A sad day for the Submarine Force.

[LDO4CNO]

We lost a shipmate this weekend.  Please keep our shipmates in your prayers.

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/sep/21/sub-accident-kills-uss-nebraska-sailor-near/

JB

[ruth13]

So sorry to hear this - you and your shipmates are in my prayers. Thanks for your service!

[mlslstephens]

My heart is extremely saddened for the family of this young sailor and for his shipmates on the Big Red.

Information is scarce, but this link has some pretty good info.  Looks like a tragic accident with the rudder ram.  Just goes to show that we aren't promised tomorrow.

http://buddventures.blogspot.com/2008/09/uss-nebraska.html

We are extremely blessed in this country to have so many women and men serving our country in so many ways; each willing to give up their freedoms to protect ours.  None of them want to die but each go willingly. 

Thanks to each of you who have given of yourselves for the protection of our freedoms and liberty. 

Also, many thanks for each of you who have served by staying home.  Your sacrifice is just as important.  Just as the monument in Washington says, "Those who wait, also serve".  From the bottom of my heart, Thank You.

[Smooth Operator]

Sailor's identity:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_navy_death.html

And it was confirmed elsewhere, he got entangled in the rudder ram during cleaning.

I can remember staring at that thing many times and wondering what if...

I bet there is going to be some shroud re-fit for it or at least re-examining how and when it is cleaned.

[PapaBear765]

I don't know if it's standard equipment or not, but on my sub there was an enclosure that prevented accidental entanglement.  I remember looking at it too many times, I knew I could reach in there if I wanted to but never did.  Just one of those chances I didn't want to take.

[justatech]

JB,

I'm sorry to hear of your loss and your shipmates loss. My prayers go out to you, your shipmates and your friend's family.
Know this...............You guys and gals are always in our prayers. God Bless All of You. 

[JustinHEMI05]

Not sure how I missed this.

My thoughts and prayers to the family and friends.

Like Papa, I remember the rams being in a cage. Not sure what was going on here. We may never know.

Justin

[LDO4CNO]

Justin,

I think we will learn more after the investigation.  Some of what we are reading on the blogs may be close to the truth.  It is hard to say.  Big Navy is careful not to prematurely publicise details until everything is well understood.  It is certainly an unfortunate turn of events. 

JB

[Preciousblue1965]

Ok ever since reading about this, I (and I am sure a few others) are curious...What is a rudder ram.  Being as a I was a surface sailor I am not exactly sure what a rudder ram is or does.  Can anyone explain it without giving away government secrets?

[JustinHEMI05]

Yup, thousands of pounds of pressure needed to move these huge surfaces to control a huge submarine under water. Similar in funtion to say, a back hoe hydraulic cylinder, just bigger. Human body doesn't react well to the pressure.

Justin

[G-reg]

I seem to recall about a year ago (give-or-take), that a sailor got his arm broken by the rudder ram.  Turned out that the ship's rudder ram guards weren't exactly up-to-code.  Big Navy then cast a broader net, and discovered some other boats with improper rudder ram guards.  Everybody was told to check their rudder ram guards for compliance, but I don't recall the deadline given.  And now that I think about it, it may have been that only 688's were found with problems and therefore were the only ones told to go check (NEBRASKA is a boomer).

And for Preciousblue, the rudder ram is essentially a great big (and we mean BIG big) hydraulic piston used for pushing the rudder left-and-right.  All of the previous examples given were good ones - just picture them on about a x20 scale.  Tack on a couple of attached gizmos for position indications and such, and you have a localized environment around the hydraulic ram which is not at all respectful of human flesh and bone.  (Hence, the reason for erecting guards around them.)

I'm not saying that this is a smoking gun or anything; I don't know any more about the situation than the rest of us (and I certainly know less than some).  I just remember that we've had rudder ram lessons written in blood before, and thought that this topic would be relevant.

My heart goes out to the sailor's family and shipmates.  22 years old is so young, so young...

[Preciousblue1965]

Thanks for all the info.  I am pretty sure they still had one on the MTS's under the hydraulic tanks.  Of course it was cut short on the shaft. 

Very true about being too young.  Worst part is that he was doing something he was supposed to in cleaning the ship, not doing something stupid.

[Nade]

I don't know how they are doing it on the west coast but almost all of the boats in KBay have severely restricted cleaning anywhere in the vicinity of the shaft, rudder and stern planes ram rods unless stopped/tagged out unless using something like a pressure washer or bilge grabbers.

[withroaj]

The (heavily redacted) report is out.  I can't describe how I feel after reading it.

http://dbbeebs.blogspot.com/2009/01/uss-nebraska-fatality.html

[fueldryer]

The (heavily redacted) report is out.  I can't describe how I feel after reading it.

http://dbbeebs.blogspot.com/2009/01/uss-nebraska-fatality.html

Well as we all know,the Navy isn't going to accept resposibility for this.What a crock of s**t!!

[HydroDave63]

Well as we all know,the Navy isn't going to accept resposibility for this.What a crock of shit!!

Sailors love field day, we can hardly stop them... 

Love the header and footer on the guy's Blog page though!