Mystic class
The Mystic class was a class of two rescue submarines of the US Navy . They were designed to rescue the crew from sunken submarines.
history
Planning for deep-diving rescue submarines began after the nuclear submarine USS Thresher (SSN-593) sank in 1963. Lockheed Missiles & Space received the order for three units, but ultimately only two were built. The Mystic (DSRV-1) was launched in 1970, the Avalon (DSRV-2) in 1971.
While one submersible was participating in exercises or being overhauled and serviced, the other was on standby.
The Avalon was decommissioned in 2000, the Mystic in 2008. They are being replaced by the Submarine Rescue Diving and Recompression System's Rescue Capable System .
technology
The boats were made of so-called HY-140 steel , which allowed them to reach depths of up to 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) safely. HY-140 means that the steel has a guaranteed yield strength of 140,000 psi (HY = English High Yield = "high yield strength"). The 15-meter-long rescuers were powered by electric motors fed by silver-oxide-zinc batteries . The speed of the boats was four knots.
Mission profile
In the event of the sinking of a submarine and if there is still hope that the hull of the submarine is undamaged, a boat of the Mystic class could be transported to the nearest port by plane ( Lockheed C-5 Galaxy ). There the DSRV would have been loaded onto a ship or attached to a submarine. This would have brought it to the site of the accident, where it could dock with the sunken submarine and rescue survivors. Submarines from other navies can also transport DSRVs.
Trivia
- The Mystic class appeared in Tom Clancy's novel Hunt for Red October and its film adaptation of the same name . In the novel, with the exception of the mutinous officers, the Avalon was used to recover the entire crew of the Typhoon-class submarine , while the Mystic rescues the crew of the USS Ethan Allen , which was sunk to deceive . In the film, only the Mystic plays a role and enables the American protagonists to cross over to the eponymous ship without being noticed.
- The DSRV 1 is also used in the film U-Boot in Not to rescue part of the crew of the sunken USS "Neptun".
- In the movie Hunter Killer , a Mystic is used to rescue sailors from a sunken Russian submarine.
