This CO2 Scrubber Killed Half the Crew

[@Mo_Taser]

I'm a commercial diver who's been following you for a couple of years. I don't often say anything but I appreciate what you do and I always give your videos a like. In particular, if you don't know certain details like in this video, you say so. That's honesty and I appreciate that. Your admissions that you don't know every detail inspires trust, not mistrust. Keep up the great work.👍 The thorough dissection you've done of the events in this tragedy is top-shelf. Your channel is a useful learning resource for anyone working underwater at + 1 atmospheric pressure. There are things to be learned on your channel, even by an old veteran like myself.

[@waterlinestories]

Thanks mate. It's really encouraging to hear from a professional. I'm having to learn about humility and it's great to see that it's recognised.

[@HEDGE1011]

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your comment. I’m not a diver, but a professional pilot. I’ve flown a lot and instructed a lot and have always tried to be humble and realize someone else may know something I don’t. It is a sign of strength, not weakness, to say “I don’t know” rather than to build a decision on false information or misunderstandings. Much respect and thanks again.

[@Mo_Taser]

@@HEDGE1011 ​ Thank you so much. I subscribe to a couple of ATC/pilot channels. I find pilot/ATC interactions interesting - sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, and sometimes just downright interesting. In spite of the fact that I'm a nervous flyer and I get scared when I stand on a chair to change a lightbulb, I think there are definite similarities between our two professions. Have a plan. One needs the temperament. You need to be level-headed, and not prone to panic. When all hell is breaking loose you need to keep your wits about you. That has saved my life. Keep your equipment in good working order. Not having your equipment in good working order is your fault. Being injured or killed due to poor equipment is avoidable. Drugs and alcohol can kill you, and probably in your case, others too. I think we probably share all of those traits and more. Thanks again. 👍

[@Bertrand146]

@@waterlinestories Great video ! Well done. Just for the info, those tanks are usually 12 or 15 liter tanks filled at 200 bars or up to 300 bars (depending on metal - aluminium vs steel). From a french prof. diver, always a real pleasure to watch your videos.

[@travisemilson958]

awesome of you as a professional saying that more people like you are needed in this world

[@leothecrafter4808]

The golden rule of redundancy: Two is one, and one is none. Replace as soon as any redundant part fails, it's there for a reason

[@trickedouttech321]

That fan is the smell he had earlier, a fan normally gets an electrical smell before it fails. What they did wrong, They did not abort the mission the second they smelled an electrical problem

[@naughtiusmaximus830]

Critical fans should be replaced on a schedule.

[@GrandDukeMushroom]

@@naughtiusmaximus830 no, new parts fail more often than working parts could add an hour limit workload

[@naughtiusmaximus830]

@@GrandDukeMushroom A burn in would be ideal.

[@naughtiusmaximus830]

Redundancy probably better. Fans are pretty compact these days. I deal with burnt out power supplies from when the fan fails if you want my “take”.

[@happychappy492]

what is needed is back up fans

[@posmoo9790]

I'm not going on a sub that's covered in hooks, and cables, and loops of steel like a damn giant piece of velcro to wreck site.

[@EzraCannon-xp9is]

They should have just called it "The Snag O' Matic"

[@SharronNeedles]

I’m not going on a sub.

[@Paxmax]

Multifunctionality comes at a cost in development and dare I say at a price in use.

[@zviper]

i'd sooner go in a carbon tube with my dollar store Gc controller lol

[@kungfreddie]

​@@Paxmaxsure but making these hooks removable would b a minimal thing. Since they are just fixed and not robotic. It's kinda stupid to have hooks that you are not going to use in that dive and also can't see.

[@brunonikodemski2420]

I myself almost killed a crew of three, while they were going into a deep dive down to 6000-feet, but had to abort at about 2000-feet. I had designed an underwater lamp/light controller, to allow dimming of 1000watt lamps, since they were too bright in many undersea applications. Unfortunately, the controller box was placed directly under an oil pressure line, which was leaking an dripping hydraulic fluid onto the box. The oil hit a couple of electrical components, reduced their heat transfer capacity, and resulted in hydraulic fluid being burned and vaporized. The crew thought they had an internal fire, donned breather masks, and emergency surfaced. Nonetheless, it took them 20+minutes to surface and get fresh air into this submersible. Had they been down at maximum depths, they probably would have run out of breathable air. The investigation cleared me, but the vehicle was rebuilt, to allow a full rise from 6000+feet, with full additional air/mix, and without heaters working, if electrical power was lost...

[@steveo7006]

In my diving days we called that style of clip a "suicide hook".

[@logon-oe6un]

"But this one works" would be so funny if people didn't die because of it.

[@feloniouscraphammer]

In 1985, I declined a very generous offer of employment as an underwater pipe welder. I talked to several people that told me horror stories from their time in that field. The pay, although quite substantial, was not enough for me. I nearly died several times during large land based pipe jobs. I later decided to join the U.S. Navy. I think I made the right decision. RIP to all those lost.

[@EzraCannon-xp9is]

indeed you did!

[@ZeranZeran]

Holy crap. My uncle very nearly got me started in this industry, and never once warned me. Was he just trying to get a replacement!? Jesus I love the ocean and I find diving so interesting, but I'm honestly glad I stayed away from it. I don't trust myself to not panic, even though I've been through some high pressure emergency situations and done well... being underwater changed all of that. 0 control over your fate.

[@koneeche]

I met an underwater pipe welder that had been in the gig for 40 years. They had to make new plaques for him every 5 years of service because nobody had ever survived that long. He always told me that safety was the absolute priority in these dire conditions.

[@kungfreddie]

​@koneeche yes its dangerous.. buts saying noone survives 5 yrs is ridiculous...

[@kungfreddie]

The International Maritime Contractors Association states that 1 out of 20 offshore divers is killed on the job over a 10-year span. So bad.. but not no one makes it 5 yrs.. Also... only 10% of the deaths are from drowning. I guess the other risks are electrocution.. diving sickness.. things like that.

[@j3tts0n65]

Trapped in a cage of metal slowly suffocating must be so demoralizing knowing you can’t really do anything about it other than wait and try and stay conscious while rescuers struggle to reach you in the depths

[@sarasmr4278]

You know what I've already had two panic attacks today, maybe I'll skip this one

[@waterlinestories]

@sarasmr4278 3's a charm

[@whatevernamegoeshere3644]

@@sarasmr4278 Yeeaaah back when I had anxiety problems I could not watch anything like this. Just honestly skip it, even if it sounds interesting. Keep it together and I hope it gets better mate.

[@theoneway22]

Well they could've just figured out how to use the tried and true "Byford Dolphin" method.

[@sarasmr4278]

@whatevernamegoeshere3644 much appreciated 💜 I had a recent scare -- turned out fine, but things are all stirred up. I had a panic attack on the climbing wall for the first time today and I sat there in my harness and did my breathing and told myself I was absolutely fine and then I finished the bloody climb so now I am officially a badass thank you very much. ;)

[@MeduseldRabbit]

Never skip repairs, always have a backup system/plan. And if a more experienced crew member says grab a jacket/food/whatever, DO IT! So many of these incidents could be avoided, or not as severe, if people took logical precautions.

[@ryelor123]

Seems like for something like CO2 scrubbers, they should at least have one that's hand cranked considering that mechanical and electrical systems aren't that reliable.

[@mactep1]

@@ryelor123 Any system is unreliable if you actively choose not to address faults.

[@ct1762]

@@mactep1 yep. take an engine for example. it can have all the high tech sensors to control detonation, air/fuel, temperature warning etc, but if the owner doesnt check them periodically to make sure they work, thats on them!

[@darkracer1252]

@@ct1762 some of these cases are closer to "and if the owner doesn't put gasoline in the tank then the engine will stop working"

[@ct1762]

@@darkracer1252 haha i wouldn't be surprised. in fact as a mechanic, ive seen it!

[@momchilandonov]

A smell of burning while underwater and with a faulty fan speaks of immediate danger! They should have mentioned the smell of burning, so the rescue team react with priority!

[@JanPeterson]

More to the point, when they smelled something burning, they should have immediately aborted the dive and returned to the surface. Even better, when they found that one of the fans wasn't working during the pre-dive they should have aborted the mission before even starting.

[@daviddavidson2357]

@@JanPeterson The non-functional fans didn't really have any bearing on what happened though. They were in the front compartment were they not? However it shows a culture of complacency. Especially when the two men in the back were allowed to go down in shorts and t-shirts. There would have almost certainly been some drysuit inners on that vessel, it wouldn't have hurt to tell the guys to bring those even if they don't plan on wearing them.

[@billyponsonby]

I’m beginning to think that professional diving is a dangerous business.

[@deletdis6173]

You and me both 😨

[@233kosta]

It seems a bit like riding a motorbike on a 0.5m wide I-beam 500m up in the air at 100m/s between two cliffs. Technically doable, but you have to be 1000% switched on from the first stage of planning right up until you're safely at the other end. Or, y'know... you die. If you're cave diving, add to this night time with only your headlight to light the way, random bends in said I-beam, and the cliffs are far enough apart that you're at the very edge of your fuel capacity. If you're rescue cave diving, add rain, narrow the beam to 0.2m... Yeh, not exactly the safest of jobs.

[@Transberrylemonaid]

What gives you that idea? 🫣/sarcasm

[@scoreboardntlie]

Who wouod have thought having to rely on fairly old tech to be in an atmosphere that you shouldn't be in would be dangerous....

[@begbieyabass]

That's why we get big Bucks for it..and chick's love a good diver. 😂

[@wolfwright7658]

I have watched every video of yours, and for some reason, this one felt hard to watch. From the 'eh' of overlooking the broken scrubber, to the 'suicide hook', to the many failed rescue attempts. Just heartbreaking for the two gents in the dive compartment.

[@akefayamenay104]

from what he says, I'd say it wasn't the CO2 scrubber that killed anyone. The broken scrubber fan was in the cockpit and they survived fine by basically pulling a bit of an apollo 13 with the scrubber media. If anything, the "passengers" died because their compartment was aluminum and got too cold for the scrubber material to work properly. They were also dressed improperly (despite being warned) and refused to attempt to exit the sub and try to remedy the problem even when their own compartment was at equal pressure for the depth and would have afforded them no extra risk by that point. We all get lax with things we've done a bunch of times, and it was this laxness by the two in the rear chamber (because they weren't planning to dive) that ultimately sealed their fate.

[@Mahkwa]

It amazes me just how many people disregard procedures for safety - especially when the procedure is meant to save lives.

[@nodidog]

Agreed! Knowing one scrubber was faulty, declaring it out loud, and then continuing anyway... It's amazing how quickly people can normalise a hostile environment, and let basic safety standards slip.

[@OscarLopez-gq4he]

money is the root of all evil man

[@zoozoc1]

I don't think the scrubber killed them. Seems like time is what killed them. They had no plan or way to survive for being at that depth for that amount of time. Also it was never clear why the men were in the diving compartment in the first place. Was there any purpose for them going down along with the 2 pilots?

[@sujimayne]

The problem is the sheer incompetence of the Coast Guard. If you look into the incident more, it is just obvious that they didn't even need to go there, they were useless and repeatedly failed to get to the submersible because of their lack of organization.

[@SharronNeedles]

Funsies

[@MadScientist267]

That's essentially saying the same thing. Scrubbers don't have infinite capacity. There's only so much CO2 they can absorb. And the scrubbing ability slows with time as the active material is used up. So saying it was the scrubber or saying it was the time, is really the same thing, although saying it is the scrubber makes it sound like it was a catastrophic failure, rather than the inevitable one.

[@abvmoose87]

@@sujimaynebut didnt the crew also fail to report to the coastguard about the one failing fan making them think tvey had more time than they actually did?

[@darkwater72]

The other guys were in a separate compartment because they were the ones going outside. They never expected to spend the entire time inside the vehicle. The other compartment was where the electronics and control equipment was.

[@OMG_No_Way]

How come every single underwater rescue is plagued with crap not working on the rescue equipment.

[@X737_]

Because it’s never used in anger until it is

[@ziggyblue782]

Lack of maintenance and professionalism.

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

Because sea farers secretly identify as fish and believe they don't need it!

[@michaelreid2329]

Goes to show you how likely a Space rescue will be successful!

[@tbas8741]

@@michaelreid2329 Space Travel is much easier than Deep Sea Travel. Hardest part is getting the rocket to space at 28,000 MPH+

[@edwardmyers8782]

Your in a submersible you smell something electrical burning you go up, period full stop straight up as quickly as you safely can

[@thehippiedog5956]

Electric problems on a submarine? This results in toxic fumes that include ketones and aldehyde gases and Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) by-products are also emitted. Let us not forget the cobalt and other toxic compounds emitted from a fan motor after malfunction. No sub has a window or a screen door. Hubertus does not defy physics no matter what the timeline or pressure from those above you. Ya just say no. All puns intended.

[@ryanau5824]

There is a reason why safety protocols exist. They are for your safety. If you disregard them you effectively sign away your life in the event of an accident. Good job 👏

[@dhawthorne1634]

That's the problem. They didn't have any safety protocols. No need for a full inspection prior to launch. No need to repair faulty to life support systems before launch. No need to wear diving suits when riding down in the dive compartment. They simply didn't care in the first place. Now the recent Titan sub implosion, that was pure negligence. Which, in my opinion, is even worse than ignorance.

[@mboyer68]

This is the only channel, the only videos I've ever watched more than once. The way you present the information is perfect. Genius. Thank you:)

[@waterlinestories]

😀 wow, thanks for that 👌🏻

[@charlesfinas3826]

The thumbnail look like the air filter Contraption that Appollo 13 crew has to make

[@MADmosche]

That’s because it is.

[@cbhlde]

Well spotted! :)

[@henzoko5946]

The event occurred in 1973 and im guessing no pictures of the exact thing

[@robertszempruch6540]

Came here to say that. That's exactly what that is

[@skeetrix5577]

but how do you fit a round peg into a square hole again? some duct tape and the cover of the flight manual, right?

[@mnightfamalam1510]

Good lord, I don't think I've seen a case covered on this channel that saw so many unforeseen complications

[@waterlinestories]

Nope, it was one thing after next.

[@Stealth55555]

This dive was doomed from the start. And encountered nothing but setbacks and multiple failures.

[@Evergreen64]

I recognized that square scrubber. That was from Apollo 13. It was the jury rigged way they fit the LEM scrubber filters to the command modules round filter compartment.

[@TungstenCarbideProjectile]

Two guys in the dive compartment should have done the lockout dive when they had the chance. Never pass up any chance to get out in these situations. People have a tendency to down play how bad situations are, we need to learn from these mistakes. If you are ever in a life or death situation you must recognize your few options to make it out as they arise

[@jnmrn4069]

It sounds like they were suffering from hypothermia, so their ability to free the Sealink from the cable would have been very difficult, especially wearing just shorts and t shirts. The partial pressure of the oxygen at 1.62 might have killed them anyway. If you are thinking of ascending to the surface, that would be out of the question. From 100 meters they would have to do a decompression ascent like the navy divers. That would be impossible without the proper diving equipment.

[@boathousejoed1126]

I'm confused,we're there wetsuits to perform a lockout dive? R.I.P. but they didn't show respect for task and the pilots advice to dress properly.It just seems strange to be so nonchalant. How much did this rescue cost?

[@PlasticCogLiquid]

Totally agree. Been in some crazy situations and had to act quick, I remember questioning myself for a minute and saying fuck it and did something I didn't think was going to work. If I didn't make the move I did then there's a good chance I wouldn't still be existing.

[@Nilboggen]

@@boathousejoed1126 Yeah as a recreational diver myself, it seems crazy that it spiraled out of control so fast at 300' depth. I would have thought there would be a technical diver or two on the support vessel who could dive down 300' and feet and untangle them with a Trimix setup. They could have been down there in like 10 minutes. Sure it would probably be many hours of deco stops depending on how long they took to untangle it and require quite a few tanks of Trimix. But with the cost of that underwater vessel you would think you would have some sort of rescue plan in place in case something went wrong.

[@Pellagrah]

I don't think they even realized they were in a life-or-death situation until it was too late to perform the lockout dive. In hindsight, they obviously should have attempted it despite the risk. They made the fatal assumption that help would arrive long before they depleted their oxygen supply, making it seem like a lockout dive was an unnecessary risk that could potentially make their situation even worse.

[@TAKIZAWAYAMASHITA]

So compancy and huburis killed them. The fan not working should have prompted a repair so you have 2 fans that way if that one failed you wouldn't be screwed. Two fan systems like this are NOT that complex if the men were able to open the panel locate the problem and even cobble together a replacement by using the scrubber material in front of the AC unit. They should have kept a few extra fans in a storage bin so they could hot swap the broken one out. Second this sub has a design flaw, there's no heater unit. They died because temps fell too low for the scrubbers to work, they should have had a small space heater or some type of heating unit onboard for this occasion lastly The divers were complacent and got themselves killed by NOT wearing their dive gear and only went in with t-shirts and shorts wtf? that was stupid. They'd be alive if they didn't do such a stupid thing because when pressed about diving they could have gotten out of the sub and used their hand tools to free the ship OR use the oxygen tanks attached to their suits to slowly surface themselves. Let this be a lesson to everyone that does a dangerous job that requires you wear PPE ALWAYS WEAR IT better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. If they brought their suits they'd be alive right now

[@darkwater72]

It's click-bait-ish to say "this CO2 scrubber killed these men". The scrubber worked exactly ss designed. The CO2 absorber material worked exactly as expected. The air temp dropped more than predicted, faster than predicted, and nobody thought of a way to warm the CO2 absorbent THAT'S what killed everyone.

[@Blue4Skies1]

I see what you're saying, but the CO2 scrubber was faultily designed... or else the temp wouldn't have led it to stop scrubbing CO2. Also the fan stopping didn't help either.

[@youtubehandlesux]

It's faulty because the scrubber doesn't have a heater in it.

[@darkwater72]

@@youtubehandlesux The lack of some sort of pre-heater not the same as "faulty". It's an unfortunate design choice with terrible consequences, but that's not the same as "broken." They just never thought of the chamber might get that cold.

[@bf-696]

So an unheated CO2 scrubber killed them? How is that any different than "This CO2 scrubber killed half the crew", Karen?

[@darkwater72]

@@bf-696 No. Being trapped for days killed them. Big trucks sometimes lose their brakes going downhill. If brakes remain engaged (even lightly) for an extended period of time, they will overheat, glaze over, and lose the friction properties essential to function. After that, the driver just hangs on until he stops or is stopped. The brakes on that truck did not fail due to faulty design or mechanical failure. They failed because they were pushed FAR beyond the operating conditions they were designed for. Same thing here.

[@thenorseman8964]

After watching the rest of the video, I'm struck at how many times the rescue attempts were aborted when, if the initial dive was aborted in the first place, everyone could have survived.

[@herzogsbuick]

most times with episodes you do on folks stuck under water, i'm more upset at the mistakes that were made than scared or something. this event, every time the Tringa had to reposition or another setback added another hour, it just terrified me. i'm glad two of them were able to make it. many thanks as always.

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

I think sometimes stuff goes wrong in a series in a single event, is fate saying "not today" and we should give whatever were trying to do a go another time.

[@alexturnbackthearmy1907]

@@jed-henrywitkowski6470 Or (which is more likely) there were dozens of mistakes made over the years and never fixed. On all sides.

[@TheOtherSteel]

This shows the difficulty of conducting rescue operations at only 100m depth. My mind flashes to a certain tourist DSV operating near the Titanic, at about 3,500m. If it had gotten stuck on the seafloor with all alive, imagine how much longer it would take to mount a rescue. I don't think the DSV's reserve oxygen would have lasted long enough. -- Deep sea construction divers have suits they can put on to preserve body warmth for as long as possible. This vessel appeared to have nothing of the sort. I'm thinking they would have found them useful.

[@seadog686]

Those suits are $1.9 K alone; then there's the boots, gloves, hoses and water heater/pumps (on the surface support vessel) to consider. They probably didn't plan for that like a lot of things they obviously didn't plan for.

[@anaxis]

Albert Stover is a paternal relative who died shortly before I was born, and until recently I had no idea what happened. It's especially eerie because I've always had a deathly fear of suffocation and deep water for as long as I can remember, even as a small child; yet was also obsessed with Caribbean shipwrecks. But I grew up in the Midwest pretty far away from oceans & shipwrecks, so.... 🤷‍♂️

[@bearb1asting]

That's wild.

[@carolcamp4828]

You were probably him. U could do a hypnotic regression & find out. We live many lives.

[@anaxis]

@@carolcamp4828 It's certainly given me a lot to think about, since I never really considered that reincarnation might happen along familial lines; I've always figured it was either random or karma-based. It would make more sense, to me at least.

[@Friggsdottir]

​@@anaxisreincarnation only happens in families.

[@jaydawg2357]

Why does it always seem that "Should be a Simple Procedure" never ends up being a Simple Procedure.

[@tjroelsma]

Because of something that's best described as safety creep. The more often you do procedures, the less dangerous those procedures seem to become and therefore many people get casual with safety procedures. This trip to retrieve that fish trap should have been a breeze and it was, until the unforeseeable happened. And even then it should have been survivable, if not for the very casual disregard of procedures and safety measures, especially by the two men in the diving compartment. Had they been properly dressed and prepared to make an emergency dive if necessary, all of them would probably have survived.

[@nrdesign1991]

That exact phrase, figuratively, hit me at work today. Changing encoder backup batteries in a Fanuc robot arm. Should take 5 minutes in theory; remove 7 easily accessible screws, pop off a cover, extract 2 battery packs, unplug, plug and slide in 2 new packs, attach cover. In practice, the cover was so stuck on to the robot that we couldnt work it loose. More than 30 minutes later with 2 people, numerous tools and a bit of violence we gave up as not to damage the robot or the cover.

[@bradsanders407]

Idiots. That's why. Either in the creation, maintaining or operating or all.

[@justinrobinson9583]

Complacency.

[@jamesm5787]

Why were the divers even there, when no dive was planned?

[@LoveCaveDiving]

Obviously the problem was diving with broken gear and lack of gear. Technical dives must be treated like your going to the moon.

[@gordonpeden6234]

Gripping narrative great explanation of a complex situation. Thank you! RIP those who lost their lives, and all who risked their lives in the rescue.

[@briantremblay9157]

This is my New Favorite Channel, I have seen every video now, I wish I did binge watch cause now, I have to wait for new ones...

[@waterlinestories]

🤣 I'll do my best to not let you wait too long.

[@briantremblay9157]

@@waterlinestories The way you tell their stories, sometimes I feel claustrophobic, the cave diving stories truly give this affect!! Any loss of life is sad.

[@patrickpierce3201]

Nice I was there in Key West on the Naval base I was about 6 yrs old and remember seeing that sub on the deck of the ship. After they retrieved it from the wreck. Great video

[@b.w.22]

First impression: You’d think that a standard bit of “emergency equipment” would be some sort of simple bellows that could be fitted to the “fan” end of the scrubber and physically operated by the crew in the event of a fan failure or even a power failure. Edit: Second impression: Why aren’t there divers on the support ship? That’s so insane to me.

[@dhawthorne1634]

Keep in mind, this is the early 1970's. We were still using diving bells and pressure suits with air lines and brass helmets. We'd only known how to safely surface from a deep dive for about 50 years and only found out how to treat decompression sickness about a decade prior. The equipment needed to perform deep dives from a surface ship was prohibitively expensive for research vessels and the air supply they had access to, to pump down there would have been toxic at those depths. That's why they had to call in military divers for the rescue attempt. The USCG and USN have a comparatively limitless budget and all of the best equipment of the time already on hand. Ideally, they would have forced anyone in the dive compartment to be ready to leave the compartment in case they needed to address some external issue on the sub, rather than letting them dive in shorts and a t-shirt. "Better to have it and not need it", type of scenario. Unfortunately, they fell on the "need it and not have it" side of that saying. On your first point, a hand cranked fan with gear reduction MIGHT have worked, but the work you'd put in to pumping bellows would increase your CO2 output more than the benefit you'd gain from increased flow through the absorption medium. It would have been more prudent to repair the redundant systems prior to launch and add a resistive heating element on the intake that would have kicked on if the temperature fell near to the minimum effective temperature.

[@b.w.22]

@@dhawthorne1634 - Well said! Thank you for such a thorough and thoughtful response. I agree with your “have it and not need it” SOP being the actual way this emergency could have been averted; having divers in the aft compartment who were ready and able to exit the vehicle to free it from the entanglement is the way. Coming from an aerospace background, I sometimes lose sight of the fact that deep-sea diving is such a recent development and a discipline whose techniques and technologies were driven by government agencies in the same was that space activity was. In so many ways, the deep ocean is a more challenging environment than space. Anyway, thanks again for your insight.

[@ViroMad]

Why not have backup oxygen candles? They were invented in 1945 so they should be good during this time period. Sure they burn super hot... but when freezing with little O2 you might like the temperature increase.

[@dhawthorne1634]

@@ViroMad My guess is because of either cost, stowage or toxicity. They are still rather expensive today. My guess would be a military-only thing back then. They are rather bulky and require a dedicated burn chamber; which a small, deep-dive research vessel couldn't afford the space for. They are meant to be used in larger subs with lower internal pressure and a higher volume of air; which would run you into the same issue of oxygen toxicity as using the inappropriate diving gas that they had on board.

[@ct1762]

@@dhawthorne1634 well said. hand cranking also increases calorie and h20 needs. the increased body temp would be a plus, but erased by the need for more h20 in short supply (ironically...being trapped in it)

[@jfh667]

The CO2 scrubber : But ... ive worked for days in freezing temperatures !!!!!

[@momchilandonov]

25:35 amazing that they had no spare diving bell in such a large area!

[@alabamacoastie6924]

I enjoy your presentation style and the great content! Excellent channel!

[@waterlinestories]

Thanks 👍🏻

[@nickyevans83]

Slight issue with your thumbnail its the scrubber from Apollo 13 it did the exact opposite from what you say it saved the entire crew and enabled their return to earth safely it's one of the greatest emergency engineering improviseings in history

[@shankthebat8654]

Seconded, this really needs to be fixed.

[@elbuggo]

You too believe in that Hollywood thriller movie. As I recall it, they almost froze to death too. This while the space ship was exposed to direct sunlight all the time. How could it get so cold then really? Air condition was what they really needed. All kinds of nonsense in that Hollywood action thriller movie Apollo 13.

[@donerickson1954]

@@elbuggoThe Apollo spacecraft was covered with light and reflective surfaces and with multilayered insulation designed to slow the passage of heat in or out. Having turned off all electrical systems, including heat, the craft radiated much more heat into space than it absorbed from sunlight.

[@elbuggo]

@@donerickson1954 RE: including heat The space ship was in direct sunlight 24/7. You don't need heat then, you need cooling. Never heard anyone complained about anything too hot or too warm in these episodes - weird. The AC in the space suits worked wonderfully all the time without a single problem, as I remember it. Almost like in a Hollywood movie!

[@RC-nq7mg]

Just wondering why the thumbnail is the lithium hydroxide canister from Apollo 13?

[@Khanstant]

Trick to get clever people to comment on the video.

[@Average_Ohio_Citizen_]

​@@KhanstantYou win the KZbin comment section today 😂😊

[@MADmosche]

Plus the photos of Titanic

[@jerahmysmith4459]

All of his thumbnails aren't relevant to his videos. Look through them

[@martindk4417]

I ask myself same question 🤣

[@Gazr965]

Must be a terrible way to die knowing you can't be rescued as you are taking you last breaths. Gaz UK.

[@RayHikes]

5:08 Lacking maintenance practices seem to be at the heart of many disasters, proceeding with equipment that isn't 100% functional is always rolling a dice.

[@BOBK-jf4qx]

...make sure you don't watch Mentour Pilot then. The amount of INOP that your daily jetliner flies with... :D

[@nexaentertainment2764]

I've heard this story at least half a dozen times on youtube to the point where I almost skipped this. Glad I didn't, you somehow added details and story telling that none of the others did. That's genuinely impressive. Like I could gripe about some other videos, especially ones someone like Brick Immortar covered (though, to be fair, his depth on a topic is incredible). I don't want that to sound back handed, this is genuinely impressive to me. Maybe it means nothing to you, but to me, I'm impressed.

[@waterlinestories]

Thanks, I do actually appreciate that. 👍🏻

[@davidwright5719]

What was the point of the people going down in the dive compartment? They can’t see much and they weren’t planning to dive (indeed they declined to dive even when it could have saved their lives).

[@76biggdogg]

And all for a basket full of fish that meant absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things.

[@lukienman]

A man showing off to his son.

[@joneyre4931]

Nice picture of the Titanic's bow matey

[@waterlinestories]

🤭

[@artsmith103]

Unsubscribed

[@FreeFinca]

​@@artsmith103 🤣

[@AnythingForSouls]

I love how there's a backups by design just in case because the people who built it cared enough but the operators see ones broken and decide it will be fine who needs a back up its never needed anyway and that's when you've tempted fate and your gonna regret it. If one fails what's stopping the other one failing its proof it happens don't be stupid and just get stuff fixed 99% of these diving accidents can be prevented by maintenance or if you don't feel safe just say your not doing it yeah might do your managers head in and someone else might take the risk and you lose that specific job but there's nothing they can legally do to you cant fire you or anything or if they do your better off get another place that might listen to you or you could probably file a lawsuit or rat to OSHA about it. Just take the reputation of being a pain and carry on living.

[@mikelastname]

Great story, well told about the rescue of two divers. It is really impressive the rescue resources that the USN and CG were able to bring to bear on this rescue and it is a shame that complacency and bad luck conspired to kill the other two.

[@tonfleuren3536]

1.6 bar partial pressure of oxygen isn't quite as dramatic as you make it sound, I know divers who regularly breathe 1.6 bar during decompression, and some even do that during the active part of a dive. That should not have prevented them from going outside to free the vessel. The fact that the gas they brought is not suitable for the depth they are diving to is frankly simply stupid. I know divers who regularly dive to 100m depth (even inside caves) using rebreathers. Sending divers on surface supply gear is also incredibly stupid. Everything that happened is a massive disregard of common sense, safety engineering and procedures, and incredibly poor planning.

[@LemonCamel]

Always excited for your videos! Best channel for this type of content

[@AcydDrop]

If those are the tanks they used (at 2:30) the tanks in the front look like they are possible steel (negatively buoyant) and probably somewhere in the 100cu to 120cu range. Meaning they contain approximately 100 or 120 cubic feet of "air" or Heliox. However, the tanks are usually pressurized at 200 to 300 bar (steel tanks are probably closer to 300 bar than 200 in my experience). Anyway I hope this is useful information for you. Love your channel.

[@robbielime8477]

Great video. Very informative and well presented. Keep it up 👍

[@waterlinestories]

Thanks

[@vicvinegar7671]

Love the music that starts around 14:30, does a great job conveying the mood reminds me of the start of The Shining

[@Sole_Samurai]

Production value has gone up. Man is hitting us with these visual transitions. This is sick. Whole little tv show on youtube. The tragedies are unfortunate but I feel like the respect is handled well and with stances focused on getting the facts across

[@SovietMOB]

I see Waterline Stories has a new upload and I immediately grab a sweet tea and a hot meal for my own personal enjoyment for the day!! Best YT channel ever !! 🇷🇺🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇺🇸🇷🇺

[@waterlinestories]

👌🏻

[@beverlyreiner-baillargeon6205]

Paul you make the most exciting, yet terrifying video's. I find myself holding my breath or wondering what the hell. Love listening to your voice, hope all is well. 😉❤😉❤

[@waterlinestories]

Thanks Beverly. Yes all good. Hope you are too

[@beverlyreiner-baillargeon6205]

@@waterlinestories All's good, be safe out there Paul 😉😉

[@kurtflint64]

The scrubber in the thumbnail saved the entire crew. In space. Just googling oxygen scrubber and using the top return isn't so good for credibility.

[@cbhlde]

Well spotted! :)

[@Will-dn9dq]

Looks like the one in Apollo 13 made from.scrap in space 😂 noticed myself from 1st glance 😂😂

[@thedemolitionmuniciple]

I don't need other people to decide stuff for me all the time, but should I stop watching this guy? I see comments pointing out issues on all his videos, some of the minor, some of them not, and worry that I dismiss them too quickly being stuck in a sunk cost fallacy. I have probably seen every video this guy has put out, and do not want to walk away with an incorrect assessment of any situation, much less one that has cost lives.

[@MadJustin7]

You find a picture of a submersible CO2 scrubber then. One that you can freely use in a for profit video. It's not exactly a stock photo you can go and buy the rights to. It's good enough and at least it's a real photo and not some AI creation.

[@MOcamping1212]

​@@thedemolitionmunicipleim starting to wonder myself.

[@erintyres3609]

This happened fifty years ago. The rescue equipment and methods described in the video were the best available at the time.

[@jimsmith556]

Everything that could go wrong went wrong. The actual rescue using brute force to snap the hook and line was wonderful. Excellent coverage of this story.

[@difdaf436]

From all the sub rescue videos I’ve watch, it always takes ages and many attempts to rescue people.. I think subs need like a weeks worth of baralime and triple redundancy fans for that system.. it always takes at least a day or 2 or 3 to finally rescue a sub…

[@loobielou6965]

Yaaaaaas week has been made 🙌 Thank you for all the hard work it must take to bring us top-notch content every week 💙

[@dmacrolens]

[@waterlinestories]

😀 thanks

[@rainaldkoch9093]

What about breathing out through the CO2 scrubber? Higher temperature and CO2 concentration.

[@BOBK-jf4qx]

The divers weren't that smart...they came in shorts and t-shirt.

[@ChaplainDaveSparks]

Great story, but also horrific. Originally, I was wondering why the rising air pressure inside couldn't just be vented to the water outside until I realized that the exterior water was under even more pressure. Too bad they can't just put an air fitting on the outside so that it could be connected to an air hose running to the surface.

[@infinitesimalperinfinitum]

It took us 60,000,000 years to get out of the ocean. STOP TRYING TO GO BACK!

[@dhawthorne1634]

This reminded me of a Randy Feltface joke. "You know, when sharks eat people it's fucked; but it shits me how they immediately go out and kill the shark, like: 'It's gone rogue! It's gone rogue!' "No it hasn't! It's just doing what millions of years of evolution have programed it to do; fucking, swim around eating shit. "'Yeah, but... It came into our bit. This is our bit of the ocean'. "Wha? No. See that bit there, the big, fuckin' wet bit. That's it's bit. "This bit here, this dry bit, that you're standing on WITH YOUR LEGS; you're legs that have evolved to stand on the dry bit. That's you're bit. "You go into it's bit, you're going to GET bit. That's the lesson."

[@Xhumed]

Tell that to whales and dolphins, who came up on to land, went "fuck this" and got back in the ocean.

[@zephyr8072]

@dhawthorne1634 No, the lesson is humans go where we please, and if an inferior species has a problem with that we’ll make them extinct. The dodo once complained we were stomping all over their island. Guess what? No more dodo. Hell, pandas are only still alive because they amuse us. So put on your top hat and do your best dance, shark-boys, or you’re next.

[@dhawthorne1634]

@@zephyr8072 You are taking a quote from a standup comedy sketch WAY too seriously.

[@Friggsdottir]

​@@zephyr8072We also are meant to live WITH the rest of the life on this planet not wipe out an entire species.

[@iconforu2c]

Scary stuff. It seems like anything and everything that can go wrong during these rescues does. Hats off to the men and women of the rescue crews. RIP.

[@ryelor123]

Seems like there should be better systems for keeping people alive considering that every rescue attempt always takes an eternity longer than the air supply.

[@1978garfield]

It is frustrating when you consider the billions the armed forces spend yet frequently their fancy equipment doesn't work when needed. Notice how no progress was made until a commercial salvage vehicle showed up.

[@Anonymous______________]

Indeed. Also, the levels of incompetence with this rescue operation is pretty staggering.

[@AlexForencich]

A lot of the stock footage/pictures in here have nothing to do with the incident in question, or even diving in general. It would be really neat to put some sort of a caption indicating what the picture is of (titanic, ISS, apollo 13 CO2 scrubber, etc.) to make it a bit easier to keep track of what's going on.

[@dhawthorne1634]

The Scrubber didn't kill them. The overall lack of precaution is what killed them; failing to do a full systems check and repair failed redundancies before launch, the decision to not include a dive compartment heater and gas blends for every condition they would be passing through, the blasé attitude regarding appropriate attire and safety equipment for the job they were tasked with. It's a prime example of the swiss cheese model. A bunch of failures lined up like the holes in a stack of cheese slices, allowing the tragedy to take place. Most alarming to me is the crew of the dive compartment. Just because you weren't PLANNING to leave the compartment doesn't mean you shouldn't have been READY to leave the compartment. Had they dressed warm and brought their suits along, they could have freed the sub and surfaced without even having to call the support ship in the first place. They might have even been able to replace that faulty hook with the one they'd snagged and completed the mission in a single dive, after all.

[@TimothySpadano]

What is up with all these negative comments on a well done video? Jeez people, get a life.

[@762Super]

Yay! Always glad to see a new upload!

[@jamest2401]

Why are these underwater rescue operations always such an unmitigated cluster-f*ck!? It always seems to be descent to the wrong location, and then abort, descent to another wrong location, and abandonment of the dive again, ad infinitum ad nauseam; the rescue attempt finally successfully reaching the intended target and freeing the helpless and hapless diving apparatus or vessel, but only once everyone inside of them is already dead. I know this incident was in the 1970s; an age of significantly less sophisticated technology and equipment, but some of the other, seemingly identical rescue procedures, whether recounted on this channel or otherwise, have not occurred so far distant in the past. With such high stakes involved, these botched, bungling rescue and relief processes are really quite infuriating to listen to.

[@runh3r0run]

I cannot believe how poor the rescue was from the get go. It seems like they just didn’t act well on the situation. Excellent recovery after some thought….

[@ACME_Kinetics]

Honestly I'd rather go to space in a Boeing than more than about 20m underwater. Maybe some of that is being raised in the desert, maybe some of it's just wanting for a quick death.

[@covlinuxguy]

DRINKING GAME: Everytime The word 'Compartment" is said, take a shot, You'll be mashed by the end of this video:-)

[@Nevir202]

One thing I am not getting, is the issue is the CO2 in your exhalations, and it works worse when it is cold, right? So, you have the pellets, and you wrapped it in a shirt, why not do that and breathe directly through the bundle of pellets? That way the source of the CO2 will go directly into them, also when you inhale, the air will get a second chance to interact with the pellets before entering your body, and the heat of your body/breath will keep the pellets at a good operating temp.

[@bearb1asting]

10 Atmospheres.... I can't believe they didn't want to just go for the dive. There just wasnt a way to reach them in time. It's tragic. I wonder if anyone had directly communicated the absoluteness of the math. Another excellent video. Thank you. May they rest in peace.

[@elucid07]

Hey mate, really enjoying your videos. However I think it'd be really good to include would be any recommendations for safety improvement that result from each incident, much like air incident reports include. Just to see how safety is improving with time, and whether we are learning from the mistakes. Do many of these incidents have such reports/outcomes?

[@thomasbell7033]

"They're on the north side of the Berry." Shows bow of the Titanic. Okay, so you didn't have a photo of the bow of the Berry. Dude, we woulda let you slide on that. Enough with those Tieffintanic images, lol.

[@notj5712]

4:39. LOL, the classic picture of the rigged up Apollo 13 air scrubber. Edit: already noticed by others.

[@naughtiusmaximus830]

Maybe break away components would be a good idea on these.

[@jimhaney6384]

I like the coast guard, not because they are the biggest or baddest, but because they are always on humanitarian missions and emergency response. Go Coast Guard!

[@kurtdnelson9653]

Boy you talk about screwing the pooch by everyone i can't believe how incompetent everyone was from having only one co scrubber in the pilot chamber to improper clothing in the diving chamber to three attempts by the Navy then by the other Navy ship and the sub how can so much go wrong

[@craigk5452]

All in the name of counting fish! Tragic.

[@Tgspartnership]

love your storytelling style

[@waterlinestories]

Thanks👌🏻

[@chri-k]

How can this many things go wrong?! Two failures of the CO2 scrubber, a poorly communicated safety check, the failure of the arm, the vessel getting stuck, the rescue divers missing twice, misunderstanding the severity, a miscalculation, the dive bell missing and then getting stuck, the sonar failing...

[@philbunston9663]

You've started adding " NOISE " in the background - Please don't .

[@tarnyaattwell4841]

I love this channel. But the stories are heart breaking ❤

[@trj1442]

Waterline Strories, Brick Immortar and Big Old Boats are my favourite YT channels. ❤

[@Madhouse_Media]

Great video, a shame the comments are full of nit pickers griping about the thumbnail.

[@l-l]

In my mind at least he didn't use ai generated trash for the thumbnail. Just a picture of an oxygen scrubber.

[@MarkkuS]

Mark of a good video, when the thumbnail is drawing the most attention

[@robinwiddrington5765]

Retired merchant mariner of 27 years. I can tell you put a lot of effort into your broadcasts. Very well done. Thank you.

[@waterlinestories]

Thanks. 😀👍🏻

[@wkgurr]

So this vessel was constructed to dive to 300m, a depth where temps. are not much more than 4C. Yet her life support system relies on the functioning of a CO2 scrubber chemical that doesn't work at those temps. If this isn't a faulty design I don't know what is. There should have been a heater installed that kept the scrubber chemical at an optimal temperature at all times. This isn't rocket science and the builders of this submersible were obviously not professionals. And neither were those who placed that fish trap right next to a hulking wreck with all sorts of hooks and lines and obstacles dangling and ready to catch anything that comes close. And a fish trap at that that can only be lifted with the aid of a submersible that has to perform some highly complex maneuvers to hook a line into the fish trap. Fish traps are used all over the world routinely by thousands of fishermen and none of them needs a specialized submersible to pick the thing off the sea floor. And why didn't the two guys in the dive compartment exit the moment the "Tringa" was on station with divers that could have enabled the two guys to go through the appropriate decompression stops on their ascent? Being cold isn't an excuse when your life is at risk. This sounds like a f..up almost as bad as the "Titan" disaster.

[@thelorddarkam3563]

I think the point was using the huge ship wreck as pinpoint the person who had the idea was like "wow this is such a a good plan"

[@christiandietz6341]

Lol at the photo of Titanic's bow😂

[@abvmoose87]

Sighs, so the rescue equipment needed were on the other side of the continent? Great..

[@daviddavidson2357]

What baffles me is that the 2 guys in the back just stayed there and didn't attempt a lockout dive. Also that they were allowed in with only light clothing and didn't have something warm bundled in there with them like a set of drysuit inners. Even if they failed to get the submersible unstuck, they could have returned to the surface by grabbing something buoyant and floating up the 100m, that's a long time to go without another breath of air (though they would need to constantly breathe out to not rupture their lungs on ascent), or if the submersible had normal open circuit scuba tanks for lockout dives, they could have ascended at a slightly less rapid pace while breathing normally. If there was a line on the submersible they could have tied it to the frame held it and brought it up with them, leading the navy divers directly down to the sub. They must have known that the chances of rescue were extremely slim at that point, so they should have attempted a self-rescue. The only issue with that is decompression sickness, but there was a hyperbaric chamber right above them, so even that wouldn't be too serious (unless they got very unlucky and had a bubble form in a major blood vessel in the brain or heart) as they could just be recompressed and decompressed.

[@richardbaumeister466]

Wow, What a cluster of mistakes. I hope our Navy and Coast guard are better prepared nowadays.

[@76biggdogg]

What a waste. These men lost theirs lives to retrieve a basket full of fish , smdh. How sad.

[@SynchroScore]

Why did you use the improvised scrubber made aboard Apollo 13 as your thumbnail image?

[@pibyte]

Because he is a KZbinr and accuracy does not matter to his audience.

[@SynchroScore]

@@pibyte It matters to some audiences. I know a good number of KZbinrs (myself included) who pride themselves on accuracy on their videos, to the point of voluntarily making corrections. I'm guessing that might have been the first return in a Google image search. The image has now been changed.

[@gilsgal6094]

Just a thought...what is it about June 18th? We are enjoying your channel. You do fantastic work. A big thumbs up for your reporting about the Titan incident, by the way.

[@waterlinestories]

Thanks 👌🏻

[@loki3loki969]

Man i love your content. I appreciate your videos as they help me understand what the situation looked like, i understand that sometimes u have to use pics that are similar to the object your speaking about because there may not be pics of the actual object in question. I could care less if its not the " actual " object at least i get a close visual reference. Thnk you good sir.

[@waterlinestories]

Thanks, I really appreciate that 👍🏻

[@rundllx3228]

You can always tell who’s dead and who survived by the photos alone