Probable causes of the death of the Indonesian submarine KRI Nanggala-402
On April 21, 2021, while practicing combat training measures north of the island of Bali, the Indonesian diesel-electric submarine Nanggala (KRI Nanggala-402) of project 209/1300 (built in Germany, 1981) was killed.
Taking into account the depth of the place where the submarine disappeared (more than 800 meters) and the discovery of an oil slick near the diving point on the morning of April 21, the death of the submarine and 53 people on board was immediately obvious. On the Indonesian side, three submarines, 21 surface ships and a vessel, and five aircraft were involved in the search operation. In addition, to participate in the search for KRI Nanggala-402, an Indian Navy rescuer (with a rescue vehicle), two Australian Navy ships and a US Navy P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft were sent. Russia offered its help.
On April 23 and 24, Indonesian ships conducting search operations discovered and fished out on the surface of the sea a number of objects from a submarine, indicating the probable destruction of the strong hull of the boat. Including a fragment of a torpedo tube guide, a bottle of lubricant for a periscope, and prayer rugs for the crew.
On April 24, the command of the Indonesian Navy officially declared the submarine Nanggala lost and 53 people on board - dead (49 people, who are named by the members of the regular crew, headed by the commander Lt. Col. Heri Octavian (and 13 more officers), and the commander of submarine forces II fleet Indonesian Navy Colonel Harry Setiavan with two officers (Lieutenant Colonel Irfan Suri, Service Officer armory materials and electronics and a major), one civilian torpedo weapons specialist).
The incident was not only a tragedy for the family members on board, there was also a frank shock from what happened at the command of the Indonesian Navy, in connection with which statements such as were sometimes sounded:
Obviously, this was clearly said in a very stressful environment. Because, in fact, the question of "overload" is physically impossible, since before going to sea, differentiation is performed with the acceptance or pumping of the necessary ballast into the equalizing tank of the submarine). But the number of people on board raises questions - the regular crew of the boat is indeed less than 49 people. Is it possible that some of the dead are combat swimmers, whom the Indonesians use very actively?
Brief background
Indonesia's submarine forces were created in the early 60s of the USSR. Moreover, in the shortest possible time and almost immediately after Indonesia gained independence from Holland, by transferring 12 Project 613 submarines and other weapons from the Pacific Fleet (including the Ordzhonikidze cruiser of Project 68bis, 8 destroyers and 25 Tu-16 missile-carrying bombers with anti-ship missiles KS-1).
The head one KRI Pasopati-410 (formerly our C-290) is preserved as a museum in Surabaya.
However, soon, as a result of the coup d'etat, the political course of Indonesia sharply changed to the west. Accordingly, subsequent purchases of weapons were made in Western countries.
In the late 70s, a contract was signed with the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft shipyard for the construction of two submarines for the Indonesian Navy under the new (then) project 209/1300. The submarine KRI Nanggala-402 was launched in 1981 and joined the Indonesian Navy the same year.
In 1989, Nanggala underwent repairs at the Howaldtswerke shipyard and, two decades later, a major overhaul in South Korea at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering shipyard (completed in January 2012).
A complete revision and repair of all systems was carried out, with the modernization of the submarine's electronic armament and the weapon complex (with the provision of anti-ship missiles, among other things).
After repairs, KRI Nanggala-402 actively participated in combat training (including in the performance of special reconnaissance missions).
This excursion into history important in the sense that it is safe to speak about the significant experience and professional skill of the Indonesian Navy submariners, and in particular the crew of the KRI Nanggala-402. They had a training system, and a long and well-tried one.
Submarines "don't just die"
Contrary to popular belief about the "extremely high risk" for submariners, in fact, this is no longer the case. The strong hulls of modern submarines are really very strong, and the systems critical for survivability have not only automatic and remote control, but also manual control: you can always manually supply air to ballast tanks.
The outboard systems are also of equal strength to the robust hull, have two locks and are regularly checked and serviced in dock repairs. At the same time, the usual navigation of submarines occurs at relatively shallow depths, in fact, submarines are very rarely submerged to great depths. For diesel submarines, with relatively (in comparison with nuclear) weak hulls, diving to great depths also has such inconvenient operational consequences as the need to demagnetize again after deep diving and carry out deviation work on the magnetic compass.
At the same time, it should be understood that the conditions for the operation of submarines are an unconditional serious risk factor, and mistakes here can have an extremely high price. That is, for submariners today, the danger lies not in the conditions of an extremely hostile environment, but in the cost of errors in these conditions.
Obviously, what happened to KRI Nanggala-402 was extremely fleeting. Moreover, the discovered ruptured submarine hull indicates that it was crushed at depth with an “explosion” effect, and was not largely filled with water until it was submerged to the depth of destruction.
The reasons for this may be as follows.
Version 1. Sinkhole due to a sudden inflow of seawater through a destroyed branch pipe or other outboard opening
An example of such an accident (by a hair's breadth from the death of a submarine) is in the description of an officer who served on the submarine at the time described events:
Despite the swirling lambs, water whistled along the entire perimeter of the bulkhead doors.
Immediately a large trim to the stern, report from the 7th, alarm signal. The boat is crashing. The depth of the seat was 104 m (all bulkheads in the stern were 1 kgf / cm², that is, 10 meters). How did the bulkhead, designed for 1 kgf / cm², withstand about 7–9 kg, or even more? The foreman of the electricians' team, Midshipman T., said that he saw the bulkhead arching ...
The situation was saved by the foreman of the hold command, midshipman V., from the first, overcoming the weight of the bulkhead doors (the trim is very large, I will not say in numbers) flew into the central center and accidentally blew out the stern and after a few seconds the rest of the ballast. The boat jumped to the surface as if on an elevator.
That is, due to the powerful sudden inflow of water into the 8th compartment (as a result, it was almost completely filled), the submarine received a large negative buoyancy and trim (which excluded its compensation by the lifting force on the hull). The boat was saved by the quick actions of the foreman of the hold command to blow off ballast and the fact that the bulkhead of the 8th compartment miraculously withstood the extreme pressure. With its destruction, the flooding of the 7th compartment and subsequent ones into the nose, the death of the submarine was inevitable. And how it happens, the C-80 disaster has shown in practice. By Oleg Khimanych "S-80. Autonomy of the dead ":
The catastrophe developed rapidly. The boat rocked violently, and at some point the boatswain, who controlled the rudders, could not keep the depth. The wave swept through the air line of the RDP mine, the ice-bound float valve did not work ... The sea rushed into the boat through an air duct with a diameter of 450 mm.
The water inflow was noticed at about the 10th second of the accident. It was discovered late, according to experts, due to the fact that the shaft ended under the deck flooring. In addition, the roar of the diesel engine drowned out the noise of the water flow. Water filled the bow and stern holds, the shaft line with a tire-pneumatic clutch sprayed it over the compartment. The diesel engine ran out of air, and a vacuum was created in the compartment. At 01:27 the right diesel had to be turned off. The left one was not included. The propellers pushing the boat at a speed of 5,3 knots stopped.
To close the air flap of the RDP, it was required to turn the handle to the "closed" position. But in the confusion, the hold (of the "assigned" sailors) confused the manipulators - there were several of them, located close to each other, and even without indication of their destination.
The motorists could still stop the water - manually close the 2nd constipation. Under normal conditions, this is eleven turns of the handwheel with the handle in a few seconds. Here people had to overcome the pressure of water. The sailors managed to make only 8 revolutions. This was done by superhuman efforts - a steel valve stem with a diameter of 10 centimeters was bent. Those two minders were the first to die.
There was still hope for an emergency ascent. But such a decision could be made by the commander of the BCh-5, but he was out of place - in the sixth compartment.
By the 30th second, the boat almost lost its speed and began to fall astern - the trim reached 20 degrees. By the 40th second, they decided to blow through the main ballast tanks from the central post, but two more, already the last mistakes, were made. The first - they did not use the system of quick blowing of the emergency ballast tank No. 5. Second - in the sixth compartment, the electricians did not follow the command of the officer of the watch and did not give a move to the main propellers of the electric motor. The boat with a trim of 45 degrees stopped, for a moment it seemed to hang - it no longer had enough high-pressure air to overcome the negative buoyancy - and with increasing speed, sternly rushed down to the bottom ...
Approximately 60 seconds after the start of the disaster, the boat sank into the bottom soil astern. Calculations show that the speed of the ship was 5 meters per second, and the depth of "burying" the stern into the ground was 15 meters. The hull withstood both the blow and the pressure, but the water continued to enter the boat through the RDP shaft and increase the pressure of the air remaining there ... The bulkhead between the third and fourth compartments was literally torn apart by a hydro-air blow - the sea swept away everything in its path.
Residual energy destroyed the bulkhead of the second compartment, and water filled it, with the exception of a volume of 40 cubic meters in the bow. The sailors who were in compartments from the fifth to the third, as well as in the conning tower, died within the first three minutes. Those who managed to move to the sixth, seventh and first compartments survived. After 10 minutes, through leaks in the bulkhead, the water began to flood the sixth, and later broke through the bulkhead into the seventh compartment.
The last to die were the submariners of the first compartment, which was considered a compartment - a refuge.
Raised C-80, one of its compartments, dead submariners.
According to Vice Admiral R. D. Filonovich:
The S-80 sank at a depth of about 200 meters and was raised in 1969, which made it possible to fully establish the circumstances of the disaster. In this case, it should be noted "Alternative opinion" (and most likely reliable) about the reasons for the initial occurrence of the emergency:
At the central post, apparently, within a couple of tens of seconds allotted to them by the elements, they could not assess the situation, since the alarm told them that all the ducts were sealed, therefore they were late with the emergency blowing of the main ballast tanks.
That is, the question of an extremely dangerous technical defect in the repair of the valve disc was raised, which, taking into account the difficult accompanying circumstances, led to the development of a catastrophic situation.
In the case of KRI Nanggala-402, there could be a situation of "diving into the depth" for high-quality removal of the sound speed cut in depth before firing, with leakage overboard of one of the outboard openings (far from a new submarine) and strong water ingress into the hull. Taking into account the fact that blowing the main ballast tanks with air at great depths is ineffective because of the back pressure, only the ascent is left. However, damage to the electrical equipment by the incoming seawater can lead to a power outage of the submarine and its death.
Version 2. Failure to depth due to violation of trim of the submarine before diving
An example of such an accident from Rear Admiral A. N. Lutsky in 1964 in the Sea of Japan:
- Stop charging! Everybody down! Urgent dive! Boatswain, to a depth of 120 meters.
At a depth of 30 meters:
- Blow out fast!
At a depth of 40 meters:
- Right on board! Both motors forward small!
Everything in the central post, as it should be, is clear - commands, reports, no unnecessary fuss, but ...
The boat goes well to depth, I look at the depth gauge needle and suddenly I feel a chill in my chest and, as it were, a "compressed spring", and to the commander of the BC-5, I sharply throw:
- Mechanic! Aren't we flying fast?
- Well no. It's okay. This is "Lead". The initial buoyancy margin due to the onboard fuel tanks is less than on a simple 613 project, and the fast dive tank is the same.
The depth gauge needle approaches 90, the "spring" in the chest continues to press, and I command:
- Boatswain, trim the stern!
With the departure of the trim:
- Both motors forward full! Bubble in the middle! Equalizing pump overboard!
Etc.
In short, we stayed only at a depth of 190 m, having passed the working depth.
They flew to the surface like a cork.
Looked around, figured it out. A young sailor, a bilge understudy, having prepared an electric compressor for replenishing VVD, made a gross mistake - he prepared a cooling system for the electric compressor according to the scheme "from overboard to equalization", and not as it should be "from overboard overboard", and overnight swelled into equalization cistern "tie-up", which completely torn the boat apart. Negative buoyancy turned out to be more than according to the project the boat could carry even at full speed.
It was saved by the timely emergency blowing of the main ballast.
Of course, I made a proper analysis of what happened on the ship's loudspeaker. To the lazy "godku" who did not check the actions of the apprentice sailor, colleagues explained everything as it should.
Version 3. Rudder lock (for immersion)
Despite the information about the problems with the steering of the KRI Nanggala-402 in March 2021, the rudder jam could not be the reason for the death of the submarine. And here the point is not even that problems with the vertical rudder were announced, but depth control is carried out by horizontal rudders. The main thing is that diesel submarines usually run at very low speeds. And, accordingly (unlike high-speed nuclear ones), it could not lead to a sharp increase in the submarine's immersion depth (to which the crew would not have had time to react with emergency blowing).
Version 4. Crash of a weapon or a torpedo complex
In the case of KRI Nanggala-402, attention is drawn to the fact that the catastrophe occurred at a point in time close to the planned period (or actual) use of the weapon (practical torpedo firing, including a combat torpedo). Link, Indonesian:
The torpedo launcher in torpedo tube # 8 is the last dispatch from KRI Nanggala-402 at 04:25 pm, when the exercise leader gave permission to fire the torpedoes. This is where the connection with KRI Nanggala-402 was cut off, Riad said at a press conference quoted by Kompas TV on Thursday (22.04.2021).
Obviously, the meaning of this statement differs significantly from another statement (link):
And the questions are, in fact, the following:
1. Was there a connection with KRI Nanggala-402 at 04:25?
2. Was there a combat or practical torpedo in pipe No. 8 (combat - with a warhead (with explosives) to sink the designated target)?
3. Were both torpedo shots (with a combat and practical torpedo) actually executed? Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Yudo Margono said the shots had been fired. How did it become known if communication with the boat disappeared immediately after it received permission to shoot?
4. Who was fired at with a practical torpedo? If on a submarine target, it was unambiguously supposed to observe (hydroacoustics) the death of KRI Nanggala-402. And by whom?
Actually, the question is: could there be a connection between the accident, which grew into a disaster, with the use of KRI Nanggala-402 torpedoes?
Torpedo firing KRI Nanggala-402.
From the book by R. A. Gusev "Foundations of the miners' craft":
American experts already knew then that the reason for the death of the boat was the unauthorized activation of the power battery of the MK-37 electric torpedo, which led to the torpedo heating and the explosion of its combat charging compartment. Now it has become known to everyone. They had cases of unauthorized activation of the power battery, it turns out, were noted earlier. A special instruction was developed, according to which it was necessary to urgently fire a "hot" torpedo straight ahead and evade it by turning the boat to the opposite course.
The Scorpion commander did just that, but a hot torpedo exploded either in the torpedo tube, or made a circulation and overtook the submarine after firing. The submarine at the time of the crash had a course that differed by 180 ° from the prescribed one.
PLA "Scorpion" and its wreckage at the bottom of the ocean.
The options here could be:
1. Intensive inflow of water through the torpedo tube in violation of its safety interlocks.
2. Aiming at the firing submarine of its own torpedo or its accidental hit in the event of a malfunction of the control devices (leaving for circulation).
There were cases of the latter (including submerged submarines). For example, our B-101 in 1977, before a long military service in the Indian Ocean, had its own practical torpedo SAET-60M hitting the side, in the vicinity of the diesel compartment, (the head part of the torpedo was removed from the punctured main ballast tank almost a year after Indian Ocean and eliminated).
Noteworthy is the presence on board of a civilian torpedo specialist, that is, most likely, they were "not quite regular SUT". It can be assumed that these are not very new torpedoes undergoing repair and rework by Indonesian specialists (while there was no information about contracts on this issue with the developer and manufacturer of this torpedo in the public domain).
Discovery of the remains of a submarine
On the night of April 25, the hull of the boat at the bottom was previously discovered by the sonar of the Indonesian hydrographic vessel Rigel.
The Singapore rescue vessel Swift Rescue and the Malaysian rescue vessel Mega Bakti arrived on 25 April. From the first of them, a remotely controlled underwater vehicle (ROV) was immediately sent to check this contact. And at 09:04 he visually confirmed the detection of KRI Nanggala-402. The wreckage was found at the bottom just 1500 yards (7,5 cables) south of the last dive of Nanggala on the night of April 21st.
Wreckage of the submarine at the bottom and items raised during the search and rescue operation
The Indonesian Navy released photos of KRI Nanggala-402 wreckage at the bottom, but they do not provide an explanation for what happened. Nevertheless, the fact that the hull is represented by three local fragments next to each other says that the destruction of Nanggala occurred when the hull hit the ground. At the same time, the strong hull of the submarine has already been significantly weakened by the destruction of internal structures by a powerful stream of incoming water. That is, the emergency inflow of water was powerful (otherwise, the submarine would simply explode at a destructive depth). And it began before the boat was at depth.
Time will tell which version of what happened is correct.
PS
The list of those killed on board (in the original language, in order to avoid inaccuracies in the translation of names and titles). Some names are not given in full, as the information is still being clarified.
1. Heri Oktavian - Letkol Laut (P) - Komandan KRI Nanggala-402
2.Eko Firmanto - Mayor Laut (P)
3. Wisnu Subiyantoro - Mayor Laut (T)
4. Yohanes Heri - Kapten Laut (E)
5.I Gede Kartika - Kapten Laut (P)
6. Muhadi - Lettu Laut (P)
7. Ady Sonata - Lettu Laut (P)
8. Imam Adi - Lettu Laut (P)
9. Anang Sutriatno - Lettu Laut (T)
10. Adhi Laksmono - Letda Laut (E)
11. Munawir - Letda Laut (P)
12. Rhesa Tri - Letda Laut (T)
13. Rintoni - Letda Laut (T)
14.M Susanto - Letda Laut (P)
15. Ruswanto - Serka Bah
16. Yoto Eki Setiawan - Sertu Bah
17. Ardi Ardiansyah - Sertu Ttu
18. Achmad Faisal - Sertu Kom
19. Willy Ridwan Santoso - Sertu Kom
20.M Rusdiyansyah - Sertu Eko
21. Ryan Yogie Pratama - Sertu Eki
22.Dedi Hari Susilo - Sertu Mes
23. Bambang Priyanto - Serda Bah
24. Purwanto - Serda Kom
25. Eko Prasetiyo - Serda Kom
26. Harmanto - Serda Ttu
27. Lutfi Anang - Serda Ttu
28.Dwi Nugroho - Serda Atf
29. Pandu Yudha Kusuma - Serda Ede
30. Misnari - Serda Eta
31. Setyo Wawan - Serda Saa
32. Hendro Purwoto - Serda Lis
33. Guntur Ari Prasetyo - Serda Mes
34. Diyut Subandriyo - Serda Lis
35. Wawan Hermanto - Serda Lis
36. Syahwi Mapala - Serda Lis
37. Wahyu Adiyas - Serda Lis
38. Edi Wibowo - Serda Lis
39. Kharisma DB - Kopda Eta
40. Nugroho Putranto - Kopda Tlg
41. Khoirul Faizin - Kopda Mes
42. Maryono - Kopda Trb
43. Roni Effendi - Klk Eta
44. Distriyan Andy P - KLK Eta
45. Raditaka Margiansyah - KLS Isy
46. Gunadi Fajar R - KLS Isy
47. Denny Richi Sambudi - KLS Nav
48. Muh Faqihudin Munir - KLS Mes
49. Edy Siswanto - KLS Nav
Seconded officers and civilian specialist:
50. Harry Setyawan - Kolonel Laut (P) - Dansatsel
51. Irfan Suri - Letkol Laut (E)
52. Whilly - Mayor Laut (E)
53. Suheri - PNS
Rest in peace.
Information