Navy Reassigns Commander of Submarine That Ran Aground in Pacific

TBO.COM ^

[Arkinsaw]

---not going to dignify idiocy with further comment--

Scary aint it.

[Arkinsaw]

The Sumatra Earthquake was 3500 miles away from where this accident happened.

But it could be sleeping Cthulhu rising from his dread sleeping city of R'lyeh. I heard that it was near that location.

[petitfour]

You may want to go to grammar.com. (if there is such)

world's worse vs. world's worst

[theFIRMbss]

>If it turns out that the mt did appear where it wasn't before, I'd say his career is not over

Has anyone heard
rumors about this event?
I mean, in the past,

when subs have "hit" things,
hasn't it almost always
been the result of

the sub tracking close
to an enemy sub and
then getting surprised

by a bad guy's move . . .
If this guy hit a mountain,
then, hey, not his fault.

But if he screwed up
some standard tracking routine
he'd expect the boot . . .

[smonk]

the sumatra connection to the heretofore unknown undersea mountain has been proven to be bull stinky.

[Rebelbase]

There are two entirely different subduction trenchs between the Sumatra Trench and the Maria's trench which is east of where the accident happened.

The fractures in the earth's crust would prevent transmission that kind of energy over that great a distance.

[Rebelbase]

Make that Marianas trench.

[G.Mason]

"You may want to go to grammar.com. (if there is such)"

My but you are a tenacious petitfour, aren't you.

[petitfour]

I think it must be my day to be annoyed at folks who point out grammar and spelling errors of others. Thankfully, such errors on FreeRepublic will not cause anyone to lose life or limb. :)

[G.Mason]

"I think it must be my day to be annoyed at folks who point out grammar and spelling errors of others. Thankfully, such errors on FreeRepublic will not cause anyone to lose life or limb. :)"

As I told Zavien Doombringer in post #19,

"Inasmuch as you repeated a form of the word three times, or so, I thought you would like to know."

BTW ... what other "errors" do you choose to be "annoyed" at when they are pointed out?

Should they have legal consequences you may be a bit more than annoyed. ;)

[Sola Veritas]

"Seems like a good way to lose good men."

Yes, it does appear harsh. However, the Captain of a vessel is responsible for the training of all crew members, even delegated it is still his responsibility. So, even if a subordinate messes up, the Captain usually goes down also. Because he didn't do his job of training. These high standards are actually a good idea. However, it is hard to be a ship's CO and not be a bit of a hardass.

Chances are the Captain of the sub was not using good judgement using poorly charted routes.

[DManA]

The other day a sailor commited suicide on a sub. What happens to that captain?

[Sola Veritas]

"The other day a sailor commited suicide on a sub. What happens to that captain?"

Good point and question. Answer - Nothing, unless the suicide caused the ship to be damaged. Or, if somehow, the suicide was a result of negligence by the Captain. The Navy does recognize that some things are beyong the control of the Captain. However, it doesn't take kindly to shipwrecks...usual due to negligence.

[jettester]

Why do so many of you here equate "relieved of command" with the end of a career? The only ones who know for sure what went down are the guys on that sub (bless their souls for their service). The methods the military uses for the most part seem draconian and career-ending as in this case, but in the end, will do a lot to reestablish his legitimacy as a commander if proved innocent of wrongdoing.

If he is found guilty, he's toast. But if he is cleared in this accident, the very fact he was put through this process and found innocent by a group of peers will add legitimacy to his next command. Kind of like the idea of having to get back on the horse if it throws you off. Ideally, the process will put to rest the blame issue for him (if found innocent) and build up confidence for his future subordinates. This will be sorely needed (especially in subs) when "follow the leader" can have such serious consequences for ones' life.

[Sola Veritas]

"If he is found guilty, he's toast. But if he is cleared in this accident, the very fact he was put through this process and found innocent by a group of peers will add legitimacy to his next command."

First of all there is no guilty or not guilty, unless the Board of Inquiry finds that he somehow violated orders or proceedures dictated by regulations. If that was the case it would be referred to a Courts-Martial. The BOI will try to determine what the causes of the accident are, and who or what is at fault, if anyone or anything. The main purpose of the BOI is to learn from the mistakes. However, if the Captain was taking chances (going through poorly charted waters on his own initiative), he made be held culpable. He won't be court-martialed, but a letter of finding goes into his record. Even if they can find no apparent clause, it looks bad on the Captains record. Chances are he will never be promoted again. So, his career is essentially over. Oh, and command is highly competed for. So, you usually only get one chance at his rank level - too many others waiting in line. He will not get another command of a vessel. If he stays in the Navy, then he will get some desk job and finish out his remaining time untill he has to retire or go ahead and retire if he has at least 20 years.

Yes, I agree it is pretty draconian. However, it seems to work well. The standards for commanding officers in all branches of the military are high, they have to be. Too many lives and expensive equipment is at stake.

That's why I think be a staff officer is much better. You may not ever be an admiral or general, but you don't carry such a heavy responsibility for things you often can't control.

[jettester]

I believe we are on the same page - you just explained a lot more of the process than I. My presumption was that he might be cleared of any wrong doing (thus the "Innocent" remark) and that that will go a long way towards rebuilding his credibility in the eyes of his subordinates-to-be.

The C.O. on my west coast billet was the P.C.O. on FFG9 where he put the ship through the paces. Because of his "pushing the envelope" during this period, serious flaws were discovered in the ship's design that had to be incorporated prior to future commissionings (i.e. cracks in the aluminum bulkheads amidships along the ineffective expansion joints). Granted, this was part of the job, but he did push the edge and was never disciplined for it.

These sub-jockeys are the best in the world at what they do and this story is a bit light in details to make any judgements. As you said, the Navy will want to get to the bottom of "what broke" to cause this embarrassing incident from happening again. Prayers to the family of the lost brother seaman.

[thombo]

I'll bet that rock formation is charted now.Sounds like the Capt had to rely on faulty info.

[Sola Veritas]

"Prayers to the family of the lost brother seaman."

Amen to that!

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Thanks for the ping! I've been out of town for most of two weeks, so I haven't heard anything about what's going on with this (except that one crewman didn't make it).

[FreedomCalls]

New photos just in: