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."
I would say that boat is lucky it didn't hit it head on. As it is, the trip back to port must have been one long pucker.
Looks like my wife was driving it.
Looks like it was hit by an SUV!
did the airbags go off if so its totaled buy a new one
I'm betting the tarp is there to hide from prying eyes what some Clinton appointee has already sold to the Chinese
Further proof that two units of mass cannot occupy the same space at the same time.
what no posts yet about "oh no someone is going to see our top secret submarine design!!"
The tarp is to cover up classified equipment for the cameras.
Inertia sucks as much as gravity...
The writer of this story, Christopher Drew, along with Sherry Sontag, wrote Blind Man's Bluff. It's worth reading, and no tin-foil hats are needed. Those Cold-War warriors pulled some pretty amazing feats of underwater espionage.
Nevertheless, this kind damage wasn't caused by anything sinkable. Besides, the San Francisco undoubtedly brought back samples of whatever they hit. The Navy knows exactly what it was. We're free to guess, but my money is on an uncharted undersea mountain, hit during a high-speed deep transit.
This whole thing reminds me of a scene in the 1957 movie
"The Enemy Below".
The U-Boat Commander Stolberg (Kurt Jurgens) says to his First Officer Heinie Schwaffer (Ted Bikel), after the
U-Boat survived a depth charge attack:
"Yah Heinie, we build them good!"
I believe the Navy said the Captain of the Submarine would not be held responsible for the accident because the Charts he was navigating by did not show the underwater maountain he struck
30 dollars at home depot 3300 dollars at the tarp contractor
Oh Oh Time to call Maaco
(More seriously, I'm truly astounded that only one sailor died, especially with that kind of damage)
You break it you bought it.
The sub survived hitting a mountain 500 feet deep, going in excess of 30 knots. Makes me proud to be an American. Our boat yards really know how to put them together.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.