330-PSA-262-63 (USN 711388) (22543718755)

A Steinke hood, named for its inventor,

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

Harris Steinke, is a device designed to aid escape from a sunken

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

. In essence, it is an inflatable life jacket with a hood that completely encloses the wearer's head, trapping a bubble of breathable air. It is designed to assist buoyant ascent. An advancement over its predecessor, the

Momsen lung The Momsen lung was a primitive underwater rebreather used before and during World War II by American submariners as emergency escape gear. It was invented by Charles Momsen (nicknamed "Swede"). Submariners trained with this apparatus in an dee ...

, Steinke first invented and tested it in 1961 by escaping from the USS Balao at a depth of ; it became standard equipment in all submarines of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

throughout the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

period. The U.S. Navy replaced Steinke hoods on U.S. submarines with escape suits called

Submarine Escape Immersion Equipment Submarine Escape Immersion Equipment (SEIE), also known as Submarine Escape ''and'' Immersion Equipment, is a whole-body suit and one-man life raft that was first produced in 1952. It was designed by British company RFD Beaufort Limited and allow ...

in the late 2000s.

References

* Steinke Hood Fundamentals
Part I
an

(''note that the string "flash" in those URIs does not refer to Adobe's Flash, but rather is an acronym for "Factual Lines About Submarine Hazards."'') *Steinke Hoo

Submarine rescue equipment Military equipment introduced in the 1960s {{navy-stub

See also

References