Published 2023-06-21 23:56
Fifty years ago, Roger Mallinson survived the deepest underwater rescue ever.
He has a feeling that something has gone “horribly wrong” with the missing Titan.
Millions of people are currently following the search for the missing Titan submarine.
Somewhere in the depths of the Atlantic there are five people in the 6.7 meter long craft.
Someone who knows what it’s like to be trapped underwater is Roger Mallinson, 85. 50 years ago he was rescued after the Pisces III submarine sank off the coast of Ireland.
In an interview with Sky News he calls the case of Titan “horrific” and tells about what he himself experienced during 84 dark hours in August 1973.
And how the decision to sneak an extra oxygen cylinder was the reason he survived.
Hanging like a pendulum – before the crash
On August 29, 1973, Roger Mallinson and his colleague Roger Chapman were in the process of burying a telephone cable in the Celtic Sea.
They had been working in the six-meter submarine for eight hours and everything had gone well. The team was preparing to resurface after a busy night, and were hungry for an egg and bacon breakfast.
But something went horribly wrong – and the rope that was supposed to tow them up to the ship ripped off a hatch on the submarine.
Mallinson tells how an alarm howled loudly and for a few minutes the submarine swung like a pendulum as water gushed in.
Then the rope broke, and the submarine was hurled down to the bottom.
– It was very scary and we plunged to the bottom of the sea in 26 seconds.
The note: “On the bottom”
The men have previously told about how they handled the nightmare scenario, write Daily Mail.
The colleagues acted quickly, turning off electrical equipment to avoid a fire at the crash and collecting loose objects.
When the gauge showed a depth of 365 meters, colleague Chapman stacked seat cushions to cushion the crash. Then they hit the ground – and saw that they were at a depth of 457 metres.
Chapman wrote briefly in his notebook: “At the bottom”.
Thought of classical music
They were twice as deep as anyone had ever been rescued from before.
The colleagues realized that the oxygen was disappearing quickly, and that they needed to stop the supply of carbon dioxide that would otherwise kill them. When their main oxygen cylinder leaked, it was the stolen oxygen cylinder that became their salvation.
Mallinson says it was freezing cold, and they didn’t have much food. But luckily the electricity worked, so they soon had light and heat.
Happiness was great when they realized that the device that filtered out the carbon dioxide in their exhaled air was intact.
The men did not allow themselves to move very much, and took only shallow breaths to conserve oxygen.
To distract himself, Mallinson imagined Bach’s music in his head and moved his fingers as if playing the piano.
Had 12 minutes of oxygen left
At the same time, a rescue plan was prepared above the surface. Several submarines were lowered to locate them, and then a special device with a tow rope was used to lift the submarine up.
When Pisces III broke through the surface of the water, there was only twelve minutes of oxygen left.
– It took 84 hours to save us, says Mallinson.
He says he didn’t think they could be saved.
– We really didn’t think so. 84 hours is a very long time and we didn’t have enough food, not enough oxygen. We had to really ration everything and take care of each other – that was the big lifesaver.
The concern for Titan
50 years later, no one knows where in the Atlantic the submarine Titan is now.
But the crew’s goal was to get down to the wreck of the Titanic – which is at a depth of 3,800 meters.
Considerably further down than the depth Roger Mallinson was rescued from.
– It is horrendous. I cannot understand why they have not sent any signal of any kind. I have a horrible feeling that something could be seriously wrong, that they can’t send a signal.