Keeping the blogosphere posted on the goings on of the world of submarines since late 2004... and mocking and belittling general foolishness wherever it may be found. Idaho's first and foremost submarine blog. (If you don't like something on this blog, please E-mail me; don't call me at home.)

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Quick Updates On MSP And Frank Cable Accidents

Stars and Stripes has an article with some "information" on the status of the investigation of the loss of the Sailor from the USS Minneapolis-St. Paul last week. The suggestion that the two lost submariners weren't attached to their safety lanyards doesn't make much sense, though, considering the reports of how strong the winds and seas were; if they weren't attached, it seems unlikely their bodies would have stayed near enough to the boat to easily find.

There's some good news regarding the survivors of the USS Frank Cable steam leak -- the prognosis for eventual recovery appears good for all five, although it sounds like their rehabilitation will be very involved due to the nature of their injuries.

Bell-ringer 2229 03 Jan: As a commenter points out, either I didn't read the MSP article very carefully, or they changed it after I posted without indicating an edit. The article says it's the men who either weren't attached to lanyards or had a longer line who survived; if that's the case, the one not in a harness was probably the safety swimmer. Not being attached to the safety track, he would have been able to swim clear, instead of being pushed against the hull by the storm. The same may be true for the other survivor if his safety line was longer.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Actually, the article suggests that the two sailors that SURVIVED were not clipped in or had more slack in their safety lines, not the two who were killed.

This semi-confirms my suspicion that their deaths resulted from being battered against the hull after being washed overboard while clipped in to the deck runner.

1/03/2007 10:33 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I talked to a friend of mine from SUBLANT. He has not seen the actual SITREP, but he had heard that the guys were transitioning below decks, meaning they would have to unclip before going down the FET. That would be the only reason they should have been unclipped.

1/03/2007 5:43 PM

 

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