Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: rpm on January 09, 2005, 12:27:28 AM

Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: rpm on January 09, 2005, 12:27:28 AM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. nuclear submarine ran aground 350 miles off the Pacific Ocean territory of Guam, injuring about 20 crew members, one of them critically, the Navy said on Saturday.
There was no damage to the nuclear reactor that powers the USS San Francisco in the accident that occurred at noon on Saturday Guam time (9 p.m. EST on Friday), according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

The ship's hull was also intact, said Petty Officer Alyssa Batarla.

She said the Los Angeles-class submarine was able to resurface and head back to its base in Guam, where it was scheduled to arrive on Monday.

The submarine was carrying 137 crew members and was en route to a routine port visit in Brisbane, Australia, when it ran aground. The accident is under investigation.
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: DiabloTX on January 09, 2005, 01:42:50 AM
Wait a minute.  There has to be some kind of conspiracy here, I mean, US subs don't just run aground.  Wasn't there some kind of white plane that buzzed the location just before the grounding?  [/smartass]

Yup.  His career is def. over.
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: rpm on January 09, 2005, 02:24:05 AM
Yup. The one way to guarentee early retirement is having your ship run aground. I hope the guy critically injured pulls thru. It's very, very odd for a modern sub to hit bottom. We will probably hear what went wrong in a few years. If there is an upside to this, it wasn't a boomer.
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: Gunslinger on January 09, 2005, 02:45:27 AM
Quote
Originally posted by rpm
Yup. The one way to guarentee early retirement is having your ship run aground. I hope the guy critically injured pulls thru. It's very, very odd for a modern sub to hit bottom. We will probably hear what went wrong in a few years. If there is an upside to this, it wasn't a boomer.


what's almost as bad as that is the fact they didnt make it to brisbane....

that's one helluva port call.  A friend of mine made port call there and said even the ugliest guy in his unit was goin home with supermodle quality "tang" ;)

hope these guys are ok though.
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: rpm on January 09, 2005, 02:53:07 AM
That's the only thing I envied about guys on Breakers. They got to make a South run once a year. Hit ports all along South America, New Zealand and Australia both ways. Somehow it didn't make up for the sound of ice scraping the hull to me. Imagine the worlds loudest fingers on a chalkboard 24/7.
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: CyranoAH on January 09, 2005, 08:18:44 AM
The earthquake could be a good explanation of that accident. Based on recent studies, the sea bottom has changed so much that most charts for that region have to be rewritten.

For instance, a point that was supposed to be 1000 feet deep was found at no more than 100 feet below the surface.

If for some strange reason they were navigating via charts and not paying that much attention to ranging buoys (please bear with me as I know zilch about modern sub operations), they may have found one of these newly reshaped areas.

Just an uninformed idea, though.

Daniel
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: rpm on January 09, 2005, 09:09:36 AM
Possible, but I doubt it. The earthquake was in the Indian ocean, they were in the Pacific. But who knows. More than likely, they were off course, equiptment failure or somebody just plain old screwed the pooch.
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: pugg666 on January 09, 2005, 09:13:59 AM
Quote
I hope the guy critically injured pulls thru


Unfortunately I heard that he died :(

Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: rpm on January 09, 2005, 09:19:12 AM
Quote
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A crewman has died from injuries sustained after the U.S. nuclear submarine USS San Francisco ran aground Saturday off Guam in the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Navy says.
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.

Lieut. J. G. Adam Clampitt, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said on Sunday the name of the sailor was being withheld for a 24-hour period following notification of the next of kin.

<>
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: Pongo on January 09, 2005, 09:40:56 AM
I think Nimitz put his first command aground.
Shame about the sailor.
Lets see how many people post jokes about this or how long they last on the board if they do.
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: DiabloTX on January 09, 2005, 09:54:04 AM
My first CO of the ship I was on in the late 80's was a bubblehead.  First class guy all around.  Those guys in subs have my respect, there is no way in hell I could be in a sub that is underwater for months at a time.  My second CO was a former Blue Angel and, boy, was he bucking for Flag rank.  He got it, too.

to the sailor that passed.
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: Nilsen on January 09, 2005, 10:26:39 AM
the critically injured crewmember has died now.
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: Sandman on January 10, 2005, 09:52:06 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Pongo
I think Nimitz put his first command aground.


So much for the good ole days when a CO could make a mistake and not ruin his career. Nowadays, it seems that the people in command are so terrified to make a mistake that they dare not take any risks it all.

It's sad really.
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: NUKE on January 10, 2005, 09:58:33 PM
From what I heard about this, the guy probably will not be punished.

They think the sub hit an uncharted undwerwater mountain. They had been at 500 feet depth and running 38 knts in water that was supposed to be 1000 ft deep.

They are reviewing the navigation records to make sure , but it sounds like they hit a mountain that nobody thought was there.
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: CyranoAH on January 11, 2005, 03:22:57 AM
Looks like the quake theory was not so farfetched after all...
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: Kubwak on January 11, 2005, 04:21:51 AM
or it could be a spikey uncalibrated controller which made them lawndart.......
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: storch on January 11, 2005, 08:11:29 AM
We whacked a burning freighter in rough seas while attempting to help it put out fires while underway.  Inspite of the accident the CO was promoted.  He was one courageous man that guy.  I was down in the I.C. shop when the collision occurred, all the stuff on the bulkheads went flying, dust raining down from the overhead.  miraculously no one was seriously injured.  The upside to the event was that we spent three weeks in Palermo for repairs during the winter which allowed us enough time to rent cars and drive to Catania and frolick with the Swedish girls on vacation.
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: DiabloTX on January 11, 2005, 08:29:24 AM
*Bing bing bing...."General quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battlestations......*

Samething happened to us albeit we were mooring at the time and a Greek freighter rammed us starboard side aft.  I was in hold 4 level 1 talking to a shipmate when it happened.  The damage was minor though, only damaged a couple of the nets around the flightdeck.
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: Nilsen on January 11, 2005, 04:28:01 PM
At the speed it hit the "rock" it is amazing that the inner hull was intact at that depth. Only the sonar dome was destroyed. Very solid sub indeed. :)

40mph at 525 feet
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: storch on January 11, 2005, 04:34:55 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Nilsen
At the speed it hit the "rock" it is amazing that the inner hull was intact at that depth. Only the sonar dome was destroyed. Very solid sub indeed. :)

40mph at 525 feet


clearly demonstrates the superiority of all things American.  :D
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: Nilsen on January 11, 2005, 04:38:26 PM
Quote
Originally posted by storch
clearly demonstrates the superiority of all things American.  :D


Or the poor quality of foreign rocks :D
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: storch on January 11, 2005, 04:39:20 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Nilsen
Or the poor quality of foreign rocks :D


french rocks in the pacific? :D
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: Nilsen on January 11, 2005, 04:43:13 PM
Quote
Originally posted by storch
french rocks in the pacific? :D


nah, I think they are pacifical. :o
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: Pongo on January 11, 2005, 04:54:49 PM
That is amazing. I guess under semi tactical situations it doenst make sense for a sub to have active sonar pinging the bottom.
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: NUKE on January 11, 2005, 05:00:26 PM
They ping the bottom, but a sudden rise would not be detected soon enough.
Title: So much for that Navy career...
Post by: Nilsen on January 11, 2005, 05:07:13 PM
They dont use the main active sonar, only a depth sounding device that is pointing downwards.