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Originally Posted by Bubblehead Nuke
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Definately an incident worth knowing about. After you read about all the people involved in this process you may ask yourself how could so many watchstanders miss the the fact that there was a ship on the surface within collision distance.
Any way this report should provide some excellent insights about the preparations in the surfacing routine.
As far as the submerging routine is concerned, there are so many checks that must be made that they are too numerous to mention. Basically, critical valves must be aligned properly to reduce probability of flooding.
Once the OOD gives the order to dive, the procedure is fairly quick. The COW opens the vent valves from the BCP, the OOD lowers the scope at about 70 feet, the COW shuts the valves and the ship settles at 150 feet. The DOOW has control over ship's speed until he can get a satisfactory trim. The COW may be pumping or flooding depending on the DOOW's instructions. I think this takes a couple of minutes, depending on sea state. Higher sea states take longer because of bernouli forces. Water temp plays a role once submerged.