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

[reeb88]

They will likely remove everything damaged forward of one of the bulkheads aft of all of the damage, then attach a newly fabricated forward section. As long as the integrity of the hull has not been compromised aft of the island, it would not be considered a "total loss."

[lilylangtree]

Unbelivable!

[inkling]

The San Francisco was my old boat when I was in the Navy. Sad to see her in this horrible shape. Unbelievable that they lost so few.

[Levante]

"How deep was it when it hit?"

According to Navy Times, it was about 500 feet down when it hit!

[cavtrooper21]

..and unless I miss my guess...
It looks like they brought part of the mountian home with them!
Those are big rocks stuck in the sonar space and lower left ballast tank.

[David1]

It looks like the sub crashed against an uncharted undersea mountain.

Here are a bunch of link stories:
http://news.google.com/news?q=711%20San%20francisco%20sub&hl=en&lr=&sa=N&tab=wn

[RightWhale]

In that case they might salvage something. There will be extensive x-ray testing of the pressure hull and pressure fittings.

[Viking2002]

Looks like the buckling was topside, port of the walkway, just aft of the damage. I'm not a submariner (though I did spend a couple of years in the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps), but I don't think that bulge was part of the sonar dome.

[Fudd]

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.

[ken5050]

I defer to your knowledge..I thought maybe, from the pic..only the front 25% of the sub would have to be scrapped..

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

one time ping list to folks from one of the original threads:

Nuclear Submarine Runs Aground South of Guam

[Centurion2000]

Good God. That they made it back is amazing. What exactly is the trap for ? Covering classified stuff ?

[Lazamataz]

What exactly is the trap for ? Covering classified stuff ?

That's classified.

[_Jim]

A detailed examination of the high-res image reveals they may have come into contact with terrain at about a 45 (or so) degree angle on their port side (angle measured from dead ahead and to the left) ...

[Bahbah]

it was the captain that ran it into a mountain

I could have this completely wrong, Tempest, but in following the threads on this accident, my recollection, after lots of bashing of the Captain for running into a mountain, FGS, was that it was discovered that the mountain was NOT on any charts, sonar is not operating when the sub is being stealthy (I'm sure there is a more nautical way to say that), and that this was pretty much unavoidable. I know I will be corrected if I have misunderstood. Tremendous credit certainly does go to the engineers and those who built what must be a remarkable craft.

[WildTurkey]

Nope it was the engineers and the people who built it was the captain that ran it into a mountain =^)

It takes a proper captain to train and discipline a crew to react properly in this type of situation. My hat is off to him and the crew. If he was on-course, he did not "run it into a mountain". He was a victim of fate and the official orders that put him on that course.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Here is one link, there are many others:

Submarine Crash Shows Navy Had Gaps in Mapping System

[WildTurkey]

How can you tell it is the pressure hull that has buckled and not the ballast tank superstructure?

[WildTurkey]

Look at the orange construction fence; the walkway to which it is affixed goes "up and over" a bulge in the hull.

There is a bulge but how do you tell if it is a bulge in the pressure hull?

[WildTurkey]

I don't think so. This looks like a Trident class sub, (I'm no expert, but my fishing buddy is a lead supervisor at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and I've been treated to some inside stuff about the Navy's retro-fitting plans for the Trident fleet), and it was scheduled to be refurbished into a new awesome reincarnation.

You can say that again ...