Originally Posted by
Jayand
Surely there are mechanisms in place to release an EPIRB automatically or manually when something disastrous happens?
Manually - yes, it's already been reported that the submarine has 2 EPIRBS.
The problem with an automatic system is, how does it "know" something disastrous has happened? It needs to be sufficiently self-contained to continue working in the event of a major systems failure onboard the submarine, yet well enough integrated to be able to figure out when to deploy. Even if you solve those non-trivial problems, the consequences of "false positive" deployment are very serious, even in peacetime.
Best wishes and hopes to those onboard, and to those engaged in the SAR operation, for a successful outcome.