Re: Hooray (ignore this message unless you want to stick a forkinyour eye)

[VBra676539@aol.com]

In a message dated 5/12/99 8:20:14 PM, michaelbholt@juno.com writes:

<<Hey, all this reminded me: I wanted to ask if anyone has ever
taken their psub under a sheet of ice?


Mike Holt>>

not ice but pretty close--that water in Norway and the Shetlands gets 
seriously COLD in the winter time--I've had main ballast vent valves frozen 
on deck and sea water turn to ice the instant it hit the air--air temperature 
was way way below the bottom temperature--FYI:  Ty Merritt and some of the 
boys did a contract for Underwater Engineering, Inc (Perry) in .... um, 1971 
or 72 with PC-8 under the ice on a walrus study--it was so cold that the 
original neoprene o-rings stiffened up under pressure and didn't expand when 
they surfaced--mighty unhandy to have every seal in the boat leaking 
arctic--they had to hold the entire mission up while the home-shop sent a 
full set of surgical rubber (red) o-rings and then had to take the sub about 
halfway apart on the deck of a Coast Guard icebreaker to change them 
out--PC-8 carried 4-strings of 85 amp batteries (120 volt per string) and 
they reckon the efficiency dropped to about half due to the cold--ask Phil 
Nuytten-he and his boys (and girls?) do a fair amount of sub ops in the great 
white north--and are planning a tourist deal to (I think) the Breadlebane 
with Aquarius--
Vance