submarine group stands on the back deck and orders the man at the winch to start
to bring the submersible into position at the stern of the ship. The submarine is
pulled towards the rear of the ship so it is in position, ready to be hoisted off by an
‘‘A’’ frame. Inside the submersible, we can hear the creaking of the winch as it
pulls the submarine standing on its ‘‘cradle’’ towards the back of the ship so it will
be in position to be lifted. The pilot is still sitting on the edge of the open hatch
with a walkie-talkie in his hand. Then he takes a last look at the sky, waves with
his hands to the people on deck and says, ‘‘We’ll see you this evening’’. The
answer is always the same, ‘‘Have a good dive,’’ and he disappears inside the
submarine after closing the hatch behind himself.
Once the sphere is closed and secured, we are now under oxygen and the
reading and ambient lights are switched on to make a last check of the instruments.
The rope hanging on the ‘‘A’’ frame comes down to click on and lift the submarine, which rises into the air prior to be lowered overboard. A scuba diver with
his feet flippers and eye mask stands on top of the hatch and accompanies the
submarine into the water. It is only when the engine has been placed into the water
that the diver releases the submarine’s cord from the ship’s ‘‘A’’ frame. Now the
submarine is on its own, totally free from the support ship. The submersible rolls
on the waves like a bobbing cork and we feel a bit uncomfortable for a few
minutes. One last surface communication is made with the ship to let them know
that all systems are ‘‘go’’ and then the pilot asks permission to dive.
As soon as permission is given from the bridge, the pilot opens the valves to let
water enter into the water ballast tanks, which makes the submarine heavier until it
starts to sink. We can still see the three scuba divers through the port holes, and the
three divers will accompany the submersible a few meters down in order to make a
final check of the ballast compartments and the equipment. When they think that
all is fine, they give us an OK sign with their hands and off we sink (Fig. 3.6).
The submarine drops like a stone at a speed of about 30 m/min and while it
sinks it rotates like a spinning top. Complete darkness comes very quickly
depending on the visibility conditions of the seawater in the diving area. After
5 min, below about 150 m depth, we are in complete blackness and no sunlight is
noticeable. It is at about 1,000 m deep that we usually hear a ‘‘bang’’ indicating
that the outside pressure is compressing the sphere of our submarine. By the time
the submersible has reached the bottom, the sphere where we three are staying will
have shrunk about 1–2 cm in size, depending on the depth we have reached.
Looking through the porthole, sometimes we are able to discern phosphorescent
plankton with flashing green lights.
The adventure of discovering the sea floor in an area never before seen is
extremely exciting and each dive is full of surprises. Let me share the experience
of a mission inside Cyana when we went to visit an off-axis seamount called
Clipperton about 16 km west of the East Pacific Rise in 1982 (see Chap. 7).
When we became aware that we were approaching the bottom on the basis of
the sounds of the sonar, which had picked up some wave reflection from surrounding mountain ranges, it was time to be more vigilant. The pilot (Nivaggioli,
or ‘‘Niva’’, for short) looked at the pressure gauge and watched the depth
72
3 Diving into the Abysses
to bring the submersible into position at the stern of the ship. The submarine is
pulled towards the rear of the ship so it is in position, ready to be hoisted off by an
‘‘A’’ frame. Inside the submersible, we can hear the creaking of the winch as it
pulls the submarine standing on its ‘‘cradle’’ towards the back of the ship so it will
be in position to be lifted. The pilot is still sitting on the edge of the open hatch
with a walkie-talkie in his hand. Then he takes a last look at the sky, waves with
his hands to the people on deck and says, ‘‘We’ll see you this evening’’. The
answer is always the same, ‘‘Have a good dive,’’ and he disappears inside the
submarine after closing the hatch behind himself.
Once the sphere is closed and secured, we are now under oxygen and the
reading and ambient lights are switched on to make a last check of the instruments.
The rope hanging on the ‘‘A’’ frame comes down to click on and lift the submarine, which rises into the air prior to be lowered overboard. A scuba diver with
his feet flippers and eye mask stands on top of the hatch and accompanies the
submarine into the water. It is only when the engine has been placed into the water
that the diver releases the submarine’s cord from the ship’s ‘‘A’’ frame. Now the
submarine is on its own, totally free from the support ship. The submersible rolls
on the waves like a bobbing cork and we feel a bit uncomfortable for a few
minutes. One last surface communication is made with the ship to let them know
that all systems are ‘‘go’’ and then the pilot asks permission to dive.
As soon as permission is given from the bridge, the pilot opens the valves to let
water enter into the water ballast tanks, which makes the submarine heavier until it
starts to sink. We can still see the three scuba divers through the port holes, and the
three divers will accompany the submersible a few meters down in order to make a
final check of the ballast compartments and the equipment. When they think that
all is fine, they give us an OK sign with their hands and off we sink (Fig. 3.6).
The submarine drops like a stone at a speed of about 30 m/min and while it
sinks it rotates like a spinning top. Complete darkness comes very quickly
depending on the visibility conditions of the seawater in the diving area. After
5 min, below about 150 m depth, we are in complete blackness and no sunlight is
noticeable. It is at about 1,000 m deep that we usually hear a ‘‘bang’’ indicating
that the outside pressure is compressing the sphere of our submarine. By the time
the submersible has reached the bottom, the sphere where we three are staying will
have shrunk about 1–2 cm in size, depending on the depth we have reached.
Looking through the porthole, sometimes we are able to discern phosphorescent
plankton with flashing green lights.
The adventure of discovering the sea floor in an area never before seen is
extremely exciting and each dive is full of surprises. Let me share the experience
of a mission inside Cyana when we went to visit an off-axis seamount called
Clipperton about 16 km west of the East Pacific Rise in 1982 (see Chap. 7).
When we became aware that we were approaching the bottom on the basis of
the sounds of the sonar, which had picked up some wave reflection from surrounding mountain ranges, it was time to be more vigilant. The pilot (Nivaggioli,
or ‘‘Niva’’, for short) looked at the pressure gauge and watched the depth
72
3 Diving into the Abysses