Submarine escape and rescue scenarios can generally be divided into the following categories: Rescue performed from outside the crippled submarine and Autonomous scenarios carried out by the submarine personnel without any assistance from third parties The philosophy of German designed submarines relies on the principle "safety before rescue". This is why they incorporate various technical features allowing the transformation of any kind of submerged emergency scenario into a surface emergency scenario. Nevertheless, a personal rescue system for submariners can be an additional means of reassuring the crew that they will be able to leave the boat even in the most unlikely case that surfacing of the submarine will not be possible. Personnel escape scenarios using an integrated system of air locks - so called escape chambers -, onboard gas supplies and rescue devices, provide the greatest potential for the crew to quickly leave the hostile environment and survive the accident. Such systems have been available since the early fifties and have since then been installed on submarines operated by many navies worldwide. These systems have, until today, been limited to a maximum escape depth of 180 metres and very often have been installed as an assembly of individual components. They have not been designed as a complete system in order to optimise the performance of the composition. The result very often were restrictions of the maximum escape depth to even less than 180 metres, and at the same time, high gas consumption during the flooding and compression phase of the air lock. Therefore, in some cases, there was not even enough gas available for the complete crew to escape from relatively shallow depths.