Sunday, March 23, 2014

International Submarine Open Thread

While I'm mourning the booting of my beloved Jaywalkshawks from the Tournament, I'll post an open thread for whatever you guys want to talk about, with a couple of international submarine news items:

1) HMS Tireless (S88) was denied permission by the UAE to enter port for a planned port visit/crew swap in Dubai, waiting around for a week before heading off to Goa. Many family members, who had come to visit, were understandably disappointed. No reason was given. Have you ever had family members waiting for you for a port visit that was cancelled?

2) Ukrainian Navy submarine Zaporizhzhia (U-01) was forcefully taken by Russian forces on Saturday and incorporated into the Russian Navy. I know that Eastern Europeans do things differently, but I just can't understand the concept of letting one's ship be taken by an opposing force. I'm sure they had orders from higher authority to not provide any resistance, but still...

Bell-ringer 1500 24 Mar: Corrected a typo caused by my distraught state of mind after Kansas' loss; thanks to the commenter for pointing it out.

39 comments:

  1. There is a good chance that about half of the crew was ethnically Russian.

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  2. Wikipedia suggests the boat had been inactive for 17 years (1995-2012).

    The Ukranians may have come out ahead in the exchange.

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  3. Clearly this demonstrates the need for the Royal Navy to adopt a more rigorous risk management approach that emphasizes accountability for decisionmakers while optimizing operational capability. We recommend thorough auditing programs, performed on a quarterly basis by all officers and NCOs, so that risks can be mitigated at the appropriate level and confidence among foreign nations is restored.

    PS: The brits drive in a way that makes US sub COs look like bleeding vaginas, but nevermind that. Moar admin!

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  4. Tireless shouldn't get tired of waiting.

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  5. F**K Kansas.

    M-I-Z-Z-O-U!!

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  6. Christmas 1966 - Coming off of an exercise in South China Sea we were scheduled to go to Hong Kong for the Christmas holidays and an number of wives were waiting in Hong Kong. At the last minute, clearance was not granted and we were diverted to Naha Okinawa. So we spent Christmas at sea, arriving in Naha the day after and the wives, including the COs, had to scramble to get to the island. They arrived in time to celebrate New Year's before we headed back out on patrol.

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  7. Maybe the refusal had something to do with the submarine-reactor leak in Scotland that the Royal Navy covered up for two years (a shore based reactor not installed in a sub, also a newer design than the one on Tireless). This was disclosed just two weeks ago in the Scottish press. It was apparently cracks in fuel rods contaminating the primary coolant with radiation. HMS Tireless itself has had coolant leaks twice, most recently last year.

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  8. The Jaywalks? It's been noted that Americans don't get irony (Google it) so, are you ironic, sardonic, or typing challenged? ;-)

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  9. Maybe the refusal had something to do with the submarine-reactor leak in Scotland that the Royal Navy covered up for two years (a shore based reactor not installed in a sub, also a newer design than the one on Tireless). This was disclosed just two weeks ago in the Scottish press. It was apparently cracks in fuel rods contaminating the primary coolant with radiation. HMS Tireless itself has had coolant leaks twice, most recently last year.

    So when will NR produce a training module that yet again blames operators for a design flaw?

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  10. "The Ukranians may have come out ahead in the exchange." - Anon 9:03 PM

    It is difficult to imagine how that would be correct when your Wiki article also says:

    "In 1997 unable to fix the broken down submarine, the administration of Russian Navy handed it over to the Ukrainian Navy during the partition of the Black Sea Fleet."

    and,

    "Late June 2013 all long-term maintenance work and its test were completed."

    Sounds like more of a Russian steal, to me.

    Ted Sled

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  11. Anon @1120: Typo, I believe, although there may have been some underlying Freudian slip, the meaning of which I'm currently unaware.

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  12. Did everyone hear me yelling at the TV as UNC blew a 10 point last night.

    Heard the other crew of my boomer, yes my boomer had a port call in Hawaii cancelled after they found 30 or so wives showed up and kept pestering SUBPAC for the arrival info. After action report was the XO's wife spilled the dates after they left home port.

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  13. On one of my deployments left Pearl Harbor between Christmas and New Year's. Initial scheduled port call was Guam. About halfway across we headed to Yokosuka. After a few days there, we headed to Subic. Got to the southern end of Japan and made a right turn to Chinhae. Spent a few days there and finally left for and got to Subic. Spent some time operating in and around Subic, then left heading toward Singapore and then eventually in to the Indian Ocean. A couple of days out of Subic we got turned back to the north, never getting anywhere near Singapore. I think we had schedules that had port visits to practically every decent port (Hong Kong, Thailand, Perth, etc...) and never made it to any of them. It was a great deployment.

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  14. YNC Bob Hurley (USN ret) can verify:

    Of the dozen port calls in a row we (SSN) had been told we were going to make, we made only one. BFD, what do you think submarines missions are all about? We is\are not being trained and paid for our entertainment and recreation, people,
    but for our sacrifices. Never knew a shipmate who objected, either. Why would a volunteer like you?

    Ted Sled

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  15. Had a scheduled port visit in Hong Kong were a lot the wives scheduled to meet the boat.

    Typhoon rolls through the SCS and the port visit was cancelled 36 hours before we were due in.

    In the end all was well. The wives had a great time shopping together. The boat pulled into Subic five days later for a two week upkeep. Wives happy, husbands happy!

    One minor hiccup...a JO's wife showed up in Subic. He was told, in no uncertain terms, by the XO to keep her away from the entire crew. This was in the 80's were "what happened on WESTPAC, stayed on WESTPAC"!

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  16. Ummm... CO Kings Bay SSBN suicide? Anyone have details?

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  17. Starting to see stories (not from the Onion) that Obama is going to cancel further Tomahawk and Hellfire production by 2016.
    Anyone else seeing this?
    I cant imagine ant POTUS neutering the USN to this degree.

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  18. Production of two new replacement missile types begins 2017.

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  19. Dependents cruise on the Bremerton from Pearl to the Big Island. Tried to anchor but the anchor failed to deploy. Kept trying for hours and finally gave up. Those dependents that wanted to rode the boat back to Pearl or debarked in Hawaii and flew back to Oahu.

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  20. I hate it when that damn radiation gets out of the fuel rods.

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  21. The CO of WYO had his Change of Command this past week and then supposedly took his own life that night. No further details at this time, but somehow it has not made the press yet. Rumor is he was having trouble at home and not professionally.

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  22. Leave the former WYO CO out of the blogs until the family and the ship has a chance to process. This was a shipmate, a friend, a brother submariner and a overall great guy.

    Leave it be for a while.

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  23. I agree with anon: 7:37 PM

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  24. In other news, an O-5 wrote a blog post about retention that is getting the attention of the Chief of Naval Personnel.

    Perhaps worthy of a new article by Joel?

    Link:
    http://blog.usni.org/2014/03/23/a-navy-that-needs-critical-thinkers-those-willing-to-share-their-ideas-by-vadm-bill-moran-usn

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  25. WYO is sensitive. This will remind why that is already the case:

    http://bubbleheads.blogspot.com/2012/02/uss-wyoming-gold-co-relieved-on.html

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  26. Off topic. More Secret Service officers sent home from overseas. Sounds like the Navy needs to teach them about Liberty buddies...

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  27. "I'll post an open thread for whatever you guys want to talk about, ..."

    Off topic my a$$!

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  28. Obituary for the Wyoming CO:

    http://www.warwickonline.com/stories/CDR-Barry-F-Rodrigues,91061?category_id=20&content_class=1&town_id=1&sub_type=stories

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  29. Well shiver me timbers! (PC for "don't get your panties in a knot")

    http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/25/sailors-leaving-navy-over-stress-on-social-issues-/#ixzz2xAoI57ef


    Old chief from the dark ages
    Jerry

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  30. When the Navy fires COs the names are instantly publicized because they are usually males.

    Not so for the Air Force, because some are women as is the Secretary of the Air Force:

    Nine key commanders below Col. Robert Stanley were also fired, including commanders of the 341st Wing’s three missile squadrons, each of which is responsible for 50 Minuteman three nuclear missiles, the deputy commander of the 341st Operations Group, which oversees all three missile squadrons as well as a helicopter unit and a support squadron responsible for administering monthly proficiency tests to Malmstrom’s launch crews and evaluating their performance.

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  31. Obituary for the Wyoming CO:

    http://www.warwickonline.com/stories/CDR-Barry-F-Rodrigues,91061?category_id=20&content_class=1&town_id=1&sub_type=stories

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  32. ^^^^
    Ex-WYO CO. He had just been relieved at normal schedule with very successful tour. Good man.

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  33. It's in Navy Times that USS Miami won't go back to the fleet after the fire, too expensive to fix. Sad.

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  34. Anon said: Ex-WYO CO. He had just been relieved at normal schedule with very successful tour. Good man.

    Successful, except for the part where he was fired. Normal schedule, except for the "slightly accelerated" part. Let's hope you're not 3 for 3, which means he probably was a "good man".

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  35. "Successful, except for the part where he was fired. Normal schedule, except for the "slightly accelerated" part. Let's hope you're not 3 for 3, which means he probably was a "good man"."

    Not the same guy. You should get your facts together before you post.


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  36. @anon 3/28/2014 3:12 PM

    two different guys, so is that a swing and a miss for you?

    CO that died: CDR Barry F. Rodrigues

    CO that was fired: Cmdr. Diego Hernandez

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  37. My bad. Someone above linked an old story and I missed some details there. Bubblehead pls remove my above erroneous post.

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  38. Casey James Fury, the man charged with sparking a destructive fire on board the USS Miami is to serve 20-25 years.

    That little bastard will be sent to the shower stall a minute after Morning colors at Leavenworth for a considerable bend over. He better hope he has enough Purell green shampoo for lubrication throughout the morning duration during his incarceration.

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  39. As far as Ukrainian sub: big chunk of the crew betrayed the oath to Ukraine and switched to the Russian Navy... here's some pictures http://anton-blinov.livejournal.com/26081.html#cutid1

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