A review of submarine escape trials from 1945 to 1970 with a particular emphasis on decompression sickness.

Abstract : All simulated and actual submarine escape trials carried out by the Royal Navy from 1945 to the present time are described and tabulated. An attempt has been made to integrate these results. A further attempt has been made to assess more precisely the risk of decompression sickness after submarine escapes. This risk has so far been determined entirely by trial and error. The theoretical behaviour of various tissues in the body during such escapes have been calculated and correlated with past results. A simple but effective formula is proposed to allow immediate assessment of the risk of decompression sickness after a particular escape. The possible contribution of oxygen, and of the overloading of the 'fast' tissues with nitrogen, to the changing nature of decompression sickness after deep escapes is discussed. The feasibility of even deeper submarine escapes and other future developments are briefly discussed.