Posted on 01/29/2007 10:45:57 AM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
BAHRAIN (NNS) -- Rear Adm. Douglas J. McAneny, commander, Combined Task Force 54, completed administrative personnel actions involving select members of the USS Newport News (SSN 750) crew, Jan. 29, including relieving Cmdr. Matthew A. Weingart of command due to a lack of confidence in his ability to command. Capt. Norman B. Moore has temporarily assumed command of the Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine.
Following a collision between Newport News and M/V Mogamigawa, Jan. 8, the submarine pulled into port in Bahrain where it is currently undergoing a damage inspection and assessment, to be followed by temporary repairs. The submarine will return to the United States once temporary repairs are complete at which time permanent repairs will be conducted. Legal and safety mishap investigations are in progress.
No U.S. Sailors or merchant crew members were injured in the collision.
For related news, visit the Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/cusnc/.
Easy misread to make...I do believe there's a lot of placating the Japanese going on here.
Have you lost your mind? Worse than Pearl? Not even close.
This collision was in the Straits of Hormuz - which is a nasty passage but nowhere near as narrow as Pearl. What makes Hormuz so difficult is all the danged Omani and Iranian gun boats in the way.
The Bahrain approach is narrow - but again, not as bad as Pearl. As long as 5th Fleet keeps track of that shifting sand bar near the green daymarker it's pretty straight forward and can be done in varying tide conditions.
Pearl is a 2-window per day animal - and if you want daylight it comes back to once a day - and you've got to hope your skipper has enough seniority to get a good slot because it can get plenty busy on a Friday afternoon. I've seen more than 1 ship miss the tides because they were too far down the list.
Unfortunately, this is SOP. I have no doubt that the former Skipper is an outstanding man, but he knew the job was dangerous when he took it....
yeah...The guy who gets really screwed is the XO, an LCDR with 14-15 and doesn't have a prayer of making 20.
Pearl doesn't have 18-20 Million barrels of oil a day transiting either.
Read it again - he relieved someone else. There was no was in the sentence!
If it's really that dangerous, then transiting the SOH while submerged is nuts. Our subs should SURFACE when transiting the SOH.
Perhaps this accident will force that sensible change.
I know getting your ship or sub dinged is a no no, but we shouldn't relieve captains or commanders who otherwise are competent. Otherwise, all the remaining officers will become overcautious and that is not a good mindset when the real bad times of incoming bullets and bombs start.
That lets your opponent know the sub's there. Kind of defeats the purpose.
No kidding. Got to wonder what sort of surveillance assets the Iranians have deployed along the straight. I'm sure their buddies the Russians have helped out there.....
The D.C. suburbs, and elsewhere, are filled with good military people who caught an unlucky break.
"If it's really that dangerous, then transiting the SOH while submerged is nuts. Our subs should SURFACE when transiting the SOH. "
Yeah, it is nuts going through there submerged.
That is what subs do. Their purpose is to remain hidden and not let the bad guys know where they are. On the surface, some raghead in a speedboat with an RPG can compromise the boat's ability to complete its mission.
Someone somewhere has done all the risk assessments and decided that submerged is best. Its the individual boat skipper that has to carry out that order, placing his career on the line.
Maybe those risk assessments should be reassessed. I've always questioned the value of sub deployments in the shallow Persian Gulf anyway. Maybe for something like a commando raid -- maybe. But I don't see much point for anything other than that. Subs can fire Tomahawks from outside the SOH, and we sure don't need them to sink ships in the confined waters of the Gulf; aircraft can do that.
BUMP!
To All,
My bad! I thought the collision occured in the transit into Bahrain. SOH is bad (traffic) but Malacca is much worse. Thanks to all for the correction.
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