Crew of missing Argentinian submarine San Juan died 'instantly' in huge explosion, claims former American Navy expert
- Acoustic analyst Bruce Rule says crew wouldn't have felt any pain before dying
- ARA San Juan went missing with 44 crew members on board on November 15
- Navy called a halt to rescue efforts last week, saying all hope for crew is gone
- Craft will continue searching for submarine, but are now only looking for a wreck
- The blast's strength estimated to have been equivalent to 12,500 pounds of TNT
This picture was tweeted by a Falkland Islands account, saying: '#ARASanJuan as she left port for the last time on Monday, Nov 13'
The 44 crew members on board missing Argentinian submarine ARA San Juan died 'instantly' and without suffering after a huge explosion, a former American Navy expert has claimed.
Acoustic analyst Bruce Rule concluded they were killed after the submarine's hull was 'completely destroyed' in around 40 milliseconds, leading Argentinian daily La Nacion reported.
Mr Rule calculated the energy produced by the submarine's collapse was the equivalent of the explosion of 12,500 pounds of TNT at 1,275 feet below sea level.
Quoting key parts of the report in an article published today, La Nacion said: 'Although the crew may have known collapse was imminent, they never knew it was occurring.
'They didn't drown or experience pain. Death was instantaneous.
'The entire pressure-hull was completely destroyed in about 40 milliseconds or 1/25th of a second.'
Mr Rule, described as the former lead acoustic analyst at the US Office of Naval Intelligence which is the US's premier maritime intelligence service, concluded the submarine wreckage had sunk vertically at a speed of 10 to 13 knots.
ARA San Juan went missing on November 15 in the South Atlantic and although the search for the vessel is continuing, Argentinian Navy officials have admitted they are now only looking for a wreck.
Navy spokesman Enrique Balbi claimed on Friday as he announced the search area was being extended that looking for the missing sub was like trying to find a cigarette in a football field.
The vessel last made contact with commanders to report that water had entered the vessel through its snorkel and caused a battery fault.
It was advised to divert to the Atlantic resort of Mar del Plata to have the problem fixed and the captain later communicated via satellite phone the problem had been contained.
An explosion was later detected around the time and place where the ARA San Juan last made contact.
The crew members on board included Argentina's first female submarine officer Eliana Krawczyk, 35.
Argentinian Navy spokesman Enrique Balbi confirmed they were aware of the report today and said it had been taken into account.
He added: 'It's another clue which has been taken into account but at the moment there's nothing definitive. We are not ruling anything out.'
Mr Rule is understood to have based his analysis on an acoustic signal picked up near the submarine's last known location and released by the Vienna-based Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation.
The report had been mentioned before today in specialist forums but was only revealed by the mainstream Argentinian press this weekend.
Captain Enrique Babi, head of the search operation for the ARA San Juan, said on Thursday that the navy will be ending its rescue mission more than two weeks after the sub vanished
An eerie final photograph of an Argentinian submarine missing for almost three weeks shows it leaving port and dipping below the water's surface to head out on its suspected doomed final voyage.
ARA San Juan went missing with 44 crew members on board on November 15 in the South Atlantic, and an explosion was detected near the time and location it vanished from.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5165173/Crew-missing-Argentinian-sub-San-Juan-died-instantly.html#ixzz513YPZxYr
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