The incident was very touch and go. They were at depth and near flank speed.The the petty officer at the helm immeadiatly did an emergency blow,(with a broken arm)to surface the ship.Zack's compartment was filling with water, and while looking for the source was sprayed in the face when he became aware it was not sea water. There were no hull breaches and no high pressure steam leaks.
Two of the ships three bow ballast tanks were compromised severly and a air pump rated only for intermittent service was employed for more than 30 hours to provide bouyancy in those tanks.There were two risky option to keep the boat afloat if there were a pump failure, thank goodness the pump held.
The hull of the ship actually accordioned. I would like to thank the welders who put her together.
Zack helped stop the bleeding from a severe head wound of one of his comrades(he was unconcious but is ok).He also was one of the first a assist the fallen sailor.
Thanks to all for your thoughts ,concerns,and especially your prayers.
Thanks. And thank him.
Amazing. I stood a lot of COW and can just imagine doing a header into the common alarm panel. It's a good thing planesmen are still required to be belted in. I can't imagine thowing the chicken switches with one arm. Especially since you have to cycle them back shut.
Prayers to you!
That boat was built at Newport News Shipyard, in Newport News Va. I watched it become commissioned.
Thats why it held up so good. You cant beat a Newport News built submarine.
Yes, it was very touch and go. My son said that with the emergency blow, they surfaced very quickly. He also talked about the water leak and fortunatly, it was not sea water.
The collision also knocked out the sonar. The sonar guys helped out with other duties and the injured also worked at getting the sub back home. He went up to the control room to help out and said there was a lot of blood around there. The medic and and jg with paramedical experience and a couple of guys with EMT training did a fantastic job on treating the injuries. When a medical doc finally came on board, he highly complimented the work, stitching, etc that this group did. We can be proud of the good work of the crew of the SSN San Francisco.
My son said the charts showed open country for clear sailing. The senior people are really beating themselves up over what went wrong. And the crew is also concerned for the Captain, XO, Navigator,etc. He hopes everything will turn out good for them.
Yes, the hull is pretty well wrinkled. Our tax dollars were well spent there to be able to withstand such a colliding force. My son said that nothing came apart or was damaged in the engine room. He said when he meets an engineer or designer of the reactor and engine room, he will buy them a beer.
After 33 hours he finally got some rack time but somebody on the deck above dropped something and he came out of the rack only to realize that they were on the surface and going real slow. By the way, he is 6 feet 5 inches and weighs 240 pounds and he has learned to adapt to a small sleeping space! He has been in for 6 and a half years and has 6 months to go. Mixed emotions about leaving his boat in the shape it is in. These kids have worked hard to bring this sub from the worst to the best in the Pacific.
They need a lot of encouragement from everybody.