vs.
A US Submarine and US Ship crashed into each other early this morning. They were conducting routine security operations off the coast of Iran. The USS Hartford and the USS New Orleans collided around 1 a.m. in the Strait of Hormuz.
One interesting thing to note about the US Submarine is this isn’t her first dance.
The USS Hartford has had trouble in the past with navigation. Rewind to October 2003 when she crashed herself on an Island in the Mediterranean. The accident cost 9 million dollars to repair.
Here is a partial transcript of what happened please note what the Executive Officer says at 12:36.
October 25, 2003:
One interesting thing to note about the US Submarine is this isn’t her first dance.
The USS Hartford has had trouble in the past with navigation. Rewind to October 2003 when she crashed herself on an Island in the Mediterranean. The accident cost 9 million dollars to repair.
Here is a partial transcript of what happened please note what the Executive Officer says at 12:36.
October 25, 2003:
11:55 The Hartford eased away from her tender and moved into the channel. within minutes the boat's Voyage Management System, which provides the navigation team with electronic navigation charts and automatic fixes of the boat's position, crashed.
12:09 The navigation team noticed a four knot difference in the speed readouts of the navigator and the electromagnetic log, two other key pieces of navigation equipment.
12:22 The captain ordered the boat to increase speed to 12 knots from the planned speed of 9.5 knots. At approximately the same time, the assistant navigator and an electronics technician left the control room to try to determine what was causing the equipment failures. The captain was never notified that key members of the navigation crew had left their stations.
12:28 The bridge ordered the turn almost 500 yards early. As a result of the equipment failures, a waypoint was entered into the GPS incorrectly, putting the turning point several hundred yards off the correct location.
12:30 The navigation team makes an attempt to fix the boat's position on the charts. The investigation found the boat was about 400 yards closer to Bisce Island than the position the crew plotted.
12:34 The Hartford turns into the fourth leg of her course out of the harbor. It is not clear who ordered this turn.
12:36 The navigation team makes a tentative fix on the boat's position but are unable to confirm it. There is growing concern on the bridge about the lack of a plotted position: the executive officer asks the navigation team,
"Nav, where the **** are we?", the captain asks the XO "do we have anything at all working down there?".
12:37 The sailor watching the fathometer warns the depth under the hull is decreasing, and was now just 100 feet.
12:37:30 The fathometer alerts the depth under the hull is now just 83 feet
12:37:45 Again the fathometer watch warns that the water level is down to just 50 feet
12:40 Hartford strikes the bottom about 1100 yards off Bisce Island. The boat begins to slow. Afraid that the boat would be stranded on the rocks, the squadron commodore, 22 year old Captain Greg Parker said "Speed on."
The first collision is followed by two more impacts, the second of these is the worst, rolling the boat 10 to 12 degrees onto her port side, and lifting her out of the water
13:40 the assistant navigator suffered a panic attack and had to be removed from the control room
12:09 The navigation team noticed a four knot difference in the speed readouts of the navigator and the electromagnetic log, two other key pieces of navigation equipment.
12:22 The captain ordered the boat to increase speed to 12 knots from the planned speed of 9.5 knots. At approximately the same time, the assistant navigator and an electronics technician left the control room to try to determine what was causing the equipment failures. The captain was never notified that key members of the navigation crew had left their stations.
12:28 The bridge ordered the turn almost 500 yards early. As a result of the equipment failures, a waypoint was entered into the GPS incorrectly, putting the turning point several hundred yards off the correct location.
12:30 The navigation team makes an attempt to fix the boat's position on the charts. The investigation found the boat was about 400 yards closer to Bisce Island than the position the crew plotted.
12:34 The Hartford turns into the fourth leg of her course out of the harbor. It is not clear who ordered this turn.
12:36 The navigation team makes a tentative fix on the boat's position but are unable to confirm it. There is growing concern on the bridge about the lack of a plotted position: the executive officer asks the navigation team,
"Nav, where the **** are we?", the captain asks the XO "do we have anything at all working down there?".
12:37 The sailor watching the fathometer warns the depth under the hull is decreasing, and was now just 100 feet.
12:37:30 The fathometer alerts the depth under the hull is now just 83 feet
12:37:45 Again the fathometer watch warns that the water level is down to just 50 feet
12:40 Hartford strikes the bottom about 1100 yards off Bisce Island. The boat begins to slow. Afraid that the boat would be stranded on the rocks, the squadron commodore, 22 year old Captain Greg Parker said "Speed on."
The first collision is followed by two more impacts, the second of these is the worst, rolling the boat 10 to 12 degrees onto her port side, and lifting her out of the water
13:40 the assistant navigator suffered a panic attack and had to be removed from the control room
Most involved with the grounding were fired. It seems crashing a submarine is not a resume builder.
I’m not saying the two accidents are related but also… not resume builders.
“What did you do today?”
“Oh I crashed into another US vessel.”
The collision this morning is still under investigation. The USS New Orleans suffered significant damage to its fuel tank and dumped around 25,000 gallons of oil into the strait.
In any case, it’s not everyday when a US submarine collides with one of its own.
Woops…didn’t see you there.
I’m not saying the two accidents are related but also… not resume builders.
“What did you do today?”
“Oh I crashed into another US vessel.”
The collision this morning is still under investigation. The USS New Orleans suffered significant damage to its fuel tank and dumped around 25,000 gallons of oil into the strait.
In any case, it’s not everyday when a US submarine collides with one of its own.
Woops…didn’t see you there.
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