eli5: when a submarine exceeds its crush depth, and it’s crew is killed, what actually happens to them? Do they die instantly or are they squished flat? What happens ?
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I was wondering the exact thing and found this Quora post from an apparent former nuke sub officer which in summary they get completely incinerated in milliseconds into dust.
(link to source the bottom of this comment)
“When a submarine hull collapses, it moves inward at about 1,500 miles per hour – that’s 2,200 feet per second. A modern nuclear submarine’s hull radius is about 20 feet. So the time required for complete collapse is 20 / 2,200 seconds = about 1 millisecond.
A human brain responds instinctually to stimulus at about 25 milliseconds. Human rational response (sense→reason→act) is at best 150 milliseconds.
The air inside a sub has a fairly high concentration of hydrocarbon vapors. When the hull collapses it behaves like a very large piston on a very large Diesel engine. The air auto-ignites and an explosion follows the initial rapid implosion. Large blobs of fat (that would be humans) incinerate and are turned to ash and dust quicker than you can blink your eye.
Sounds gruesome but as a submariner I always wished for a quick hull-collapse death over a lengthy one like some of the crew on Kursk endured.
There are several sources of hydrocarbons inside a sub. Hydraulic oil, diesel oil from the auxiliary Diesel engine, kitchen oils, grease, rubber, plastics, etc. This stuff sublimes to make its way into the sub’s atmosphere. It permeates the crew’s clothing.“
https://www.quora.com/What-happens-to-the-human-body-when-a-submarine-implodes
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