Navy photos of Submarine USS San Francisco in Dry Dock (you won't believe the extent of damage!)

U.S. Navy ^

[Boot Hill]

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

[TASMANIANRED]

A wonder of construction and mighty fine handling to get that vessel back home.

[Boot Hill]

"He drove me and my wife crazy while growing up. Hated school and refused to do ANY work. We didn't know until the last moment if he would graduate from High School.

Dad, is that you?

(Just remember, someday he'll have kids and revenge is sweet!)

--Boot Hill

[Servant of the 9]

If this had been one of the later boats with the 12 vertical launch Tomahawk tubes between the Sonar and the Pressure hull, it would have been all over.

SO9

[R. Scott]

This looks like a Trident class sub…

USS SAN FRANCISCO is the 24th submarine in the LOS ANGELES class and the sixth ship of that class built by Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va.

[SunnySide]

agreed it's amazing it made it home but I was under the impression subs are designed to "compartmentalize" in sections to ward of damage and water taking the whole thing down.

[geopyg]

"Damn, the tarp did that much damage?"

No you idiot. That's just there so it doesn't get WET!

[Bottom_Gun]

acually there are seat belts on boats. All watchstander in control (Diving officer, helm/planesmen, Chief of the Watch, Fire Control Tech of the Watch) and even in the Sonar watch space have seatbelts.

High speed transit isn't one of the times they're used. Rough sea transit and P/D ops in rough waters are when they are used.
Been there, done that more times than I care to remember *L*

[Viking2002]

I'm a Hampton Inn kinda guy, myself. LOL :-)

[Fierce Allegiance]

:)

[70times7]

What exactly is the trap for ? Covering classified stuff?

That's classified.

Ha ha! you walked right into his tarp.

[FreedomPoster]

I'm no sub expert, but I'm going to say "yes". We were already drawing down our fleet.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Skipper of submarine San Francisco relieved of command

[Poohbah]

Here's the thing...the mountain was uncharted. Okay. However, there were many OTHER charted mountains in the area, and he should have been aware of this fact. He also should have been cognizant of the fact that the area had a lot of "holes" in the charting. Given this, trucking along at flank speed would seem a bit unwise.

Excellent analysis.

Back in the 1950s, my father served on an Admiralty Court at COMFLEACT Yokosuka. During the proceedings, the president of the court was asked for a ruling on the definition of the phrase "reasonably prudent man." (As in "Under Article XXX of the Rules of the Road, and given these circumstances, a reasonably prudent man would do...")

Without missing a beat, the president replied, "A reasonably prudent man is one who checks for toilet paper before sitting down."

[Arrowhead1952]

Thank God they didn't hit an undersea mount.

That is what they hit - uncharted undersea mountain.

Officials: U.S. submarine hit undersea mountain

[judicial meanz]

CDR Mooney and his crew just gave the world an example of American seamanship that they can be proud of for generations.

Its also an example of how Newport News Shipyard and Drydock Company builds the finest submarines in the world. Bar none.

Thats a tremendously damaged submarine, folks. I believe its sailing days are over for good.

[Servant of the 9]

The sub is salvageable. IIRC, the reactor stuff is in the back of the sub. But it depends on if it is cost-effective to strip out the front half of the sub and repair/replace it. It also depends on if there is a political will to fix it.

You would have to disassemble most of the boat and xray and test parts to see if they were weakened by shear forces when the impact happened. There could be seriously weakened bolts and connectors all the way back to the prop. Also, since the Los Angeles Class build is over, there may be a lot of jigs and fixtures needed to manufacture major hull components that are no longer available.

My guess is that it would cost almost as much as a new Seawolf Class boat to repair her.

SO9

[Bottom_Gun]

This is mind boggling, I've seen some damage from past incidents, some that can't be talked about, but this is some of the worst I've in 20 yrs involvment in subs as active duty, and civilian contracting.
Commander Mooney and crew have my deepest respect, and admaration for being able to bring the Boat home after this accident!

[justshutupandtakeit]

I wasn't like that and kept all my transgressions from coming to mom and dad's attention. Besides I enjoyed being a star in school and never gave them cause to complain about that.

My younger boy was not like that either though he also hated school he got good grades. Arlen went to a public school and Keegan to a private one but both hated them.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for the link:

The Kursk was raised by the Dutch company "Mammoet" in autumn 2001 and transported to a military shipyard No 82 in Roslyakovo. Investigation teams worked on the submarine for almost half a year.

Aleksandr Raube

[WildTurkey]

You mean apart from running it aground I assume? :-)

If he was on the transit course (position and speed) per orders, he has no fault.