Comment by jojobas
3 years ago
The periscope is a combat critical device, lose control of it and the enemy will see you first and you're dead.
3 years ago
The periscope is a combat critical device, lose control of it and the enemy will see you first and you're dead.
Periscopes haven't been combat critical on submarines since slightly after WW2. They rely mostly on sonar to detect enemies, not vision - and of course they would. Periscopes are useless against submarines, and if an anti-submarine ship is nearby, you wouldn't go to periscope depth putting the submarine in a perilous position, and showing it off at that.
It's something that can be quickly swapped out if it does fail though being a wired controller, I'd put decent odds on this company not bothering to put a backup controller in their death tube. Also a periscope is less critical to combat in the age of sonar that can tell you bearing, heading and what type of ship often without the risk of surfacing and getting lit up on radar. Modern subs basically never want to surface in combat there's no need to take the added risk.
> this company not bothering to put a backup controller in their death tube
the really strange part of that, is that the pilot was the CEO of the company. Like the Norfolk Southern CEO would never in a million years set foot on one of their trains of death.
Anyhow they now heard sounds in 30minute intervals, so looks like they are still alive down there.
I saw the same thing but some of the groups searching haven't heard that pounding since Monday from the places I read. Does imply it might not have been a catastrophic implosion but honestly that's one of the better ways to go in a submarine. Also there's a lot of noise in the ocean on some other sub rescues they thought they heard noises from the crashed sub but it was just from the boats looking for them.
Quick replace is a fair point. Sonar completely superseding periscope is not quite as sonic countermeasures have been in use for decades. Also periscope depth is not surfacing.