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Yank Navigation??

Canaldrifter

Canaldrifter

MIA
I'm beginning to wonder about our American cousins. On the news this morning they tell us a nuclear sub has collided with a Japanese oil tanker. If it had been a japanese fishing boat, I could understand, but couldn't they see it?

No-one hurt, but red faces all around.

A few years ago they flew a bomber over from the states to do a flypast at the Farnborough Air show. It was a very smooth Atlantic crossing, and the flypast went well, except they did it at Blackbush.

Doesn't give you much confidence in a nuclear deterrent if they can't deliver with out getting lost or bumping into things.....
 
The report said that the Sub smacked the tanker in the ar5e end, was the Sub on the surface? You know how these Yanks drive!! Or if it was submerged, you know how dark it is down there!!

Also reported that the USS Greenville (Nuke Sub) did in fact sink a Jap fishing boat back in Feb 2001 killing nine of the Jap crew. Makes you wonder with all the technology we have today! 8O
 
Stripey_G said:
Also reported that the USS Greenville (Nuke Sub) did in fact sink a Jap fishing boat back in Feb 2001 killing nine of the Jap crew. Makes you wonder with all the technology we have today! 8O
Click to expand...

(Reaches for lamp... gives it a swing....)

Back in 1966, the Vic was central to a five ship RAS off Hong Kong somewhere blue and wet out of sight of land. The Olynthus was one side and another RFA on t'other, and we had a destroyer and a frigate outboard.

On the horizon loomed a tiny fishing boat with one man aboard, lying down in the sunshine.

All five ships gave him a blast. His head popped up.... it must have been an awsome sight, five bloody great ships rushing towards you joined together by hoses and lines, but he wasn't going to move. He had right of way. His net was out!

How do you alter course in a five ship RAS? They decided you don't... not for a fishing boat anyway.

He went bobbing and spinning between the Vic and Olynthus, dancing up and down and shaking his fists in anger.

I had it all on super 8 film at the time. Unfortunately that disappeared two divorces ago.....
 
Stripey_G said:
The report said that the Sub smacked the tanker in the ar5e end, was the Sub on the surface? You know how these Yanks drive!! Or if it was submerged, you know how dark it is down there!!

Also reported that the USS Greenville (Nuke Sub) did in fact sink a Jap fishing boat back in Feb 2001 killing nine of the Jap crew. Makes you wonder with all the technology we have today! 8O
Click to expand...

Stripey

The Grenville sunk a Jap research/school ship whilst doing an emergency surface drill (i.e. the bit where the nuke jumps out of the water and flops back in) to impress some US Pollies who were on the helm and planes. The Jap was stopped so no Sonar contact and of course no one all round looksee. The whole Pacific Ocean and they managed to smack straight into it.

Nutty
 
Thanks for that Nutty...bit like a whale breaching then??
Have seen piccies of subs doing that...must be a bit upsetting to ones stomach tho??? :( :(
 
Nutty said:
[The Grenville sunk a Jap research/school ship whilst doing an emergency surface drill (i.e. the bit where the nuke jumps out of the water and flops back in) to impress some US Pollies who were on the helm and planes. The Jap was stopped so no Sonar contact and of course no one all round looksee. The whole Pacific Ocean and they managed to smack straight into it.

Nutty
Click to expand...

Being a wafoo, I don't quite understand this. Are you telling me that a surfacing sub can't tell what's infront of it? Or weren't they watching?

Once again reaching back into the archives of memory, I was supervising a small flight of Wessex anti-sub choppers on the back of RFA Olynthus. We were involved in an exercise with the yanks off Subic Bay. We were supposed to be finding a yank sub. We failed.

About three minutes before the end of the exercise, it surfaced right alonside the tanker and signalled 'Bang. You're dead'.

They claimed they had been sitting under the RFA for the whole exercise. Wherever Olynthus went, so did they.

Bit smart-arse, if it was true.
 
Canaldrifter said:
Being a wafoo, I don't quite understand this. Are you telling me that a surfacing sub can't tell what's infront of it? Or weren't they watching?
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In one word YES.

Whilst deep you cannot see anything, as no one has developed very long look sticks yet so one has to depend on sonar. Now if the target is not making very much noise and the sonar conditions are bad (Think of radar in the middle of a thunderstorm) you may well not hear the little b*****d. During an emergency surface routine there is no caution in the ascent so if some one was not heard and was not expected to be there the result is oops.
 
I feel secure knowing that my boat is in only about 3 metres of water 20 mile from the sea!

Mind you, at one boat rally some wag had fitted a mock-up conning tower around a tender, and he towed it up the canal on a long line. Caused some passing interest from the anglers.
 
BBC News

Canaldrifter, when initiating a thread on a news story, a link is usually required.

We have no room to gloat. Other than Nottingham (bad or what?) et al, our history isn't exactly glorious. RC missed a few recent ones out. The USN has a lot more ships so more chance of a prang. It isn't so much about navigation/ship handling as numbers of ships/submarines in the oggin. We have a better chance of avoiding collisions and it's getting better every day.
 
Canaldrifter said:
I feel secure knowing that my boat is in only about 3 metres of water 20 mile from the sea!

Mind you, at one boat rally some wag had fitted a mock-up conning tower around a tender, and he towed it up the canal on a long line. Caused some passing interest from the anglers.
Click to expand...

It may be in a canal butit is still a target.
 

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