Adeep-submergence vehicle (DSV) is a deep-diving crewedsubmersible that is self-propelled.[citation needed] Several navies operate vehicles that can be accurately described as DSVs. DSVs are commonly divided into two types: research DSVs, which are used for exploration and surveying, and DSRVs (deep-submergence rescue vehicles), which are intended to be used for rescuing the crew of a sunken navy submarine, clandestine (espionage) missions (primarily installingwiretaps onundersea communications cables), or both.[citation needed] DSRVs are equipped with docking chambers to allow personnel ingress and egress via a manhole.
Strictly speaking,bathyscaphes are not submarines because they have minimal mobility and are built like a balloon, using a habitable spherical pressure vessel hung under aliquid hydrocarbon filled float drum.[citation needed] In a DSV/DSRV, the passenger compartment and the ballast tank functionality is incorporated into a single structure to afford more habitable space (up to 24 people in the case of a DSRV).
Most DSV/DSRV vehicles are powered by traditional electric battery propulsion and have very limited endurance, while a few (likeNR-1 orAS-12/31) are/were nuclear-powered, and could sustain much longer missions. Plans have been made to equip DSVs withLOXStirling engines, but none have been realized so far due to cost and maintenance considerations. All DSVs to date (2023) are dependent on a surface support ship or a mother submarine that can piggyback or tow them (in case of the NR-1) to the scene of operations. Some DSRV vessels are air transportable in very large military cargo planes to speed up deployment in case of emergency rescue missions.
The first bathyscaphe, developed by Swiss engineerAuguste Piccard and named after theBelgianFonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS), the funding organization for the venture. FNRS also funded theFNRS-1, a balloon that set a world altitude record, also built by Piccard. This bathyscaphe consisted of a gasoline filled float, 22 feet long and 10 feet wide, and oval shaped. Gasoline being less dense than water, would provide buoyancy for when the bathyscaphe needed to rise to the surface.[1] The ovular float was divided into six tanks for holding gasoline, having a combined total of 6,600 gallons.[1]
After damage to theFNRS-2 during its sea trials in 1948, the FNRS ran out of funding and the submersible was sold to theFrench Navy in 1950. It was subsequently substantially rebuilt and improved atToulon naval base, and renamedFNRS-3. It was relaunched in 1953 under the command ofGeorges Houot, a French naval officer.
Originally designed for 6,000 ft (1,800 m) operation, and initially built to a similar design, Alvin and her sister submersibles have been subsequently, independently upgraded.[5] Utilizingsyntactic foam, these submersibles were more compact and maneuverable than earlierbathyscaphes likeTrieste, although not as deep diving.
Launched in June 1964 with an initial depth capability of 6,000 ft (1,800 m); rebuilt in 1973 to 4,500 m (14,800 ft). Owned by theUnited States Navy and operated under secondment by theWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) where it conducts science-oriented missions funded by theNational Science Foundation (NSF),National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and theOffice of Naval Research (ONR).[6]Alvin operates fromR/VAtlantis, anAGOR-23 class vessel owned by the ONR and operated by WHOI under a charter party agreement. In 2004, theNational Science Foundation funded a 6,500 m (21,300 ft) capable replacement for Alvin, however the key components, such as a new titanium personnel hull, and funding were used to substantially rebuild Alvin in 2011 and 2020 instead.[7] In 2022, Alvin was certified for 6,500 m operations.[8]
AnotherAlvin-class DSV sub, launched in December 1968, retired in 1998, and returned to active service in September 2002. Since 1981,Sea Cliff has a depth capability of 6,000 m (20,000 ft),[5] and is owned and operated by the United States Navy.[10]
BothStar II andStar III were built by General DynamicsElectric Boat Division in Groton, Connecticut. Both were launched on May 3, 1966, and were used for civilian research.
a DSV made completely of aluminum by theReynolds MetalsAluminum Company, for the US Navy, once held the submarine deep diving record.[13] It is no longer operational.
A submersible commissioned byCaladan Oceanic and designed and built byTriton Submarines of Sebastian, Florida. On December 19, 2018, it was the first crewed submersible to reachthe bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, or 8,376 meters in theBrownson Deep, thus making it the deepest diving, currently operational submersible.[14] In August 2019, the submersible and its pilot,Victor Vescovo, completed the "Five Deeps Expedition" with its support ship, theDSSVPressure Drop, becoming the first submersible to visit the bottom of all five of the world's oceans.[15] Earlier that same month, a team of explorers and scientists used Limiting Factor to visit thewreck of the RMSTitanic in the North Atlantic Ocean.[16] On March 31, 2021, Caladan Oceanic announced having re-located, surveyed, and filmed the wreck of the World War IIdestroyerUSS Johnston, sunk on October 25, 1944, in theBattle off Samar (in thePhilippine Sea offSamar Island).Johnston lies at depth of 21,180 ft (6,460 m), makingLimiting Factor's expedition the deepest wreck dive in history.[17]
a DSRV class of five ships built by the USSR and Russia. Thetitanium-hulled Priz class are capable of diving to 1,000 metres (0.62 mi). These mini-submarines can ferry up to 20 people for very brief periods of time (in case of a rescue mission) or operate submerged for two to three days with a regular crew of three to four specialists. In early 2005, the Russian AS-28 Priz vessel was trapped undersea and subsequently freed by aBritishROV in a successful international rescue effort.
a strictly civilian (research) class of two DSVs which were manufactured inFinland for theUSSR. These bathyscaphe-derived vessels can carry three people down to depths of 6,000 metres (3.7 mi). After visiting and filming theRMSTitanic's wreck, the twoMir submersibles and their support ship were loaned to a US Pacific trench surveying mission in the late 1990s and made important discoveries concerning sulphuric based life in "black smokers".
a Russian counterpart to the AmericanNR-1 clandestine nuclear DSV, is a relatively large, deep-diving nuclear submarine of 2,000 tons submerged displacement that is intended for oceanographic research and clandestine missions. It has atitanium pressure hullconsisting of several conjoined spheres and able to withstand tremendous pressure — during the 2012 research mission it routinely dove to 2,500 to 3,000 metres (1.6 to 1.9 mi),[18][19] with maximum depth being said to be approximately 6,000 metres (3.7 mi). Despite the three-month mission time allowed by its nuclear reactor and ample food stores it usually operates in conjunction with a specialized tender, a refurbishedDelta III-class submarineBS-136 Orenburg, which has its missile shafts removed and fitted with a special docking cradle on its bottom.
a class of Russian military DSVs currently deployed onboard the Russian oceanographic research shipYantar. It is reported that the submersible and its sister subRus are used to conduct seafloor surveillance of marine communications cables and western underwater surveillance devices.[20] They are somewhat smaller than theMir's, accommodating a crew of two instead of three, but are purely domestically produced vessels and have a higher maximum depth due to theirtitaniumpressure hulls: during the tests the originalKonsul dove to 6,270 metres (3.90 mi).[21]
a DSV owned by Ifremer, the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea. Thetitanium-hulledNautile is capable of diving to 6,000 metres (3.7 mi).
JAMSTEC (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology) operated a DSV series calledShinkai ("Deep Sea"). The latest DSV isShinkai 6500 which could submerge to 6,500 metres (4.0 mi) with three crew members. JAMSTEC was operating aROV calledKaikō, which was able to submerge to 11,000 metres (6.8 mi), but was lost at sea in May 2003.[22]
three-person research submersibles built by International Hydrodynamics ofVancouver inBritish Columbia with a maximum operating depth of 2,000 metres (1.2 mi) capable of dive durations of 7 to 10 hours. A total of 10 were built and are representative of late 1960s deep-ocean submersible design. Two (Pisces IV andPisces V) are currently operated byNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the first production vehicle is on display in Vancouver.Pisces VI is active and operating from Tenerife, in the Canary Islands.[23][when?]
a Chinese DSV that dove to an estimated depth of 10,909 meters in theMariana Trench on November 10, 2020, the deepest ever for a Chinese submersible. It was supported by its mother ship, theTansuo-1 (Exploration-1) and its development began in 2016.[24][better source needed] The chief designer of the sub, Liu Yeyao, and two other Chinese oceanauts made the descent in what was the first three-person, welded titanium capsule to venture to full ocean depth.[25][better source needed]
a three-person crewed DSV. The hull is made ofinox steel and it has a large 1,200-millimetre-diameter (47 in) semi-sphericacrylic glass viewport. It is designed to reach depths of 1,200 metres (3,900 ft), thus being the ninth-deepest submersible, and it is capable of diving during 10 hours usingli-ion batteries.[27]
an Indian under-development crewed deep-submergence vehicle intended to be utilised for deep sea exploration of rare minerals in theIndian Ocean. It is capable of diving down to a depth of 6,000 m. First uncrewed trial was conducted on 27 October 2021 where the 'personnel sphere' was lowered to a depth of 600 m, off the coast ofChennai.[28][29]
Titan, previously calledCyclops 2, was an experimentalsubmersible that imploded while transporting tourists to visit the wreckage of theTitanic in 2023. The submersible was created and operated byOceanGate. It was the first privately owned submersible with a claimed maximum depth of 4,000 m (13,000 ft), and the first completed crewed submersible with a hull constructed of titanium and carbon fiber composite materials.
After testing with dives to its maximum intended depth in 2018 and 2019, the original composite hull ofTitan developedfatigue damage and was replaced by 2021. In that year, OceanGate began transporting paying customers to thewreck of theTitanic, completing several dives to the wreck site in 2021 and 2022.
On June 18, 2023,Titanimploded during a dive to theTitanic. All five occupants of the submersible were killed. OceanGate had lost contact withTitan and contacted authorities later that day after the submersible was overdue for return. A massive internationalsearch and rescue operation ensued and ended on June 22, when debris fromTitan was discovered about 1,600 feet (500 metres) from the bow of theTitanic.
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DSV Limiting Factor – 11,000 m[30]
Bathyscaphe Trieste – 11,000 m[31]
Deepsea Challenger – 11,000 m[32]
Fendouzhe – 11,000 m[33]
Archimède – 9,500 m
DSV Shinkai 6500 – 6,500 m
Konsul – 6,500 m
Media related toDeep diving submarines at Wikimedia Commons
