.Submarine's crew was 20 seconds from death
BUT for a few desperate seconds, it would have been our worst military disaster since the Voyager.
The flood aboard the HMAS Dechaineux on February 12, 2003, was the catalyst for the series of submarine safety reforms revealed in The Australian today.
The incident remains seared in the minds of the submarine's 55 crew who came within 20 seconds of death.
"It changed my life," Able Seaman Geordie Bunting said later. "It is the closest I would like to come to death.
"I don't think there was anybody on our boat who wasn't shit-scared that day. Another five seconds and we would have been in big trouble ... another 10 and you have got to question whether we could have surfaced."
The accident happened off the coast of Perth when the Dechaineux had dived to its deepest depth in order to test its systems under full pressure.
Seaman Bunting was standing alone in the small lower motor room when he head a deafening noise.
"There was a loud bang ... then the water flooded in and I got tossed around like a washing machine. It was coming in so fast I thought it was all over."
A flexible seawater hose had broken, causing some 12,000 litres of water to flood in within seconds, filling up the room. The words "flooding, flooding, flooding in the motor room," echoed through the intercom as crewmates fished a near-unconscious Seaman Bunting out of the flooded motor room by his lapels.
In the control room, the officers instantly shut all of the submarine's external valves en masse, hoping it would stem the flood.
It stopped the inflow of water, but the submarine had taken on so much that it was uncertain whether it would be able to make it back to the surface.
The commander, Peter Scott, ordered his stricken submarine to gather speed and blow the ballast tanks to make the submarine lighter. He ordered the sub to rise but it failed to respond, causing hearts to freeze.
"There was a period of time before the submarine reacted and there was a lot of tension in the air," recalled Lieutenant Commander Geoff Wadley.
Eventually, the submarine slowly began to point upwards. The captain ordered it to rise on a 20 degree angle -- twice the normal rate of ascent -- causing cups in the mess area to slide off the table and crash to the ground.
The next three minutes felt like a lifetime as the Dechaineux inched towards the surface.
"It was pretty bloody close mate," said Seaman Bunting. The sub made it to the surface and then limped back to Perth, a nervous eight-hour trip for the crew. Subsequent investigations estimated that if the flood had continued for a further 20 seconds, the Dechaineux would have sunk to the bottom of the Indian Ocean.
The Australian
The flood aboard the HMAS Dechaineux on February 12, 2003, was the catalyst for the series of submarine safety reforms revealed in The Australian today.
The incident remains seared in the minds of the submarine's 55 crew who came within 20 seconds of death.
"It changed my life," Able Seaman Geordie Bunting said later. "It is the closest I would like to come to death.
"I don't think there was anybody on our boat who wasn't shit-scared that day. Another five seconds and we would have been in big trouble ... another 10 and you have got to question whether we could have surfaced."
The accident happened off the coast of Perth when the Dechaineux had dived to its deepest depth in order to test its systems under full pressure.
Seaman Bunting was standing alone in the small lower motor room when he head a deafening noise.
"There was a loud bang ... then the water flooded in and I got tossed around like a washing machine. It was coming in so fast I thought it was all over."
A flexible seawater hose had broken, causing some 12,000 litres of water to flood in within seconds, filling up the room. The words "flooding, flooding, flooding in the motor room," echoed through the intercom as crewmates fished a near-unconscious Seaman Bunting out of the flooded motor room by his lapels.
In the control room, the officers instantly shut all of the submarine's external valves en masse, hoping it would stem the flood.
It stopped the inflow of water, but the submarine had taken on so much that it was uncertain whether it would be able to make it back to the surface.
The commander, Peter Scott, ordered his stricken submarine to gather speed and blow the ballast tanks to make the submarine lighter. He ordered the sub to rise but it failed to respond, causing hearts to freeze.
"There was a period of time before the submarine reacted and there was a lot of tension in the air," recalled Lieutenant Commander Geoff Wadley.
Eventually, the submarine slowly began to point upwards. The captain ordered it to rise on a 20 degree angle -- twice the normal rate of ascent -- causing cups in the mess area to slide off the table and crash to the ground.
The next three minutes felt like a lifetime as the Dechaineux inched towards the surface.
"It was pretty bloody close mate," said Seaman Bunting. The sub made it to the surface and then limped back to Perth, a nervous eight-hour trip for the crew. Subsequent investigations estimated that if the flood had continued for a further 20 seconds, the Dechaineux would have sunk to the bottom of the Indian Ocean.
The Australian
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