Rescue Teams Race To Russian Sub

U.S., British Vehicles Headed For Russian Sub Site

(CBS/AP) 
Navy officials gave varying estimates of the air supply. Rear Adm. Vladimir Pepelyayev, deputy head of the navy's general staff, said Saturday the air would likely last to the end of the day and possibly through Sunday. Fyodorov gave a similar estimate, but later was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying there was enough to last until Monday.

"I think it should be enough to last to the end of the (rescue) operation," Pepelyayev said.

The array of confusing and contradictory statements darkly echoed the sinking of the Kursk. That disaster shocked Russians and deeply embarrassed the country by demonstrating how the once-mighty navy had deteriorated as funding dried up following the 1991 Soviet collapse.

The new crisis underlined that promises by President Vladimir Putin to improve the navy's equipment have apparently had little effect. Authorities initially said a mini-sub would be sent to try to aid the stranded one, but the navy later said the vehicle wasn't equipped to go that deep.

Putin was sharply criticized for his slow response to the Kursk crisis and reluctance to accept foreign assistance. By midday Saturday, Putin had made no public comment on the latest sinking, but Russian media said Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov left for Kamchatka after a Kremlin meeting of top security officials.

Ramsey Flynn, a submarine expert and author (video), told CBS News Correspondent Sandra Hughes that he doesn't think this chaos reaches the level of stonewalling Russian officials were accused of during the Kursk tragedy.

“They've at least been quicker on the uptake with accepting Western aid and that's a major step forward,” Flynn said.

Hughes reports that Super Scorpios, which are remote controlled from the surface, were used a few years ago to survey the damage when a U.S. submarine rammed into a Japanese fishing boat off Hawaii.

This time, rescuers are hoping that when they arrive, their mechanical arms can be used to cut the submarine free.

The airlifting of a U.S. underwater vehicle to Kamchatka marks the first time since World War II that a U.S. military plane has been allowed to fly there. Since Soviet times, the peninsula has housed several major submarine bases and numerous other military facilities, and large areas of it are off limits to outsiders.

CBS Producer Dan Dubno recently spent eight hours at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in the deep-sea submersible Alvin, which is similar to the Russian mini-sub. The Alvin has a titanium pressure hull, but the Alvin's thicker spherical construction allows it to descend and operate about ten-times deeper than the AS-28 Russian sub.

What might it be like for the sailors on the Russian mini-sub? Dunbo said he's certain it is very cold and damp from the condensation inside their titanium hull. The sailors are terribly cramped and probably in the dark, as they surely have turned off nearly all electronic systems to preserve what little is left of the onboard batteries.

They probably are able to hear the underwater radio and can communicate with their compatriots topside who have been struggling for hours to rescue them. Sound travels astonishingly well underwater and is likely being used to also indicate the sub's precise location.