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Nuclear Submarine Runs Aground South of Guam
The Associated Press ^ | Jan 8, 2005 | The Associated Press

Posted on 01/08/2005 3:19:47 AM PST by Jet Jaguar

HONOLULU (AP) - A nuclear submarine ran aground about 350 miles south of Guam, injuring several sailors, one of them critically, the Navy said.

There were no reports of damage to the USS San Francisco's reactor plant, which was operating normally, the Navy said.

Jon Yoshishige, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet based at Pearl Harbor, said the Friday afternoon incident is under investigation and the 360-foot submarine was headed back to its home port in Guam.

Details on the sailors' injuries were not immediately available. The sub has a crew of 137, officials said.

Military and Coast Guard aircraft from Guam were en route to monitor the submarine and assist if needed, the Navy said.

Guam is a U.S. territory about 3,700 miles southwest of Hawaii.

---

On the Net:

U.S. Pacific Fleet: http://www.cpf.navy.mil

AP-ES-01-08-05 0343EST


TOPICS: Breaking News; Government; US: Hawaii
KEYWORDS: guam; shipwreck; silentservice; ssn711; submarine; usn; usssanfrancisco
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To: SS Guy
(I'm not going to tell ya but 35 knots wasn't it) I saw the pictures he took off the fantail. Needless to say I dropped my jaw when I saw the wake. It was level with the flight deck!

Here are a couple of photos. Maybe you were shown a shot taken from the the open area BELOW the fantail during a turn. Notice the flat out photo doesn't indicate a large rooster tail.

Enterprise Flat Out

Enterprise in a Turn Kicking Spray

821 posted on 01/09/2005 3:07:36 PM PST by WildTurkey
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To: WildTurkey

A 688's bow actually rotates at speed. Feels like a "shuffle" underway. And they put dihedrals on newer boats to compensate for the nasty snap-roll to port. I don't know if they fixed the 688 suffle though.


822 posted on 01/09/2005 3:10:06 PM PST by Doohickey ("This is a hard and dirty war, but when it's over, nothing will ever be too difficult again.”)
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To: Lakeside

You bet.


823 posted on 01/09/2005 3:11:57 PM PST by Doohickey ("This is a hard and dirty war, but when it's over, nothing will ever be too difficult again.”)
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To: Severa

I just received some solid info. A certain answer to prayer , my son Zack is among the uninjured. Sweet news tempered with heartfelt regret for those who are hurt and worse and their loved ones.
The san fran is due to arrive in port at Guam monday 1:00 am est.For information try calling 671-339-5201 (naval operations in guam). They were very concerned and helpful. Duty crews are being assembled from the other ships in port to immeadietly releive the crew of the san fran upon its arrival. thanks all.


824 posted on 01/09/2005 3:16:01 PM PST by rsobin
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To: WildTurkey
I don't remember our O2 capacity but it was lots less than 60 days.

We bled O2 from our liquid Oxygen bottles for 30 days and then burned Sodium Chlorate "candles" for another 30 days. My boat had all the piping for an O2 generator but she never had one her whole life. She was decomm'd in '92. Don't know if any of the 593's had O2 generators, maybe Haddock 621 had one since she was the last of the boats.

SS Guy
825 posted on 01/09/2005 3:16:47 PM PST by SS Guy
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To: WildTurkey
I don't remember our O2 capacity but it was lots less than 60 days.

The diesel I rode you could stay down about 36 to 40 hours with everyone still smoking before the air went totally to hell. Killer headaches. Couldn't light a match or keep a smoke lit if you could manage to light one. Oldman would finally snorkle or surface and ventilate and headaches would go away. Quickly. Once you lit off the diesels the air took off like a shot to the enginerooms, was amazing to see.

SS Guy
826 posted on 01/09/2005 3:25:02 PM PST by SS Guy
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To: SS Guy
We bled O2 from our liquid Oxygen bottles for 30 days and then burned Sodium Chlorate "candles" for another 30 days. My boat had all the piping for an O2 generator but she never had one her whole life.

Oh yes. I remember some of the other crews talking about using them. We always had at least one (thanks to me :-)) operational and sometimes two. The worst problem was the heat on the circuit boards. We (me and the A-Gang) rigged our "underway" ventilation modifications and I developed a "sixth-sense" on the calibration requirements. One time the A-Gang officer (relatively new) came aft and noticed I didn't have the tech manual open. He picked it up and asked me which step I was on. I told him that if he insisted I use the manual procedure I would have to shut it down immediately. He put the manual down without a word and went forward never to bother me again.

827 posted on 01/09/2005 3:26:43 PM PST by WildTurkey
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To: Kerfuffle
...those entrusted with them will be forced to be more conservative and take fewer chances to avoid career-killing SNAFUs like this. Which sounds good -- until a wartime emergency requires them to know how to push the envelope.

That was precisely the case in the first year or so of WW II. Because of the devastation to the fleet at Pearl Harbor, the Pacific sub fleet and our carriers were all we had to take it to the bad guys.

A lot of those submarine skippers were relieved of command becasue they weren't agressive enough in attacking the enemy, while worrying to much about putting their boats and careers at risk. Some even asked to be relieved because they couldn't handle the stress.

I'm afraid we may be doing the the same things to our active duty sailors today.

828 posted on 01/09/2005 3:29:05 PM PST by IonImplantGuru (PhD, School of Hard Knocks)
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To: WildTurkey
That turn photo is awesome if authentic. Looks about like an F-1 Tunnelhull hydro!

I have never understood the great secrecy over a carrier's max speed. Isn't obvious to any adversary with satellite reconnaissance (most), or simply time and distance measurement? Or is the max speed something that can be sustained for only a short burst?

829 posted on 01/09/2005 3:33:23 PM PST by steve86
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To: SS Guy

Air still does that when you run the diesel on the nukes: Lot of people think the snorkel provides air to the diesel -> actually, it dumps air into the general fan room, only a little bit, if any, some of which goes directly to the diesel.

The diesel actually pulled combustion air directly from the diesel room (AMR) on 688's, and the snorkel dumped makeup air into the sub as a whole. If the DOOW dunked the snorkel mast, everybody would suck vacuum until he got it back up again. To pull smoke or fumes (in a drill for example) from some compartment, you'd line up vent valves from that compartment so the AMR would pull it's air into the diesel, burn it, and pass the junk overboard.

Deepest we got was 90+ feet with the diesel still (trying to) run. CO was pissed!

(Best I can tell from tracing vent ducts, valves, and AMR lineups on the WWII boats and German boats, the older diesels worked the same way.


830 posted on 01/09/2005 3:36:43 PM PST by Robert A Cook PE (I can only donate monthly, but Kerry's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
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To: Jet Jaguar
Here is a post from one of the Submarine BBS boards. I know the WW II Subvet who made the post and recall him telling about his visits with Cdr. Kevin Mooney. We all have talked with Cdr Mooney at different times when he was on the BBS. Ron (Warshot) rode the USS Seal SS 183 and made 5 war patrols I believe.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Posted by Warshot on Sun - Jan 9 - 4:25pm:

As many of you know I know CMDR Kevin Mooney personaly.

I visited with him in London and went to his Command Change Ceremony at Guam where I was a guest at his home. I am deeply troubled because Kevin is like a son to me.

I'm sure that his efforts are directed at the safety of his men and the boat, not "What's going to happen to me?" He's that kind of person. I also know Dean and Hagar. On behalf of Gumba I put the needle in Dean about qualifying. I also spent a good deal of time talking to Hagar durng the reception after the change of command ceremony.

The San Francisco also had one man die on a previous deployment and another on Guam. Kevin was aprehensive that these two incidents had made the crew somewhat superstituos that the SF was "jinxed". When I addrssed to crew I saw no signs of any trauma. The guys that gave me the tour were very positive in their attitude.

We won't know what happened until the Navy decides to tell us. I hope and pray that Kevin doesn't get the blame UNLESS HE DESERVES IT and in that case I think he would resign.

I pray for Avril and their daughters. Wonderfull, talented, beautifull children.

As I sit hear writing this I look at the picture of CMDR Mooney and me taken after he took command of San Fracisco. I am deeply feeling their pain.

Someone else ask this question and I don't know since the only boats I was on had a Test Depth of 265' but don't they run active sonar to see whats's in front of them? Could this possibly be a collision with another submarine?

Hopefully we will get some answers soon.

Let's all pray for our brothers.

Warshot

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

SS Guy
831 posted on 01/09/2005 3:37:17 PM PST by SS Guy
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To: IonImplantGuru
Its worse since naturally aggressive, war-risk-taking officers generally don't want the bureaucratic nonsense and extreme hand-wringing, handwriting, bottom-wiping worries typical of the nuclear-trained admirals.

Bureaucrats get killed in war.

Fighters kill. And for 50 years, the nuclear navy has bred bureacrats and promoted those who follow (literally) every page in the book.
832 posted on 01/09/2005 3:41:24 PM PST by Robert A Cook PE (I can only donate monthly, but Kerry's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
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To: Robert A. Cook, PE
WW II US boats didn't have snorkles. The Germans did and I really don't know the piping or line up for them.

The Snorkle boat I was on sucked air into the main induction piping and ran it aft to the Fwd and Aft enginerooms. There the enginroom inboard inducton valves were opened, (32 turns done manually), these were 30" ID pipes. Air was still pulled from other places in the boat if the WTD's were still open.

No AMR's on a smoke boat just Fwd and Aft Engine rooms. Nuc I was on we had an AMS, later to be renamed an AMR. This was aft of the Reactor compartment. The "Air House" (now also called an AMR) was at the aft end of the torpedoroom. This is where the CO2 scrubber was and the COH2 burner and HiPAC's.

SS Guy
833 posted on 01/09/2005 3:52:47 PM PST by SS Guy
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To: Doohickey
Sure. Maybe sometime I'll tell you how the IMA left the BRA-34 clamps on, radiated HF and burned a hole in the radome. :)

Yes, Hotel was mast & antenna. Maybe I'll tell you about the time that Topeka transmitted full power out of both 34's before making it to PD. Charcoal chunks came out of that radome. I have more tales of stupid tuber-fag tricks than I can count.

834 posted on 01/09/2005 4:29:33 PM PST by EricT. (Join the Soylent Green Party...We recycle dead environmentalists.)
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To: WildTurkey

I think that's the Nimitz there in the second pic.

Heckuva shot though.


835 posted on 01/09/2005 4:34:07 PM PST by IMRight ("Eye" See BS)
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To: SS Guy
688?

Picture a W/T bulkhead with reactor shielding behind it about midway down the hull, W/T door into a small tunnel going aft at the extreme stbd side, halfway "up" the hull (at the 3:00 oclock position, facing fwd.) Reactor is behind the shield walls around the tunnel on the ship's CL above the keel, but (unlike 637's) there's no equipment in the tunnel.

Engineroom aft, maneuvering on the fwd upper level of the ER.

Fwd, the hull is three levels: On the lowest level, from fwd to aft, torpedo room, then a 8 man bunkroom, then AMR where the diesel, O2 generator, and refrigerators, etc. were. A-gang territory. Batteries below the torpedo room, SK storeroom fwd of the torpedo control panel.

Mid-levels is almost entirely crew space: bunkrooms, heads, chiefs quarters, 4" launcher (doc's office is between the launcher), wardroom, officers bunks, reefers, crew's mess, kitchen, etc. Torpedoes get loaded down the middle access, which hinges up to make the same kind of hydraulic slide you're used to seeing.

Upper level is sonar eqpt room fwd, sonar space, and control room, CO/XO, radio room, fan room. Little bitty Nav/ET space aft of control that had our SINS and gyro. 400 Hz too, I think. Next to the ladder the other guys dropped that gyro down.

No other W/T hatch fwd, except the one going to the sonar sphere.
836 posted on 01/09/2005 4:39:32 PM PST by Robert A Cook PE (I can only donate monthly, but Kerry's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
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To: SS Guy

You're right: Snorkels got loaded with the Guppy conversions in the late 40's.

Topside gear got removed, covered up, or streamlined as well.


837 posted on 01/09/2005 4:41:01 PM PST by Robert A Cook PE (I can only donate monthly, but Kerry's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
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To: Robert A. Cook, PE

The static inverter was in SES, stbd side.


838 posted on 01/09/2005 4:45:01 PM PST by Doohickey ("This is a hard and dirty war, but when it's over, nothing will ever be too difficult again.”)
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To: RebelTex

Thank you rebeltex


839 posted on 01/09/2005 5:24:31 PM PST by nmrancher
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To: NoCmpromiz

Yuppers, saw it.
Means someone got scrubbed from the list of active commanders.


840 posted on 01/09/2005 5:27:46 PM PST by Darksheare (I'm not here. But my tagline is.)
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