tim52

U.S. Submarine, Japanese Ship Collide


Jan 8, 11:41 PM (ET)

By JIM KRANE DUBAI,

United Arab Emirates (AP) - A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine and Japanese merchant ship collided near the busy shipping lanes of the Straits of Hormuz, the U.S. Navy and Japanese government said Tuesday. No one was seriously injured.
Damage to the fast-attack USS Newport News submarine and the tanker was light and there was no resulting spill of oil or leakage of nuclear fuel, officials from U.S. Navy, Japanese and Emirates government said.
Both ships remained able to navigate, said a Navy official in Japan who requested anonymity because the details of the incident had not yet been released.
The bow of the nuclear-powered Newport News hit the stern of the oil tanker Mogamikawa as the vessels were passing just outside the Straits Monday night, causing minor damage to the Japanese vessel, Japan's Foreign Ministry said. The Japanese government said it was informed of the crash by the Navy and the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.
The tanker, operated by Japanese shipping company Kawasaki Kisen Ltd., was able to continue to a nearby port in the United Arab Emirates, the statement said. Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency described the ship as a supertanker.
Commander Kevin Aandahl of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain confirmed there had been a crash and that there were no injuries. Aandahl said the sub had surfaced and its crew was evaluating damage.
There was no leakage of radioactive material in the collision, Kyodo News agency reported, citing Japan's Foreign Ministry.
The Newport News is based in Groton, Connecticut, and was launched in 1986. It has a crew of 127.
The Mogamikawa was traveling from the Persian Gulf to Singapore and was carrying a crew of eight Japanese and 16 Filipinos, Kyodo said. Officials from the shipping company were not immediately available for comment.
The Japanese government has asked the U.S. side to investigate. Aandahl said a Navy investigation would begin shortly.
In February 2001, a U.S. Navy submarine rammed into a Japanese fishing vessel in waters off Hawaii, killing nine people. The American captain's delay in apologizing for the crash triggered protests by the victims' families.
The 34-mile wide Straits of Hormuz forms the entrance to the Gulf, through which about two-fifths of the world's oil supplies pass. Cargo vessels headed for Dubai, the world's largest manmade port, also pass through the straits, bordered by Iran and Oman.
U.S. naval vessels have been involved in previous collisions with commercial ships in the busy shipping lanes around the Persian Gulf. In September 2005, the U.S. nuclear submarine Philadelphia collided with a Turkish cargo ship in the Gulf, causing no injuries.
In July 2004, the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy collided with a dhow in the Gulf, leaving no survivors on the traditional Arab sailing boat. The Navy relieved the Kennedy's commander, Capt. Stephen B. Squires, after the incident.
Fleets of U.S. and allied navy vessels conduct "maritime security operations" in the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea and western Indian Ocean, attempting to block smuggling of weapons to Iraq and Somalia, nuclear components to Iran, as well as the movement of drug shipments and terrorists.
---
Associated Press writers Hans Greimel in Tokyo and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.

__________________
Buy the ticket, take the ride.

HKDan

This sort of thing is happening waay too often. Something is wrong.

glyn

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Semper in excretum. Solum profunda variat.

Dreadnought

Keeping low profile in the Straights until........

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Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

rickusn

"This sort of thing is happening waay too often. Something is wrong."

Oh BS. You only hear about it now instantly. Among other factors.

Heres a couple of interesting stories both plausible. But Ill reserve judgement until we see a final report.:


http://content.hamptonroads.com/stor...=77484&tref=po

Navy says speed of tanker sucked submarine up to surface

The Mogamigawa, a 1,100-foot-long merchant ship displacing 300,000 tons. AP PHOTO/KAWASAKI KISEN KAISHA LTD.


By JACK DORSEY, The Virginian-Pilot
© January 10, 2007



NORFOLK - The submarine Newport News was submerged and leaving the Persian Gulf when a mammoth Japanese oil tanker passed overhead at a high speed, creating a sucking effect that made the sub rise and hit the ship, the Navy said Tuesday.

That is the preliminary finding of Monday's collision between the Norfolk-based submarine and the Mogamigawa, a 1,100-foot-long merchant ship displacing 300,000 tons.

Both were southbound, crossing the busy and narrow Strait of Hormuz while heading into the Arabian Sea.

"As the ship passed over the sub, it ended up sucking the submarine into it," said Lt. Cmdr. Chris Loundermon, a spokesman for Submarine Force in Norfolk.

"It is a principle called the venturi effect," he said.

The Mogamigawa, built in 2001, is a super tanker that displaces 300,000 tons of water - three times the amount of water of a modern aircraft carrier.

The Newport News, a Los Angeles-class submarine, displaces 6,900 tons of water.

"This was a very, very large ship moving at higher speed," Loundermon said.

No one was injured aboard either ship, the Navy said, and damage to both vessels is relatively minor.

The collision was the fifth involving a U.S. submarine in the past six years, according to news records.

Four of those incidents involved other surface ships. In one case, a submarine hit an undersea mountain.

The Newport News collided with the Mogamigawa while submerged in the Arabian Sea about 10:30 p.m. local time, the Navy said.

Afterward, it was going to Bahrain to check for further damage.

"She is headed to port right now," Cmdr. Kevin Aandahl, a spokesman for the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain, said late Tuesday from Bahrain.

Damage to the Norfolk-based Newport News appears to be confined to the bow, he said. The sail, or mast, and the sub's nuclear reactor were unharmed, he said.

Aand ahl said he could not discuss details such as the speed or depth of the submarine at the time of the impact.

Aandahl emphasized that the Newport News was not surfacing at the time, as was reported earlier by CNN.

The Strait of Hormuz separates the Arabian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman and the North Arabian Sea. It is about 40 miles wide - 34 miles wide at its narrowest point, according to globalsecurity.org.

The strait, which is the world's most important oil chokepoint, has channels for inbound and outbound tanker traffic that are 2 miles wide, as well as a buffer zone of 2 miles, according to the Web site.

The Newport News left Norfolk along with the aircraft carrier Eisenhower strike group in October for a six-month deployment to the Middle East.

The Mogamigawa was traveling from the Persian Gulf to Singapore with a crew of eight Japanese members and 16 Filipino members. The submarine has a crew of about 130.

The other four submarine collisions in the past six years are:


Sept. 5, 2005: The fast-attack submarine Philadelphia and the Turkish merchant ship Aysen met about 2 a.m., 30 miles off the coast of Bahrain, resulting in minor damage.

The Aysen was attempting to overtake the submarine and approached the Philadelphia from the sub's port quarter.

The ship damaged the sub's propeller, the sailplanes, a periscope and dented the Philadelphia's hull.


Jan. 9, 2005: The attack submarine San Francisco, traveling at a high speed near Guam, struck an undersea mountain, killing one crew man and injuring 24.


Nov. 2, 2002: The fast-attack submarine Oklahoma City struck a Norwegian merchant ship in the western Mediterranean Sea, damaging the sub's sail and periscope but causing no injuries.

Its commanding officer was relieved of command.


Feb. 9, 2001: The attack submarine Greenville ran into the Japanese fishing and training vessel Ehime Maru off the coast of Hawaii while performing an emergency surfacing maneuver during a demonstration cruise for civilian visitors. Nine crew members on the Japanese ship died.

The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that collision was caused by inadequate communication among senior members of the crew.

The commanding officer was relieved of command and retired.


Reach Jack Dorsey at (757) 446-2284 or jack.dorsey@pilotonline.com.

http://www.worldaffairsboard.com/new...ote=1&p=325367

World
Poor sonar conditions possible cause of U.S. submarine collision
15:28 | 10/ 01/ 2007



MOSCOW, January 10 (RIA Novosti) - Poor sonar conditions might have contributed to a collision between a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine and a Japanese tanker in the Arabian Sea, a Russian naval expert said Wednesday.

The USS Newport News fast-attack submarine collided Monday night with the Japanese oil tanker Mogamigawa near the Strait of Hormuz, which separates Iran from the United Arab Emirates.

Both vessels suffered minor damage but no injuries, fuel spills or radiation were reported.

"The crew of the Newport News most probably fell victim to poor sonar conditions in the area," Gennady Illarionov, a former submariner, said in an exclusive interview with RIA Novosti.

"The sonar operator apparently did not hear the noise produced by the Japanese tanker, because it is fairly quiet," the expert said. "It [the tanker] has a propulsion plant located at the stern, and the collision occurred in the middle of the hull, about 200 meters (650 feet) from the rear of the ship."

"Such occurrences are rather frequent, because at a depth of 40 meters (130 feet) in poor weather there are strong wind waves that interfere with the acoustic field and could prevent a sonar operator from hearing the noise of a nearby target," Illarionov said.

He said the captain of the U.S. submarine was most likely to blame for the collision, because it occurred while the submarine was surfacing and the Japanese vessel was simply maintaining its course in the narrow strait.

"Surfacing is one of the most complicated maneuvers for submariners, especially from a depth of 40 meters to the surface," Illarionov said. "It is the most dangerous stretch, and that is when the two vessels collided."

The expert also said that 40 meters is a fixed depth in preparation for surfacing. At that depth, a collision is impossible and it allows a sonar operator to scan the acoustic horizon before reporting to the captain, who subsequently makes a decision to surface.

Following the captain's orders, the crew raises the vessel to periscope depth, and the captain is supposed to visually scan the horizon and make sure it is clear before finally surfacing.

Illarionov said the captain should have received the sonar operator's report before making the decision to surface. Otherwise, it would have been a violation of strict procedures.

In addition, the expert said, the Newport News, a Los Angeles class nuclear submarine, is vulnerable to sea collisions because of the design of its hull.

"These submarines have a single-hull structure," Illarionov said. "And any collision with another vessel can lead to serious consequences for them [the submarines]."

"I think the Americans were simply lucky because it was apparently not a direct hit," he said, adding that despite the 50-millimeter thickness of the hull, the impact should have left a deep dent in the super-hard steel.

The USS Newport News (SSN 750) has been operating as part of a U.S. Navy carrier strike group patrolling the Persian Gulf and nearby seas. It has a crew of 127.

Another Russian naval expert said Tuesday it was the captain of the submarine who was responsible for the collision.

"The incident involving the American submarine and the Japanese tanker in the Arabian Sea was due to intensive shipping in the region, which demands a high level of caution from captains of vessels, in particular from captains of nuclear submarines," the expert said.

"Most likely, the captain of the American vessel inadequately assessed the underwater and surface situation while the submarine was surfacing," he said.

The collision is not the first between a U.S. submarine and a Japanese vessel. In February 2001, a U.S. nuclear submarine, the Greenville, ran into and sank a Japanese fishing vessel near Hawaii, killing all nine people on board the Japanese boat.

HKDan

RickUSN,
While I will always defer to your far, far greater knowledge and experience in anything to do with submarines, is it really the case that the USN submarines historically crash at rates as high as have been seen over the past few years? If you say so, I believe it, but it really seems like this has been happening a lot(the japanese fishing vessel, the SF hitting that mountain, this).

rickusn

Dan you may be right as hard as it is for me to swallow.

I guess Im just getting old.

Please accept my most humble apologies.

The key being this: ""It is clear that a common thread through recent problems has been errors [when] conducting normal routine operations," stated Vice Adm. Munns. "We are going back to basics, back to practice." :

Submarine Force Announces Operational Stand Down
Norfolk January 11, 2007 - The US Submarine Force announced Jan. 11, that it will conduct an Operational Stand Down in the wake of recent submarine incidents. In a message to the submarine force, Vice Adm. Chuck Munns, US Submarine Force commander, directed the immediate "stand down" to focus energy and intellect on the basics of submarine operations.

Submarines provide continued excellence in the accomplishment of national and theater tasking, but recent problems in routine operations need attention.

"It is clear that a common thread through recent problems has been errors [when] conducting normal routine operations," stated Vice Adm. Munns. "We are going back to basics, back to practice."

Munns directed that, effective immediately, all submarine commanding officers review recently completed operations and future planned evolutions, and evaluate areas of risk and risk mitigation.

Normal operations will continue while the review is conducted. The review will be completed by Jan. 19.

Additionally, during the month of February, submarine squadron and group commanders will review inputs from the force’s submarines and implement actions to improve routine efficiency. The submarine force will also take additional actions to incorporate findings from the stand down and better prepare commanding officers with tools and techniques that foster good judgment, technical, and mariner skills.

"I am fortunate to have assigned the best people America can produce-they are well trained, they have the best equipment in the world," stated Vice Adm. Munns. "This operational focus, ‘stand down’, will continue our success in national tasking and also improve our daily operations."


Collision of VLCC "Mogamigawa" Update
January 11, 2007 - Inspection by diver resumed in the morning of Jan. 10. Finally following damages were found on bottom of ballast tank No.5:



approximately 3.5m x 10m of dent with two holes, approximately 20cm x 10cm and 40cm x 20cm respectively (same location as reported in press release No.2 yesterday)
approximately 2m x 4m of dent with three holes, approximately 10cm x 5cm, 10cm x 5cm and 20cm x 10cm respectively
approximately 2m x 10m of dent
Also all propeller blade edges were found missing approximately 8cm from tip.

All holes were plugged up by temporary repair and flooding into No.5 ballast tank was stopped. Consequently classification society ClassNK issued recommendations that she should arrive shipyard for permanent repair by Feb. 9 after unloading cargo.

She sailed Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates at 23:00 of Jan. 10 local time (04:00 of Jan. 11 Japan standard time) and is bound for Singapore due on Jan.20. Shipyard for permanent repair will be selected in due course.

VLCC "Mogamigawa" collided with submarine USS "Newport News" on Jan. 8 after passing Strait of Hormuz.

rickusn

Are there mitigating circumstances.

I say yes but my by no means are they an excuse:

1.) They are going places routinely that in the past only the most trusted crews were allowed to go.

2.) They are going place that very little prior operational experience is documented.

3.) They are doing things in familiar waters taht were never done but now the risk is taken for PR purposes.

Nonetheless it was well known thirty years ago that operating in known merchant ship transit lanes is hazardouos.

When I served it was our "worst nightmare" that pretty much exactly happened here would occur.

IE You cant hear a Super Tanker coming directly towards you and they can you suck you up at certain operating depths.

And then we were talking about 100,000 dead displacement ships not 300,000.

However I know for a fact that those crews have training I only dreamed of.

So I was admant then and still am(maybe moreso) that regrdless of training its up to each individual crew(On all USN ships)to do what they know is right.

If anything (and I hate to think at this late date) it may have to do with al lack of leadership[LISTENING to those they so-called entrust.

When I served I saw it all to often and I was I quite blessed .

Both my first Eng and XO were outstanding.

Funny as it may seem I thought they wouldnt amount to much as regards making Flag Officer.

Only because neither EVER played the game.

They did what they were supposed to (and More) and expected the same from ALL those around them.

Maybe its become a lost art.

I didnt think so.

But alas it seems so.

Again I retiterate "Its Hell gettiing old".

Never thought it would happen to me. LOL

tim52

Rick your ability to step back and reevaluate your views is one of the reasons I respect your posts. I salute you, you old fart.

rickusn

Lt. Cmdr. Chris Loundermon, spokesman for the Atlantic Fleet Naval Submarine Force.:


Most recently, the attack submarine Newport News and the Japanese oil tanker Mogamigawa collided on Jan. 8 in the busy Strait of Hormuz , a busy strategic chokepoint that runs between Iran and Oman .

According to Loundermon, both ships were headed south and out of the Gulf at about 10:15 p.m. when the submerged submarine was overtaken by the faster moving tanker on the same route.

The movement of the large tanker caused the smaller submarine to be drawn into the ship's surface wake by the intermingling pressure areas created by their hull washes, known in physics as the "Venturi effect."

“The submarine was pulled up toward the tanker,” Loundermon said.

Despite initial reports, Loundermon said the Newport News was not attempting to surface at the time. “Newport News was submerged at depth, on a steady course and speed,” he said.

HKDan

No need to apologise to me. Reading your posts is a major reason I come here.

rickusn

www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNe...9030432364

There but for the Grace of God



By Raymond Perry

In the early evening hours of January 8th, 2007, the USS Newport News, a US Navy Fast Attack Nuclear Submarine was sucked into a collision with the Mogamigawa, a supertanker owned by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., a Japanese flagged Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) based in Tokyo, Japan. The USS Newport News was operating fully submerged at a routine operating depth for such operations. Both ships were eastbound departing the Straits of Hormuz.

The Straits of Hormuz carry a vast quntity of the worlds oil in a huge number of ships. Traffic is very heavy there. There is a ?Traffic Separation Scheme? in place that separates opposing shipping traffic to reduce the possibility of collision in this vital, and narrow, passage.

The USS Newport News and the Mogamigawa were travelling in the same direction so the ?Traffic Separation Scheme? did not offer any protection to them. Since the USS Newport News was fully submerged the Mogamigawa was not even aware of her presence and could not take action to avoid the collision.

Why did the USS Newport News not take action to avoid the collision? The answer lies in the contruction of the Mogamigawa. These VLCC ships are huge, in this case 300,000 tons at full load. The Mogamigawa was carrying a full load.

There is so much ship, and crude oil, between the engineroom and propeller, the noisemaking regions of the ship, that anything in a narrow cone in the front of the ship will have no warning of its approach. This shielding effect is pronounced but is a quite narrow cone perhaps 5? and no more than 10? wide.

The next thing to be understood is that these VLCC ships are so large that their draft, the depth of their keel at full load, can be on the order of 120 feet or more. When this is combined with a narrow and shallow seaway, such as the Straits of Hormuz, the stage is set for a collision.

In this case the USS Newport News was certainly operating at what was considered a safe depth for normal operations. The final element of the collision was physics. When two moving bodies operate close to each other a suction is created, the venturri effect. This can then pull a smaller ship into a larger ship.

This same effect causes two ships conducting underway replenisment to have to steer courses a few degrees off what they would in open seas. If one observes two ships engaged in underway replenishment the sea surface between them will actually lower somewhat because of this effect.

The Mogamigawa was on a course nearly coincident with that of the USS Newport News. The Mogamigawa was likely travelling at a speed of 15 to 20 knots. This is a normal speed for VLCC?s in open waters. The USS Newport News must have been travelling less than this in order to be overtaken.

The venturri effect will suck the smaller ship into the larger ship regardless of the speed differential. The only other consideration is that of reduced control response at slow speeds. Any ship responds sluggishly at slow speed and it may be that the USS Newport News was operating at a slow speed with lesser ability to respond to the suction.

In the end the USS Newport News was in a difficult situation, she could not detect the oncoming Mogamigawa and so could not avoid the collision. The United States long ago accepted reponsibility, under the Rules for Avoiding Collisions at Sea, for collisions inherent in submarine operations.

An investigation will reveal whether ships company could have avoided the collision. This in turn will determine the fate of her Commanding Officer, Commander Matthew Weingart.

The Navy has directed a servicewide ?Safety Stand Down? in the wake of this collosion whereby all ships, units, and squadrons stop all events and review safety procedures. This type of action is a way for an admiral to seem to be taking action when in fact little changes in the culture that drives accidents.

All these really do is turn down the heat on the admiral.

A ? Safety Stand Down? is a peacetime fiction of today?s military, this nation is at war.

Frequently Commanding Officers are relieved of command in ignominy after a collision or grounding. There are notable, but rare, occasions where this does not happen because the collision was truly unavoidable.

The Submarine Force will look carefully into what cues the sonar party had of contacts and find out if there were things overlooked that should have tipped the crew to the approaching Mogamigawa. The training and qualification of crew members will be scrutinized carefully to see if any crewmen were deficient in preparation for their watchstation.

Investigations are important, less because of potential culpability of crew members, but to refine Submarine Force training and become smarter so that this kind of collision is less likely to recur.

Should Commander Weingart be relieved of command because of this collision, Commanding Officers the world around will again remark, ?There but for the grace of God...?

Lt. Raymond Perry USN (Ret.) is a DefenseWatch Contributing Editor.

tim52

Excellent article, it will be interesting to see what the outcome of the investigation is.

Elbmek

Thanks Rickusn for that info, I thought maybe one of my ex officers was handling the navigation

__________________
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rickusn

Yes Tim the article summed up quite clearly and concisely points I was trying to convey in an earlier thread.

"I thought maybe one of my ex officers was handling the navigation"

LOL

I know what you mean.

I had one officer that almost ran us into the breakwater while entering the hrbor at Rota, Spain.

And a triumverate of the CO, Navigator, OOD along with the in-training OOD did run is into pier while docking in Charleston. SC.. OF course sh-t runs down hill and only the JOOD got canned despite my best efforts during the subsequent inquiry to place the blame squarely where it belonged on the Navigator and the CO.

Geez that was almost 30 years ago. Seems like yesterday. LOL