1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,640 Speaker 1: The Flood is brought to you by the Australian War Memorial. 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:09,160 Speaker 1: Some stories define a nation, others reveal what it means 3 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: to be human. Through Their Eyes is a new podcast 4 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: from the Australian War Memorial that uncovers powerful human stories, 5 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:22,720 Speaker 1: revealing war through unexpected perspectives and immersive storytelling through Their Eyes. 6 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 2: Coming in June, there was a sharp hiss and then 7 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:36,640 Speaker 2: all mighty explosion. 8 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:37,159 Speaker 3: Bang. 9 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,960 Speaker 4: We heard a flood, flood, flood, flood in the lower matter. 10 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:48,880 Speaker 5: The flood the closest Austraya has ever come in peacetime 11 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:51,560 Speaker 5: to losing a submarine and its entire crew. 12 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 4: So we are attep diving depth. 13 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:58,640 Speaker 3: It was fearfully cold and there with a lot of 14 00:00:58,680 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 3: water coming. 15 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 6: In twenty seconds, that's all we had. 16 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 3: Yeah, I knew we were in trouble. 17 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 4: You have a flood like that and you just got 18 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 4: to get my sunnows. 19 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:12,319 Speaker 3: I can remember screaming out at the top of my voice. 20 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 4: The tull of seawater is the same as one hundred 21 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:18,960 Speaker 4: crates of your favorite laga coming into your submarine every 22 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 4: second through a hole. 23 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 7: About that bit, Yeah, it was like being stuck in 24 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 7: a washing machine. It was just round and round and round. 25 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 4: I didn't want to be the guy who took that 26 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 4: crew to the bottom. 27 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 5: I'm Cameron Stewart and this is the flood Episode one explosion. 28 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 5: One of the most remarkable but least known stories in 29 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,280 Speaker 5: recent Australian history is the near loss of sixty Australian 30 00:01:56,360 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 5: submariners when seawater flooded their submarine HMAS It's to Shino 31 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 5: Deep under the Indian Ocean in two thousand and three. 32 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,120 Speaker 5: For sixty men and women, they had twenty seconds left 33 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:09,800 Speaker 5: before they would have sunk to the ocean floor. The 34 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 5: submarine would never have made it intact. It would have 35 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:14,840 Speaker 5: been crushed like an empty coat can by the ocean's 36 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:18,920 Speaker 5: pressure as it went down. It's a story the Navy 37 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 5: glossed over at the time, fearing further damage to the 38 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 5: already tarnished reputation of its new Colins class fleet. But 39 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:27,959 Speaker 5: for those who were board the submarine that day, their 40 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,239 Speaker 5: lives were never the same again. It haunted the Navy, 41 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 5: It haunted everyone who heard about it. It changed the 42 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:38,520 Speaker 5: way the Navy operated its submarine fleet. Its impact can 43 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:42,840 Speaker 5: still be felt across families and across generations. For the 44 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 5: first time we reveal the full story of the incident. 45 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 5: They call the flood the closest Australia has ever come 46 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:53,280 Speaker 5: in peacetime to losing a submarine and its entire crew. 47 00:02:56,880 --> 00:03:00,920 Speaker 4: Cameron Commodore Peter Scott retired from full time service in 48 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 4: the Royal Australian Navy half a dozen years ago after 49 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 4: a career of thirty four years, vast majority of which 50 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 4: was either in or around submarines in one way or another. 51 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:14,919 Speaker 4: Absolute highlight of that career was my command of first 52 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 4: H MASS Colins and then H Master to Shana. 53 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:21,239 Speaker 5: On a dark evening in late two thousand and two, 54 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 5: I jumped into a Zodiac inflatable boat which had come 55 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:26,480 Speaker 5: to pit me up from the beach in Fremantle, Western Australia. 56 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 5: I was a thirty nine year old investigative reporter and 57 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 5: I'd written plenty of stories about the problems facing the 58 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 5: Navy's new Colins class submarines, but I'd never been on one. 59 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:38,920 Speaker 5: We headed out to the ocean. We were supposed to 60 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 5: rendezvous with HGMAS to Shano, the fourth of the Royal 61 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 5: Australian Navy's six new Colins class submarines. As we raced 62 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 5: out to see. My eyes scan the dark horizon seeing nothing. 63 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 5: Then suddenly a huge, dark outline of a submarine appeared 64 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 5: out of nowhere. We pulled up alongside, and before I 65 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 5: knew it was stint to the submarine and down the hatch. 66 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 5: The commanding officer of the Deshina, Peter Scott, was there 67 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:08,840 Speaker 5: waiting for me. He wore a strange agrill on his face. 68 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 5: I was the last person that he and his crew 69 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 5: of sixty men and women wanted to see, a journalist 70 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:16,800 Speaker 5: the bane of their profession. 71 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 3: On Mike Diggs. 72 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 8: I was in a navy for thirty two years, from 73 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 8: the age of fifteen to forty seven. My years as 74 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:26,279 Speaker 8: a Submarine Force commander was two thousand and one to 75 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 8: two thousand and five, and so if you recall that 76 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:32,719 Speaker 8: was the time of HMAS Lemon dud subs. 77 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 9: A lot of bad press, leaky propellers, noisy engines, and 78 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,480 Speaker 9: combat systems that had to be replaced because they were 79 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 9: out of date are just some of the missteps on 80 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 9: the way to launching the much maligned Colin's Fleet. 81 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 8: So I spent a lot of time making presentations to 82 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:50,560 Speaker 8: all and sundry about dispelling the myths of the Clons 83 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 8: class submarines, because I had a submarine force that was 84 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:56,560 Speaker 8: in somewhat of a quandary. They were loving these new 85 00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:59,360 Speaker 8: submarines and all that they brought, but we were getting 86 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 8: a lot of bad press at the same time. 87 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 5: It was eventually agreed I could spend forty eight hours 88 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,239 Speaker 5: on board the Dashino while it was conducting war games 89 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 5: against Australian naval ships in the Indian Ocean. I'm one 90 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,479 Speaker 5: hundred and ninety four centimeters or six foot four inches tall, 91 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,840 Speaker 5: so I don't love small spaces, and the Collins class boats, 92 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 5: although bigger than the old Oberon boats, are still a 93 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 5: warrant of narrow passageways guaranteed to bring out the inner 94 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:28,720 Speaker 5: claustrophobia in anyone. I recall feeling queasy when the submarine 95 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:32,080 Speaker 5: first dived beneath the surface. I kept bumping my head 96 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 5: on things, but I did my best to join in. 97 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:36,839 Speaker 5: I ate with the crew and the mess I slept 98 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:40,479 Speaker 5: under the torpedoes and I watched them as they listened 99 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 5: to the whales and the warships in the ocean around them. 100 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:45,840 Speaker 5: The crew quickly got over the fact that there was 101 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 5: an outsider in their midst They were relaxed, friendly, and 102 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 5: surprisingly eccentric. Commander Scott was a submarine commander from Central Casting, 103 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 5: a tall ranger character who was hugely popular with his crew, 104 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:03,039 Speaker 5: not least because of his reputation for calmness under pressure. 105 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 4: If I tell a scary story about life on submarines, 106 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,440 Speaker 4: I'm often asked why would you do that? And my 107 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 4: antswer comes down to three really simple things. Purpose and 108 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 4: challenging people. The people are phenomenal. They tend to be 109 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:23,520 Speaker 4: the sort of characters who are driven by purpose and 110 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:27,840 Speaker 4: look for challenge. You cannot survive in a submarine if 111 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:29,880 Speaker 4: you don't know your stuff and if you can't work 112 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:32,520 Speaker 4: with other people. But that doesn't mean that you can't 113 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 4: be eccentric. It doesn't mean that you can't be quite 114 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 4: a different character. 115 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 5: One female Submarana was a heavy smoker who chose to 116 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:43,719 Speaker 5: work in a sealed, non smoking capsule, and you harbor 117 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 5: the peculiar ambition of one day sinking her fiance. In wargames, 118 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 5: he was a sailor on the Anzac Frigate Waramonga, and 119 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 5: even the sonar operator Melanie Ellerton, would spend the day 120 00:06:56,680 --> 00:07:00,480 Speaker 5: imitating the whale noises she heard on her headphones. When 121 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 5: I asked to one day what noise sharks made, she 122 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:04,839 Speaker 5: looked at me in the eye and chanted the theme 123 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 5: music from the movie Jaws. 124 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 6: We have a very secretive lot and very tight crew. 125 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 6: What I really, really really loved about the command on 126 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:17,400 Speaker 6: the Chanea at that time was very much like a 127 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 6: You work hard, you play hard, so you put the 128 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 6: yards in, You put your hard work in, and you're 129 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 6: awarded for it. The morale was amazing on that boat. 130 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:29,240 Speaker 6: I love just relive it again. 131 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:35,040 Speaker 5: The crew even had a peculiar habit of watching submarine 132 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:38,600 Speaker 5: thrillers while underwater, with Sean Connery in The Hunter Red 133 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:40,920 Speaker 5: October being played seemingly on a loop. 134 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 10: Our strategy depends on your answer. The entire sleep will 135 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 10: know where we are. So we've just been overflown by 136 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:51,560 Speaker 10: a loyaltitude multi engine torboprop. 137 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:54,960 Speaker 5: I had no idea that just a few months later 138 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 5: these men and women would be fighting for their lives 139 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 5: in the very same submarine as it fled. Iuded deep 140 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:03,720 Speaker 5: under the Indian Oceans, but even while I was on board, 141 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 5: there was a major incident. But Dschena was gliding silently 142 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 5: beneath the ocean's surface towards its planned skirmish with three 143 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 5: Australian Navy ships about eighty nortik miles off the West 144 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 5: Australian coast, and I suddenly heard footsteps and yelling in 145 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:23,920 Speaker 5: the narrow corridors. Get down the back, let's go, yelled 146 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 5: a petty officer they called Mango. He took one look 147 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:30,840 Speaker 5: at myself and my photographer and bellowed, look after the civilians, 148 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:34,400 Speaker 5: let's go. We're not effing around here. There was an 149 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:37,520 Speaker 5: unnerving urgency in his voice as he hustled us towards 150 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:41,240 Speaker 5: the back of the boat, and alarm sounded throughout the submarine. 151 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:45,480 Speaker 5: Crew members who had been sleeping seconds earlier jumped out 152 00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:48,880 Speaker 5: of their bunks and ran to their emergency stations. Some 153 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:52,240 Speaker 5: were donning fireproof clothing and oxygen masks and tanks. 154 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:53,760 Speaker 3: No one was joking. 155 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:57,720 Speaker 5: Clearly, this was not a drill. We were shuffled through 156 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:01,000 Speaker 5: watertight doors that sealed the front for the submarine from 157 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 5: the rear. The doors are designed to prevent a fire 158 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:07,320 Speaker 5: or flood from engulfing the entire boat, ensuring that at 159 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:10,400 Speaker 5: least some of the crew can initially survive a disaster. 160 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:13,960 Speaker 5: Commander Scott announced over the speakers that there have been 161 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 5: a hydraulic burst in the weapons storage compartment. Two crew 162 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,280 Speaker 5: members dressed in full fire fighting kit charging to the 163 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 5: compartment where torpedoes and hardpurn missiles were suspended. They discovered 164 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:29,319 Speaker 5: oil spraying out at high pressure from a broken connection 165 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:31,840 Speaker 5: in the piping. I was standing with a group of 166 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:34,920 Speaker 5: crew in the sealed back half of the submarine listening 167 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:36,199 Speaker 5: to the emergency siren. 168 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:39,680 Speaker 4: But the failure of a system like that can be 169 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:43,440 Speaker 4: really serious. But there's a lot of risk associated with 170 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:44,959 Speaker 4: how it fails as well. So if you have a 171 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:50,960 Speaker 4: hydraulic burst, what you have is hydraulic oil being sprayed 172 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 4: at extremely high pressure into the atmosphere and it just 173 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:59,840 Speaker 4: becomes explosive. So the risk of explosion and fire, neither 174 00:09:59,880 --> 00:10:03,839 Speaker 4: of which are healthy on board and enclosed submarine, can 175 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 4: be really high. 176 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:08,240 Speaker 5: Minutes later, a voice came over the PA It said 177 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:10,680 Speaker 5: there is no risk of fire, the system is safe, 178 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 5: no casualties throughout the submarine. The petty officer Mango later 179 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:18,080 Speaker 5: apologized for his language, but he said afar in the 180 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:20,080 Speaker 5: weapons room was one of the most dangerous things that 181 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:28,559 Speaker 5: could occur. That's what happened on the Cursk. He told me, the. 182 00:10:28,559 --> 00:10:31,720 Speaker 4: Crew of the course are now entombed, as the Navy 183 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,600 Speaker 4: racers to attempt to rescue. 184 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:37,200 Speaker 5: Every sub mariner at that time was haunted by the 185 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 5: story of the Cursk, the Russian submarine that sank to 186 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:42,679 Speaker 5: the bottom of the Barren Sea with one hundred and 187 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 5: eighteen crew in August two thousand after a torpedo stowed 188 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:47,520 Speaker 5: on board exploded. 189 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:51,040 Speaker 6: Western military analysts had been suggesting earlier on in the 190 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:53,920 Speaker 6: day that if no breakthrough came within forty eight hours, 191 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:55,840 Speaker 6: that the crew would be in a very grave situation. 192 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:58,360 Speaker 2: Indeed, there's still no foreign indication. 193 00:10:58,559 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 5: Those crew who survived the explosion wrote notes to loved 194 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:05,600 Speaker 5: ones for days as the submarine sat in the seabed, 195 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:09,920 Speaker 5: awaiting a rescue that never came. When I went to 196 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:13,240 Speaker 5: see Kamada Scott in his cabin after the hydraulic burst, 197 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:16,360 Speaker 5: my eyes started to a book on his shelf, A 198 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:18,640 Speaker 5: Time to Die, the Cursed Disaster. 199 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:24,319 Speaker 4: We were in Hawaii at the time, during the maintenance period. Importantly, 200 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:27,760 Speaker 4: we also had a lot of our family over in Hawaii, 201 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 4: you know, just taking some leave with the crew. So 202 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:36,840 Speaker 4: my wife and daughter were with me as the news 203 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:43,880 Speaker 4: was breaking each day. It was hard to watch that unfold. 204 00:11:44,679 --> 00:11:47,280 Speaker 4: It was pretty brutal on the families because they can 205 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:52,720 Speaker 4: just place themselves in a very similar situation. There's absolutely 206 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:54,920 Speaker 4: this might be the wrong term these days, but there's 207 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:58,120 Speaker 4: absolutely a brotherhood amongst submariners. There's not a lot of 208 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:00,080 Speaker 4: people in the world who understand what it is to 209 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:03,880 Speaker 4: take a naval submarine to see, so you definitely feel 210 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:09,439 Speaker 4: a sense of kinship politics aside with another Navy's submarine 211 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 4: force that suffers a disaster like that. 212 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:17,959 Speaker 5: On that day in late two thousand and two, as 213 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:21,040 Speaker 5: we glided under the Indian Ocean, I recall sitting with 214 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:24,040 Speaker 5: Commander Scott in his cabin talking about the curse and 215 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:27,839 Speaker 5: about the risks which submaraners face. He had his own 216 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:30,920 Speaker 5: stories to tell. At just thirty seven years old, he 217 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:34,199 Speaker 5: once helped steer home a crippled British Navy submarine in 218 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:36,920 Speaker 5: the North Sea when it was swamped by a wave 219 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:40,480 Speaker 5: with its hatch still open, causing seawater to surge in 220 00:12:40,679 --> 00:12:43,240 Speaker 5: short circuiting computers and sonar equipment. 221 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:44,400 Speaker 3: I had no. 222 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:46,680 Speaker 5: Idea that Just a few months later, when I was 223 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:49,880 Speaker 5: safely back on dry land, the Commander Scott and this 224 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:53,480 Speaker 5: same crew of lovable eccentrics would go perilously close to 225 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:56,520 Speaker 5: suffering the same fate as the crew of the Cursk. 226 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:10,240 Speaker 1: The flood is brought to you by the Australian War Memorial. 227 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 1: What Does War Look Like Through the Eyes of the 228 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:16,319 Speaker 1: People who Lived It? Through Their Eyes is a new 229 00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:20,360 Speaker 1: podcast from the Australian War Memorial that uncovers deeply human 230 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:25,480 Speaker 1: stories drawn from the AWMS, vast collections, galleries and expert 231 00:13:25,559 --> 00:13:30,840 Speaker 1: insights through unexpected perspectives and immersive storytelling, Each episode brings 232 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:34,400 Speaker 1: history to life in a way that's personal, moving and 233 00:13:34,559 --> 00:13:39,600 Speaker 1: relevant today. Discover the stories behind our history through their Eyes. 234 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:49,720 Speaker 11: Coming in June, so we were preparing for deployment which 235 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:52,840 Speaker 11: would probably be three to four months long up into 236 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:57,200 Speaker 11: Southeast Asia to conduct a series of top secret comissions, and. 237 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:01,240 Speaker 4: We were pretty well through most of that work up. 238 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:05,720 Speaker 5: Commander Scott chose to test the submarine systems a deep 239 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 5: diving depth, the deepest depth which the submarine is designed 240 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:12,160 Speaker 5: to operate at. The actual deep diving depth itself is 241 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:15,319 Speaker 5: classified because to reveal it we've given enemy and advantage 242 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:16,600 Speaker 5: in any conflict. 243 00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:20,360 Speaker 4: It's the deepest depth which would be authorized to operate 244 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:25,960 Speaker 4: in any sort of normal circumstances, even in a wartime scenario, 245 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:30,440 Speaker 4: you'd think really, really carefully about pushing the boat deeper 246 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:31,560 Speaker 4: than deep diving depth. 247 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:37,280 Speaker 5: I'm climbing down the main hatch of the hm ass Onslow, 248 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:40,680 Speaker 5: one of the old Oberon class submarines. They are the 249 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:44,160 Speaker 5: predecessors of the Commons class submarines. This submarine was decomissioned 250 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:46,960 Speaker 5: in nineteen ninety nine, just two years before the Deshana 251 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:51,440 Speaker 5: was commissioned. It is a rabbit warren of pipes, wires, 252 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 5: equipment of all types, crammed into narrow passageways where sailors 253 00:14:56,560 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 5: and submarines have to walk through for weeks and months 254 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:03,760 Speaker 5: on end, gliding silently under the ocean on top secret missions. 255 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:08,360 Speaker 5: As the submarine glided ever deeper, the crew responsible for 256 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:11,880 Speaker 5: the submariness technical systems were at their stations, vigilant and 257 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:16,040 Speaker 5: silent watching the depth gauge, their eyes scanning every instrument 258 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:19,080 Speaker 5: and piece of equipment, knowing that the water pressure outside 259 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:21,120 Speaker 5: was rising with every meter of depth. 260 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:22,680 Speaker 3: Lower. 261 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:25,280 Speaker 7: Motor room is a space right down the bottom at 262 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:29,200 Speaker 7: the rear of the or aft in the submarine that 263 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:35,280 Speaker 7: houses a fair amount of seawater, cooling apparatus, pumps and pipework. 264 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:39,000 Speaker 5: I'm going down to the lower motor Room, a tiny 265 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:42,880 Speaker 5: room crammed with equipment. This is where Petty Officer Jordie 266 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 5: Bunting was stationed to keep a watch on flexible hoses. 267 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:48,840 Speaker 3: On the day of the flood, there. 268 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:51,280 Speaker 7: Was myself and two other goers who were in the 269 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:54,840 Speaker 7: engineering space and the engine room, and for some reason 270 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:57,200 Speaker 7: we'd played paper rocks as so who was going down 271 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 7: the hole? And somehow I come up wet from the 272 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:04,760 Speaker 7: other two. So we were just looking for leaks and 273 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:08,120 Speaker 7: just hoping that everything held together as. 274 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 3: It should to put the boat through its paces. 275 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:14,080 Speaker 5: The lower Motor Room, a crammed space measuring no more 276 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:17,360 Speaker 5: than two or three meters, sat underneath the submarine's main 277 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:20,160 Speaker 5: motor room. The crew entered and left this small room 278 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:23,880 Speaker 5: via a hatch on the deck. Petty Officer Jordie Bunting, 279 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 5: universally known as Rocker, stood in that small compartment at 280 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:30,160 Speaker 5: the back of the submarine. His gaze fixed on a 281 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 5: newly replaced hose, which is part of the auxiliary sea 282 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:37,120 Speaker 5: water system that provides cooling waters for the motors and 283 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:40,680 Speaker 5: which is exposed to sea pressure at all times. Then 284 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:43,440 Speaker 5: in an instant, his world changed. 285 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:49,080 Speaker 7: There was a sharp hiss and then all mighty explosion bang, 286 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:53,000 Speaker 7: And the next thing I remember was, shit, it's getting 287 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 7: pretty cold. It was fearfully cold, and there was a 288 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:01,120 Speaker 7: lot of water coming in. I can remember screaming out 289 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:02,720 Speaker 7: at the top of my voice, not that I thought 290 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:09,160 Speaker 7: it was heard, that we were flooding. And then yeah, 291 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:11,679 Speaker 7: it was like being stuck in a washing machine. It 292 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:13,240 Speaker 7: was just round and round and round. 293 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:17,480 Speaker 5: Luckily for Bunting abel seamen Greg Sullivan were standing not 294 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:19,119 Speaker 5: far away in another compartment. 295 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:21,159 Speaker 3: On the day of the flood. 296 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:24,560 Speaker 12: My role was to be in the engine room builge 297 00:17:25,080 --> 00:17:25,880 Speaker 12: and check the. 298 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:26,560 Speaker 3: Area for lex. 299 00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:31,639 Speaker 12: I heard a loud noise and then continue noise that 300 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:35,080 Speaker 12: wasn't normal. It's normally pretty quiet, so I could tell 301 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:39,840 Speaker 12: straight away it wasn't good. Started heading back there and 302 00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:44,640 Speaker 12: ran into another sailor who was sounding the alarm. When 303 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:45,960 Speaker 12: he finished, I said, where's Rocker. 304 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:50,320 Speaker 5: Near the front of the submarine, Commander Scott was standing 305 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:53,040 Speaker 5: just outside the control room under the main hatch with 306 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:57,080 Speaker 5: two of his most senior engineers, Johnny Ryan and mango 307 00:17:57,600 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 5: to see if a repair job on a recent small 308 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:01,400 Speaker 5: lea in the hatch had been fixed. 309 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:05,000 Speaker 4: For a couple of months, we'd had a slight weep 310 00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:09,760 Speaker 4: or a leak on the main access hatch and we'd 311 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:13,239 Speaker 4: been back alongside worked on that hatch, gone back out 312 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:14,920 Speaker 4: to sea to try to prove it and it would 313 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:19,439 Speaker 4: still leak. So anyway, the Chief Tiff, Johnny Ryan, was 314 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:21,680 Speaker 4: pretty darn confident that he had a crack this time. 315 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:26,720 Speaker 4: So as we arrived at deep diving depth, the Chief Tiff, 316 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:32,040 Speaker 4: myself and the Chief Electrical sailor, we're all underneath that 317 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:35,160 Speaker 4: main access hatch just to check that it was actually 318 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:39,040 Speaker 4: home dry, and it was. It was fantastic, so we 319 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 4: were happy about that, but not for long, and we're 320 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:47,320 Speaker 4: very happy about that until the moment we heard a 321 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:51,760 Speaker 4: main broadcast pipe which said flood, flood, flood, flood in 322 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:56,200 Speaker 4: the lower motor. So we are at deep diving depth, 323 00:18:56,320 --> 00:19:00,960 Speaker 4: the submarine is under as much pressure as you would 324 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:04,959 Speaker 4: design for submarine to operate out and we run a 325 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:07,400 Speaker 4: major flood somewhere back after in the submarine. 326 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:13,320 Speaker 5: The words flood, flood, flood on the intercom were enough 327 00:19:13,359 --> 00:19:16,760 Speaker 5: to freeze the blood of the entire crew. At deep 328 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:19,920 Speaker 5: diving depth, a major flood was the most dangerous mishap 329 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:21,159 Speaker 5: the submarine could suffer. 330 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:28,920 Speaker 10: John Ryan joined the Navy in nineteen eighty four as 331 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,200 Speaker 10: an apprentice out at Hatchmason. Remember at Quakers Hill on 332 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:35,560 Speaker 10: dashene O, I was the chief tiff for the head 333 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:37,439 Speaker 10: of the engineering team. 334 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:40,360 Speaker 5: John Ryan was halfway up a ladder checking the main 335 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:43,080 Speaker 5: hatch for lecks with Commander Scott. When you heard the 336 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:45,359 Speaker 5: flood warning come over the speakers. 337 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:50,879 Speaker 10: You could hear the words flood, flood, flood, but in 338 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:52,320 Speaker 10: the background it was like a roar. 339 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:56,160 Speaker 5: Was anything going through your head at that point. 340 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:00,000 Speaker 10: A lot of things, I think, but nothing in particular. 341 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:02,040 Speaker 3: Just shit, shit, shit. 342 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:05,679 Speaker 5: John Ryan sprinted as fast as he could from the 343 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:07,639 Speaker 5: front of the submarine to the back to see what 344 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:11,360 Speaker 5: had happened. The crew would later dub him Johnny Crazy 345 00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 5: because he ran towards a major flood and not away 346 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:14,320 Speaker 5: from it. 347 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:17,760 Speaker 6: So I remember sitting in the Genus Sala's mess when 348 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:22,080 Speaker 6: the flooding alarm came through the speakers. I saw old 349 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:26,440 Speaker 6: Chief TIF Johnny Ryan running back after and I said, well, 350 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:29,520 Speaker 6: that's not normal. You know, normally when we're exercising or 351 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:35,240 Speaker 6: things happening. It's more of a disciplined exit towards the incident. 352 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:39,359 Speaker 6: But seeing that and then hearing the flooding alarm going 353 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:43,480 Speaker 6: off and then were very closely watching the depth gauge. 354 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:44,880 Speaker 5: Yeah, just. 355 00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:48,080 Speaker 3: Scary. 356 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:54,840 Speaker 4: It was several kilometers so pretty deep preservation probably three 357 00:20:54,880 --> 00:21:01,040 Speaker 4: kilometers beneath us. Certainly too deep for this submarine to survive. 358 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:03,680 Speaker 4: So if we had gone down that depth of water, 359 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:08,000 Speaker 4: the submarine would have been crushed before we hit the bottom. 360 00:21:08,119 --> 00:21:10,959 Speaker 5: Commander Scott had no way of knowing at that moment 361 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:14,120 Speaker 5: how much water to Shano had taken on and whether 362 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:16,560 Speaker 5: or not he could get his crippled submarine back to 363 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:17,160 Speaker 5: the surface. 364 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:20,320 Speaker 4: When you have a flood like this, you go from 365 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:23,960 Speaker 4: knowing the state of your submarine in intimate detail, like 366 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:27,479 Speaker 4: you can know or pull out the state of every valve, 367 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 4: every switch, the contents of every tank, every single detail 368 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:34,560 Speaker 4: about the submarine is known. 369 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:37,119 Speaker 8: You have a flood like that and you just go 370 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:38,240 Speaker 8: to endless unknowns. 371 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,600 Speaker 1: This is episode one of our four part series, which 372 00:21:55,720 --> 00:22:00,000 Speaker 1: the Australian subscribers here first at the floodpodcast dot com 373 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:03,000 Speaker 1: and Apple Podcasts. Next week on the flood. 374 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,560 Speaker 7: Something flew past and clipped my head and hit something 375 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:07,280 Speaker 7: and flew back. 376 00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:09,240 Speaker 3: But it was all split second. 377 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:12,119 Speaker 7: Stuff that went on your head under the anoint. I 378 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:13,639 Speaker 7: was under the wood most of the time. It was 379 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:16,320 Speaker 7: sort of it. Yeah, it was cold, it was vicious. 380 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:21,720 Speaker 1: The Flood is an audio and video investigation for The 381 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:26,800 Speaker 1: Australian by Cameron Stewart, executive producer Claire Harvey and editor Jasperlik. 382 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:29,840 Speaker 1: You can watch the video right now at the Flood 383 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:35,240 Speaker 1: podcast dot com. Our theme is composed by Jasperlik. Cinematography 384 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:38,600 Speaker 1: is by Andy Taylor and video editing by Lachlan Clear. 385 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:42,640 Speaker 1: Additional footage was shot by Luke Gildard and Peter Aqualina. 386 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:47,040 Speaker 1: Our graphics are by Sean Callanan and animations by Franklin. 387 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:51,760 Speaker 1: Special thanks to Kristin Amiot, Ryan Elfin, the Australian National 388 00:22:51,760 --> 00:23:04,639 Speaker 1: Maritime Museum and the Australian War Memorial. Captured, Imprisoned, Determined 389 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:08,000 Speaker 1: to Survive through first hand accounts from the Australian War 390 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:12,080 Speaker 1: Memorial's archives, Through Their Eyes reveals what it meant to 391 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:17,520 Speaker 1: endure captivity, maintain hope and survive against the odds. Listen 392 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:20,840 Speaker 1: to through their Eyes wherever you get your podcasts