# Argentine submarine (44 aboard) goes missing **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 18, 2017, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007 "2017-11-18T17:59:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2017, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007/41 "2017-11-23T15:42:24Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Looking at the map from that article, it doesn’t look like their course took them off the edge of the shelf but it’s hard to tell for sure. Those shades of blue indicate depth. As best I can tell (using the site I posted earlier) at the projected location when the explosion was heard, it was in a 4000 to 5000 meter deep region. So the whole sub is probably roughly the diameter of a soccer ball now. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007/42 "2017-11-23T15:50:20Z")
Daily Mail (UK) is saying a US Navy may have located the missing sub: [Missing Argentine submarine 'is located by US Navy' | Daily Mail Online](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5106689/Missing-Argentine-submarine-located-Navy.html) No confirmation and sadly the problem they are quite probably at the end of their oxygen. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2017, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007/43 "2017-11-23T16:22:18Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > There are reports of a [loud noise](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-42092897)which may or may not be related to the sub’s disappearance. Investigations continue. > > Looking at the map from that article, it doesn’t look like their course took them off the edge of the shelf but it’s hard to tell for sure. Could the submarine draw attention by deliberately firing torpedoes and setting them to detonate at a safe but nearby distance? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2017, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007/44 "2017-11-23T17:12:10Z")
ISTM there’s a pretty narrow range of problems where you have enough spare electricity, compressed air, uninjured crewmen, and unflooded compartments available to spend some of that firing a torpedo but you don’t have enough of all that stuff to use it to help you surface. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2017, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007/45 "2017-11-23T17:38:24Z")
> [@JoseB](#): > > Well, it depends… If it is an uncontrolled descent that carries the sub below its “crush depth”… It is assumed that you would die instantaneously when the sub implodes catastrophically (_vide_ [Thresher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Thresher_%28SSN-593%29#Disaster_sequence_of_10_April_1963). From the wiki article: “… the SOSUS data indicates an implosion of Thresher at 09:18:24, at a depth of 2,400 feet (730 m), 400 feet (120 m) below its predicted collapse depth. The implosion took 0.1 seconds, too fast for the human nervous system to perceive.”). > > The minutes until that point, of course, are going to be anything but fun :-/ I feel so much better about dying in a submarine. Fortunately, it isn’t likely to happen. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2017, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007/46 "2017-11-23T17:51:21Z")
> **[San Juan submarine: 'Explosion' dashes crew survival hopes](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42100620)** > > An "abnormal, singular, short, violent, non-nuclear event" was recorded, the Argentine navy said. This is a recent update on the missing submarine ,it been on the news everyday here. I keep hoping to hear some good news . ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007/47 "2017-11-23T18:05:00Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Could the submarine draw attention by deliberately firing torpedoes and setting them to detonate at a safe but nearby distance? It’d be worth a try! ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007/48 "2017-11-23T18:10:10Z")
> [@purplehearingaid](#): > > [San Juan submarine: 'Explosion' dashes crew survival hopes](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42100620) > This is a recent update on the missing submarine ,it been on the news everyday here. I keep hoping to hear some good news . ☹ Doesn’t sound good. Excerpts: > [@](#): > > …an event consistent with an explosion had been detected. > > The “abnormal, singular, short, violent, non-nuclear event” was recorded in the south Atlantic by a nuclear test watchdog last week. > > (it was) an “underwater impulsive event”… > > …a US report of a “hydro-acoustic anomaly” detected hours after the submarine went missing. Capt Balbi said the suspected explosion took place near the submarine’s last known location. The navy only knew the location of the suspected explosion, not its cause, he said, and search efforts would be concentrated in the area. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007/49 "2017-11-23T18:37:32Z")
> [@JoseB](#): > > Well, it depends… If it is an uncontrolled descent that carries the sub below its “crush depth”… It is assumed that you would die instantaneously when the sub implodes catastrophically (_vide_ [Thresher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Thresher_%28SSN-593%29#Disaster_sequence_of_10_April_1963). From the wiki article: “… the SOSUS data indicates an implosion of Thresher at 09:18:24, at a depth of 2,400 feet (730 m), 400 feet (120 m) below its predicted collapse depth. The implosion took 0.1 seconds, too fast for the human nervous system to perceive.”). > > The minutes until that point, of course, are going to be anything but fun :-/ Is that 0.1 seconds for the outer hull, or the entire submarine itself? Seems like the force would first smash in the outer hull, but then the rush of water would have to reach the inner bulkheads/compartments (which are probably themselves sealed off tightly,) and then smash those, and then smash what’s in there. So instead of one “BANG”, it would be like “BANG-bang-bang-bang-bang”. Still a quick death, but maybe just long enough for the human brain to register “implosion.” ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2017, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007/50 "2017-11-23T21:28:18Z")
I think it’d be very quick. Those are tremendos pressures. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2017, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007/51 "2017-11-23T21:51:54Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Doesn’t sound good. Excerpts: Have been reading Argentina news sites: there are stories of uncontained rage at the briefing. “They sent them out on a piece of s\*\*t!” Some family members escorted out by Marines… S-42 ARA San Juan Eternal Patrol, ops area South Atlantic, Argentine Sea Sector ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007/52 "2017-11-24T01:11:31Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > I think it’d be very quick. Those are tremendos pressures. [It would look like this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsoE4F2Pb20) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007/53 "2017-11-24T01:51:32Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > [It would look like this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsoE4F2Pb20) That is rather tacky. People may have died. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007/54 "2017-11-24T02:00:21Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > That is rather tacky. People may have died. it’s not meant to be tacky, it’s meant to explain it would be an instantaneous, painless death. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007/55 "2017-11-24T02:09:15Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > it’s not meant to be tacky, it’s meant to explain it would be an instantaneous, painless death. Let us hope they are alive waiting rescue. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007/56 "2017-11-24T03:05:49Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Is the [beaten up sail](http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/11/19/missing-argentine-navy-sub-may-have-sent-distress-signals-us-navy-sends-help.html) just from being thirty years old? The sail doesn’t look particularly beaten up to me. Note that a submarine sail is typically constructed of welded plates of high-tensile alloy steel. Apropos of nothing, I served on a U.S. submarine with the same name as the missing Argentinian sub, the [USS _San Juan_ (SSN-751)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_San_Juan_(SSN-751)). Interestingly, the U.S. Navy l[ost contact with this submarine back in 2007](http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2950740&page=1) to the extent that they had actually begun notifying the families of the 140 crew members that the sub was missing – but it turned out to be a case of miscommunication. Unfortunately, it does not appear there will be such a happy resolution for the fate of the missing Argentinian sub. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007/57 "2017-11-24T03:17:31Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > That is rather tacky. People may have died. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2WJVHtF8GwI/hqdefault.jpg "This happens when you don't properly vent a storage tank") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WJVHtF8GwI) Larger example with a tank car. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007/58 "2017-11-24T03:40:39Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Let us hope they are alive waiting rescue. Absolutely. The world needs a bit of good news. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007/59 "2017-11-24T05:11:10Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Absolutely. The world needs a bit of good news. [Not looking good](https://www.yahoo.com/gma/aboard-missing-argentine-sub-believed-dead-family-missing-174950883--abc-news-topstories.html). > [@](#): > > Argentine naval officials said that a sound detected during the desperate search for the sub, which vanished last week in the southern Atlantic Ocean, was consistent with an explosion… > > According to the Argentine navy officials, the sound, described as “consistent with a nonnuclear explosion” that was “abnormal, singular, short, violent” was detected three hours after the last known communication. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007/60 "2017-11-24T12:23:28Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > [It would look like this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsoE4F2Pb20) > [@Magiver](#): > > it’s not meant to be tacky, it’s meant to explain it would be an instantaneous, painless death. And that demonstration is only atmospheric pressure. Nothing compared to the tremendous, far greater water pressure of the sea. I didn’t thnk it was tacky. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argentine-submarine-44-aboard-goes-missing/802007.md?page=4)