US warship collides with nuclear submarine off East Coast
October 15, 2012 by Jack Blood
Filed under Americas
The Saturday incident caused the cruiser’s sonar dome to collapse besides leading to possible other damage, but did not cause any casualties, Reuters reported. The dome covers some of the warship’s electronic navigation, detection, and ranging equipment.
Prior to the incident, the cruiser spotted the submarine’s periscope, but failed to avoid the collision.
A related investigation is underway and overall damage to both vessels is being evaluated.
Navy says submarine, Aegis cruiser collide
NORFOLK, Va. — The Navy submarine and the Aegis cruiser that collided off the East Coast are both back in port and officials are investigating what went wrong, the Pentagon said late Sunday.
Lt. Commander Brian Badura of the U.S. Fleet Forces Command said in a news release that the submarine USS Montpelier arrived at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in southern Georgia. The USS San Jacinto (san juh-SIN’-toh) arrived at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Fla.
The vessels collided at about 3:30 p.m. Saturday during routine training operations and no one was injured. The news release said now that they are back in port, crews can further determine the extent of the damage.
“We have had circumstances where Navy vessels have collided at sea in the past, but they’re fairly rare as to how often they do take place,” Badura told The Associated Press.
Navy officials said the collision was under investigation, but declined to offer more specifics including where it happened.
The news release said that the sub’s propulsion plant was not damaged.
Millions of unexploded bombs lie in waters off US coast, researchers say 08 Oct 2012 Lurking (and leaking) beneath the world’s oceans are an estimated 200 million pounds of unexploded and potentially dangerous explosives — from bombs to missiles to mustard gas. Texas A&M oceanographers William Bryant and Niall Slowey documented two such dumpsites in the Gulf of Mexico recently. They conservatively guess that at least 31 million pounds of bombs can be found not just in the Gulf, but also off the coasts of at least 16 states, from New Jersey to Hawaii. Thousands of gallon containers of mustard gas lie strewn off the New Jersey coast, for example. And there is a total of seven dumpsites on the Gulf seafloor, each approximately 81 square miles, one at the mouth of the Mississippi River Delta.
