Mark Allen Leonesio/U.S. Navy, via Associated Press
The Navy said it was still assessing the extent of the damage to the San Francisco, a nuclear submarine.
Posted on 01/27/2005 8:29:43 PM PST by neverdem
The Navy yesterday released photographs of the shredded bow of a nuclear submarine that ran into an undersea mountain earlier this month, and officials said they were still assessing the extent of the damage.
The photos were taken once the submarine, the San Francisco, limped back to Guam after smashing into the mountain, which was not on its navigational charts. The photos show that the head-on crash 500 feet below the ocean's surface destroyed a sonar dome that formed the submarine's nose and peeled back part of the outer hull.
The accident, which killed one sailor and injured 60 others, occurred on Jan. 8 about 360 miles southeast of Guam. Navy officials said the submarine's crew had to take emergency measures to blast to the surface and then keep the vessel afloat.
The submarine's stronger inner hull, which protects the crew's living and working spaces, held firm, preventing a possible disaster.
Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a spokesman for the Pacific Fleet, said yesterday that the sonar dome, made of fiberglass, shattered in the crash and that parts of the dome were hanging loosely when the submarine returned to port.
He said the dome, which carries sonar gear, is normally flooded with water, adding that the water there, along with water in the vessel's forward ballast tanks, probably helped cushion the blow and keep the inner hull intact.
Norman Polmar, an author and analyst on Navy issues, agreed that the water, which fills the tanks when a submarine dives, "certainly would have protected and cushioned the inner hull and the crew inside."
The photos also show two doors that shuttered torpedo hatches. Commander Davis said they held and did not flood. In taking the photos, he said, the Navy placed a tarpaulin over the remaining sonar gear because the technology is classified.
Commander Davis also said no decision had been made about repairing the submarine or what that might cost.
The San Francisco, an attack submarine, was commissioned in 1981. Its nuclear reactor, which was not damaged, was refueled in 2002 during a $200 million overhaul meant to extend the vessel's life.
After the crash, sailors had to run an air blower for 30 hours to limit the water pouring in through holes in the forward ballast tanks and keep the vessel from sinking too low to maneuver.
Navy officials have said the San Francisco was traveling at high speed, more than 30 knots, when the crash occurred. They have reassigned its captain while investigators determine whether he bears any blame.
Military officials have said that the submarine's main chart was prepared in 1989 and did not show any potential hazards within three miles of the crash site. Satellite images taken since then show the wedge-shaped outline of the undersea mountain. But officials have said the agency that prepared the charts had never had the resources to use the satellite data to improve them.
Also yesterday, Kent D. Lee, the chief executive of East View Cartographic Inc., a map company based in Minneapolis, said Russian Navy charts indicate more hazards in that part of the ocean than were on the American charts, though they also fail to show the undersea mountain.
Mr. Lee said the Russian charts have been available for five years. He said one of the Russian charts noted that the area where the crash occurred had been "insufficiently surveyed." It also warned: "Cautionary measures should be taken when sailing."
Mark Allen Leonesio/U.S. Navy, via Associated Press
The Navy said it was still assessing the extent of the damage to the San Francisco, a nuclear submarine.
My goodness, that thing is trashed
Is that a single hull?
I hate when that happens...
...and, oh, yeah, it's Dubya's fault.
That is a LOT of damage. I would like to know what really happened and HOW it happened! These things are expensive!!
Chilling!
Holy Moly!!
No, the hull of a submarine is two parts, the outer hull, which is made of HY-80 steel in the case of the LA class subs, and the inner hull, which is much thicker and stronger. The ballast tanks are between the hulls.
Navy Releases Photos of Crash Damage to Nuclear Submarine
Posted by neverdem
On News/Activism 01/27/2005 8:29:43 PM PST · 7 replies · 25+ views
NY Times ^ | January 28, 2005 | CHRISTOPHER DREW
Submarine Collision Photo
Posted by Thebaddog
On News/Activism 01/27/2005 2:27:48 PM PST · 21 replies · 1,516+ views
Navy News Stand ^ | January 27, 2005
Navy photos of Submarine USS San Francisco in Dry Dock
(you won't believe the extent of damage!)
Posted by Boot Hill
On News/Activism 01/27/2005 12:42:24 PM PST · 425 replies · 15,290+ views
U.S. Navy ^
This is part of the fiberglass nose dome, the area behind it is flooded while submerged, so that the sonar dome can have full capability.
http://www.vaq34.com/junk/ussf2.jpg
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No, not going tin foil..But does anyone re-call the story a few years back about a U.S. Sub and a Russian sub colliding?
I did that to a Dodge van once...
(My dad almost killed me ;'}
wow...i thought they were suppossed to be good at driving these things
Thank God the most of the crew and the boat survived.
I don't understand why we didn't have better charts.
I know I shouldn't, but I'm laughing at the fact that they put a $30 dollar tarp on a multi-million dollar piece of equipment. Don't want all of the destruction to get wet, I guess...
DOH!
Wow! Ping and look at this!
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