Posted on 01/11/2013 4:06:57 AM PST by rawhide
A nuclear-powered U.S. attack submarine struck a suspected fishing vessel shortly after passing through the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf on Thursday, damaging one of the submarine's periscopes but injuring no one, a Navy official said on the condition of anonymity.
The Navy's Fifth Fleet said in a statement the vessel appeared unaware of the incident, adding it "continued on a consistent course and speed offering no indication of distress or acknowledgment of a collision."
The USS Jacksonville, a Los Angeles-class, nuclear-powered submarine, did not appear to suffer further damage, the Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet said.
"The reactor remains in a safe condition. There was no damage to the propulsion plant systems and there is no concern regarding watertight integrity," it said.
The incident, which took place at 5 a.m. local time and is under investigation, follows an August collision between a U.S. guided missile destroyer and an oil tanker.
(Excerpt) Read more at ca.news.yahoo.com ...
I’ve never understood why you would want to send a sub through the straight of Hormuz. Probably too shallow to chase other subs and there are other ways to gather intel in the gulf. How is it worth the risk? I suppose if you’re an admiral and you need to get rid of a captain you can send him through.
I sure hope nothing happens to the Captain, reads like it was purely accidental.
Were there any witnesses?
If a terrorists boat sinks in the ocean and nobody sees it?...
Reading the article I am confused as to what happened. Did our sub not see the fishing vessel and rammed into it by accident or since it said a “suspected fishing vessel” were we chasing it and that was the method of aspprehending them was to hit the boat with the sub instead of using firepower?
Oh he’ll be gone within days and reassigned to the Pentagon. He won’t command another sub.
Since it was just a periscope that was damaged, the captain may be okay? I'm curious to understand how they did not know they hit anything, until later? Isn't someome always manning the periscope?
It is very shallow water and hard to navigate. Jobs, rank, and money will be lost.
In other news; nothing at all happened in Bossier City, LA. today.
Now now..if the captain is of an affirmative action persuasion, excuses will abound and he will get a promotion.
Poorly written.
I think they meant to say the ‘other’ vessel (fishing boat) appeared unaware of the collision.
There is no such thing as an accident on a $2.5 billion sub. If all else fails use the periscope. Unless the boat was totally shutdown and drifting and all electrical circuits off and they surfaced under it they knew it was there.
No, he will go. Nothing will save you.
accidental is EXACTLY what the captain IS held responsible for.
“I sure hope nothing happens to the Captain, reads like it was purely accidental.”
EVERYTHING on a nuclear sub happens according to a checklist. Accidents are on the checklist to avoid. This captain will lose his command. Heads will role.
DOW: “90 feet”
OOD: “No shapes or shado...crap.....”
BANG
“Isn’t someome always manning the periscope?”
No, not always. A boat relies on sonar. If anything or anyone is at fault then it would be the sonarmen on watch at the time. Fishing boats do not make as much noise in the water as larger vessels. With the water being shallow then that distorts sounds in the water because of the sounds bouncing all over the bottom. With all of the sounds in the Strait it would be confusing to a sonarman but a good sonarman should have ‘heard’ it.
A "good" sonarman probably hears every boat in the Persian Gulf--AT THE SAME TIME! As others have pointed out, the Gulf is shallow, and relatively small. Any sounds produced by boats and other vessels radiate and bounce in every direction. And to your statement, fishing boats make just as much noise, depending on their size. Non-military vessels do not put much emphasis on sound-proofing. Furthermore, I couldn't tell from the story where the fishing boat was, if it was moving, or dead in the water. Its first detection may have been only through the periscope. Bad luck, as much as anything else.
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