The minimum crew i could put into the command room was:
1 officer with NO qualifications (weapons officer and navigator absent)
3 Regular Sailors.
this dropped the green bar to about 50 or 60% of full
from a dead stop in calm seas i ordered a crash dive and timed the duration of the dive to cover the fully raised OBS scope with water.
the time with minimum crew in the command room
37 seconds from a dead stop
35 seconds while the boat was at maximum surfaced speed of 17-18 knots.
i have also tested crew positions with respect to "loading up" the forward compartments so as to make the boat front heavy... this had no effect on dive time.
it remained consistently 37 seconds at dead stop and 35 seconds at ahead flank.
keep in mind... this is not the time it took to go decks awash... this is the time it took to completely submerge the boat all the way up to a raised periscope mast.
furthermore, the test assumed that some time could be saved if the diesel crew didnt have to switch to the electric engine compartment (this takes a couple of seconds)
in a few additional tests i placed a fully accredited crew into both the diesel and electric compartments.
again this had no effect on crash dive time.
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