Ooops..nuclear sub hits underwater object

[David Ess]

I wonder if it was the same semi-submerged container our boat hit last year.

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by sailingabe41ds

never would have happened if they spent a little more money an put a little window in the front...jusr saying.
imho🤪
abe

and for less than a thousand dollars.

https://youtu.be/7qvFxFVRcRo

[nextis12]

Originally Posted by Hasbeen

I wonder if something could have been shadowing it?

That is intriguing. All the cat and mouse games with the air space intrusions, I would think they are doing the same underwater.

[chasfgr]

Originally Posted by Polar Opposite

My qualifications to make this comment: thirty years of submarining, including multi-year tours aboard four ships, and underway periods aboard USS CONNECTICUT and her two sister ships, SEAWOLF and JIMMY CARTER.


If it doesn't make noise, it cannot be detected on passive sonar, which is the only sensor that is used in the depths. Active sonar is only used briefly when ascending to the surface, and not used at all if there's anything around that could detect it. As SAN FRANCISCO discovered (maybe CONNECTICUT too), uncharted seamounts or geographic features do not make noise.

Thank God for noisy seamounts - so our passive sonar can hear them!!
A charming fairy-tale thought.

[sailingchiro]

Mount a Go-Pro to the front with a window wiper on the lens.

Thank goodness it wasn't a submerged mine.

[SY Pollen Path]

UFO. Deep Sea is where they hide when not buzzing Fighter Pilots.

[Wallaby]

Based on the Navy's investigations of prior collision incidents, it is likely someone was not doing his/her job.

[David Ess]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

and for less than a thousand dollars.

https://youtu.be/7qvFxFVRcRo

You mean like the underwater you have in your boats?

[Sailshabby]

Like Polar and gstepler, been there (3 boats), done that, still have two tiny scars on my chest from getting “pinned.” Just like sailing, you ignore stuff when you’re out in the deep water, but the minute you enter straits and the like, it’s a different animal. Gilbralter sucked, Malacca sucked, etc. I doubt it was a whale, since they’re generally smart enough to move, unlike constantly changing seamounts in some areas, which appears to be the case here. 11 guys injured infers to this old bubblehead they grazed some immovable object. No doubt we’ll eventually see a photo, and it’ll be interesting to see what the mess looks like. Skipper’s gotta be sweating the Board investigation…

[Polar Opposite]

Originally Posted by Wallaby

Based on the Navy's investigations of prior collision incidents, it is likely someone was not doing his/her job.

In the case of surface ships with radar,AIS, lookouts, laser range finders and sonar, I'd agree. In the case of submarines whose ONLY effective underwater sensor is sonar, I'd absolutely disagree. Even active sonar is only so effective. If it were perfect, there would be no submarines, since any submarine could thus be detected through its use. And passive sonar, well, is as much art as it is science.





As for the Chinese or any Navy (including our own) tracking a SEAWOLF-class ship by any means...good luck. They are absolute ghosts. I would bet my dolphins that whatever is attempting the track would be detected, avoided, and/or prosecuted long before it ever closed to collision geometry. I would never bet against a SEAWOLF in any tactical encounter.



No matter the situation, the collision or allision will be thoroughly investigated. If there were the slightest ghost of a chance that the mishap could have been detected and avoided, the Navy will hold the crew and the Captain accountable. Even in the case of SAN FRANCISCO, the CO was fired. That ship collided with a seamount at Flank speed, and the seamount was not on the chart in use. However, another chart in the ship's possession showed a mark for "discolored water" reported by an aircraft decades prior...and that was enough for the Navy to fire the skipper.



Finally, it's easy to throw rocks, believing that common-sense mariner practices always apply and always work. In the case of submarines, those practices are necessary, but they aren't always sufficient to avoid a mishap.

[sailingabe41ds]

Hmmmm...this sub also had an incident with a polar bear when it surfaced between Alaska and the north pole in 2003. The bear thought the rudder was a snak and did minor damage .

abe

[coderiver]

as a former submariner myself - they could have been brake-checked by someone they were following.

[Clivevon]

Originally Posted by bensolomon

I like the hunt for red october cover story option.

me too - who knows what's going on out there these days?

I thought these subs all had super fantastic sonar that can tell the difference between a whales fart & a great white breaching? How come they couldn't detect something big enough to give them a jolt like that?

Or have I been reading too many techno thrillers?

[Clivevon]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

and for less than a thousand dollars.

https://youtu.be/7qvFxFVRcRo

Inspired - as usual. Good ole Billy..

[Wallaby]

Originally Posted by Polar Opposite

In the case of surface ships with radar,AIS, lookouts, laser range finders and sonar, I'd agree. In the case of submarines whose ONLY effective underwater sensor is sonar, I'd absolutely disagree. Even active sonar is only so effective. If it were perfect, there would be no submarines, since any submarine could thus be detected through its use. And passive sonar, well, is as much art as it is science.

You sound like a curmudgeon. As you point out above, non-detection tactics require active sonar not to be used. Ergo, it was likely that passive sonar was being used, in which case we are left with an operator less than perfect, or a silent obstacle, not on the bottom since the vessel was moving. Am I missing something?