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PAKTIKA PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN (NNS) -- Life has been full of surprises for Petty Officer Matthew P. Julian of Greece, Rochester, NY. As a culinary specialist assigned to the submarine USS San Francisco, Julian didn’t expect the tour to include a rotation in the mountains of Afghanistan as an Individual Augmentee, pulled from his normal job to directly support Operation Enduring Freedom. But despite being an IA deployed more than eight thousand feet above sea level and half a world away from his boat’s homeport of Bremerton Wash., Julian found that out of sight doesn’t mean out of mind. Julian was...

NEW FRANKLIN - Joey Ashley played drums and clarinet in the Manchester High School marching band. On Friday, Oct. 28, during the halftime band show at the Manchester football game against Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, the 1999 Manchester graduate who died in a submarine accident will be honored by the band. A patriotic halftime show will be dedicated to Ashley, band director Nathan Sensabaugh said. After Ashley's death, his parents, Dan and Vicki Ashley, donated his clarinet and his quad drums to the high school. On Friday night, Kelly Robertson, 18, a senior, will play Ashley's clarinet and Nate Duncan,...

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy announced May 9 the completion of the investigation into the Jan. 8 accident aboard the submarine USS San Francisco (SSN 711) that claimed the life of one Sailor. San Francisco struck an undersea mountain about 360 miles southeast of its Guam homeport because its leaders and watch teams failed to develop and execute a safe voyage plan, the command investigation into the incident concluded. "The findings of fact show that San Francisco, while transiting at flank (maximum) speed and submerged to 525 feet, hit a seamount that did not appear on the...

Navy Faults navigational procedures In crash Of Sub San Francisco's Crew Failed To Recognize Warnings, Report Says By ROBERT A. HAMILTON Day Staff Writer, Navy/Defense/Electric Boat Published on 4/9/2005 A Navy report on the submarine that hit a sea mount in the Pacific three months ago will conclude that there was a serious breakdown in navigation procedures that led to the accident, which killed one sailor and injured more than half the crew, Navy sources have told The Day. The report, which could be released as early as this month, will cite problems with the USS San Francisco's chart preparation...

Six submariners assigned to the submarine USS San Francisco have been punished for dereliction of duty or putting a vessel in danger in connection with a Jan. 8 incident in which the submarine slammed into a seamount in the Pacific, killing one sailor and injuring 98 others. The San Francisco was making a trip to Australia when it came to periscope depth to fix its position accurately a little more than 400 miles southwest of Guam. Minutes after diving, and while traveling at a high rate of speed, the submarine hit a seamount in an area where official Navy charts...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The captain of a U.S. submarine that hit an undersea mountain last month in the western Pacific, killing one sailor and injuring 23 others, will be relieved of command, Pentagon officials said Friday. Navy Cmdr. Kevin Mooney will not be charged with any crime and will not be court-martialed. He received a nonjudicial punishment, most likely in the form of a letter of reprimand from his commander, this week, officials said. Such punishment typically ends an officer's career. Mooney was reassigned pending an investigation after the severely damaged the USS San Francisco returned to its home port...

The amount of damage is simply staggering! That this boat ever made it back to port is a tribute to its designers, builders, and especially to the crew and captain. How does America keep finding men like these? High resolution version here High resolution version here

Sailors on the San Francisco, a nuclear-powered attack submarine, had just finished cleaning the vessel last Saturday as it sped along 500 feet beneath the surface of the South Pacific. Submarines run blind, just listening for sounds of danger. And to the captain and other officers relying on undersea navigation charts, everything seemed clear. Suddenly, there was a horrible screeching. And according to an e-mail message written by a crew member, the inside of the submarine quickly resembled a scene from the movie "The Matrix." He wrote, "Everything slowed down and levitated and then went flying forward faster than the...

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...