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After five years of testing, the U.S. Navy is finally entering the digital age for navigation. Five years ago, the first all digital navigation system was installed, in the USS Cape St. George (a cruiser). Called the Voyage Management System (VMS), this version used 29 CDs containing the 12,000 paper nautical charts that were stored in several large filing cabinets on the Cape St. George. The current version of VMS puts all the electronic charts on one high density DVD, or a portable hard drive. The navy has been working on VMS since the 1990s, and the first thing they...

BREMERTON — The USS San Francisco wrapped up its 3 1/2-year stay in Puget Sound on Tuesday morning. The Los Angeles-class submarine, which arrived at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in September 2005 after sustaining damage in a crash with an undersea mountain, ferried out of Puget Sound waters with a tug escort for the last time. The crew of roughly 140 is taking the vessel, with its transplanted bow, to its new homeport in San Diego. The vessel was formerly homeported in Guam. The submarine stalled not far from the Bremerton ferry terminal on its way out of Sinclair Inlet...

PAKTIKA PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN (NNS) -- Life has been full of surprises for Petty Officer Matthew P. Julian of Greece, Rochester, NY. As a culinary specialist assigned to the submarine USS San Francisco, Julian didn’t expect the tour to include a rotation in the mountains of Afghanistan as an Individual Augmentee, pulled from his normal job to directly support Operation Enduring Freedom. But despite being an IA deployed more than eight thousand feet above sea level and half a world away from his boat’s homeport of Bremerton Wash., Julian found that out of sight doesn’t mean out of mind. Julian was...

NEW FRANKLIN - Joey Ashley played drums and clarinet in the Manchester High School marching band. On Friday, Oct. 28, during the halftime band show at the Manchester football game against Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, the 1999 Manchester graduate who died in a submarine accident will be honored by the band. A patriotic halftime show will be dedicated to Ashley, band director Nathan Sensabaugh said. After Ashley's death, his parents, Dan and Vicki Ashley, donated his clarinet and his quad drums to the high school. On Friday night, Kelly Robertson, 18, a senior, will play Ashley's clarinet and Nate Duncan,...

Navy Cmdr. Kevin Mooney, who has accepted responsibility for a fatal submarine crash in January, received a standing ovation at a Memorial Day celebration in San Francisco . "I appreciate it. But I don't feel like I deserve it," Mooney told the crowd of about 200 -- most of them gray-haired veterans dressed in neatly pressed uniforms pinned with polished medals. The Navy reprimanded Mooney and relieved him of duty after the crash, which injured nearly 100 sailors, one fatally. A Navy investigation concluded this month that its own key charts didn't show the undersea mountain the submarine San Francisco...

The crew of a US submarine that ran aground in the Pacific Ocean in January did not adequately review navigation charts, a Navy report says. The grounding could have been avoided if the crew had observed "prudent navigation practices", it says. A sailor died and several were injured in the accident 600km (350 miles) south of the island of Guam, one of the most important US Pacific bases. The nuclear reactor on the USS San Francisco was not damaged. Data not transferred The vessel was on its way to Australia, when it ran aground and suffered severe external damage. The...

Navy: Sub Crash Could Have Been Avoided Sunday, May 08, 2005 HONOLULU — The crew of an attack submarine that struck an undersea mountain in the Pacific Ocean earlier this year did not adequately review navigation charts that warned of an obstacle in the vessel's path, according to a Navy report released Saturday. The USS San Francisco (search) was en route to Australia (search) when the accident occurred Jan. 8 about 360 miles southeast of Guam, killing one sailor and injuring 97 others. Had the submarine's crew "complied with requisite procedures and exercised prudent navigation practices," the grounding could have...

HONOLULU - The crew of an attack submarine that struck an undersea mountain in the Pacific Ocean earlier this year did not adequately review navigation charts that warned of an obstacle in the vessel's path, according to a Navy report released Saturday. The USS San Francisco was en route to Australia when the accident occurred Jan. 8 about 360 miles southeast of Guam, killing one sailor and injuring 97 others. Had the submarine's crew "complied with requisite procedures and exercised prudent navigation practices," the grounding could have been avoided, the 124-page report said. "Even if not wholly avoided, however, the...

A preliminary report on the submarine that hit a seamount in the Pacific three months ago concludes that numerous warnings of shortcomings in the ship's navigation department existed at least a year before the accident. In a January 2004 inspection, the USS San Francisco crew did not properly use its fathometer warning system and its electronic Voyage Management System, or VMS, which were both factors in the accident a year later, according to the report, a copy of which was provided to The Day. In August 2004, during another inspection, the San Francisco navigation team was found deficient in the...

Navy Faults navigational procedures In crash Of Sub San Francisco's Crew Failed To Recognize Warnings, Report Says By ROBERT A. HAMILTON Day Staff Writer, Navy/Defense/Electric Boat Published on 4/9/2005 A Navy report on the submarine that hit a sea mount in the Pacific three months ago will conclude that there was a serious breakdown in navigation procedures that led to the accident, which killed one sailor and injured more than half the crew, Navy sources have told The Day. The report, which could be released as early as this month, will cite problems with the USS San Francisco's chart preparation...

USS San Francisco struck undersea rock HAGATNA, Guam (AP) -- Six crew members of an attack submarine that struck a mass of undersea rock in the western Pacific earlier this year have been disciplined, a Navy spokesman said Wednesday. All were found guilty at a hearing Tuesday of hazarding a vessel and dereliction of duty, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, public affairs officer for the Pearl Harbor-based Pacific Fleet Submarine Force. Punishment included reduction in rank and punitive letters of reprimand, Davis said. The identities of those involved will not be released because it was a nonjudicial punishment, Davis...

Six submariners assigned to the submarine USS San Francisco have been punished for dereliction of duty or putting a vessel in danger in connection with a Jan. 8 incident in which the submarine slammed into a seamount in the Pacific, killing one sailor and injuring 98 others. The San Francisco was making a trip to Australia when it came to periscope depth to fix its position accurately a little more than 400 miles southwest of Guam. Minutes after diving, and while traveling at a high rate of speed, the submarine hit a seamount in an area where official Navy charts...

The captain of a submarine that hit a seamount Jan. 8 in the western Pacific Ocean, killing one crewman and seriously injuring 23 others, has been found guilty of operating the submarine unsafely and has been issued a letter of reprimand, effectively ending his career. Cmdr. Kevin Mooney, the captain of the USS San Francisco, was permanently relieved as skipper after an administrative proceeding known as an admiral's mast. The proceeding was convened by an order of the commander of the Seventh Fleet, Vice Adm. Jonathan Greenert. Cmdr. Ike N. Skelton, a spokesman for the Seventh Fleet in Yokosuka, Japan,...

TOKYO -- The commander of an attack submarine that ran aground in the western Pacific Ocean last month has been relieved from his post after an investigation found that critical safety procedures were overlooked.

Story Number: NNS050212-01 Release Date: 2/12/2005 8:27:00 AM YOKOSUKA, Japan (NNS) -- The commander of U.S. 7th Fleet, Vice Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, relieved Cmdr. Kevin Mooney of his command of USS San Francisco (SSN 711) Feb. 12. The decision to relieve Cmdr. Mooney was made following non-judicial punishment (NJP) proceedings held in Yokosuka, Japan. Additionally, as a result of the NJP, Mooney received a Letter of Reprimand. Following the submarine striking an underwater seamount Jan. 8, Greenert reassigned Mooney to the staff of Commander, Submarine Squadron 15, based in Guam. During the conduct of the investigation into this incident,...

The nuclear submarine that ran aground Saturday in the South Pacific hit so "incredibly hard" that about 60 of its 137 crew members were injured and the sailor who died was thrown 20 feet by the impact, according to internal Navy e-mail messages sent by a top admiral. The messages said the submarine's hull was severely damaged after the head-on crash into what Navy officials believe was an undersea mountain that was not on the navigation charts. One message said the submarine, the San Francisco, was traveling at high speed, and the impact practically stopped it in its tracks and...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The captain of a U.S. submarine that hit an undersea mountain last month in the western Pacific, killing one sailor and injuring 23 others, will be relieved of command, Pentagon officials said Friday. Navy Cmdr. Kevin Mooney will not be charged with any crime and will not be court-martialed. He received a nonjudicial punishment, most likely in the form of a letter of reprimand from his commander, this week, officials said. Such punishment typically ends an officer's career. Mooney was reassigned pending an investigation after the severely damaged the USS San Francisco returned to its home port...

The skipper of the nuclear-powered submarine that crashed into the side of an undersea mountain is quietly being sent before an “admiral’s mast” in Japan this weekend to face charges of endangering his ship, according to several active-duty and retired Navy sources familiar with the case. Cmdr. Kevin Mooney was slated to appear before 7th Fleet commander Vice Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert in Yokosuka on Saturday morning, the sources said. The Navy’s highest form of nonjudicial punishment, admiral’s mast falls short of the criminal proceedings of a court martial, but can result in anything from full exoneration to fines, reprimands,...

<p>The American nuclear submarine USS San Francisco hit an uncharted seamount on January 7th, killing one sailor and injuring sixty others, 23 of them so seriously they could not perform their duties. Facts about the incident were slow to emerge. It appears that the sub was traveling on a course it was ordered to follow, at a depth of 500 feet and a speed of about 56 kilometers an hour. This was the first time the navy had given the speed of a Los Angeles class sub as anything but “25+ knots” (45 kilometers an hour.) It has long been believed that these subs could make more than 55 kilometers an hour.</p>

By ROBERT A. HAMILTON Day Staff Writer, Navy/Defense/Electric Boat Published on 1/15/2005 New London -- The galley crew had started to serve lunch as the USS San Francisco checked its position against a global positioning system satellite, checked the water depth with its fathometer, and announced that the ship was going to dive, all routine operations aboard an attack submarine. Four minutes after it submerged, that routine was shattered one week ago today as the San Francisco crashed into an undersea mountain at more than 35 mph, sending sailors crashing into equipment and bulkheads and destroying the bow dome and...

The U.S. Navy released this photograph last Thursday of the nuclear submarine San Francisco, which crashed headlong into an uncharted undersea mountain near Guam on January 8. Standing more than three stories high and with classified technology veiled by a tarp, the fast- attack submarine is shown awaiting repairs in a Guam dry dock. The impact shredded the submarine's nose, killed one sailor, and injured 60 more. The sailors were largely protected by the vessel's reinforced inner hull, which did not rupture. After the wreck, the crew quickly ascended and sailed along the ocean's surface back to their base in...

<p>These are additional Official Navy Photos that have been released publically and further document the damage done to the sub.</p> <p>This is what the front of SSN-711 should look like in drydock.</p> <p>This is a pic of SSN-711 returning to Guam after the collision. Note the bow-down attitude that results form the partially flooded forward ballast tanks.</p>

The Navy has published the first photographs of the damaged nuclear attack submarine USS San Francisco now in dry dock in Guam. The submarine's front end was severely damaged when the submarine struck an undersea mountain 350 miles south of Guam on January 8. Machinist Mate 2nd Class Joseph Allen Ashley, 24, of Akron, Ohio, died of injuries suffered in the accident, which occurred when the submarine was en route to Brisbane, Australia. A Navy official said the submarine went into dry dock on January 26. Divers cut off the sonar dome from the front end beforehand because it was...

The Navy yesterday released photographs of the shredded bow of a nuclear submarine that ran into an undersea mountain earlier this month, and officials said they were still assessing the extent of the damage. The photos were taken once the submarine, the San Francisco, limped back to Guam after smashing into the mountain, which was not on its navigational charts. The photos show that the head-on crash 500 feet below the ocean's surface destroyed a sonar dome that formed the submarine's nose and peeled back part of the outer hull. The accident, which killed one sailor and injured 60 others,...

Apra Harbor, Guam (Jan. 27, 2005) - The Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS San Francisco (SSN 711) in dry dock to assess damage sustained after running aground approximately 350 miles south of Guam Jan. 8, 2005. The Navy former dry dock known as “Big Blue” is capable of docking ships that weigh up to 40,000 Long Tons. The Navy certified Big Blue for the one-time docking of San Francisco. San Francisco is the second fast-attack submarine to be attached to the forward-deployed Submarine Squadron Fifteen, home ported on board Naval Base Guam. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class...

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

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Navy Reassigns Commander of Submarine That Ran Aground in Pacific The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - The Navy has reassigned the commander of an attack submarine that ran aground Jan. 8 in the western Pacific Ocean, officials said Thursday. Cmdr. Kevin Mooney, who commanded the USS San Francisco, was reassigned to a unit in Guam pending the completion of the investigation into the crash, a statement from the U.S. 7th Fleet said. Vice Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, the fleet's commander, ordered Mooney's removal from command. The nuclear-powered San Francisco was on its way to Australia when it struck an undersea...

Commander Mooney has been reassigned.

Sailors on the San Francisco, a nuclear-powered attack submarine, had just finished cleaning the vessel last Saturday as it sped along 500 feet beneath the surface of the South Pacific. Submarines run blind, just listening for sounds of danger. And to the captain and other officers relying on undersea navigation charts, everything seemed clear. Suddenly, there was a horrible screeching. And according to an e-mail message written by a crew member, the inside of the submarine quickly resembled a scene from the movie "The Matrix." He wrote, "Everything slowed down and levitated and then went flying forward faster than the...

A nuclear attack submarine that ran aground Saturday in the South Pacific, killing one sailor and injuring 23 others, appears to have smashed into an undersea mountain that was not on its charts, Navy officials said yesterday. The submarine, the San Francisco, was cruising at high speed - about 30 knots - and was more than 400 feet below the surface when the accident forced it to blow air into its emergency ballast tanks to surface. Some of the tanks were damaged by the impact. One officer said the effort to keep the submarine afloat was initially "very touch and...

It is increasingly clear that the submarine that hit a seamount in the Pacific Ocean last week came close to being lost and that only the valiant efforts of its crew kept it afloat, Navy sources said Tuesday. With uncontrolled flooding in its forward ballast tanks, the USS San Francisco had to run a low-pressure air pump for 30 hours straight to maintain buoyancy on its trip home, Navy sources said. The pump is rated for only intermittent use. In addition, the submarine ran its diesel engines, channeling the exhaust into the forward ballast tanks in an effort to force...

By ROBERT A. HAMILTONDay Staff Writer, Navy/Defense/Electric Boat Published on 1/11/2005 Photographs of the USS San Francisco returning to Apra Harbor in Guam Monday show the submarine's sonar sphere and forward ballast tanks were heavily damaged when it hit an undersea mountain, experienced submariners said. One man was killed in the collision, and 23 others, about one of every six crewmen on board, were injured and evacuated from the submarine, making the incident one of the most serious undersea accidents in memory. “This is the first time in my memory that anyone was ever killed in one of these accidents,”...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Navy submarine accident that killed one sailor and injured 24 others occurred when the vessel -- traveling at high speed -- hit an undersea mountain head-on, Pentagon officials said Monday. Saturday's accident caused part of the sonar dome, which is part of the submarine's nose, to flood, officials said. The commander of the USS San Francisco, Kevin Mooney, has not been relieved of duty while the investigation of the accident continues. Mooney could be relieved of duty if officials determine there is enough evidence that the accident could have been averted. The investigation will look...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A crewman died Sunday from injuries sustained when the U.S. nuclear submarine USS San Francisco ran aground Saturday off Guam in the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Navy said. Medical personnel rushed to the submarine continued to treat 23 other injured crewmen, some critically, suffering from broken bones, lacerations and bruises, a Navy spokesman said. Lt. j.g. Adam Clampitt, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said the name of the sailor was being withheld for a 24-hour period following notification of the next of kin. He said there was no damage to the nuclear reactor that powers...

U.S. nuclear sub runs aground in Pacific, 20 sailors injured 11:00 PM EST Jan 08 HONOLULU (AP) - A nuclear submarine ran aground Saturday 563 kilometres south of Guam, injuring about 20 sailors and sustaining severe damage, the U.S. navy said. There were no reports of damage to the USS San Francisco's reactor plant, which was operating normally, the navy said. One of the sailors suffered critical injuries. The 110-metre submarine was headed back to its home port in Guam and the incident is under investigation, said Jon Yoshishige, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet based at Pearl Harbor,...

HONOLULU (AP) - A nuclear submarine ran aground about 350 miles south of Guam, injuring several sailors, one of them critically, the Navy said. There were no reports of damage to the USS San Francisco's reactor plant, which was operating normally, the Navy said. Jon Yoshishige, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet based at Pearl Harbor, said the Friday afternoon incident is under investigation and the 360-foot submarine was headed back to its home port in Guam. Details on the sailors' injuries were not immediately available. The sub has a crew of 137, officials said. Military and Coast Guard...