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Dynamic Monarch is the 10th in a series of live submarine rescue exercises centered around the International Submarine Escape and Rescue Liaison Office (ISMERLO), an organization which serves as an international hub for information and coordination on submarine escape and rescue.
The exercise consisted of nine NATO allies, including Canada, France, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and URC representing the United States.
"Exercises such as Dynamic Monarch are essential for the international submarine rescue community, bringing together the high tech equipment and subject matters experts to obtain valuable training and demonstrate the ability to successfully execute this vital and unique rescue capability with live submarines," said Cmdr. John Doney, Submarine Squadron 11 deputy commander for undersea rescue.
The international response to a submarine rescue is ultimately a joint humanitarian aid response to save the lives of submariners in distress. Any nation with a downed or missing submarine can put in an alert to ISMERLO who would then help coordinate a rescue mission using assets from forces and countries around the world.
"We cannot afford to wait until an actual submarine rescue and assume we will get it right when up to 150 crewmembers lives are in the balance," said Doney. "No single nation can execute a submarine rescue by itself, it will take working side-by-side with our partner nations and sharing the best methods to achieve success with each other in exercises now, to ensure our success when a real submarine rescue emergency occurs."
URC mobilized the Submarine Rescue Chamber (SRC), a McCann rescue camber designed during World War II and still used today, to Turkey. The SRC can rescue up to six persons at a time and reach a bottomed submarine at depths of 850 feet. The SRC is operated by two crewmembers and is lowered using a tethered cable from the ship to the submarine. Once the chamber reaches the submarine, it seals over the submarine's hatch allowing Sailors to safely transfer to the rescue chamber.
The exercise focused on the three primary phases of submarine rescue: locate the distressed submarine, extract the crew from the submarine, and simulate providing immediate and follow on medical care to injured crewmembers.
Over the course of two weeks, approximately 1,000 personnel, three submarines, four submarine rescue ships, and additional command and control ships participated in multiple scenarios focused on locating, connecting, and rescuing the crew of a disabled submarine.
URC successfully conducted six dives with the SRC and conducted five open hatch connections with Spanish and Turkish submarines.
URC will spend a short time in San Diego before deploying to Chile to conduct a second rescue exercise with Chile, CHILEMAR VII, at the beginning of October.
ISMERLO was established in 2004 and is the international coordinating hub for global submarine rescue procedure, systems, equipment and support ships. It also ensures at least one of the world's rescue systems is available to be deployed immediately should an emergency occur.
More than 40 countries are known to operate more than 440 submarines world-wide, making the confirmation of rescue abilities between nations vital. These exercises foster safety and the ability to work together on a survival level, and also promote understanding and a commitment to stability through regional cooperation.
| Date Taken: | 10.02.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 12.29.2017 15:23 |
| Story ID: | 260822 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 42 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Undersea Rescue Command Returns from NATO's Dynamic Monarch, by LCDR Courtney Callaghan, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
