Crewman Dies Aboard U.S. Submarine That Ran Aground

Reuters ^ | 1/9/05

[LibWhacker]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A crewman died Sunday from injuries sustained when the U.S. nuclear submarine USS San Francisco ran aground Saturday off Guam in the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Navy said.

Medical personnel rushed to the submarine continued to treat 23 other injured crewmen, some critically, suffering from broken bones, lacerations and bruises, a Navy spokesman said.

Lt. j.g. Adam Clampitt, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said the name of the sailor was being withheld for a 24-hour period following notification of the next of kin.

He said there was no damage to the nuclear reactor that powers the submarine nor the ship's weapons systems in the accident that occurred at noon Saturday Guam time.

Though the ship's hull is intact, external damage to it was being investigated, he said.

The submarine, which ran aground 350 miles off Guam, a U.S. territory, remains on the surface and is continuing under escort toward its home port in Guam, where it is expected to arrive Monday afternoon in Guam.

The cause of the accident is under investigation. The depth of the ocean at the point of the incident was not immediately known.

The submarine, commissioned in April, 1981, was carrying 137 crew members and was en route to a routine port visit in Brisbane, Australia, when it ran aground.

[Gunrunner2]

Man. . .what a tragedy.

Oh, and I wouldn't want to be the captain, as we have all sorts of high-tech gear to know exactly where we are at all times, and to run aground there is almost no situation than can excuse that. . other than technical failure.

[Dog]

Uh oh......someone is in a heap of trouble.

[sam_paine]

What the heck happened to him I wonder? Whacked his head?

The captain of that sub is toast. Prayers for all.

[Dog]

The submarine, which ran aground 350 miles off Guam,

A sandbar in the middle of the ocean?

[TADSLOS]

A sandbar in the middle of the ocean?

Reef, most likely.

[LibWhacker]

Whacked his head?

That's what I'm thinking. But haven't seen any details on his injuries yet.

[Gunrunner2]

Yeah. . .you noticed that too? I am no Navy but I am sure we have some here on FR and perhaps they have knowledge of those waters.

[LibWhacker]

The depth of the ocean at the point of the incident was not immediately known.

But it can be estimated: Shallow!

[Dog]

Thanks....that is what I love about FR ask a question and someone will have the answer for you on the next refresh.

[Danae]

Uh oh. Cluster F@!k. That Capt'n and the XO are fried for sure now. That boat was underway, he was moving at a pretty good clip. What ya wanna bet it was a pinnacle or something like that. Dead reckoning has definite drawbacks.

Prayers for the crew!

MASSIVE kudos to the crew! They likely had to act real damn fast to save the boat! They all could have died, I am willing to bet a whole lot that some very fast action on the part of all of them saved not only them but the boat as well.

[smonk]

--- The captain of that sub is toast.---

no kidding. running your nuke submarine aground is no career enhancer.

[76834]

Lets just be patient and not condem the Captain yet
There could be a lot of mitigating circumstances and the sand bar thing could be a way covering up what might have really happened.
Noticed that the "Peoples Paradise of China" has had subs in the area recently
Thing now is to pray that the ship gets back and pray for the injured crewmen.

Am sure the NAVY will sort things out.
Just let them do their job.

[BenLurkin]

Playing cat and mouse with a Chinese sub I'll wager -- though the truth may not come out for another twenty years.

[TADSLOS]

There are atolls scattered generally North and South of Guam. The report doesn't specify which direction from Guam the Submarine was when it ran aground. I suspect somewhere South, since they were enroute to Brisbane.

[WildTurkey]

Here is the earlier thread that has a LOT of good discussion:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1316627/posts?q=1&&page=1

[Gunrunner2]

Thank you.

FR has the best cross-section of experts than any other site.

[Gunrunner2]

I would suspect we know where these things are, they don't move, do they (not like sand dunes).

[Robe]

350 Miles south of Guam is not quite in the middle of the ocean , actually is in the middle of the Caroline Islands. Home of many uncharted seamounts

You may want to check out the more that 750 posts here

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1316627/posts

[Walkingfeather]

You know there are reports of the straights around sumatra were 4000 feet deep now only 100ft deep in places. I am wondering if this sub didnt run aground but crashed head first into a underground mountain that wasnt there a month ago. For so many to be hurt and the nature of the injuries, it seems unlikely this was a downard crash.