U.S.S. Jacksonville (SSN-699) collides with fishing vessel in Persian Gulf

[Safiel]

The U.S.S. Jacksonville (SSN-699), a Los Angeles class attack submarine, collided with a fishing vessel at 5:00 a.m. local time in the Persian Gulf. While the fishing vessel did not appear to have any significant damage, the main periscope of the submarine was sheared completely off. Thankfully, the vessel has a backup periscope or they would have been well and truly ******.

At least this Captain won't come off as quite moronic as the Destroyer commander that managed to collide with an oil tanker.

Still it is disturbing, as it is another piece of sloppy boat/ship handling lately by the Navy.

[JerryN]

Evidently they were at periscope depth.
With all their sensors they couldn't detect a fishing boat?

[Physics Hunter]

Evidently they were at periscope depth.
With all their sensors they couldn't detect a fishing boat?

They were being bewy, bewy quiet... catching wabbitfish!

[Physics Hunter]

The U.S.S. Jacksonville (SSN-699), a Los Angeles class attack submarine, collided with a fishing vessel at 5:00 a.m. local time in the Persian Gulf. While the fishing vessel did not appear to have any significant damage, the main periscope of the submarine was sheared completely off. Thankfully, the vessel has a backup periscope or they would have been well and truly ******.

At least this Captain won't come off as quite moronic as the Destroyer commander that managed to collide with an oil tanker.

Still it is disturbing, as it is another piece of sloppy boat/ship handling lately by the Navy.

To cut them a little slack, there is a lot of traffic in very little space and depth over there.

[WildRose]

The U.S.S. Jacksonville (SSN-699), a Los Angeles class attack submarine, collided with a fishing vessel at 5:00 a.m. local time in the Persian Gulf. While the fishing vessel did not appear to have any significant damage, the main periscope of the submarine was sheared completely off. Thankfully, the vessel has a backup periscope or they would have been well and truly ******.

At least this Captain won't come off as quite moronic as the Destroyer commander that managed to collide with an oil tanker.

Still it is disturbing, as it is another piece of sloppy boat/ship handling lately by the Navy.

While the Captain gets stuck with the blame for anything that happens on his ship, the sound man is the person who gives the all clear to the Cpt before a submarine surfaces.

[WildRose]

Evidently they were at periscope depth.
With all their sensors they couldn't detect a fishing boat?

If it's a wooden boat with no motor running it's going to be very hard to detect without a ping and even with a ping, wood absorbs most of the sound especially in the audible range.

We don't know the details so exactly what occurred is pure speculation however.

[Safiel]

If it's a wooden boat with no motor running it's going to be very hard to detect without a ping and even with a ping, wood absorbs most of the sound especially in the audible range.

We don't know the details so exactly what occurred is pure speculation however.

The word from the Jacksonville itself is that the fishing boat was underway at the time of the collision and in fact kept going with no signs of distress after the collision, which obviously means the boats motors were running.

As a side note, the pending Law of the Sea Treaty would require our submarines to operate on the surface, with their flags displayed, while in the territorial waters of any nation. The entire Persian Gulf, Straits of Hormuz and the waters immediately outside the Straits of Hormuz comprise the territorial waters of particular nations.

Maybe signing the LOST Treaty will keep our naval maintenance bills down. Periscopes aren't cheap.

[TCUFan]

What the crap is happening with the Navy?

[Safiel]

What the crap is happening with the Navy?

In all due seriousness, I am wondering that myself. It takes a degree of laxness for such accidents to happen. Perhaps the Navy ought to reconsider how it maintains discipline aboard its ships.

[avergbear]

The U.S.S. Jacksonville (SSN-699), a Los Angeles class attack submarine, collided with a fishing vessel at 5:00 a.m. local time in the Persian Gulf. While the fishing vessel did not appear to have any significant damage, the main periscope of the submarine was sheared completely off. Thankfully, the vessel has a backup periscope or they would have been well and truly ******.

At least this Captain won't come off as quite moronic as the Destroyer commander that managed to collide with an oil tanker.

Still it is disturbing, as it is another piece of sloppy boat/ship handling lately by the Navy.

This wasn't that all female crew by any chance, was it?

[LouC]

This wasn't that all female crew by any chance, was it?

There isn't any US submarine with an all female crew.

[Safiel]

There have been no female officers cleared yet to serve on that particular class of submarine. Currently, women can only serve on the Ohio class of ballistic missile submarines, but not on Virginia class, Los Angeles class or Seawolf class attack submarines.

[WorldWatcher]

The word from the Jacksonville itself...

Do you have a link to the incident description by the Jacksonville itself?


Might facilitate more accurate discussion. Thanks.


>>>>

[penner01]

So, stupid question - I don't know much about subs. If it was running at periscope depth, and the crew of the fishing boat saw it, would not the fishing boat be the most maneuverable? And would the fishing crew not know they don't draw enough water to actually hit the conning tower? Could somebody have done this on purpose to provoke an incident? They did keep going, after all.

[Safiel]

So, stupid question - I don't know much about subs. If it was running at periscope depth, and the crew of the fishing boat saw it, would not the fishing boat be the most maneuverable? And would the fishing crew not know they don't draw enough water to actually hit the conning tower? Could somebody have done this on purpose to provoke an incident? They did keep going, after all.

At 5:00 a.m. they likely would not have been able to see anything and they SHOULD not be able to see anything. The whole point of a submarine is stealth. I don't see how the fishing boat could possibly be blamed under those circumstances.