US Navy Submarine accident update
From the
NY Times:
bq.
Navy Says Sub Hit Mountain That Was Not on Its Charts
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.
bq. 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.
bq. Some of the tanks were damaged by the impact. One officer said the effort to keep the submarine afloat was initially "very touch and go."
bq. The accident occurred 350 miles south of Guam, and the vessel returned to its base there under its own power yesterday. The Navy is investigating how the crash occurred.
Ouch... Had I not won the draft lottery back in 1970, I would have volunteered for the US Navy and as I am fascinated in things Oceanographic and Nuclear, I might have been on the Thresher when it went down.
Posted by DaveH at January 11, 2005 1:18 AM