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| Europe |
| US mini-sub found on Norway beach |
| 2004-05-12 |
| A missing unmanned submarine that eluded the US Navy for a week was found Tuesday by a man strolling along a beach in western Norway, reports CNN. The 3.5 meter (11-foot) mini-sub, or Battlespace Preparation Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, disappeared April 29 during tests off the port of Kristiansand in southern Norway, the network said. The mini-submarine, which is not remote controlled, is programmed to chart the seabed and search for mines, and contains classified equipment worth millions. It’s mother ship, the minesweeper USS Swift, broke of its participation in the NATO exercise to search for it in vain. A local television network said the navy also had deployed specially trained dolphins in the search. "On Monday, the crew of its mother ship, the minesweeper USS Swift, said that they considered it lost for good," CNN quoted Cmdr. Thom Knustad, a spokesman for the Norwegian joint command, as saying. It finally surfaced a Wednesday about 200 kilometers (125 miles) to the north. 200 km, eh? Wonder what it was up to for all that time. A man going for walk along the coast near Stavanger, on Norway’s west coast, spotted a small, torpedo-like object marked "Department of Navy" grounded just off the beach and called the police Tuesday, CNN said. "A police officer went to the scene, found the submarine and pulled it into land," Arvid Jensen, of the Stavanger police, told Norwegian news agency NTB. On Saturday, a British-made mini-sub of similar design also went missing off the coast of Southern Norway, said the Norwegian daily Aftenposten. It is yet to be found. Naval officials deny any connection between the sub’s activities in the time it was missing and a recent increase in young women’s excuses to their fathers for being out late all along the Nowegian coastline. |
| Posted by:Laurence of the Rats |
| #12 Thanks, Mike, I had a mouth full of sandwich. |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-12 3:23:20 PM |
| #11 Thanks, Mike, I had a mouth full of sandwich. |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-12 3:22:41 PM |
| #10 yeah, but with more shrapnel than intestines... |
| Posted by: Miss Gunn 2004-05-12 2:42:19 PM |
| #9 ...device blows up en route to aquarium You mean like this? |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-05-12 2:37:22 PM |
| #8 ...device blows up en route to aquarium |
| Posted by: Miss Gunn 2004-05-12 1:49:18 PM |
| #7 Gee, thanks Chuck! I had a mouthful of pizza when I read that. "Free Battlespace Preparation Autonomous Underwater Vehicle" doesn't have the same ring as "Willy" tho. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2004-05-12 1:49:08 PM |
| #6 Crowds of well-meaning people gathered, taking turns pouring seawater over the stranded device. Experts called in expressed doubt that the device could survive and be returned to the ocean. A discussion is underway to determine if the device could be moved to an aquarium, or if it has been to damaged to survive even in captivity. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2004-05-12 1:36:00 PM |
| #5 125 miles! Yikes! Wonder if it's using an Otto engine or what..... Maybe we'll name it the Long, Long, Long Lance |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-05-12 1:35:01 PM |
| #4 Was the guy walking on the beach named Clive Cussler? Wouldn't be the first sub he's found. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-05-12 1:29:55 PM |
| #3 LOFL! Dirk Pitt, DEER LOWARD, I haven't thought about those things in forever. When I was 12 "Raise the Titanic" was the coolest book in the history of literature. |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2004-05-12 1:26:55 PM |
| #2 read this in a Dirk Pitt novel |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-05-12 1:21:37 PM |
| #1 That beachcomber probably got a tad excited. |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-12 1:14:23 PM |