Because of this guy.
Posted on 01/12/2005 1:19:46 AM PST by Boot Hill
By ROBERT A. HAMILTON
Day Staff Writer, Navy/Defense/Electric Boat
Published on 1/11/2005
Photographs of the USS San Francisco returning to Apra Harbor in Guam Monday show the submarine's sonar sphere and forward ballast tanks were heavily damaged when it hit an undersea mountain, experienced submariners said.
One man was killed in the collision, and 23 others, about one of every six crewmen on board, were injured and evacuated from the submarine, making the incident one of the most serious undersea accidents in memory.
“This is the first time in my memory that anyone was ever killed in one of these accidents,” said retired Navy Capt. John W. “Bill” Sheehan of Waterford, who commanded a submarine in the 1970s.
The bow of the submarine normally rides high in the water, but the San Francisco's was steeply angled down as the submarine passed the Orote cliffs in Guam, Navy photos showed. That indicated it was carrying many extra tons of water.
Sources said the sonar sphere was cracked, which would allow in about 20 tons of water [equal to 10.6 foot diam]. The ballast tanks were cracked and flooded as well, the sources said, and portions of the hull near the bow were buckled.
Retired submariners said the sonar dome, which is always flooded, probably absorbed enough of the impact to keep the pressure hull from cracking, allowing the crew to save the ship.
The reactor, located amidships, and the rest of the propulsion plant in the rear of the ship were undamaged, the Navy said.
Navy sources said the ship was traveling more than 500 feet below the surface at more than 30 knots, about 35 mph, when it collided with the sea mount about 350 miles south of Guam.
Retired Navy Capt. John C. Markowicz of Waterford said the injuries were not surprising.
“Put yourself in an automobile going 35 mph and you hit a brick wall without even having a seat belt on,” he said.
The crewman who was killed, Machinist Mate 2nd Class Joseph A. Ashley, 24, of Akron, Ohio, died from a head wound he sustained when he was thrown against a pump in the machinery spaces.
•••During the Cold War, the Navy focused on charting the Atlantic because of the threat the Soviet Union posed from that direction. Submariners said that until recently some of the Pacific Ocean charts carried warnings based on soundings made by Captain Cook in the 18th century, and even modern charts can be based on soundings taken 20 miles or more apart.
Local submariners say the area where the sub was traveling is notorious for no-warning sea mounts; the water depth can change 1,000 fathoms in seconds.
“We know more about the backside of the moon than we do about the bottom of the ocean,” said retired Navy Capt. James Patton, president of Submarine Tactics and Technology in North Stonington.
The area in which the San Francisco was traveling, through the Caroline Islands chain, is one of the worst, with dozens of islands rising out of the water and many more uncharted seamounts between them.
“It's just bad water,” Patton said.
Submariners said that if the navigation team was operating a Fathometer, the San Francisco probably would have had time to change course no matter how steep the seamount. But if it thought it was in deep water, it might not have been running that piece of equipment.
“The Fathometer sends a signal out, and you can be tracked when you're sending that signal,” said retired Navy Capt. Raymond D. Woolrich of Waterford, a previous commander of the Undersea Surveillance Program in the Pacific.
“One of the things I found running the undersea surveillance system is that earthquakes happen all the time in the Pacific, and that's how the earth changes,” Woolrich said. “Could there have been an unknown, uncharted seamount? Sure there could have been.”
Markowicz recalled that during a transit to the North Pole, passing near Iceland, where a lot of volcanic activity occurs, the water depth could shift hundreds of fathoms in four or five seconds, which would not have been enough time to turn a 7,000-ton submarine traveling at 35 mph.
“The slope comes up very quickly,” Markowicz said. “You have very little reaction time, and you may not even have as much warning in the Pacific (where the slopes can be even steeper.) I'm sure that the board of investigation will look at the situation very carefully.”
That's amazing!
--Boot Hill
From all the reports I have read so far, it sounds as if the crew really reacted magnificently to be able to recover from this accident.
From all I've read, they made all of us bubbleheads proud. I lost a good bit of sleep last night thinking about what happened to them, and remembering a few other 'events' that nearly made similar headlines.
It's tragic with the death and multiple injuries, but it sounds to this landlubber as if the crew pulled off a miracle in saving the boat (and themselves!).
Some of the new information is interesting.
--Boot Hill
"“We know more about the backside of the moon than we do about the bottom of the ocean,”"
Bump.
--Boot Hill
Hey, now you're making me feel old. These were the hottest thing on the lot when I was in!
Is there any chance the Sumatra earthquake caused the ocean floor to shift upwards ? These claims the ocean floor is an uncharted wilderness doesn't jive. Subs have traveled these waters for more than 80 years. Satelites and computers have the data. There is more to this story than carelessness.
When you've got as many miles on you as that sub probably has, then you can feel old. Until then, enjoy your youth!
--Boot Hill
From the article: "even modern charts can be based on soundings taken 20 miles or more apart."
I don't believe satellites have the capacity to map ocean floors.
It's a mammoth ocean. There's no telling how many other subs have come a hair away from hitting the same sea mount.
Not quite that many. 7 boomer patrols and a med run won't come close, but some days it feels like it!
How's this for an idea. We make a fleet of very small solar powered, UAV's (Unmanned Aquatic Vehicle), with on-board computer control, linked to GPS, to navigate them throughout the oceans. Using some of the new generation side-looking sonar, these craft generate a very high resolution bottom profile and transmit the data via satellite to project headquarters.
To protect the craft from collision, they would be equipped with a radar transponder and their locations would be announced in the Notice to Mariners bulletin.
Presuming a speed of 5 knots and a sonar swath of 1 mile, 1,000 of these craft would be able to map the entire 150 million square miles of ocean within three years.
To make a little extra money, we include a towed deep probe to measure and record temperature, currents, salinity, etc. During storms, we instruct the craft to just remain in place.
So, are we ready to start taking bids and soliciting venture capital? Or do you see a few bugs with the idea?
--Boot Hill
I'm completely ignorant when it comes to submarines. Wasn't a transparent steel product recently developed? The front of a sub sounds like a great place for a window.
Already been done, there's a fleet of them in the Pacific (and other oceans) mapping seafloor and isotherms as we speak. They operate on batteries, go 1/2 MPH and save energy by using fins to porpoise their way around. They have positive buoyancy so when their batteries get low they rise to the surface and transmit position.
BUMP
Because of this guy.
B,
You're getting warmer...
Obviously this sub was the source of the nuclear detonation that caused the tsunami. Unfamiliar with the new weapon, the captain kept his ship too close to the blast, damaging it.
The rest is smoke and mirrors, especially about returning to Guam, which was wiped away by the wave. [/Arab press]
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