DIYbanter - View Single Post - Does a capital ship sinking actually SUCK a swimmer down to drown?

Bob F

wrote:
On Tue, 22 Dec 2015 10:52:08 -0500, Phil Hobbs
wrote:

On 12/21/2015 07:04 PM, M. Stradbury wrote:
Is it true (or an urban myth) that a swimmer would be sucked
under (presumably to drown) when a capital ship sinks?

Yes. The main mechanism iirc is that air escaping from the sinking
ship causes enough bubbles that the swimmer can't stay afloat, and
sinks too deep to get back to the surface.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs
The flip side of that is the air is coming up very fast and tends to
lift anything around it. Have you ever seen a pneumatic dredge pipe
work?
Your sailor is also supposed to be wearing a type 1 PFD that adds a
lot of buoyancy.

If a big bubvble surrounds you, you are only going down. Lots of little bubbles,
still down. Bubbles in a pipe may carry thing up, but there is no pipe in this
circumstance.

Every bubble means that much less water floating you.