Threat Axis

The deaths aboard the Russian Akula II submarine last week – need to serve as a reminder that submarines are a dangerous place.  And simple mistakes cause people to be killed.

The US has had its share – but nothing as deadly as either the Akula or the Kursk – in the last 40 years.

+ USS Greeneville (this one appears to be cursed – and should be decom’d);
- Feb 2001 – Surfaces under Japanese Fishing boat – kills fishing boat crew
- Aug 2001 – Runs aground entering Saipan harbor
- Jan 2002 – collides w/ USS Ogden during personnel transfer at sea

+ USS Hartford – Oct 2003 – runs aground leaving Sardinia harbor

+ USS Newport News – Jan 2007 – collides w/ Japanese tanker in Arabian Sea

+ USS San Francisco – Jan 2005 – collides w/ an uncharted sea mount at flank speed. One killed. Reports say that boat was almost lost (due to loss of buoyancy from the forward ballast tanks). Repairs completed at Puget Sound Shipyard in Oct 2008 (yes – last month) by using the forward hull from the USS Honolulu (which had been decommissioned).

+ USS Minneapolis-St.Paul – Dec 2006 – loses 4 crew overboard during rough seas departing Plymouth (England) Harbor. 2 men recovered. 2 men pronounced dead at local hospital.

As for the Canadians – they don’t have a current sub in service. They have the old UK Upholder diesel electrics – and while they got them for a bargain price – they learned why the price was a bargain. The boats had been laid up for a couple of years before the Brits sold them to the Canadians, and it took a bit of repair work to get them ready for transfer. Wiki link has a lot of detail that I won’t bore you with here.

HMCS Chicoutimi -  Oct 2004 – crippled by on-board fire after water came in a hatch during rough weather in the North Atlantic. One killed.