Posted on 12/29/2006 9:16:16 AM PST by AngloSaxonChristian
The nuclear-powered submarine is based at Norfolk, Virginia Two crew members of an American submarine have died after getting into trouble in Plymouth Sound. They were among four crewmen washed overboard while working on the outside casing of the USS Minneapolis-St Paul in poor weather conditions.
A rescue helicopter from RNAS Culdrose, a tug boat and a lifeboat were sent to the crew's aid while they were tied on to the side of the 110m (362ft) vessel.
The sailors were brought back to shore and taken by ambulance to hospital.
A spokesman for Brixham Coastguard said: "The four got into difficulties while on the outer casing of the submarine.
"They were unable to get back on board, they were tied on but getting battered about by the weather."
Two of the men appeared to be breathing with difficulty and were given CPR as they approached the shore.
They were taken to Derriford hospital in Plymouth.
The two other men were transferred to the sick bay at the HMS Drake.
A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesman confirmed two of the crew were pronounced dead on Friday afternoon and the coroner was being informed.
A joint investigation by police, the Ministry of Defence and the military has begun.
The American nuclear-powered attack submarine, which is based in Norfolk, Virginia, was leaving the harbour in Plymouth at the time of the incident and has since continued on its journey.
The Ministry of Defence said it could not comment on what the vessel was doing in British waters.
However, submarines have to travel through the Sound to get to and from the city's Devonport Naval Base.
The submarine has a complement of 137 enlisted officers and crew and can reach speeds exceeding 25 knots (29mph). Its weapons include torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles.
I keep forgetting in subs everyone is everybody's everything.Have a friend who was an NPO aboard Missile Subs. I asked him what his most diffcult task was.." Turning lead into gold is demanding but routine..."
Sad. Prayors for the sailors, and their families.
Actually, both of my boats had Deck Div, but yeah, mostly unrated strikers (A-Gang, junior sonarmen, etc).
I was lucky enough to not have to worry about that much--just sit at the panel and listen to everything over the 7MC whilst I sat in maneuvering (RO) and watched the throttleman go insane.
How sad. My sympathies and prayers for the families.
Here's an even more coherent story: http://www.wvec.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8MAMIPG2.html
Sounds like all four were using deck crawlers, but were they wearing kapoks?
Hard to say--there is a map posted there but since I was primarily West Coast I can't say anything, having never done a port visit to Plymouth.
But I do know that in places like Pearl you did have time to get everyone out before clearing Papa Hotel. In San Diego, you didn't.
That's what it sounds like. I was the bridge phone talker during too many maneuvering watches in the '70 and our line handlers were always below before we left the harbor.
Holy cow, and I only got out...what? Nine years ago.
"I know nothing about the Navy (I was Army) so this might be a stupid question,but....might this incident have been caused by circumstances/conditions (perhaps which arose suddenly) that the Captain could not have foreseen? Might these deaths have happened in spite of all safety procedures having been observed?"
I haven't served in either, but there is probably a different attitude towards men getting killed between the two services. In the navy, you typically will have some casualties in combat, but usually don't lose many men without losing the whole ship. In the army, there is more likely to be some casualties in any combat situation, so casualties due to accidents or hostile action may not reflect as badly on the commanders.
This type of news brings a tear to an old COB's eye.
Well, being a Guam sailor, I can tell you that we had everyone belowdecks (bridge being the exception) way before we hit the breakwater, and that transit from peirside to breakwater doesn't take long at all. I don't understand why they wouldn't have just putted along and pulled everyone in prior to leaving the harbor...unless the CO was in a major hurry. That is the only way I can see them leaving people topside, even though there is no reason to do that.
Sad to hear this. I wonder why they were still topside after leaving sheltered waters?
Maneuvering watches out of Guam were a whole lot shorter than anywhere else. As soon as topside was stowed, we'd wave that the ever-present Russian fishing trawler, pull the plug, and disappear into the Marians Trench.
Amen
In my time, it was a Chineese registered survey ship that was always there...and I am pretty sure that they still are. Given the choice between the transit out of Guam and the transit out of...pretty much anywhere else, Guam was a God send to us. The only time we spent time surfaced out of the breakwater was when we did surface drills.
Non-Navy types have a hard time understanding why everybody does everybody's job no matter what their rates are.
I was a Yeoman on a riverboat in Vietnam and I did every job but a Yeoman's.
I learned the Radioman's job for voice traffic but no CW.
I was trained in "Cum-shaw".
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