Mr Reid said that he was “delighted”
that the rescue mission had had a successful outcome. He said:
"Sometimes when these things happen, out of a potential
tragedy good things come, and in many ways this is a major
step forward in ways we can work together."
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The seven Russian sailors were trapped
in the AS28 submarine, 190m below the surface, for three
days, after it became ensnared in fishing nets off the
coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, on Thursday 4th August.
The Priz AS-28 mini-sub , which had been participating
in a combat training exercise, got caught on an underwater
antenna assembly that is part of Russia’s coastal
monitoring system. The antenna system is anchored with
a weight of about 60 tons.
The Russian government, who had been heavily criticised
for not accepting international help for when the Kursk
submarine sank five years ago, resulting in the
death of all 118 crew members, accepted help from both
Britain and the United States on Friday (5th August)
to help rescue the crew of the stricken submarine.
The British team, led by Commander Ian Riches, flew
to Petropavlovsk from Prestwick airport on Friday onboard
an RAF Brize Norton based large C17 transporter. They
arrived at the scene on Sunday and managed to free the
submarine after a tense six-hour operation.
The United Kingdom Mobile Air Movements Squadron (UKMAMS)
operations desk based at RAF Lyneham received information
that a team was urgently required to support the transportation
of the sophisticated diving equipment, to the city of
Petropavlovsk - Kamchatsky.
From there, it was a three-and-a half hour voyage to
the site of the sunken sub, in Beryozovaya Bay, assisting
with the perilous and dangerous rescue. Within ninety
minutes a UKMAMS mobile team spearheaded by Flight Sergeant
Tony Stock were on their way to the Oxfordshire base,
to enplane the C17 gigantic transport aircraft.
The equipment they were to prepare and load and then
transport was waiting at Prestwick airport. The other
members of the loading team were Corporal Alex Morgan,
Senior Aircraftsmen Leon Muir and Ross 'Eric' Bristow.
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The British team used a vehicle known as a Remotely Operated
Vehicle (ROV) Scorpio 45 to cut through the nets entangling
the submarine. The Scorpio 45 is an unmanned remote-controlled
submersible that is used in situations that are too dangerous
or too deep to send divers. It can operate down to depth of
925m and is fitted with three cameras and cable cutting equipment
to cut steel cable up to 70mm diameter for clearing debris
and nets.
While the rescue mission was underway, the movements team
remained at Petropavlovsk, with no communications to the rescue
team, they sat close by a TV set in a local tavern. Communications
at the tavern were difficult too but the team always prepared
for any mission had an interpreter Sergeant Martin Goodson
to conquer the language barrier and they watched the news
with anticipation for updates. After finding out that the
rescue attempt was successful, they duly celebrated, in good
old forces fashion, as the owner of the tavern thanked them
with 2 bottles of his finest vodka and made a touching speech.
Cheerski! to the British Forces again!
The British team managed to free the submarine, allowing
it to rise to the surface and the crew to leave. It is believed
that the crew only had between four and six hours of oxygen
left. Commander Riches, who led the British team, said they
were “overjoyed” at the rescue mission’s
success and were keen to meet the seven Russian sailors who
had been rescued.
Hailing the “brotherhood of submariners”, its
commander Ian Riches said: “We got there in time and
we did the job.” “It was tough — there was
a language barrier. We overcame that because we have a brotherhood
of submariners. We can work together with a common aim,”
Speaking at Glasgow’s Prestwick Airport, Commander
Riches said some of the rescuers had been overcome by emotion
when the sub finally rose to the surface. “At that moment
when the rescue vehicle arrived on the surface, I can’t
ever explain to you properly the feeling of elation, It would
be wrong of me to say grown men don’t cry — a
lot of grown men were crying that day.”
We spoke to the UKMAMS team leader Flight Sergeant Tony Stock
on his return to Lyneham and he was elated that the team responded
so quickly and was part of a British team to save lives of
previous Cold War enemies. "The UKMAM's team are full
of pride that this task has a fantastic ending. This was special,
the daily routine of providing logistics in conflicts all
over the world, day in a day out, to see some lives saved
makes it all worthwhile".
"What impression me, was the speed, professionalism
and attitude of all the British team, to put the icing on
the cake, we arrived on scene well before our American compatriots
and were delivered the goods, once again". Tony Stock
recalls.
Did you know: The driver of this recovery Scorpio 45 remote-controlled
submersible was on the same team attempting to recover the
crew of the ill-fated Kursk mission over five years ago. Since
this recent incident, the Russian Navy have decided to purchase
two British Remotely Operated Vehicle's.
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