Dead US submarine crew are named

BBC Newa ^ | 01 January, 2007 | BBC

[brityank]

Dead US submarine crew are named

The nuclear-powered submarine is based at Norfolk, Virginia

The United States Navy has named two of its submarine servicemen who died after falling overboard in UK waters.

They were among four crewmen who were working in poor weather on the outside casing of the USS Minneapolis-St Paul in Plymouth Sound, Devon, on Friday.

The men were taken to hospital, where two of them were pronounced dead.

The dead men were named as Senior Chief Thomas Higgins, 45, of Paducah, Kentucky, and Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Holtz, 30, of Lakewood, Ohio.

The US Navy said in a statement on Sunday that the cause of the accident remained under investigation.

A joint inquiry is being carried out by Devon and Cornwall Police, the United States Navy and the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

'Sad loss'

The nuclear-powered submarine was leaving Plymouth's Devonport naval base at the time of the incident after a week's stay.

Coastguards said the four sailors were tied to the 110m (362ft) vessel and were being "battered about" by the weather.

The men were taken to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, where Senior Chief Higgins and Petty Officer Holtz were pronounced dead.

The two other men were treated for minor injuries and transferred to the sick bay at the HMS Drake to recover.

The submarine pilot, the two rescued sailors and MoD personnel who were escorting the vessel out of the port were being questioned by police in the inquiry.

They may also speak to personnel aboard the submarine.

A US Navy spokesman said: "Our thoughts and sympathies are first and foremost with the families and loved ones of the sailors who sadly lost their lives in this incident."

The Virginia-based submarine has been operating under the US Sixth Fleet since October.

It has a complement of 137 officers and enlisted crew and can reach speeds exceeding 25 knots (29mph). Its weapons include torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

[brityank]

Follow-up for Two crew die in submarine tragedy

[FlingWingFlyer]

Prayers up for these two sailors. God bless them and their families. They were there for us.

[SmithL]

Ping

[inkling]

Silent Service Bump.

Prayers sent for these two heroes. May God bless their families.

[org.whodat]

There is no reason for this wast of life, some commander needs to be in the brig.

[BlessedBeGod]

Prayers for the sailors and their families.

[BIGLOOK]

On patrol......

Godspeed Senior Chief Higgins and Petty Officer Holtz.

[SmithL]

Well, at least your tagline reinforces your post.

[Bottom_Gun]

Prayers for these brothers, and their families in these trying times

[bnelson44]

I've walked on the deck of an LA class sub, it would be very easy to slip off of it.

[Criminal Number 18F]

Yep. Never been on this class boat, but sub decks in general are not real happy places when surfaced. And if you go off it's a bear to get back on.

Even in peacetime, many military jobs are very risky. The sea always has hazards, and Poseidon never takes a day off.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[livius]

Very sad. Prayers for our sailors. My son was in the Navy and regarded submarine work as probably the most dangerous.

[BooBoo1000]

I would appreciate it if someone could give me a good reason to be out working on those slippery decks, while underway.

[Zhang Fei]

I sure hope the captain had them up there during lousy weather for a good reason. If not, he needs to be released into the private sector.

[dasboot]

Necessity; guts; honor.

[dasboot]

I also note that these were not 20-year-old SLJO's. These were seasoned sailors, probably volunteering for a dangerous task that they wouldn't want one of their younger sailors to risk life for.

[rottndog]

They have to have a small crew topside to transfer the Pilot off the boat once the boat is clear of the harbor. As soon as the Pilot is off the boat, topside is cleared and the hatch is closed. It sounds like they just got caught in some bad conditions during this procedure, and unfortunately men were washed overboard.

[csvset]

Local newspaper story

Norfolk-based sailors were motivated men, say family, friends

By Kate Wiltrout, The Virginian-Pilot
© January 1, 2007
Last updated: 12:56 AM

NORFOLK - Charles McCarty usually loves watching the Bengals play the Steelers.

An Ohio native, McCarty roots for Cincinnati while his roommate, Mike, always cheers on Pittsburgh.

This Sunday, though, the NFL match up between the two teams was another reminder that McCarty's friend, roommate and comrade Michael J. Holtz will never again sit next to him on the couch and shout at the TV.

Holtz, a petty officer 2nd class, was one of two crew members of the Minneapolis -St. Paul killed after being swept overboard Friday when the Norfolk-based submarine was leaving port in England. The other was the submarine's highest-ranking enlisted sailor, a position known as cob, for "chief of the boat."

Senior Chief Petty Officer Thomas Higgins, 45, is survived by his wife and teenage son in Chesapeake.

The Navy on Sunday released the victims' names but offered no further details on the incident, in which four sailors working atop the partially submerged boat were knocked into heavy seas whipped by strong winds. It's customary for submariners to be on deck when a sub is coming into or leaving port. All were tethered to the sub.

A rescue helicopter took the sailors to a hospital in Plymouth, England. Two suffered minor injuries.

Holtz, a sonar technician who grew up in Lakewood, Ohio, was 30. He is survived by family and a girlfriend in Ohio, as well as a school-age son from a previous relationship, said McCarty, a petty officer 1st class who had served on the Minneapolis -St. Paul alongside Holtz.

He remembered Holtz as a prankster and a sports fan who constantly searched TV and the Internet for scores of baseball, basketball and football games. Both from Ohio, they rooted against each other's teams in the NFL but shared a passion for Ohio State University football. They've shared a place for three years.

"I finally had somebody here that I could watch football with," McCarty said.

His buddy was a great sailor, McCarty said, "always wanting to get the job done. He didn't like screwing around, wasting time. He was a motivated guy."

Thomas Higgins' siblings described their brother as motivated, too - so motivated by the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001, in fact, that he decided not to go through with his planned retirement.

His family tried to get him to take a civilian job, older sister Judith Scheffler said in a phone interview from Mayfield, Ky., but Higgins wouldn't hear of it.

"He'd been in a long time, and we thought he'd done enough," Scheffler said. "He said, 'This is what I do. I need to be able to do something for the country.' "

Extending his tour led to Higgins attaining a position called "cob," typically held by a sailor with more sea experience than anyone else aboard, including the captain.

Hal Higgins said his younger brother was eager to return to sea after years of shore duty, which included teaching and serving on an admiral's staff in Groton, Conn. "This was his first assignment as a cob, and he was very proud of that," said Hal Higgins, who also served in the Navy as a submariner. "That's why he stayed in."

Trained as an electronics technician, Thomas Higgins served aboard the submarines Shark, Billfish and Albuquerque, as well as the submarine tender Frank Cable, family members said.

Despite his military bearing, Scheffler described her kid brother as quiet, sweet and gentle. His 23 years in uniform didn't harden him, she said.

Higgins - who had been stationed in Washington, South Carolina and Connecticut before relocating to Virginia a few years ago - loved nothing more than tinkering with old cars. He'd recently revived an old Ford Bronco, Hal Higgins said.

The biggest joy in his life was his 16-year-old son and his wife of almost 20 years, Scheffler and Higgins agreed. He worked a lot, so what little free time he had he spent with his son and beneath the engine of whatever car he was working on.

Both the Holtz and Higgins families are still working out funeral arrangements.

The Navy has not released the names of the two sailors injured in the incident, but Lt. Cmdr. Chris Loundermon, a spokesman for the Atlantic Fleet's submarine force, said they will rejoin the crew at its next port call, probably in a few days.

The Minneapolis- St. Paul left Norfolk in October and spent the week of Christmas moored at Plymouth's Devonport Naval Base. The Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine has a crew of about 135. It was commissioned in 1984.

The incident is still under investigation, and Loundermon said no more details would be released until the investigation is complete.

• Reach Kate Wiltrout at (757) 446-2629 or kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com.

[centurion316]

You must be correct, best explanation that I've heard. Conditions must have been dicey for the Chief of the Boat to be on the working party.

[brityank]

Ping for the VA Pilot story from csvset -- thank you. Please let your fellow bubble-heads know.

As someone else surmised, was probably a Pilot transfer after leaving port -- all ships and boats are required to have a local Pilot into and out of dock or anchor when available. Stormy transfers are no fun on ships either, but on subs has to be ten times as dangerous to all.

God Bless them, their families, and the crew.