Posted on 03/20/2009 6:48:01 AM PDT by Scythian
The New Orleans is an LPD, LAnding PLatform Dock. She is an amphibious assault ship, tonnage at about 25,000 tons. Fourth San Antonio Class LPD commissioned. She was commissioned in 2007.
She is designed for delivering MArines to shore either by LCAC (Air Cushioned Landing Craft), or by helicopter and is well armed for self defense.
Commander Scott Davies, a native of Texas, grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota and received his commission through the NROTC program at Marquette University in 1989.
Those Straits are tight...both should not have been transitting at the same time. Maybe the sub was on patrol. Either way, major screw up.
Yes I corrected myself in a later post. Man that’s a sweet looking ship.
Shiphandling and basic seamanship have little to do with a collision involving a submerged vessel.
The primary fault for this, so it appears from the articles I have read, will lie with the Hartford. A ship on the surface has little or no ability to avoid a submerged vessel.
For those that are recalling the order of precedence and thinking - wait - don’t subs get precedence, shouldn’t the assumption be the OTHER way? No, submarines only have precedence when they are operating on the surface. Once submerged they lose precedence and assume the burden of avoidance in almost every instance.
LOL! Nice one.
No, you’ve been listening to the financial news too much lately, got him mixed up with Bawney.
Someone is meaconing subs.
Ya mean sailors? sheeesh
No. Soldiers.
That's why they collided.
"Hey, Sarge, ya know that Navy officer that thinks that you're an Indian and keeps calling you 'Chief', did he say that 'starboard' was left or right?"
Oh c'mon. I know you like to think of yourself as an expert on naval matters but now we're getting into stupid. Have you ever transited the Straits of Hormuz? I have, quite a few times, and because of my job I was the one who laid the track we used. They are plenty wide and plenty deep. It's a stressful transit due to the sheer amount of shipping traffic but the Traffic Separation Scheme keeps everyone on a fairly predictable track. As far as the navigation (keeping the ship in safe water) goes it is a piece of cake.
Kind of reflects poorly on their command in chief. You know, the one who expects to be taken seriously by Iran when he says he wants to improve relations. The ship of state is a ship of fools.
I taught my son that as long as he reacts fast to changes on a boat he is much more likely to avoid an emergency, and planning ahead, such as not letting passengers sit on the cabin top while running downwind or tacking, knowing what's around and beneath you at all times, along with not assuming anyone knows, much less is abiding by the rules of the road, are just the beginning of the constant mental checklist that must be maintained at all times on the water, preferrably by the entire crew, but absolutely by the skipper.
I'll be polite and not offer my opinion of your rule number one as long as you promise to tell your son that you were mistaken.
My husband spent 12, he doesn’t see how this happens either....
I do not consider my elf an expert in the least. Just a person who is interested. My father served in WW II and thereafter, and my son-in-law serves now...so I have definite interests. But am more than willing to admit my own shortcomings and listen to people who actually are expert...while still developing my own opinions and views on the matter as a result of all of that.
My wording regarding the staaits above was incorrect, particularly from a pure navigation standpoint. I still maintain that the transit can be hazardous...and that there was a significant error that led to this collission.
Yachting is suppose to be an enjoyable experience and a good skipper controls his vessel weary of emergency's and confident they can manage them.
It is the good ones that make it look easy.
When they started letting idiots write for news stories...
The article currently reads "Fifteen sailors aboard the Hartford were slightly injured but able to return to duty."
They must have correct it.
Yes they are a "chokepoint" in the sense that a large portion of the world's oil traffic passes through them but they are much larger than most people realize. There is no reason an LPD and SSN couldn't transit through at the time. Where they failed was trying to transit though in the same space. That doesn't work no matter where you are.
The Straits are vital because of oil...and we have placed ourselves in a position to make them part of our national interest when, IMHO, they should not be nearly to the extent that they are.
We have plenty of oil, if we had the will as a people to go after it and force our pols to act accordingly...to reduce the strategic interest of that area. But now I diverge away from the topic.
Here's more detailed info out of the BBC regarding the collission itself.
A nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Hartford, and amphibious transporter the USS New Orleans collided early on Friday, the US Navy Fifth Fleet said.
The incident is being investigated and damage to both ships is being evaluated, a navy statement said.
The New Orleans' fuel tank was ruptured in the crash, causing a spill of 25,000 gallons (90,000 litres) of diesel.
No injuries were reported aboard the New Orleans, according to the statement from the Fifth Fleet, which is based in Bahrain.
The atomic propulsion system of the submarine was not damaged by the incident, the statement said.
The navy said both vessels were on regularly scheduled deployments to the region and conducting security operations.
"Both ships are currently operating under their own power," said the statement.
Shipping was not disrupted in the strait after the incident, the navy added.
"There is no disruption to shipping traffic in the strait. Both ships are operating under their own power and have passed through the strait," said Lieutenant Nathan Christensen, a Fifth Fleet spokesman.
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