Nuclear Submarine Runs Aground South of Guam

The Associated Press ^ | Jan 8, 2005 | The Associated Press

[Severa]

There's only 3 Seawolf class boats: Seawolf, Connecticut, and the Jimmy Carter (she was commissioned the day Reagan died, that's why you didn't hear much on it)

Seawolf class, from what my husband had heard, was full of problems. Hence the Seawolf's nickname 'Pierwolf' or 'Building 21'

[EricT.]

The QMOW and Navigator have charts and track their position on these charts. They lay on a table near the back of Control. Anybody can see them there. I was just an IMA puke (from the local sub tender or Intermediate Maintenance Activity)fixing things and/or bumming a good meal in port and saw a few of them during "Fast Cruise" drills. If any known seamounts were near, they would be on the charts. I find it hard to believe that they would drive the boat flank speed willy-nilly near a charted seamount.

The investigation won't be fun. Hard questions will be asked hundreds of different ways. If the Cheif is shooting straight, it seems they just need the charts and a gps or internal nav fix on the position of the mystery mountain with everybody telling the same story and everyone should be in the clear. Possibly quite a few sailors may be up for some Navy Com's, Life Saving medals, or NAM's.

[mad_as_he$$]

Thank you! :-)

[dread78645]

... I find it hard to believe that they would drive the boat flank speed willy-nilly near a charted seamount.

Uhm, I think "uncharted" usually means it was not on the chart.
But that's just me.

[Ace_Bebop]

Well, the better handling comes from the fact that the bow planes are much farther forward, and closer to the keel (read farther away from the surface) than fairwater planes. It makes for slightly more stable platform, one easier to control.

[mad_as_he$$]

Thanks...I notice in video of the Ohios submerging that everybody in the control room looks like their about to have a cardiac. Is the transistion to an all wet hull that tricky?

[El Gran Salseron]

"Is the transistion to an all wet hull that tricky?"

Nah, divings and surfacings become routine and humdrum. They probably knew the cameras were rolling and got concerned looks on their faces for dramatic effect. :-)

[El Gran Salseron]

Thanks for the great post. I left the boats over 35 years ago and I'm still bursting with pride over the SF crew!

[deaconjim]

Thanks for the great post. Problem is, I have been lying awake for hours now, either visualizing what happened to them, or else remembering the hairier moments of my career. Sleep is being very evasive tonight. My prayers are with the family of the brave young man who gave his all for our benefit.

[MEG33]

Thank you, a sobering account..Prayers for all of the crew..

[Doohickey]

LOL we had a similar name for Sea Devil when I was in Charleston: Pier Devil.

[EricT.]

That was the point I was making, smarta$$.

[DonnerT]

Questions to all, Navigators in particular.

Is the equatorial circumference of the earth the same as the polar circumference?

Isn't one second of arc at the equator roughly 100ft?

If the polar axis of the earth shifted an inch how far did the equator move and in what direction?

If the crust of the earth moved in relation to the core would that in any way affect the position of global positioning sattelites in retation to the earth's surface?

If it did would that be like plotting your course on a clear surface over the chart and shifting the chart slightly under the course and wind up hitting someting you normally would have missed?

I know I'm not being very clear but that's why I pose the questions here. Can any of you help me get my mind around this and clear up my confusions?

DonnerT

[dread78645]

s the equatorial circumference of the earth the same as the polar circumference?

No. The earth bulges slightly at the equator due to spin; equatorial diameter is ~40 km (26 miles) greater than the polar.

Isn't one second of arc at the equator roughly 100ft?

1° = 60 nm
1´ = 1 nm = 2000yds
1´´ = 2000 / 60 = 33.3 yds = 100 ft.
Yep.

If the crust of the earth moved in relation to the core would that in any way affect the position of global positioning sattelites in retation to the earth's surface?

The each satellite's time reference would change by some incredibly small amount (probably how they discovered the shift in the first place), but that would have be done in a few hours before everything was back in sync.

If it did would that be like plotting your course on a clear surface over the chart and shifting the chart slightly under the course and wind up hitting someting you normally would have missed?

That's pretty hazardous. Submarines are extremely cautious when it comes to navigation.

[nmrancher]

Thanks for your post

My son has said the same thing to me. He went to the control room after impact to help out and he said the charts showed no geographical features.

He was eating lunch and debating with himself on whether to get dessert or not and said "ah, what the heck" and got some ice cream. He went back to his area in engineering and sat back down when the impact occurred. He remembers two impacts....the first was very hard and the second was a smaller bump. The back of his chair took most of the impact and he ended up sore and slightly bruised....if he hadn't decided to get some ice cream he would have been in the reactor area. At 6 feet 5 in. and 240 pounds, he would have become a formidable flying object. (The small pleasures of life are worthwhile and quite possibly lifesaving)!!

The memorial services for MM2 Ashley are today in Guam. I asked my son to try to have a few words with his father and to express condolensces from one crewmates father to the father of a fallen crewmember.

The CO is upbeat and taking the incident well; the Nav is really taking it hard. The crew have tremendous respect for their CO and are really hoping that he comes out well after the investigation, hearings, etc.

Lastly, as an Army vet of the Vietnam War, thank you to all the submariners, current and veteran, for your insightful information on this thread. It has given this ol' desert rat clarity on the nature and severity of this accident.

[DonnerT]

I see. A decimal point error.

1"(second)= 1000ft
0.1"= 100ft and 0.01"= 10ft and 0.003" would be 3ft?

Wasn't suggesting that plotting actually done on clear film over chart. Would be stupid.

Was thinking that slight global shift and increase in rotation speed might cause error in beginning reference point. But trianulation with GPS should not be affected.

Thanks. A little clearer now.

[DonnerT]

trianulation = triangulation

[SmithL]

"Is the transistion to an all wet hull that tricky?"

Sure, Fast Attacks like the San Francisco get to dive and surface on a regular basis, but the Boomers that I rode (pre-Ohio) only averaged one dive and one surface per patrol.

OK, sea trials were different, and we got to do real submarine things then, but that first dive was always significant. It had been three and a half months since we'd been underwater, and there would have been a lot of turnover during the off-crew period.

[IonImplantGuru]

I wonder how many people sustained neck injuries from being thrown forward (or out of) in their bunk.

That's why I personally always slept with my feet towards the bow, if possible. I figured lots of things could bring us to a relatively rapid stop (never dreamed of anything like this, needless to say) - but the chance of getting flung aft by quick acceleration just wasn't gonna happen in a 5,000 or 10,000 ton displacement vessel!

[El Gran Salseron]

Well, I started on the old diesel boats and did only TAD time on the nukes.

On the diesel boats sometimes we used to dive and surface several times a day. :-)

As I said in the previous post. It became "old hat" and routine. :-)