"Report: Sub came close to sinking

The Navy's only diesel submarine, the San Diego-based Dolphin, came within 75 seconds of sinking in May as seawater flooded several compartments and electrical power failed, according to a report released yesterday.

And if the ship had sunk, investigators concluded, there was no possibility of rescuing the crew because the Dolphin is the only Navy sub without a standard rescue hatch.

The 41 sailors and two civilians aboard the research sub were apparently saved by using portable pumps and lashing a steel door shut. Both actions forestalled sinking after waves burst through the door of a conning tower the night of May 21 about 100 miles off San Diego, a Navy spokeswoman said.

When flooding shorted out all electrical power 50 minutes later, the crew abandoned ship and swam through 12-foot waves, churned by 20-mph winds, to a nearby research boat and frigate. A Coast Guard helicopter plucked two sailors from the water. Several sailors suffered minor injuries.

The crew "did an outstanding job," said Navy spokeswoman Lt. Kim Marks. "Their actions and training allowed them to save the submarine." Investigators targeted the improper design and installation of a reinforced steel door and incorrect gasket for allowing tons of seawater to flood the sub, filling several large compartments and causing electrical shorts that eventually blacked out the ship.

Blame centered on improper procedures by officials at the Space and Naval Warfare Command Systems Center in San Diego, which uses the research sub, when the door was modified several weeks before the accident.

Navy officials have not decided on any disciplinary action. "What we do is improve the process so we'll keep this from happening again," Marks said.

Navy officials have not decided whether the Dolphin will be repaired, at an estimated cost of $9.9 million, or scrapped. The Dolphin is a one-of-a-kind submarine built 24 years ago as a research vessel. It holds the official record as the world's deepest-diving submarine.

At just 18 feet in diameter, the submarine has no internal watertight bulkheads separating its seven compartments. The vessel's only hatch is inside its small conning tower and must be kept open while the submarine is surfaced so that air can be drawn inside for breathing and running the diesel engines that recharge batteries for its electric motors.

In mid-May, the Navy was testing new torpedoes that can attack quiet diesel submarines used by many foreign navies. The Dolphin, with its quiet engines, was the target for the non-exploding test torpedoes.

On the night of May 21, the seas were heavy. The conning tower of the Dolphin, which was running on the surface, was being pummeled by the waves.

A reinforced conning-tower door, installed for the torpedo tests, failed. Changed just a month earlier, the wrong gasket was installed and handles meant to seal the door against water were improperly designed, investigators determined. Waves popped the door open, allowing water to cascade through the sub's main hatch.

About 10:50 p.m., crewmen noticed water flooding through the hatch. It quickly filled the pump room, located below the sub's control room. Officials later estimated 1,000 pounds of water flowed into the ship every second.

For 90 minutes, the crew tried to stop the water. First, the regular pumps failed because of electrical shorts. Crewmen used two portable pumps to remove the rapidly rising water.

The vessel came within 75 seconds of "losing all positive buoyancy" and sinking with all hands, investigators concluded.

Had the sub sunk, there would have been no chance of rescuing the crew because the Dolphin is not equipped with standard rescue hatches like the Navy's nuclear submarines. And with the sea floor 3,000 feet down, trapped sailors would have perished, investigators concluded.

The Navy has a specialized sub, the deep-submergence rescue vehicle Mystic, based at North Island Naval Air Station. It's designed to dive as deep as 5,000 feet, link up with a rescue hatch on a submarine and take aboard survivors.

However, the Dolphin's single hatch is inaccessible, inside the conning tower, with no way for the rescue sub to connect.

"They're lucky they all got out," said former submariner Larry Shumaker. He tested the first rescue sub in the 1970s.

18 feet diameter - sounds almost as tiny as the SS Bowfin, which you can tour...it's adjacent to the Pearl Harbor Memorial, but highly underpublicized. Well worth the stop.

After one tours that World War II sub, there is definite appreciation for the deprivation these heroes endured. The word "spartan" doesn't begin to do justice here.

"Officials later estimated 1,000 pounds of water flowed into the ship every second.

For 90 minutes, the crew tried to stop the water."

Do the math and it comes out to 2,700 tons of water. The sub only displaces 950 tons fully loaded.

I think the "officials" who did this estimation were the same ones who designed the hatch and never tested it?

"18 feet diameter - sounds almost as tiny as the SS Bowfin, which you can tour...it's adjacent to the Pearl Harbor Memorial, but highly underpublicized. Well worth the stop."

Yes, it is. We went thru it back in the early 80's. Very VERY cramped.

I'm on my misleading-headline kick today. Headline should read, "Sub Crews Overcome Pump Failures"

The idea that the sub was "75 seconds from sinking" makes me look around and see what other "news" stories we might have today:

"Car Comes Within 75 Seconds Of Hitting Truck"
"Alitalia 747 Comes Within 75 Seconds Of Missing Runway"
"Mail Van Comes Within 2 Feet Of Mailbox"
"Amtrack Acela Comes Within 10 Seconds Of Being Late"
"Tiger Woods Comes Within 3 Shots Of Losing"
"SAT Whiz Comes Within 30 Seconds Of Not Getting Perfect 1600"
"New York Times Almost Reports Flattering GOP Story"

Point being, everyday life is always a matter of inches, often by design. The crew on the sub did its job in overcoming equipment failures. So what? That's not news. Dog bites man isn't news. Man ALMOST bites dog isn't news. If man DOES bite dog, then it becomes news.

I see weasel headlines every day which could, just as easily, be written the other way. "Plan Might Impact Cemetary." OK, but the "Plan Might NOT Impact Cemetary," too. Better to say "Plan's Full Impact Unclear."

Of course, they aren't exactly lining up at my front door to get me to write their headlines, so....

Michael

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