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2005-01-10 Home Front: WoT

US Sailor Dies From Injuries In Sub Grounding Incident

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Posted by .com 2005-01-10 12:49:02 AM|| || Front Page|| [11130 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 23 crew are laid up? This in a Navy where you have to report for duty unless you're really seriously injured? You can be sure the rest of the crew is mashed up as well. I'm sure the experience can be compared to being in a car wreck. The entire ship's crew being thrown violently against the nearest object can't be fun.

Posted by gromky 2005-01-10 2:02:38 AM|| 2005-01-10 2:02:38 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 I'm not sure if it ran aground. If that picture that was posted yesterday was was the San Fransisco it looks like a huge chunk of the sail was torn away.

Posted by Shipman 2005-01-10 7:53:31 AM|| 2005-01-10 7:53:31 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 Shipman, could you direct me to the picture? I can't find it.

Posted by Mrs. Davis 2005-01-10 8:20:28 AM|| 2005-01-10 8:20:28 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 While the damage from Saturday's grounding is not immediately evident, there did appear to be a forward list as she sailed past the breakwater. The true damages though are the ones that you couldn't see. Below decks 23 sailors have injuries ranging from broken bones to lacerations to whiplash, and a number of the rest of the crew have scrapes and bruises. And most tragically, 24-year-old Machinist Mate 2nd Class Joseph Allen Ashley lost his life.
Pacific Submarine Support Force spokesperson Lt. Commander Jeff Davis says the petty officer, whose hometown is listed as Akron, Ohio, was standing watch in an engineering compartment when the accident happened and sustained significant trauma to the head, resulting in his death on Sunday.

Only picture I could find was a old one of her coming into port. I think it was just the angle of the photo that made it look damaged.

Details on how the accident occurred are still sketchy. While Commander Davis says the accident occurred about 350 miles south of Guam in the Caroline Ridge, he would not release the speed the submarine was traveling at, or its depth. And Commander Davis wouldn't speculate on how an accident like this could happen. He was emphatic however, when speaking of what the sub hit.
When asked if there was any indication that it might have been another submarine or another vessel, Commander Davis said, "No...there's absolutely no reason to believe that it was anything other than a geographical feature under water." This afternoon Lt. Commander Davis said the Navy plans to conduct a thorough investigation so that "a tragedy like this never happens again." The Caroline Ridge is east of Palau and Yap, intersecting the Yap Trench from the east, and consisting of a chain of seamounts.

May have hit a uncharted seamount, subs running quiet would not be using active sonar.

Posted by Steve 2005-01-10 8:34:30 AM|| 2005-01-10 8:34:30 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 Just what the hell are we doing naming a nuclear submarine after San Francisco? Poetic justice? I mean I don't know whether to applaud the irony or weep for the crew!

Posted by Jack is Back! 2005-01-10 10:04:48 AM|| 2005-01-10 10:04:48 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 Okay, that's what I was wondering Steve, Mrs. D. it was in yesterdays thread, the sub was accompanied by a pair of tugs and I assumed it was on the way back to Guam. The angle of the photo made it look like there was a gash in the sail. IOW nevermind.

Posted by Shipman 2005-01-10 10:05:45 AM|| 2005-01-10 10:05:45 AM|| Front Page Top

#7 Ouch. Condolences to Mr. Ashley's family.

This is a little more serious that just a grounding. Loss of life makes it career-ending, to say the least.

So, are the Naderites going to insist on air bags on submarines now?

Posted by jackal 2005-01-10 10:52:02 AM|| [http://home.earthlink.net/~sleepyjackal/index.html] 2005-01-10 10:52:02 AM|| Front Page Top

#8 "Found the bottom, sir!"

Posted by mojo 2005-01-10 11:05:36 AM|| 2005-01-10 11:05:36 AM|| Front Page Top

#9 jeez - why don't they just look out the front windows, like on the Seaview? That way you can see any obstructions, Krakens, or space aliens trying to abduct crew members....right, Sharky?

Posted by Frank G 2005-01-10 11:20:43 AM|| 2005-01-10 11:20:43 AM|| Front Page Top

#10 How would the sail get damaged by hitting a geographic feature? Unless its running upsidedown or through a trench and goes under an overhang???

Posted by Laurence of the Rats 2005-01-10 11:32:38 AM|| [http://www.punictreachery.com/] 2005-01-10 11:32:38 AM|| Front Page Top

#11 And I thought it was just either British made / Canadian run , or Chinese subs that act like this :P

Posted by MacNails 2005-01-10 11:34:40 AM|| 2005-01-10 11:34:40 AM|| Front Page Top

#12 That's why I wondered if it ran aground LOR. The imagined damage I saw on the sail was caused by years of living badly on my part.

Posted by Shipman 2005-01-10 1:02:06 PM|| 2005-01-10 1:02:06 PM|| Front Page Top

#13 The exact depth and location of this incident will probably remain classified. This ridge is quite well charted except for some of the deeper prominences and it may be one of these that the sub hit. The crew deserves the highest praise in any case for keeping their heads and saving themselves and their ship.
Just how deep these vessels can go is a carefully held secret, but it is several times as great as the publicly released operating depth. The location may be at such a depth and revealing it would give away vital information.
IIRC, the USS Thresher broke up at about 1800 feet in 1963 and a modern nuke would have substantially better depth capability.
Hitting the bottom at such a great depth must have a truly horrifying and traumatic experience.
As for the damaged sail, it is possible that the sub slewed and rolled after impact, possibly enought to bump the sail against the bottom.

Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2005-01-10 1:20:06 PM|| 2005-01-10 1:20:06 PM|| Front Page Top

#14 AC - That makes sense that it might have rolled after hitting. I don't even want to think about how deep these things go. I seriously get the willies when thinking about being under that much water.

Posted by Laurence of the Rats 2005-01-10 1:45:03 PM|| [http://www.punictreachery.com/] 2005-01-10 1:45:03 PM|| Front Page Top

#15 Maybe it was the rolling that caused the fatal injury.

Posted by Seafarious 2005-01-10 2:01:43 PM|| 2005-01-10 2:01:43 PM|| Front Page Top

#16 Any chance that the big earthquake shifted the seabed enough to cause a sub navigation problems like this?

Posted by trailing wife 2005-01-10 7:32:38 PM|| 2005-01-10 7:32:38 PM|| Front Page Top

#17 Hometown news item about the fallen sailor

Posted by Whutch Threth6418 2005-01-10 7:50:21 PM|| 2005-01-10 7:50:21 PM|| Front Page Top

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