four- 

 point moor to operate and rely on an ASR to 

 plant this moor. The MK I is barge-mounted 

 and towed at a speed of 3-5 knots; the MK II 

 is aboard the IX-501 which is capable of 

 about 8 knots. A MK II DDS is now aboard 

 the newly launched ORTOLANE (ASR-22) 

 and PIGEON (ASR-21), and both are com- 

 pletely independent in deploying the system 

 and capable of 18 knots. The system will 

 undergo operational evaluation in December 

 1973 and is tentatively scheduled to be oper- 

 ational aboard PIGEON by June 1974. The 

 MK II aboard ORTOLANE is scheduled to be 

 operational 6 months later (Jan. 1975). 



There are also thousands of Navy divers 

 trained in the use of compressed air scuba to 

 depths of 130 feet and they are available in 

 the event of an emergency. One can find 

 exceptions to the depths noted above and 

 show cases where they have been exceeded. 

 In extreme cases, there is no doubt that one 

 might exceed these depths to effect a rescue, 

 but to plan on such an extension before the 

 emergency occurs may result in the loss of 

 additional life in the course of saving others. 



As stated, the above describes U.S. Navy 

 diving capabilities; for a detailed description 

 of commercial, as well as Naval capabilities, 

 the reader is referred to reference (17) which 

 summarizes the current state-of-the-art in 

 ambient diving techniques and equipment. It 

 is sufficient to note that Galerne (18), as 

 early as 1971, stated that 750-foot working 

 dives in 28°F water would be no problem for 

 his corporation, International Underwater 

 Contractors of New York, and that the 

 French firm COMEX conducts full working 

 dives at 1,500 feet ". . . on an almost ho- 

 kum basis." One must realize, however, that 

 such dives are supported by extensive sur- 

 face equipment which requires time for 

 transportation and mobilization on the 

 scene. Ambient diving to 500 or 1,500 feet 

 consists of far more than merely donning on 



scuba gear and plunging in. Support facili- 

 ties, hoses, cold water protection, medical 

 facilities, a well-trained and highly varied 

 team and a host of other requirements must 

 be met before the dive commences. As we 

 have seen, 80 percent of all submersibles 

 have no more than 48 hours of life support, a 

 very short time to martial the assets re- 

 quired for employing the deep, ambient-pres- 

 sure diver. 



Manned Submersibles 



There are seven operational manned sub- 

 mersibles in the U.S. Navy, with depth capa- 

 bilities ranging to 20,000 feet. In addition to 

 these are some 25 other privately-owned ve- 

 hicles believed operating full or part time in 

 the United States. This latter figure is likely 

 to be conservative, because it assumes that 

 all vehicles are known and it includes only 

 one from a class of vehicles, such as the K- 

 250. A further difficulty in tabulating sub- 

 mersibles is that there is no requirement to 

 register their building or report their opera- 

 tions. Hence, the numbers of submersibles 

 herein should be considered as best esti- 

 mates. The operational status, home port 

 and even the owner of a given submersible is 

 subject to rapid change. 



Table 15.1 presents the characteristics of 

 submersibles believed operating throughout 

 the world. "Operating" in this sense implies 

 that the submersible can be ready to dive 

 within 2 days to 1 week, in spite of the fact 

 that it may not have dived for some time. 



Table 15.1 can be viewed in two ways: It 

 reveals not only the capabilities for rescue, 

 but also the candidates for rescue. Conse- 

 quently, the following is both a list of poten- 

 tial rescuers and rescuees: 



0-1,000 feet: 50% (30 vehicles) 

 1,000-2,000 feet: 27% (16 vehicles) 

 2,000-6,500 feet: 15% (9 vehicles) 

 6,500-36,000 feet: 10% (5 vehicles) 



Regarding manipulator capability, of the 

 55 vehicles, where data is available, 65 per- 

 cent have one or two manipulators of widely 

 varying ability. As a means of transportation 

 and support of diver-rescuers, eight have a 

 lock-out feature. 



Unmanned Vehicles 



Unmanned vehicles of the CURV variety 



703 



