A forced dive is an emergency maneuver used by submarines to urgently submerge, typically during World War II. The forward ballast tanks are flooded, and crew members move forward to aid in submersion. Modern nuclear submarines rarely use this maneuver, but all crews practice diving in case of collision while surfacing.
A forced dive is a maneuver used by a submarine to dive urgently, usually in an emergency. Mainly used on the diesel-electric submarines of World War II, the captain gave the order to dive when contact with the surface of the enemy or air vessels was detected. In a submerged scenario, the forward ballast tanks are flooded in conjunction with the use of the dive planes to bring the submarine down as quickly as possible. It is critical that all hatches be closed and sealed before the submarine is submerged in a crash dive.
One method used by German submariners to ensure maximum dive speed during a dive is to have all available personnel move as far forward as possible. The weight transfer of having all personnel moving forward helps the sub to submerge in the water. This also places the dive planes below the surface of the water sooner, aiding in the accelerated submersion of the ship. Periodically and in extreme situations, some crew members would be left out on occasion when the submarine sank. This commonly resulted in death, as well as the loss of the bodies of crew members.
The typical immersion depth for a submarine is 90 meters or approximately 295 feet. Once the sub has reached this level, it can level off and begin to assume cruising speed. Once submerged, the diesel-electric submarine was required to shut down the diesel engines and use the battery-electric motors for power. Using the diesel engines while submerged will use up all the available air inside the sub in a matter of minutes. Electric motors are also much quieter than diesel engines, helping the sub to become stealthy as it tries to avoid detection by an enemy.
Modern nuclear submarines remain submerged for most of the mission, making a forced submersion an unnecessary exercise; however, all submarine crews practice diving in the event of a collision with another vessel or object while surfacing. Once the ship’s captain has given the order to dive, the chief engineer is typically responsible for the orchestration and completion of the entire maneuver. When speed diving it is critical that the rear ballast tanks are flooded in time to prevent the rear of the boat from rising out of the water. If this happens, the ship becomes a sitting target as it struggles to once again regain momentum to complete its dive.
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