Indonesia navy declares lost sub sunk, all 53 aboard dead

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By EDNA TARIGAN and FADLAN SYAM

BANYUWANGI, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s navy on Saturday declared its missing submarine had sunk and cracked open, killing 53 crew members aboard, after finding items from the vessel over the past two days.

Military chief Hadi Tjahjanto said the presence of an oil slick as well as debris near the site where the submarine’s last dive on Wednesday off the island of Bali were clear proof the KRI Nanggala 402 sank. Indonesia earlier considered the vessel to be only missing.

Navy Chief Yudo Margono told a press conference in Bali, “If it’s an explosion, it will be in pieces. The cracks happened gradually in some parts when it went down from 300 meters to 400 meters to 500 meters ... If there was an explosion, it would be heard by the sonar.”

The navy previously said it believes the submarine sank to a depth of 600-700 meters (2,000-2,300 feet), much deeper than its collapse depth of 200 meters (655 feet), at which point water pressure would be greater than the hull could withstand.



An Indonesian navy patrol ship sails to join the search for submarine KRI Nanggala that went missing while participating in a training exercise on Wednesday, off Banyuwangi, East Java, Indonesia, Saturday, April 24, 2021. The KRI Nanggala 402 went missing after its last reported dive Wednesday off the resort island, and concern is mounting it may have sunk too deep to reach or recover in time. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/asia-pacific-indonesia-98b58437f6742d197d1eb593db954894

[underpants]

1. Ugh how horrible.

I feel so much for their families.

[Demovictory9]

2. how awful. I was hoping they would be found alive

[soothsayer]

3. Dreadful news

Those poor souls

[mezame]

4. USS Thresher

My father's side of the family lost a son when she went down 10 April 1963. It is the second-deadliest submarine incident on record.

Brave men, all. Their final watch completed, may they rest at peace.

[Bo Zarts]

5. I flew missions into the Mouth of the Cat 'O Death ..

But I could never have been a submariner. RIP, brave souls.

[niyad]

6. How utterly tragic. Be at peace, brave souls.

[liberalla]

7. Damn! I wish this had a different ending. So very sad for the sailors and their families.

When I heard "oil slick" on the news last night....

[AllaN01Bear]

8. :(

"""

[EX500rider]

9. Sad...was over 40 years old, too old for a active sub imo

Did a refit in 2012 but unless the original German ship yard did it it may not have been thorough enough. And even that was 9 years ago.

[yagotme]

10. So many things to go wrong on a sub...

Not like you can just pull over on the side of the road...

[maxrandb]

11. They never had a chance. So sad. RIP Shipmates

https://m.

[oasis]

12. Very sad news. nt

[peppertree]

13. This is the worst such incident since Argentina's ARA San Juan tragedy in 2017 (44 dead)

The ARA San Juan tragedy is still hugely controversial in Argentina, especially after evidence recently surfaced that it was actually located within days of the sinking (rather than a year later, as the official story goes) - and that then-President Macri knew.

I don't doubt that Indonesia's government will treat the upcoming investigation a lot more responsibly and ethically than Trump's pal Macri did (a low bar, to be sure).

Above all, Godspeed to the 53 sailors.

[EX500rider]

14. "actually located within days of the sinking"

She sank on 15 November 2017...and wasn't found till 16 November 2018, at a depth of 2,976 ft by a remote submersible operated by the Norwegian ship Seabed Constructor, a private maritime company hired by the Argentine government.

Somehow I doubt if they had found her a year earlier they would be paying a expensive Norwegian company to find her a year later, with a 5 million dollar bonus for finding her.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARA_San_Juan_(S-42)#Wreck_discovery