Posted on 01/08/2005 3:19:47 AM PST by Jet Jaguar
HONOLULU (AP) - A nuclear submarine ran aground about 350 miles south of Guam, injuring several sailors, one of them critically, the Navy said.
There were no reports of damage to the USS San Francisco's reactor plant, which was operating normally, the Navy said.
Jon Yoshishige, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet based at Pearl Harbor, said the Friday afternoon incident is under investigation and the 360-foot submarine was headed back to its home port in Guam.
Details on the sailors' injuries were not immediately available. The sub has a crew of 137, officials said.
Military and Coast Guard aircraft from Guam were en route to monitor the submarine and assist if needed, the Navy said.
Guam is a U.S. territory about 3,700 miles southwest of Hawaii.
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On the Net:
U.S. Pacific Fleet: http://www.cpf.navy.mil
AP-ES-01-08-05 0343EST
Thank you for your service. My son and I recently watched a movie that showed the crews' activities preparing for a deep dive. I commented at the time, "There is no way I would get on a sub!" Of course, he looked at me like I was a silly girl, but I sticking by my reaction. Kudos to the brave men that serve on submarines.
"This isn't Matlock"
Sure, he's responsible because something broke. I'll agree that when a valve breaks loose, its his job to respond to it. But its not his fault that the valve break if it was a hidden, unknown design flaw - the Navy won't can a unique asset like a sub captain just because people on the internet think they should.
More things we don't know: maybe the Captain's expertise saved all their lives when they ran aground? Maybe he'll be given a medal for rising to the occasion? You don't know enough about the situation.
I'd recommend getting up to speed on naval matters or refrain from braying ignorance.
Guam is 7,307 miles from where the Sumatran Earthquake was. The sea floor hasn't changed there.
They probably have a medivac in progress, or its already done, but I would imagine a lot of people got banged up pretty good in a collision like that.
You cant medivac too many people, or you wont get it back to port. I'll bet the most serious are being sent for help and others are bandaged up and still working, unless Guam is sending 688 qualified personnel to assist by helo transfer.
This is a major casualty in progress. They have to keep up a sustained fight to get the ship back in port.
FWIW - While I doubt this is the case here, I heard a report yesterday that a spot in the Indian Ocean which used to be 4000 feet deep is now 100 feet deep. There are quite a few ships running around the Indian Ocean pinging fathometers to try and update charts ASAP. But like I said, not likely this far east.
"You don't understand and I don't have the time to explain.:
Well, I read Tom Clancy's book "Submarine". It talked about all the things a captain has to do to become a captain, how its the hardest thing in the world to become a sub captain. And it didn't say anything about them getting canned for unavoidable accidents while on a mission in shallow water. You weren't there when the orders were given, you don't know the objective, nor the circumstances surrounding it. You define ignorance with every word you type.
Submariners are some of the best people you can ever meet.
I still miss the guys...and its been a few years.
The cool stories was when people got sick and had REAL bad gas...now THAT could send people running.
Your dad had it right.
I served on three boats...four if you count TAD duty.
Its American Seamanship at its best when an injured crew can get this boat as far as it already is, and still keep up the fight.
These guys are already heros.
The forces in a collision like this are similar to a high speed collsion between an automobile and a tree. Make no mistake about it.
They go the boat to the surface ( major achievement) and are well on the way to getting it in port without it foundering, even though critical areas of the boat ( ballast tanks) are probably damaged.
Transferred out the wounded- and still kept it going in spite of their injuries.
It takes a damn good crew to do that.
Yup.... we can't condemn the Captain , we don't have all the facts ( and probably will not get all the facts ). If it was a unexpected loss of power or a design flaw in the sub, why should we blame the captain ? Even if they were using sonar, it could have been a large rock or something like that, that could have been affected by a earthquake.
"Husband just woke up and here is what he has to say about you and your Tom Clansey book: OK I will sit here with my 21 years as a qualified sub driver and defer to you, with your vast couch-potato hours reading escapist fiction. "
Why did that other Navy captain get away with a second run-aground? And the Submarine book was his non-fiction book about Submarines. And by the way, your husband wasn't on the submarine that went aground, so he's just as in the dark as you - and the rest of us.
I can tell you about grounding if you want.
Whether a Captain is relieved or not entirely depends on the findings of a Court of Inquiry which is held after the fact.
Even if he is innocent, he may still be relieved if the crew has lost confidence in him.
The CO is responsible for everything that happens on that ship, whether he knew it or not. Period. No wiggle room at all.
Several people. They must have been hauling butt.
BIG trouble for the skipper. He will have to stand tall before the man and explain how he ran the peoples ship onto a sand bar when it has ALL the equipment to prevent it from doing that.
After he explains all this and gets knocked down several ranks, he will then be mustered out of the navy or put somewhere they will never hear from him again.
Lots of finger pointing will be done, but, he is the skipper and he is the one responsible.
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