Submarines gone wild.

[a|F]

Unreal.  I never served on a sub, but this seems to occur far more often than it should.  Time to question the culture behind their operation.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/13/14421340-navy-nuclear-cruiser-submarine-collide-off-east-coast-no-injuries-reported?lite

18 CO's already fired this year.  That's 2/month.  Maybe their training and selection program needs to be revamped as well?

[Marlin]

http://www.nukeworker.com/forum/index.php/topic,9815.0.html

http://www.nukeworker.com/forum/index.php/topic,17681.0.html

Here is an abridged list that I generated by cut and paste from Wikipedia.

On 29 April 1986 Atlanta ran aground in the Strait of Gibraltar, damaging her sonar gear and puncturing a ballast tank in the bow section. The boat proceeded to Gibraltar under her own power. After a week, the Atlanta returned to Norfolk, VA under its own power, and was repaired in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, VA.

On 20 October 1986, shortly after K-219 sank and USS Augusta had returned to patrol, she collided with something, and was forced to return to Groton for about US$3 million in repairs to her bow and sonar sphere. What she collided with is officially unknown. If not the K-219, it is suggested that she had been trailing a Delta-I ballistic missile submarine, and, unknown to Augusta, being trailed in turn by a Victor class submarine. If abrupt maneuvers were made, Augusta could have collided with the Delta. Photographs exist of a Delta submarine with a large dent in its starboard bow, which the Soviet Navy identified as K-279. In Russian version of book the soviet submarine is identified as K-457.

On 22 January 1973 USS Batfish ran hard aground at Charleston while proceeding to sea. She was pulled free by tugs and returned to port where extensive damage to her bottom was repaired.

On 23 April 1984, the submarine rescue vessel USS Kittiwake (ASR-13) collided with USS Bergall at Norfolk, Virginia, while Bergall was moored to the pier aft of Kittiwake. Kittiwake was getting underway for the first time since she had undergone maintenance, during which her main drive motor was re-wired improperly, causing it and the screw it drove to rotate in the opposite direction from that ordered by personnel on Kittiwake's bridge. This was unknown to Kittiwake's bridge personnel, who found that Kittiwake started to drift aft when they were expecting her to move forward. Noting the backward motion, they ordered an increase in the motor drive speed in order to correct it and get Kittiwake moving forward, but unwittingly caused Kittiwake to move further aft and at a higher speed. Still not realizing that Kittiwake's main drive motor operating in reverse of what they expected, Kittiwake's bridge personnel then ordered another increase in Kittiwake's forward speed, which only served to increase her speed astern. This continued until Kittiwake's stern backed into Bergall's sonar dome.

On 20 June 1970, USS Tautog was in the North Pacific Ocean off Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a major base for Soviet Navy missile-armed submarines located near Rybachiy[disambiguation needed] on the Soviet Union's Kamchatka Peninsula, attempting to trail K-108, a Soviet Navy Echo II-class guided missile submarine nicknamed "Black Lila" when the submarines collided violently while K-108 apparently was conducting a maneuver known in the U.S. Navy as a Crazy Ivan. Tautog suffered damage to her sail. As Tautog departed the scene, her crew heard what they thought was K-108 breaking up and sinking. When Tautog arrived in Pearl Harbor, a large portion of one of K-108's screws was found embedded in her sail. Over thirty years later, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was discovered that K-108 in reality had limped back to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The collision caused no personnel casualties aboard either submarine.
Even though this event was adamantly denied by the United States and the Soviet Union, the sail was permanently bent at a 2 degree angle making dry-docking evolutions problematic.
In the 1991, the Chicago Tribune broke the story about the collision. History Channel mentioned it in Sharks of Steel, and the full details were finally made public in 1999 in the book Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story Of American Submarine Espionage by Sherry Sontag.
On a deployment that lasted until mid-April 1981, the Soviet submarine K-324 collided with an unidentified American submarine, believed to be of the Los Angeles class, in the Peter the Great Bay, not far from Vladivostok. At least one source identifies this submarine as USS Drum.

On 9 April 1981, USS George Washington surfaced underneath the 2,350 long tons (2,390 t) Japanese commercial cargo ship Nissho Maru in the East China Sea about 110 nmi (130 mi; 200 km) south-southwest of Sasebo, Japan. Nissho Maru sank in about 15 minutes. Two Japanese crewmen were lost; 13 were rescued. The submarine suffered minor damage to her sail.

On 20 March 1993, USS Grayling collided with the Russian Navy submarine Novomoskovsk (K-407), a Delfin-class (NATO reporting name Delta IV-class) ballistic missile submarine commanded by Captain First Rank Andrei Bulgarkov. Novomoskovsk was performing combat training tasks at a site 100 nautical miles (190 km) north of the area of the collision. Having reached the northern border of the designated area, she turned back, making only 4 knots (7.4 km/h). Twenty-five minutes later Novomoskovsk felt an impact followed by screeching noises. Immediately afterwards, her sonar reported noises of a foreign submarine close by. The intruder increased its speed to 23 knots (43 km/h) to clear the area.[citation needed] An investigation revealed that Grayling had been tracking Novomoskovsk from a position between 155 and 165 degrees to port and from distances of between 11–13 kilometres (5.9–7.0 nmi). Grayling lost contact with Novomoskovsk when Novomoskovsk changed course. To reacquire the target, Grayling sped to the location of contact loss at 8–15 knots (15–28 km/h). In the 30- to 40-degree sector aft of a submarine, the noises made by the screws, turbines, circulation pumps, and autonomous generators of nearby submarines are screened by the hull, which creates a sort of "acoustic channel"; from above, the noise diagram of a submarine resembles a squirrel in form, so that when two submarines approach one another head-on, each detects the other when the distance is dangerously small. Grayling's passive sonar detected Novomoskovsk at a distance of about a kilometer (0.54 nautical mile) by using noise triangulation, the major method of submarine detection in all navies because it provides stealth. With the distance closing and Grayling's Combat Information Center still trying to decide on the best way of avoiding a collision, Grayling's commanding officer tried to change course and to surface, but the attempts were thwarted by Grayling's momentum. Fortunately, Grayling collided with the upper structure of Novomoskovsk, which did not sustain any serious damage.

USS Greenville
•   On 9 February 2001, while conducting an emergency main ballast tank blow off the coast of Oahu while hosting several civilian "distinguished visitors", mainly donors to the Battleship Missouri Memorial, the Greeneville struck the commercial Japanese fishing vessel Ehime Maru, causing the fisher to sink in less than ten minutes with the death of nine crew members, including four high school students. The commander of the Greeneville, Commander Scott Waddle, accepted full responsibility for the incident. However, after he faced a court of inquiry, it was decided a full court-martial would be unnecessary and Commander Waddle was forced to retire and given an honorable discharge.
•   On 27 August 2001, Greeneville ran aground while entering port in Saipan on a routine Western Pacific deployment. The boat's underside, rudder, and secondary propulsion motor suffered minor damage; repairs required drydocking and a significant delay in the remainder of her deployment. The boat's commanding officer, Commander David Bogdan, was relieved of command, and the navigator and assistant navigator were also removed from their duties. In addition, the navigator and the sub's executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Gerald Pfieffer, were found guilty of "hazarding a vessel" during an admiral's mast, conducted by Rear Admiral Joseph Enright, Commander, Submarine Group Seven.
•   Then, on 27 January 2002, less than a year after colliding with Ehime Maru and five months after running aground, Greeneville collided with USS Ogden (LPD-5) during a personnel transfer off the coast of Oman, opening a 5 by 18 inch (130 by 460 mm) hole in one of Ogden's fuel tanks and spilling several thousand gallons of fuel. After the collision, both vessels left the area under their own power.

USS Hartford
•   On 25 October 2003, the USS Hartford (SSN-768), a United States Navy nuclear powered Los Angeles-class submarine ran aground while performing routine maneuvers in the harbor of La Maddalena, Sardinia. Approximately 9 million dollars' worth of damage were done to the submarine, and it was out of service for seven months. An investigation into the accident revealed that basic navigation errors combined with equipment failures were to blame for the submarine running into the rocky shallows.
•   On 20 March 2009 Hartford collided with amphibious transport dock USS New Orleans (LPD-18) in the Strait of Hormuz, slightly injuring 15 sailors on board. Both vessels were able to proceed under their own power after the incident, although the New Orleans suffered a ruptured fuel tank, releasing 25,000 gallons of diesel fuel into the strait.

On 19 March 1998 south of Long Island, New York, Kentucky collided with the attack submarine USS San Juan (SSN-751) while the two submarines were conducting a joint training drill prior to deployment. Kentucky's rudder was damaged; San Juan's forward ballast tank was breached, but San Juan was able to surface and return to port. No personnel suffered any injuries.

On 13 March 1986 Nathanael Greene ran aground in the Irish Sea, suffering severe damage to her rudder and ballast tanks. Her grounding was the first serious accident involving a U.S. Navy nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine. She was deactivated while still in commission in May 1987.

During the night of 1–2 August 2006, Nevada was operating at periscope depth in the Strait of Juan de Fuca when she snagged and broke the 500-foot (150 meter) towline between the tug Phyllis Dunlap and one of two barges carrying empty containers that Phyllis Dunlap was towing from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Seattle, Washington.  Fiberglass portions of Nevada's sail were damaged, and a second tug had to recover the drifting barge.

On 8 January 2007, Newport News was operating submerged in the Arabian Sea south of the Straits of Hormuz when it hit the Japanese tanker Mogamigawa.

On January 17, 1989, Norfolk was involved in a collision with the combat stores ship USS San Diego (AFS-6) off Cape Charles Light, VA as both vessels were headed to sea.  While trying to pass the San Diego in a turn in the channel, the current set Norfolk towards an outer buoy on the port side. Overcorrecting for this event, Norfolk delivered a glancing blow to the ship on her starboard side, San Diego. There were no injuries, and neither ship suffered significant structural damage.

On 13 November 2002, Oklahoma City collided with the Leif Hoegh liquefied natural gas tanker Norman Lady, east of the Strait of Gibraltar. No one on either vessel was hurt, and there were no leaks of oil from fuel tanks and no threat to the environment, but the submarine sustained damage to her periscope and sail area, and put into La Maddalena, Sardinia, for repairs.

On 29 September 1989, Pennsylvania ran aground as she entered the channel during her first visit to Port Canaveral, Florida. Tugboats freed her in about two hours. A U.S. Navy investigation determined that Pennsylvania was properly positioned in the channel, but the channel had been silted by the recent passing of Hurricane Hugo.

USS Pintado
•   In May 1974 Pintado collided with a Soviet Navy YANKEE class ballistic missile submarine in the approaches to the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky naval base on the Soviet Union's Kamchatka Peninsula. The collision smashed much of Pintado's sonar sphere, jammed one of her starboard-side torpedo hatches shut, and moderately damaging one of her diving planes. The Soviet submarine surfaced immediately, but the extent of damage to her was not known. Pintado, meanwhile, remained submerged and departed the area at top speed. She proceeded to Guam, where she entered drydock for repairs that lasted seven weeks.
•   Following her first overhaul, Pintado deployed to the Western Pacific in August 1977. She was operating with Republic of Korea Navy vessels on 6 December 1977 when a South Korean surface ship abruptly turned toward her. She executed a crash dive, but the two ships collided, and Pintado sustained damage to the top of her rudder. She returned to San Diego in February 1978.

On 20 September 1977, due to a combination of equipment failure and crew inexperience, USS Ray struck a coral mountain while submerged in the Mediterranean Sea. Her sonar equipment was destroyed and her auxiliary diesel engine was knocked off its mounts. Repairs required a year of work at Charleston Naval Shipyard in Charleston, South Carolina.

On 29 April 1988, USS Sam Houston ran aground on Fox Island, Washington.

On 8 January 2005 at 02:43 GMT, USS San Francisco collided with an undersea mountain about 675 kilometers (364 Nautical Miles, 420 statute miles) south-east of Guam while operating at flank (maximum) speed and more than 200 feet (61 m) deep. The collision was so serious that the vessel was almost lost — accounts detail a desperate struggle for positive buoyancy to surface after the forward ballast tanks were ruptured. Twenty-three crewmen were injured, and Machinist's Mate Second Class Joseph Allen Ashley, 24, of Akron, Ohio, died on 9 January from head injuries. Other injuries to the crew included broken bones, lacerations, and a back injury. San Francisco's forward ballast tanks and her sonar dome were severely damaged, but her inner hull was not breached, and there was no damage to her nuclear reactor. She surfaced and, accompanied by the USCGC Galveston Island (WPB-1349), USNS GYSGT Fred W. Stockham (T-AK-3017), and USNS Kiska (T-AE-35), as well as MH-60S Knighthawks and P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft, arrived in Guam on 10 January. The U.S. Navy immediately stated that there was "absolutely no reason to believe that it struck another submarine or vessel." Later, an examination of the submarine in drydock showed unmistakably that the submarine had indeed struck an undersea mountain which had only vague references on the charts available to San Francisco.

On 24 January 1972, USS Seahorse ran aground and was stranded for two hours while attempting to put to sea from Charleston. After breaking free, she returned to port for repairs.

On 20 June 1970, Tautog was in the North Pacific Ocean off Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a major base for Soviet Navy missile-armed submarines located near Rybachiy on the Soviet Union's Kamchatka Peninsula, attempting to trail K-108, a Soviet Navy Echo II-class guided missile submarine nicknamed "Black Lila" when the submarines collided violently while K-108 apparently was conducting a maneuver known in the U.S. Navy as a Crazy Ivan. Tautog suffered damage to her sail. As Tautog departed the scene, her crew heard what they thought was K-108 breaking up and sinking. When Tautog arrived in Pearl Harbor, a large portion of one of K-108's screws was found embedded in her sail. Over thirty years later, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was discovered that K-108 in reality had limped back to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The collision caused no personnel casualties aboard either submarine. Even though this event was adamantly denied by the United States and the Soviet Union, the sail was permanently bent at a 2 degree angle making dry-docking evolutions problematic.

On 9 April 1962, during shakedown training off the eastern coast of the United States, USS Thomas A. Edison collided with the destroyer USS Wadleigh (DD-689).

In June 1996, USS Tucson was struck by the Military Sealift Command vehicle cargo ship USNS Gilliland (T-AKR-298) while moored in port at Newport News. A sudden windstorm caused Gilliland to break free from her mooring and cross the harbor, colliding with Tucson and a destroyer moored behind her. While the destroyer suffered the most damage. Tucson suffered minor damage to her AN/BRA-34 antenna.

[Higgs]

I was an eye witness to the Hartford grounding in LaMaddalena harbor. She was pulling out as my boat was pulling in (I was bridge phone talker). We saw something happened, then saw her reverse, turn, then head back to the tender. When we finally arrived, we moored up next to her and as we did, I saw the Hartford skipper standing at the waterline at the bow of his boat, just staring into it.

I asked my skipper "What do you think happened?" He said, "I don't know, but it can't be good."

The water was clear enough to see the damage to her rudder.


One thing all of these accidents clearly demonstrates, is just how tough HY80 is. It will cut through other lesser vessels like butter.

Here is another sad accident, where two people on the tug were lost. From what I can tell, this was the tugs fault and the boat followed procedure.

Justin

[GLW]

Well,...if it was as safe as sitting in your living room you wouldn't be getting sub pay now would ya?!?!?!?

It's not inherently safe to run around in the ocean, with no eyes, feeling your way around like a bat when you are not a bat, rolling on the surface in a round tube, etc., etc.,...

Like those idiot family day cruises, 364 days per year the command drills into your head this (an SSN/SSBN) is not a safe place to be; ergo sub quals and constant drills and attention to detail and scrubbing and preventive maintenance and the whole nine yards,...

and then one day a year I'm supposed to bring my mom or dad or spouse or even my child on board for a little romp through the ocean with some angles and dangles thrown in and the bottom of the North Pacific Ocean about 2800 feet below us,....

geez thanks chief but no thanks, either this place is every bit as dangerous as you claim it is and justifies all the BS you put me through 364 days a year or you're a lying SOS who just says whatever it takes to justify all that inane BS because really this place is no more dangerous or intense than a kiddy ride park,...

I chose the dangerous version and left my family on dry land for those little romps through the deep Pacific,...

I don't know if they still do those little romps off PH but if it ever goes wrong the US Submarine Service is going to have a very bad day,...

And they will deserve it,...

(don't mind me, I'm just watching an ALCs without Rivera or Jeter, not a real good turn of events)

[Marlin]

The submarine MONTPELIER underway the day after her collision with the cruiser SAN JACINTO. There is no sign of the vertical control fin, normally seen projecting from the water at the aft end of the vessel.

http://blogs.defensenews.com/intercepts/2012/10/photos-from-submarine-cruiser-collision-off-florida-coast/

[Higgs]

Vertical control fin..., aka rudder?

Justin

[GLW]

Vertical control fin..., aka rudder?

Justin

Too much sci-fi,...

[Marlin]

Vertical control fin..., aka rudder?

Justin

I just did a cut and paste from the linked site. It is a military news outlet, maybe it was an "Airdale" writting the article. 

[HydroDave63]

I just did a cut and paste from the linked site. It is a military news outlet, maybe it was an "Airdale" writting the article.  

Let the Root Cause Evaluation show: programmatic QA/QC deficiencies

[Marlin]

Let the Root Cause Evaluation show: programmatic QA/QC deficiencies

Busted 

[GLW]

Busted 

yup,...live by the cut and paste,....die by the cut and paste,...

[Higgs]

"Living below the line." 

Justin

[HydroDave63]

"Living below the line." 

Justin

Is that sorta like " living on the Down Low" ??   

[Higgs]

Is that sorta like " living on the Down Low" ??   

Hahaha no, we (my class) are at our company's "leadership" training this week, and one of the things we had to sit through was "The OZ Principle...," This is where we learned the steps to accountability. Needless to say, we are now constantly telling each other which side of the line we're one.

http://www.ozprinciple.com/self/steps-to-accountability/

Justin