The ARA San Juan went missing on November 15th. Provided it didn’t sink below its crush depth, and without being able to surface and employ her snorkel, it had seven days of oxygen reserves. Those reserves would have been exhausted yesterday and it appears that the Argentinian Navy has come to the conclusion that the ARA San Juan is lost. The San Juan carried a crew of forty-four, including Argentina’s first female submariner.
#ARASanJuan
Tristeza profunda pic.twitter.com/Wa0guqYQVf— Elda Ruth Nillni (@DemiElda) November 23, 2017
The Argentine Navy has confirmed the deaths of all 44 of the crew of the submarine ARA San Juan, an explosion onboard is understood to have been the cause of the accident.
— Falkland Islands (@falklands_utd) November 23, 2017
Argentinian Navy: "From an exhaustive analysis that was carried out in the United States, today we received official findings that on Wednesday, 15th November in the morning, the noise coincided with the operations area and the last-recorded position of #ARASanJuan"
— Falkland Islands (@falklands_utd) November 23, 2017
Argentine navy confirms death of all on board submarine #ARASanJuan based on explosion recorded by Ocean hydrophones near last know location.
Very sad. RIP brave crew https://t.co/pmdLTo9e0t pic.twitter.com/YUGhH9N58V
— NavyLookout (@NavyLookout) November 23, 2017
Our hydroacoustic network detected an unusual signal near the last known position of #missing San Juan #submarine. The signal from an underwater impulsive event was detected 15 Nov 13:51 GMT, Lat -46.12 deg; Long: -59.69 deg. Details & data shared with Argentinian authorities. pic.twitter.com/SU5XHiICb4
— Lassina Zerbo (@SinaZerbo) November 23, 2017
A huge volume of data was searched for clues as to the missing submarine. Thousands of possible signals & sources of noise had to be sorted through – new algorithms & approaches were developed to filter out natural & other industrial noise to find this signal.
— Lassina Zerbo (@SinaZerbo) November 23, 2017
Since it was first written in the mid 19th Century, a number of additional verses have been written by different authors for the Navy Hymn. These cover naval aviators, Coast Guardsmen, naval aviators who have become astronauts, Sea Bees, and, of course, submariners. Here is the specific verse penned for the members of the silent service:
Lord God, our power evermore,
Whose arm doth reach the ocean floor,
Dive with our men beneath the sea;
Traverse the depths protectively.
O hear us when we pray, and keep
Them safe from peril in the deep.
David B. Miller (1965)
debbie
Horrible beyond words.
aangus
Oh, crap!
That is all.
NuetronFlux
I shed a tear for my sisters and brothers in the silent service. RIP.
aangus
@NuetronFlux:
Amen.
*weeps*
debit
How awful.
Adria McDowell
God….that is terrible. RIP.
raven
I made a video of pics from my dad’s WW2 Navy service pictures and some shots of him at the dedication of the Pacific Wing of the D-Day (now WW2 Museum) in New Orleans and I used the Navy Hymn to end it. Big mistake, when I gave it to him he couldn’t stop crying.
JPL
I still remember sitting at the kitchen table with my parents listening to the radio news, when the USS thresher went missing. How sad.
JanieM
Sadness and tears.
JMG
A tragedy. No more I can say.
Jamey
SSBN 625 gold crew. Reactor operator. Nothing hits me harder. I can think of no worse way to go. Those poor bastards.
Gin & Tonic
Terrible. My son in law was in the silent service, and I know how hard it was for my daughter to go weeks or months with no word and no knowledge.
GregB
Sad, sad news.
raven
@Jamey: Just to help folks out:
Derelict
The loss of any boat is felt by every submariner no matter what flag he or she might sail under. The crew of the San Juan will remain on patrol forever.
SiubhanDuinne
Tristeza profunda indeed. Indescribably sad. May all who were lost in the ocean depths be granted a peaceful eternal rest, and may comfort come to their loved ones.
Jay C
So sad. The “Silent Service” has always been (since the beginnings of modern navies) the riskiest and most-dangerous of the seagoing services. Even (as we see) in peacetime. God rest ARA San Juan and her crew.
Mike in NC
Terrible news about those brave submariners. May they rest in peace.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
I have no connection to the Navy, but I’ve never in my life been able to hear “Eternal Father, Strong to Save” without dissolving in tears.
Patricia Kayden
Devastating news for families and loved ones of the deceased.
rikyrah
RIP to all aboard ??
JPL
Did our president offer his thoughts and prayers?
Elizabelle
Very sad. May they rest in peace in the waters in which they served.
Argentina only had three submarines (?). This one was involved in interdicting offshore fishing by Asian and Spanish fleets.
I hope the sailors perished very quickly. Is the thinking it was a hull implosion, which sounds instantaneous? Painful to think of oxygen depletion.
RIP.
CaseyL
Terrible, terrible news.
mike in dc
RIP. Here’s hoping it happened quickly.
Mary G
The poor relatives. The NYT has a story of their grief and anger.
ETA forgot the link, sorry.
Felonius Monk
Very sad. Brings back memories of the USS Thresher in 1963.
Jamey
@raven: thanks Raven. We are a pretty exclusive club, not everyone will get the lingo. There is much more to say, but I don’t know how to say it.
J R in WV
While I was never a submariner, assigned to a submarine, I was on board active USN diesel submarines while posted on board AS-16 tending the last squadron of diesel subs in our navy. These boats were professionally maintained by trained technicians, and were being offered for sale to allied nations while I was on board.
I moved cargo and weapons from my ship onto the subs of the squadron. I’m thankful for the friends we had dinner with, and feel hurt for those who lost their loved ones on board the ARA San Juan. I’m a little surprised how painful this final word actually is.
I thank you, Adam, for this sad information.
I can’t say any more about this sad event tonight.
Adam L Silverman
@Jamey: Fair winds and following seas.
Jay
https://warisboring.com/what-happened-to-argentinas-missing-submarine/
I worked for a Commercial Subsea Corp for a while. We made DSRV’s, suits, tools, ROV’s, data networks.
I remember both the Kursk and Mir accidents. In both cases, we were working around the clock to ship stuff out while the brass, worked the phones and networks to try to get permission for us to ship our assets out there, to help.
The Lodger
Sad news. My condolences to all submariners everywhere.
Manyakitty
What tragic news. May their families find peace.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
Goddamn it. So sad. My dad served on USN diesel boats throughout the Vietnam War. I’ve sung that verse of the Navy Hymn in chapel more times than I can recall – and spent Saturday afternoons doing my homework in the wardroom while he was on watch just as often. Navies are families. I mourn with them.
d58826
Always cry when I listen to that song.
May they RIP
d58826
@JPL: IIRC he did in a tweet in which he mainly took credit (naturally) for deploying USN deep water search/recovery assets .
Tehanu
@SiubhanDuinne:
I do have connections with the Navy: my uncle, cousin, and brother were all Navy men, though they all came home after their service. But “Eternal Father, Strong to Save” always makes me cry too, because the first time I ever heard it was during JFK’s funeral.