Goats!

This is coolbert:

From the Chicago Tribune today:

“Britain ending goat experiments”

“London - - “

“The British military said Wednesday that it will no longer use goats in experiments to gauge the risks of evacuating a submerged submarine.”

“The tests, conducted for years by the Ministry of Defense, involved herding the animals into a special chamber and then drastically changing the air pressure. Six goats died in the experiments between 2000 and November 2006.”

“Goats were chosen because of their physiological similarities to human beings.”

[sheep too resemble humans. The physiology, the internal organs, etc. You hear a lot of talk about that sort of stuff. But we will not go there!]

I am assuming this was some sort of experimentation to determine the best manner for sailors to evacuate a damaged submarine, underwater, immobile, and unable to surface!

Such an occurrence, would be extremely rare, an evacuation from a submarine, in time of peril. Especially, now, in the day of the nuclear boomer, operating almost exclusively in pelagic waters [deep oceanic]! A sub in peril, out of control, settling to the bottom, would first exceed “crush depth” and have the hull collapse, instant death for all inside being the result. Such as with the Thresher or the Scorpion. NO POSSIBILTY OF ESCAPE WOULD EXIST IN THE FIRST PLACE!!

For an accident such as was suffered by the Russian Kursk, the sub settling to the bottom in waters of lesser depth, continental shelf depth waters not exceeding six hundred feet [two hundred meters], escape is possible in theory. The Kursk was evidently equipped with escape pods and exits. Trapped sailors would enter the escape pod wearing some sort of expedient underwater breathing apparatus, the pod is flooded [now under pressure] the sailors ascending, following a rope tethered to a jettisoned buoy floating at the surface.

Again, such an occurrence, nowadays, a disaster necessitating the evacuation of a submerged vessel, would be extremely rare! I think such measures as sub crews practice for rescue, are mostly psychological than anything else?!

coolbert.