RE: [Paddlewise] drysuits/Burping/History

Also don't forget to burp out the air in legs of the suit......

I was reading a book on US submarine intelligence gathering missions from
the end of WWII until today over the holiday.  One of the first missions
that the US undertook to gather information on the Soviets was done by two
diesel power subs during the late 40s.  One of the subs had a major failure
and the crew had to be exposed to the cold northern sea and air temps.  The
crew was exposed to the elements for hours during a storm.  The  crew
suffered 7 or so deaths which was very low considering the severity of the
explosion/fire on the sub and the hours exposed to the elements.  Most of
the crew did not have on any clothes to speak of and certainly not enough
for the surface conditions.

What does this have to do with Dry Suits?

The navy had issued some dry suits that either had not been tested or had
been put on incorrectly.  Most of the deaths occurred when men were washed
off the subs and the air trapped in the lower portion of the dry suit
caused the men to be up ended in the water.  5 or so of the deaths were
caused by this.  The crew reported that the bodies were last seen with the
chest and head completely underwater with the legs sticking vertically out
of the sea.

The sub sank.

This was the first I had read of this sub's loss.  As far as I had known
the only subs lost since WWII were the Thresher and the Scorpion.

Later....
Dan McCarty


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