Debris From Indonesian Submarine Is Found, Dimming Hopes of Rescue

Search teams from several countries had been looking for the navy vessel, which sank near Bali with 53 people aboard.

There are few bonds stronger than that of sailors on a submarine. Each person selected for the crew must fulfill a critical role in an intricate interplay that allows a small metal vessel to dive deep in the sea for weeks at a time. Corridors are so cramped that sailors cannot pass each other without one person giving way. The whir of the engine thrums, a constant reverberation felt in the teeth. Sailors are stacked in narrow bunks. They practice what one submariner calls “thrifty” breathing, in order to conserve the most precious commodity in a bubble that is cruising underwater: breathable air. “It’s a very strong brotherhood,” said Frans Wuwung, a retired sailor who trained the crew of the KRI Nanggala-402, one of the Indonesian Navy’s five submarines. “We are friends for life.”