alton@wpi.wpi.edu (Alton J Reich) (07/11/89)
From: alton@wpi.wpi.edu (Alton J Reich) I'm writing this from memory, so it may not be totally accurate. I read this in the newspaper last Sunday (2 July), and I've been away. Since nobody else posted about this, I'll do my best to remember the facts. During the filming of the movie "The Hunt for Red October" the USS Houston (LA class) was submerging. She snagged a line from a nearby tug and pulled it right under. No one was injured on the sub, and the crew of the tug managed to get off safely (they were a bit surprised I'd imagine). It took two days to repair Houston. The damage amounted to some scratched paint. She was again submerging (three days after the first sinking I believe) when she caught a trawler and dragged it under. The damage amounted to about the same as the first time. A Navy spokesman who was quoted or something in the article made it sound like this sort of thing isn't so rare. I wonder what symbol is used to indicate tug boat kills? Alton ************************************************************** N ever I have seen all that has been, * Alton J. Reich * U nderestimate And yet humanity fascinates me still, * alton@wpi.bitnet * K inetic I have no face, no name, I the Observer. * alton.wpi.wpi.edu * E nergy [mod.note: Keep this in mind next time someone asks, "What was the last ship sunk by a submarine ?" - Bill ]
shafer@drynix (Mary Shafer) (07/12/89)
From: Mary Shafer <shafer@drynix> I'd like to correct the report of the USS Houston sinking two ships. There was one fatality but only one ship was sunk in the two incidents. The first incident was caused by snagging a tow line between the tug and the barge (?). The tug, with three crew members, was pulled underwater and sank in 10,000' of water. Two of the crew escaped and were rescued. The third crew member, who was belowdecks at the time of the accident, went down with the ship. I don't believe that the body was recovered. This happened at night and the sub was using passive sonar. The tow line was quite long--I remember 5,000 ft which may not be correct, but is well within an order of magnitude. The incident happened between Catalina Island and LA. The second incident involved cutting through a trawler's fishing net. They had an interview with the skipper of the trawler and he was standing by the winch, ready to cut the line rather than be dragged down, when the net failed/broke and set the sub free. Since nobody was injured or killed in this incident, there were a lot of jokes about "the one that got away." Again, I think the sub was on passive sonar. In the news coverage of the first incident, they said that this was not the first such sinking, but I don't remember more than that and I threw out the LA Times for the interval last week. Cutting fishing nets seems to be quite common. -- M F Shafer shafer@elxsi.dfrf.nasa.gov NASA Ames Research Center arpa!elxsi.dfrf.nasa.gov!shafer Dryden Flight Research Facility ames!elxsi!shafer Of course I don't speak for NASA DON'T use the drynix address
leem@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Lee Mellinger) (07/12/89)
From: leem@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Lee Mellinger) In article <8132@cbnews.ATT.COM> alton@wpi.wpi.edu (Alton J Reich) writes: : : :From: alton@wpi.wpi.edu (Alton J Reich) : : : I'm writing this from memory, so it may not be totally :accurate. I read this in the newspaper last Sunday (2 July), and I've :been away. Since nobody else posted about this, I'll do my best to :remember the facts. : : During the filming of the movie "The Hunt for Red October" the :USS Houston (LA class) was submerging. She snagged a line from a :nearby tug and pulled it right under. No one was injured on the sub, :and the crew of the tug managed to get off safely (they were a bit :surprised I'd imagine). It took two days to repair Houston. The :damage amounted to some scratched paint. : She was again submerging (three days after the first sinking I :believe) when she caught a trawler and dragged it under. The damage :amounted to about the same as the first time. : A Navy spokesman who was quoted or something in the article :made it sound like this sort of thing isn't so rare. : : : : Alton Not quite accurate, the sub was surfacing (when she is practically blind) and snagged the tow line. The line was spotted just before it was snagged so she immediately dived to try to evade it. She was unsuccessful and pulled to tug under. Two of the three tug crew escaped, one went down with the tug. Several days later, she was leaving the area, on the surface preparing to dive. She ran into, and destroyed a gill net that she claimed was in the normal shipping lane, the Navy spokesman inferred that this was fairly common. Lee "I'm the NRA" "...To hell with the constitution." -- Mike Roos, Califonia State Assemblyman, Democrat-Glendale 1989. "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin 1759 |Lee F. Mellinger Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory - NASA |4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 818/393-0516 FTS 977-0516 |{ames!cit-vax,}!elroy!jpl-devvax!leem leem@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV