Posted on 06/06/2012 3:20:37 PM PDT by moonshot925
(Reuters) - A fire that caused an estimated $400 million in damage to a U.S. Navy nuclear-powered submarine docked in Maine may have been caused by a vacuum cleaner, authorities said on Wednesday.
The fire in the forward compartment - which includes crew living, command and control spaces and the torpedo room - of the USS Miami on May 23 took about 12 hours to extinguish and injured seven firefighters.
"Preliminary findings indicate the fire started in a vacuum cleaner used to clean work sites at end of shift, and stored in an unoccupied space," the shipyard's public affairs office said in a release. Specific details are still being evaluated.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
That sucks.
Was the vacume bought at costco and made in china?
” That sucks. “
I guess somebody had to say it...
(Thankfully, you did before I could... ;))
What burns in a sub?? 400 million damage WTF?
It surely wasn’t a rebuilt Electrolux. Those keep going almost forever, and if something should happen the motors don’t have cheap plastic housings that can catch fire.
Id love to see the damage takeoff sheet
Probably sucked up a lit cigarette butt...
Indeed, what was burning in such quantity? Obviously, sub designers need to re-think what goes into one.
Gotta type fast.
I was afraid someone else would beat me to it. :-P
The problem is not what was damaged, although that is a significant cost...the problem is the cost of essentially gutting the forward part of the ship, down to the bare inside of the hull, and then rebuilding it almost from scratch. From stripping and replacing hull insulation, to replacing ALL electrical cables, to replacing ventilation, hydraulics, and all manner of other systems and their required infrastructure, this is a HUGE task.
I say SCRAP IT! That’s one LESS submarine which makes 0bama happy.
Same thing that can burn elsewhere like equipment, insulation, paint on the bulkhead, plastic, circuit boards, swabs, lots of things. Fire is possible on any ship. There is no fire proof ship and fire onboard ship is a serious danger. That is why prevention is taken so serious.
I knew a Damage Control Assistant {DCA} a Lt Commander in rank who cut no one any slack on things like electrical inspection safety tags. No not even the Admiral was immune from his wrath. His solution for not having an inspection sticker was simple. He cut the cord.
A replacement would be many years away. The loss of the Miami would mean the rest of the fleet has to pick up the slack. The operational tempo of a SSN is already hell on the crew...if Miami is scrapped things will just be that much worse.
I have too much compassion for my fellow bubble heads to subject them to that. Even at the expense of making Obozo frown.
I thought they did fire drills til they were blue in the face.
They do believe me I know I was a nozzle-man. They have the drills so you are ready. The drill doesn't prevent the fire though. Safety walk throughs do sometimes but still not always.
I'll give you an idea of a possibility. The vacuum cleaner may have had some issues in the motor winding and went unnoticed as it was put away. After being stowed it smolders and ignites the motor housing. The motor housing burns and other things begin to catch fire. Here is where it gets difficult and dangerous. If the compartment was air tight or close to it a good size fire could erupt then die down to a large smolder. It might even go unnoticed but in the mean time heat from inside that compartment transferred to the next compartment through the walls. I've seen it happen before two decks above a fire and another fire erupts.
Finally someone smells smoke. When you smell smoke on a ship you call Fire and then try to locate the space. You do not simply go opening doors. You place the back of your hand on the hatch or door. If it's hot your hand feels it and jerks away from the heat. You do not open that hatch or door until a hose team is suited up and the nozzles spraying or ready to spray. The sudden influx of oxygen into an oxygen starved fire can mean a serious flash happens. The fire literally goes from smoldering to hell in seconds in those conditions.
You have to always keep in the back of your mind that you do not know the oxygen level of any given space in a fire. For that reason after a fire is put out you still are in a fire fighting posture until that space has been checked for oxygen and explosive gas and the fire is overhauled.
The Navy has already decided to repair USS Miami for a cost of $400 million.
The LA class boats can get 10 to 20 years of life after Engineered Refueling Overhaul (ERO).
USS Miami could be in service until the early 2030’s.
Well worth the money.
And look at it this way...not only will Miami be refueled and ready to go for up to another 2 decades, she will be going back to sea with the latest and greatest technologies that can be fitted within her hull design.
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