The Indonesian navy simultaneously lost a combat submarine and 53 sailors. On April 24, the press service of the Indonesian Navy announced the official death of the submarine Nanggala-402, lost last week.
According to the commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces, Hadi Tjajanto, the presence of an oil slick, as well as debris found near the site of the last dive of the submarine, indicate that Nanggala-402 sank. Previously, the submarine was considered missing.
The wreckage of the submarine Nanggala-402, presented to journalists
Image source: navalpost.com
The search operation lasted from April 21, when the crew of the submarine stopped communicating. The submarine Nanggala-402 was on a training exercise in the Balinese Sea and practiced torpedo launches. According to calculations, the crew would have enough oxygen until the morning of April 24. About 20 ships and vessels of the Indonesian Navy, a specialized search ship from Australia, as well as aviation took part in the search.
As the portal writes navalpost.com, the depth in the place where the wreckage and fuel spills were found is about 850 m, so there is no hope for the rescue of the sailors. The Nanggala-402 submarine is designed to dive up to 200 m, and its hull can potentially withstand depths of up to 500 m. At the same time, there was no explosion-otherwise it would have been detected by other ships.
