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Navy investigates Hormuz collision
Stars and Stripes ^ | 31 Mar 09 | Sandra Jontz

Posted on 03/31/2009 9:56:17 AM PDT by GATOR NAVY

The collision earlier this month between two U.S. Navy vessels in the Strait of Hormuz left a surface ship with a gaping hole in its fuel tank and caused a submarine to roll about 85 degrees, U.S. Navy officials said Monday.

The March 20 collision between the amphibious assault ship USS New Orleans and the fast-attack nuclear submarine USS Hartford slightly injured about 15 sailors aboard the sub, and spilled oil from the ship into the strait.

The Navy has launched two formal investigations to determine why the vessels collided and who might be at fault for the collision.

The Judge Advocate General Manual Investigation is being led by Capt. Craig Kleint, the Dock Landing Ship Class Squadron commodore, said Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/5th Fleet.

A senior submarine officer, a Navy captain whose name is not being publicly released until the end of the probe, will head the safety investigation, Christensen said.

No action has been taken against either of the vessels’ commanding officers, Christensen said. The Hartford is commanded by Cmdr. Ryan Brookhart and the New Orleans by Cmdr. Scott Davies.

Investigators believe the Hartford, submerged at the time of the incident, rolled about 85 degrees during the collision, which might have caused or contributed to the sailors’ injuries.

Despite the roll, engineering investigators confirmed to Navy officials that the submarine’s nuclear propulsion was unaffected in the crash. However, according to a Navy news release, the Hartford sustained damage to its periscope and sail — the tower-like structure that juts from the top of the submarine — and the port bow plane, or the wing on the sail’s left side.

As a result of the March collision, the New Orleans sustained a "very sizable" 16-by-18 foot hole in a fuel tank, and two damaged ballast tanks, Christensen said. No sailors or embarked Marines were injured.

The collision caused 25,000 gallons of diesel fuel to leak into the Persian Gulf from the New Orleans.

Both vessels, though damaged, were able to sail under their own power and arrived in Bahrain on March 21, where crews assessed the damage and began repairs.

The Navy has given investigators a deadline of 30 days from March 24, Christensen said. Final reports will be submitted to Naval Forces Central Command.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: hormuz; navy; usshartford; ussneworleans
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Investigators believe the Hartford, submerged at the time of the incident, rolled about 85 degrees during the collision, which might have caused or contributed to the sailors’ injuries.

Ya think?


1 posted on 03/31/2009 9:56:17 AM PDT by GATOR NAVY
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To: GATOR NAVY

Good grief...is that an optical illusion or is the sail actually BENT where it joins the hull?

}:-)4


2 posted on 03/31/2009 9:59:16 AM PDT by Moose4 (Hey RNC. Don't move toward the middle. MOVE THE MIDDLE TOWARD YOU.)
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To: Moose4

No optical illusion


3 posted on 03/31/2009 9:59:56 AM PDT by PurpleMan
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To: GATOR NAVY
> caused a submarine to roll about 85 degrees

Isn't that the way
submarines sink? They roll and
their ballast tanks fill?

I wonder if this
was bad seamanship, or if
James Bond stuff happened . . .

4 posted on 03/31/2009 10:00:40 AM PDT by theFIRMbss
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To: Moose4
>is the sail actually BENT where it joins the hull?

One time I drove my
dad's Nissan over a ledge--
the frame bent like that . . .

5 posted on 03/31/2009 10:02:04 AM PDT by theFIRMbss
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To: theFIRMbss

I am pretty sure the ballast tanks are full of air when they are surfaced, and there are valves that are closed so they don’t fill with water.


6 posted on 03/31/2009 10:04:10 AM PDT by Anti-Kenyan
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To: GATOR NAVY
Here is a shot of the vessel that struck the Hartford.

Photobucket

Armed with a single MA-2 .50 caliber Browning, this much feared naval vessel carries up to 30 rounds of armor piercing ammunition. It is the first in an entirely new naval architecture being pushed on the Pentagon by the defense minded Obama Administration as a cost-saving measure. If you look closely, you can see the heavy-duty seat restraint which prevents the pilot/gunner – Kamakazi Kowalski – from leaping from the vessel prior to engaging the enemy. The 12 V trolling motor – which lacks a reverse function -- propels this sophisticated craft forward at a top speed of 4 knots. Reverse travel – at approximately 35 knots -- is achieved by firing the Browning.

7 posted on 03/31/2009 10:05:36 AM PDT by Dick Bachert
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To: Moose4

There is a hi-res version of this photo here (I'm not going to post it, it is really huge) that shows the break between the hull and the sail very well.

8 posted on 03/31/2009 10:08:10 AM PDT by GATOR NAVY
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To: GATOR NAVY

I think we just found the skipper of the Navy’s newest garbage scow.


9 posted on 03/31/2009 10:12:39 AM PDT by Trod Upon (Obama: Making the Carter malaise look good. Misery Index in 3...2...1)
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To: Robe

Bump


10 posted on 03/31/2009 10:16:05 AM PDT by Robe (Rome did not create a great empire by talking, they did it by killing all those who opposed them)
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To: GATOR NAVY
A couple of years ago the USS Hartford ran aground in Italy. The hull was significantly damaged with that accident. It had to return to base at Groton slowly and with escort. I knew several crewmen on the Hartford at that time and said the Atlantic crossing was rough to say the least.
11 posted on 03/31/2009 10:16:25 AM PDT by vetvetdoug
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To: GATOR NAVY

That’ll buff out...


12 posted on 03/31/2009 10:19:42 AM PDT by gridlock (Obama is beyond the point where incompetence is an adequate explaination.)
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To: gridlock

My dad is a TV repairman...he has an awesome set of tools.....


13 posted on 03/31/2009 10:25:43 AM PDT by rightwingextremist1776
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To: Moose4
...and the port bow plane, or the wing on the sail’s left side...

Nyet, the forward planes on 688I's are located at the bow. The older 688s have sail-mounted planes.

14 posted on 03/31/2009 10:28:23 AM PDT by Jonah Hex ("Never underestimate the hungover side of the Force.")
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To: GATOR NAVY

That’s beyond McIver and duct tape. Dum-dum might work. ;)


15 posted on 03/31/2009 10:29:19 AM PDT by Vinnie (You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Jihads You)
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To: rightwingextremist1776
>My dad is a TV repairman...he has an awesome set of tools.....


16 posted on 03/31/2009 10:33:25 AM PDT by theFIRMbss
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To: Robe

bump


17 posted on 03/31/2009 10:38:30 AM PDT by quikdrw (Life is tough....it's even tougher if you are stupid.)
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To: GATOR NAVY

The sub was submerged and therefore at fault. Period.


18 posted on 03/31/2009 10:41:39 AM PDT by ExpatGator (Extending logic since 1961.)
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To: rightwingextremist1776
I used to own an identical Z.
Pretty much wrecked it the same way.
That scene sort of makes me cry.
19 posted on 03/31/2009 10:44:17 AM PDT by mowowie
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To: gridlock
"That’ll buff out..."

Somehow I'm thinking that MACO is'nt going to honor their $199.99 special on the billboards...

20 posted on 03/31/2009 10:48:18 AM PDT by Abathar (Proudly posting without reading the article carefully since 2004)
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