rickusn

Navigation procedures will certainly come to the forefront of all submariners conciousness. Their will be more focus, questioning and double-checking of future voyage planning and of course actual navigational execution.

There were many failures here by alot of people. If only one person would have paid a little more attention and acted on their instincts and misgivings it would never have happened.

This didnt happen unfortunately.

Some of course are more culpable than others and were held accountable accordingly but others held to a lesser standard could have taken simple actions that may well have averted this tragedy both higher and lower in the chain of command.

Its water under the bridge now. It will be up to individuals to heed the "lessons learned" to see that a similar incident doesnt happen on their watch.

As time passes of course complacency, over-familiarity, not heeding the little warning bells that go off in a pesons head ie instincts, arrogance, time pressures could(will?) increase the risk of further incidents.

Submarining is inherently dangerous but it is also tedious with routine and repetition. Long periods of relative boredom are punctuated by acute and brief periods of frenzied activity.

Hopefully those acute periods arent the result of failures during the boring periods.

Time tells all things.

Heres what the person who was the Engineering Officer on the submarine I served on said during the Kursk tragedy:

The Russian Submarine Situation: A Statement by Vice Adm. Grossenbacher

(Navy Office of Information)

The following is a statement attributed to Vice Adm. John J. Grossenbacher, commander, Submarine Force Atlantic, on behalf of the men and women of the U.S. Navy:

The situation with the Russian submarine is most unfortunate. Our thoughts and prayers are with those submariners and their families in this difficult time.

Submarining is inherently dangerous. The undersea environment is very unforgiving. Conquering these elements and actually operating submarines submerged at sea is a tremendous accomplishment of man and machine.

Like all Navies that operate in this extreme environment, the U.S. Navy takes every precaution with its submarine force. From the design and construction of its submarines, with redundant systems and back-ups, to the extensive training of its crews, in fire fighting, damage control and emergency egress procedures, safety is paramount in the U.S. Navy submarine force.

We hope this situation resolves itself quickly, and without loss of life.

Vice Adm. John J. Grossenbacher,

Commander, Submarine Force Atlantic