[mikenola]

I find it a bit surprising this incident is even seeing the light of day. I thought sub accidents were strictly hush-hush stuff? (Except in cases of the Greenville, etc)

Also, is commodore a term still in common use, now that it's not an official rank?

Curious minds...

[jimfree]

Also, is commodore a term still in common use, now that it's not an official rank?

The "commander" of an air wing or the "commander" of a squadron of surface ships or submarines often is referred to as commodore though the official title is commander.

[vetvetdoug]

Because of the seriousness of the accident and potential ramifications, the Italian PM was notified when this happened. The Navy at first thought this sub could sink. The cat was out of the bag. Many crewmen called home via cell phones to say they were in danger of not coming home. Since this was not combat there was some use of the phones. The submarine was going full speed when it hit the wall....faster than any sub had gone before....note that the Hartford was the fastest submarine in the US fleet. That speed so near the coast has been considered by many submariners (when not in a combat situation) is asking for trouble. Cowboy has been the term used by some that commented about this accident. Commander is the rank, not Commodore. The Day which is the newspaper for Groton, CT, had a lot of this information the very day it happened when the Navy had them put a lid on it.

There are safety specialists for the airlines and transportation industry that are well aware of this accident and it is hardly top secret now. The veracity of my reporting when this first occurred was questioned and now I have been verified by the statements in this article. There is more to come I fear.

[Doohickey]

No. He's called the Commodore because he is in a flag billet (Commodore is equivalent to a Rear Admiral (lower half)). Normally, he's actually a Captain.

Similarly, a ship's "Captain" is normally a Commander in rank, except for very large targets like bird farms and some Tico-class cruisers.

[BlueNgold]

Commodore, although no longer used as a rank (Used to be 1 star ADM), is still a title for a squadron commander, usually a very senior Capt or Junior 1 star. In some of the Surface squadrons it can even be a 2 star.