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I post collections of news stories that I think may interest divers=
 periodically to a local scuba site here...I'm about to put together another=
 post.  Here are some of the more interesting posts from the past....

 On Submariners:

A Navy engineer recently revealed to a Senate subcommittee (not my pun,=
 honest) that the Navy's had a sub-spying operation since the early sixties=
 utilizing a new class of subs designed to lower gear-laden cables for deep=
 reconnaissance, recovery, and manipulation.  These subs were typically=
 refitted attack submarines with a crew of thee or four men max, and which=
 were capable of going to extreem depths to acomplish their missions.  In=
 '68, one such sub, the Halibut, successfully recovered items from a sunken=
 Russian Nuclear submarine lost in three mile deep Pacific waters.  Six year=
 later the CIA built a special ship, costing over $500 million, the=
 Explorer, in only a partially successful attempt to recover the entire sub=
 and its nuclear arms and other highly sensitive equipment.  Other items=
 typically recovered by these subs include lost ships, planes, weapons,=
 rockets, spacecraft, nuclear warheads, and foreign intelligence devices=
 like undersea cables and listening devices.

Russian scientists have revealed to US experts that a seven year old sunken=
 Yankee class Soviet nuclear submarine lost 500 miles east of Bermuda is=
 deteriorating and leaking radioactivity into to the strong deep sea=
 currents.  Bermuda, and its fishing grounds, lie in the direction of the=
 radioactive flow.  The sub carried 16 long range nuclear missles two=
 nuclear tipped torpedoes, and two nuclear reactors.  It sank after a fire,=
 with loss of all but three men.  It was described as in bad condition on=
 the ocean floor, apparently broken apart and with several nuclear missles=
 scattered across the bottom around the wreckage.  The Plutonium in the=
 missles is the greatest hazard, presenting a poisoning danger for hundreds=
 of thousands of years. (ed note - Why hasn't our overfunded military used=
 their super-subs, and spent some off their funds to recover all of the=
 nuclear items from this wreck???  They only bother with the useful=
 intelligence items, and ignore completely the tremendous environmental=
 hazard this poses!)

Another interesting note, in '89, another Russian sub, the Komsomolets, sank=
 in another fire incident off the coast of Norway, the Russians refused to=
 accept help from the Norways' Coast guard, who where only minutes away. =
 Instead they insisted on waiting for help from the nearest Russian=
 military, which took a half an hour to arrive.  Most of the men escaped to=
 the sea, but nearly all drowned due to hypothermia.  Those that survived=
 were in the water were with the ships doctor, who advised them to hold onto=
 the rope of an overturned life raft with their teeth.  He told them this=
 because their hands, and other extremities, would quickly become to knumb=
 and stiff to hold on anymore, and the men would sink and drown, but their=
 head, and jaws, were the last to succum to the effect of hypothermia.

Mark

"The man with a new idea is a Crank until the idea succeeds." - Twain

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