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 The commanding officer of HMS Gotland standing next to the suit used for submarine escape. |
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 Submarine escape training at sea. Picture by Andreas Sannerman Swedish Armed Forces. |
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Swedish Navy submarine crews are training in submarine escape once a year (on average) using an 18 meters deep tank located on the base.
During training (as well as for a real escape), crew members wear a special suit. Once in the escape lock, a water tight plastic hood covering the head is filled with air. The top of the lock is then opened and crew-members have to reach the water surface as fast as possible. There are two types of locks located right below the tank: A "rush escape" lock and a much smaller "single lock". |
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 The rush escape (left) and single lock (right) are located right below the 18 meters tank. |
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The rush escape locks were fitted on Näcken-class submarine until 1997. A Large part of the crew was able to escape at the same time. Nowadays, this lock is used as part of the training for free ascent and escape. A maximum of seven trainees and two diving instructors can fit in this lock.
The single lock was originally designed for Västergötland-class submarines in 1986. The same kind of lock are used today aboard Södermanland and Gotland class submarines. The principle is one ascent / escape per crew member from the submarine. At the training facility, the ascent / escape is conducted by one diving instructor and one trainee. Free ascent / escape from the single lock has been performed from a depth of 590 feet deep (about 180 meters. |
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 Top view of the 18 meters tank. |
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 Schematic of the 18 meters tank. |
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We asked the commanding officer if submarine escape is ever conducted "live from the submarine while at sea". He explained that he personally escaped his submarine during training, from a depth of 60 meters.
The Swedish Navy training facility has also been used by submarine crews of foreign navies such as Singapore, Germany, Greece, South Africa and even the USA. |
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 The URF in a hangar at Karlskrona naval base. |
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During our visit, we were also shown the URF (Ubåts Räddnings Farkost – Submarine Rescue Vessel). It was manufactured in 1978 by Kockums (now Saab) in Malmö with the assistance of COMEX (or Compagnie Maritime d'Expertises), a French company specializing in engineering and deep diving operations. It was then modernized in the mid-1990ies with JFD of the UK.
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 The URF aboard HMS Belos. Picture by Andreas Sannerman Swedish Armed Forces. |
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The URF is a "mini sub" designed specially for rescue of submarine crews down to 460 meters. It also has a lockout system for bounce or saturation diving to 300 meters. In January 1984, URF broke an unofficial deep diving record for conventional submarine with a dive to 342 meters.
In a situation where the submarine is damaged so that a watertight seal can not be obtained between the submarine and the URF, the crew can make a "free ascent" to the URF which has been pressurized to the equal depth and is placed a few meters above the hatch of the submarine. |
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 Picture by Andreas Sannerman Swedish Armed Forces. |
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After this type of rescue operation and when diving, the personnel mst go through a decompression procedure, for which reason there is a special "transfer capsule" in the system to transfer personnel under pressure to a bigger decompression chamber on board HMS Belos or a Karlskrona naval base.
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 URF can be transported around Sweden or Europe on a truck. Jorgen Larsson Swedish Armed Forces. |
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With its 13.9 meters long and 54 tonnes displacement, URF can be truck or air-lifted on vert short notice (48h) to most parts of the world.
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 URF can also be airlifted. Rebecka Signaes Swedish Armed Forces. |
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Submarine Escape Training Facility & Submarine Rescue Vehicle of the Swedish Navy
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