mycisturnedsisterscisternscystearnedsixterns
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The USS San Francisco didn't sink, and that's no accident.
In 2005, the nuclear attack submarine USS San Francisco suddenly stopped dead in its tracks. The ship's crew were thrown about, some over distances of 20 feet, and the majority of the 137-member crew suffered one injury or another—including one that would later prove fatal. Further inspection would explain what happened, and reveal that the submarine's bow looked like a crushed soda can. USS San Francisco had run into an undersea mountain.
The incredible thing about the incident: despite running into an immovable object at more than 30 miles an hour, at depth of 525 feet, the San Francisco didn't sink, nor did it experience a reactor malfunction. Even more incredibly, the submarine was able to move under its own power back to port on the island of Guam. [...]
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/navy-ships/a24158/uss-san-francisco-mountain-incident/
Bumfuzzleherihardlyknowher
titanicsailson
Let us not forget the one sailor who passed away as a result of this terrible accident: MM2 Joesph Ashley.
DarkshardRex
Fun part is the just cut the front off, and welded on a nose from a different sub that had other issues.
ericDFish
Captain, we are out of the lane by as much as a boat length...
Flonaise
Fair winds and following seas, MM2 Ashley.
NVRSCR
“That mountain was asking for it.” -The Xtacles, probably.
jaybird85
9 years later, Oberyn Martel had an encounter with a mountain with very similar results.
travisallenp31415
My over instruction from my first boat was on this boat when this happened. I was so scared for him what a great guy Chief Larimore was
gorramgomer
Had 2 friends aboard her. Danny Hagar was Chief of the Watch at the time, and skipper, Kevin Mooney.
Gandalfsuglybrother
I assume that was effectively the end of the Captain's career?
gorramgomer
yes, he was removed from command, issued a Letter of Reprimand, and retired a year later. Sucked, as he was basically an innocent bystander
cleverdesigner
As a Guamanian, that's weird. There is nothing nuclear or submarine here. Right USA? (Help me out here, Kim's still watching the island.)
jersmitty360
Imagine the trip back to port: please hold please hold please hold
TheProfessionalOne
After the tsunami a tidal shift occurred moving the land mass (tech tonic plates) resulting in the maps inaccuracy.
rvcaptn
where do you find this? shit i read just said charts were inaccurate
TheProfessionalOne
Official Report, 138 pages, some redactions. https://www.npr.org/documents/2005/may/uss_sanfrancisco_sub.pdf
gorramgomer
The charts they were referencing hadn't been updated since 1700's
TheProfessionalOne
The official investigation says otherwise. Also the USS San Francisco had access to GCCS-M.
smoothoprater
Not sure if confidence or naivety
Nuttsy
Rocks tend not to move much.
libaf
Aren't tsunamis resulting from underwater earthquakes, which result from tectonic plates colliding and not 1/2
libaf
vice versa. Idk what a tidal shift is and how it relates to this.
morgrimmoon
Tidal shift caused the tsunami and moved the mountain, but tsunami should have been a tip off to go take a look and not use old charts.
libaf
Is tidal shift just another name for what happens when tectonic plates rub together? Because I couldn't find anything about it.
morgrimmoon
Kind of; ocean plates are a lot thinner than continental ones, so as plates rub together the ocean floor can sort of flex up and down.
iactualylikenickelback
Joseph Allen Ashley. Fair winds and following seas...
Beeromancer
If a submarine does not sink, doesn't that mean it's broken?
sneakyloki
"Just the tip"
gbolly
They were lucky the forward bulkheads were secure and because of solid engineering. I don't even want to ask about the torpedo tubes.
AtWestEnd
I really want to know what I'm looking at here, especially those black cubes on the left. Are they some sort of automatically deployed plug?
KronaSamu
The cubes are acoustic tiles, they help dampen both sound coming from the sub and sound bouncing off the sub
madassa
Those cubes in the bow are part of the sonar-domes cover.
shitfartgambleloser
Sound dampening and vibration prevention.
mycisturnedsisterscisternscystearnedsixterns
same. looks like ceramic tiles from the shuttle a bit but much deeper.
gorramgomer
Hydrophones.
AnotherLowski
Why would a space shuttle need hydrophones? Are they color coded? The black one are water-resistant and the white ones heat-resistant?
gorramgomer
Hydrophones (transceivers) for the sonar sphere. - Source, i used to be a submarine sonar tech on that class of submarine.
AtWestEnd
Awesome man, thanks for the input. Ever think about putting together a post of work stories from your time in?
gorramgomer
DoD rules are still in effect for me. All the stories I can tell now would be from boot camp. Check back in about 5 years.
SendMeYourOtters
.
kawaiitankguy
.
ManWithItch
.
fettuccine
Used to be?
gorramgomer
My enlistment was up in 1996. Until then I was Sonar Technician (Submarine) - STS in Navy parlance. Worked on A/N BQQ-5 C/D sonar systems
idelta777
he got fired after hitting a mountain
PietTemple
youre famous now
gorramgomer
Duuude...
LawtsOfAtoms
Most of your up votes are from the future
DrWolfram
asthmatherapeutics
Amazing story. Happy to know this. Thank you.
RonSwansonson
As a drydock engineer that would be a really interesting job to work!
ItzMarZz
That proves that teamwork is key to stay afloat, navy's motto, ship, shipmates, self. But in this case sub, submates, self.
C141Clay
Be submissive and survive! ...not sure if that's the right motto...
ItzMarZz
Idk about that but survival is key with a normal ship you jump off the ship, a submarine you can't really escape with much hope of surviving
C141Clay
Oh, I got that. With subs it's got to be right the first time, every time. I did 20 flying, even 35,000" it's a little more forgiving
Manfredjinsinjin
Feel like the tarp should be hiding secrets.
Spearo
Looks like tiles.
physicsisabitch
Nah...they threw the tarp over the nose to get back to base. It will all buff out nicely.
Smagalicious
Actually, it is. There are portions of the photo that were once classified and were released after this happened. Has to do with the sonar.
BoJoTo
Definitely the transducer assembly there. The shape isn't really a surprise anymore.
BoJoTo
Each of those black squares is one part of the entire Sonar Array. Usually pointed differently to hear in a specific direction
barnwolf
Not a phased array?
BrownMiscreant
Gaum! Hey that's where my family is from
chipsandsalsa
Mine too!
BrownMiscreant
We both got down voted for it we must be terrible people lol
tmspmike
And here everyone else has been spelling it "Guam"! Who knew?
BrownMiscreant
Oh shit lmao I didn't even notice the spelling my bad
weerdo
A submarine is already under water, so it won't be able to sink.. it would be just unable to reach the surface... right?
Qm198
at some point it will sink to the bottom tho.
libaf
Syralight
In this context I think the difference is between diving and sinking.
OtterlyMagnificent
Yes. Between intentionally descending and unintentionally descending.
vampirehedgehog
Between a controlled descent and falling.
barnwolf
Well if that opened a hole, and replaced the air with water, it would be heavier and sink.
barnwolf
They did an emergency surface afterwards and had some nice tense movements waiting and waiting as it didn't move at first.
Southpaws7
It can't sink because it's already under water
SPECTREagent
LavaAxe
Sinking can refer to the uncontrolled dive to the bottom of the ocean a submarine could experience.
diphenhydraminehcl50mg
Well it can implode
fettuccine
YAHHHH
DutchSpur
Was the mountain OK ?
shimmernshine
it looked a bit rocky, but it was fine.
jannemank
no, it sank and is now an under water mountain.
Venet
it ded
somnif
I used to play WoW with a dude who was stationed on that thing during the accident. Freaked him out something proper, and he wasn't alone.
TongueWagger
He shoulda been looking where he was going instead of playing WoW, then.
OdiumToJoy
It happened because a junior qualified guy was on watch didn't know to call away the rapidly rising bottom sounding. And as result 1/2
OdiumToJoy
Someone died that had no relation to navigation (a machinists mate). You try staying awake for months on end with little sleep. Dumbass POS.
Metalhead47
Good thing the reactor wasn't in the bow...
ohmegatron
That would be a warhead.
MerToo
yeah the reactor is designed to *not* go boom...
Zujewski
Our reactors are in the aft portion of the sub. Imagine how long the screw would be if it weren't! Source: Navy nuke
TK421isAFK
Does this look like a French piece of engineering?
mycisturnedsisterscisternscystearnedsixterns
there is a "circumcision/circumnavigation/seamen/semen" joke in here somewhere...
iHaveATheoreticalDegreeinPhysics
Scirax
Yah that's mine now
AtWestEnd
I'm disappointed the captioning didn't use the phrase 'double dip' even once
norill
you need to watch the whole gif, the situation, characters. not just read captions
sindex52
Yeah but we all knew... Therein lies the beauty
fettuccine
You can’t just start claiming all the points
mycisturnedsisterscisternscystearnedsixterns
or can i?
TrollFar
It's long, hard and full of seamen.
zooumberg8
Not sea men, sub mariners.
Paasimus
nihil nova sub seamen
TimoMeijer
And it hurts if you run it into a mountain
DutchBacon
Semen/seamen suffering reduced mobility as a result of injuries sustained from circumcision/circumnavigation errors (or ‘cock up’ even)
4shizzlemynizzle
NO!
mycisturnedsisterscisternscystearnedsixterns
what?
AreYouDeaf
NO!
4shizzlemynizzle
where?
mycisturnedsisterscisternscystearnedsixterns
the nether void of the Darkside of the underdarks shadow
simonsaysabunchofstuff
I can't think of one 'off the top of my head'
sundaymondayhippyday
notestoyou
No there's not.
mycisturnedsisterscisternscystearnedsixterns
can you prove that?
MarySkadi
Gerckin
I know how this feels. I was running to the bathroom to pee with morning wood..long story short I ran into the doorknob with my ding dong
Dartimus
Ha! Hit the doorknob with a ding dong......like a doorbell.....good stuff..
lyingblondeguy
We all go through it, don't worry.
definitelynotawolf
But did you sink?
BklynPunisher
Pretty sure the morning wood did.
paulpounder
Did you make it back to port under your own power?
jannemank
who won?
Gerckin
I’d like to say I dented the doorknob, but that’s not the case
diphenhydraminehcl50mg
Who's next?
Gerckin
RevolverFirelot
You decide!
youfreakinnerd
EeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEE-picrapbattlesofhistoryyyyyyyyyyyy
wuttwuttinthebuttbutt
You’re really damn tall huh?
GetCurious
This user knows what's up. All those nudes with dudes looking huge but the door knob's above their navel. You aren't hung, you're a smallboi
Gerckin
Actually yea
liquidCrush
Don't they use sonar so they don't run into things like that?
vicgoatnyk
SONAR performance is degraded with speed. They also could have been using only passive.
gorramgomer
The boat was running at high speed. Can't hear anything due to the flow of water against the hull
barnwolf
Can confirm, played Janes 688i Hunter Killer. Seriously though, the games/simulations made by Sonalysts are very educational.
SuperIncoherentRantingMan
It was a stealth mountain, it was holding perfectly still, too.
ThatWillBuffOut
They're sneaky like that, mountains.
liquidCrush
Thank you! I needed answers
watts
a sneak peak
malikou
myweaknessisstrong
Fuck, that is some high quality punnage.
MyComicalRomance
This deserves more points
MuddyScroll360
brainstream
Brilliant
zeroexistence
active sonar will give away its position to the enemies very easily.
DrKriegersClone
The active sonar that would detect an object in their path also makes them detectable to enemy subs that are just passively listening. 1/
DrKriegersClone
2/ The rule of thumb is that active makes you detectable out to at least 5x the range of what it lets you usefully see.
edwardScotchyScotch
Apparently not....
azmyth1
Mountains don't make a lot of noise. Pretty hard to pick up on passive sonar, and you don't typically use active sonar all the time.
IAmLobstronomous
Not US boomers, they run passive only, best way to remain hidden.
wheelersdealer
... They were going 30 knots. You can see piss all using a sonar at that speed.
Chubbycheesedoge
Actually yes we do, but it isn't active sonar, mountains can change elevation very drastically and sonar takes time.
mycisturnedsisterscisternscystearnedsixterns
are you saying the mountain moved faster than mach the speed of sound? or.. the speed of sound underwater? or something else?
ghos5t7
Passive sonar doesn't ping, so unless something else is loud enough to give a sonar pic of said mountain it doesn't show.
ViciousOtter
"Omg the mountains, they are attacking us !"
shuvitupyabutt
The seas a big place and a lot of it hasn’t been mapped. It’s not the first time this has happened. Source - navigational submariner.
HisBabes
Do you agree Captain Mooney was at fault here? The map was wrong. I get ‘buck stops here’ but to end his career?
shuvitupyabutt
1/2Both parties are to blame. Going to fast with known potential hazards according to reports and unreliable, inaccurate charts from intel.
cyanideslushie
Mountains can be deceptively quicksand are prone to violence so you should never turn your back on them
ThisCommentWillGetMeBannedAgain
Oberyn Martell learnt that the hard way.
HungrehHippo
I had a stroke.a
RetsamEvalsEht
I think they mean that sonar is used intermittently and with an undersea mountain you can go from open water to rock faster than expected.
mycisturnedsisterscisternscystearnedsixterns
that would make sense
MissSpelledTattoo
Not on these type of missions, but charts https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whos-to-blame-for-sub-accident/
PoopDollar59
Thanks for posting source
notestoyou
Thanks for the good read.
Cravanicus
Who’s “Martin?” The article keeps referencing him but their was no intro as to who he was. (Good read otherwise, so thank you)
WrongUn
this was very informative yet weirdly written!!
AnEvenDirtierSmellierHippy
Fascinating read, thanks for sharing.
superlee1985
Feel sorry for the captain. Clearly wasn't his fault but he got all the blame.
Livingexistence
Thats the navy for you...
conquest
more accurately, not entirely his fault. There appears to be a problem with procedure in the chain of operation. 1/2
conquest
2/2 Unfortunately they fired him. not only are they down a promising officer, the gave up the chance to have one with hard lessons learned.
madassa
the traditional 'PING!' sonar you see in films is active sonar, most subs don't use that, they use passive sonar, IE listening for something
FireBreathingFerret
mountain farts
DarkUranium
They don't even sound like the traditional ping. I dunno when that changed, but probably soon after WW2.
Hegamonia
Look up a game called Cold Waters, the sonar in that thing is fucking LOUD and sounds like a bat outta hell's been recorded and played back!
DarkUranium
I have! Unfortunately, I was a bit annoyed by having to do stuff like dive planes manually, and the game having no multiplayer.
smizer
It's more like autistic screeching now. Sooo hard to sleep through.
Generalportion
I love keeping the basement up at night
DaveNI
And if nature programs have taught us anything, it's that mountains are pretty damn quiet.
Alkuam2
Expect for the ones with acid reflux.
Gandalfsuglybrother
Mt. St. Helens wasn't.
paulpounder
Pompeii
missiletowe12
And you notice no submarines ever hit Mt. St. Helens.
DomCarIndustries
And Krakatoa sure as hell wasn’t
HaberdasherInGold
Vesuvius gets a little loud when it’s feeling grumpy.
UserSubHunterOfIndeterminateGender
It's a very specific type of sonar that they turn off at the breaker so it doesn't get turned on accidentally. It's usually off.
iactualylikenickelback
The ocean floor is mapped generally. Like those old Randall maps.
DownWithYouAll
The US used to be able to track all soviet subs all over the world at one point till the engine technology improved. Sound travels very far
DownWithYouAll
underwater thats why its not used.
grumplestiltzkin
1) Short answer: no. Longer answer: there are two types of sonar. Active sonar is similar to what you see in movies, where the sub emits a
grumplestiltzkin
5)So subs usually do is rely on passive sonar, which is just listening to the water around them. You'll get a better idea of whats going on
grumplestiltzkin
10) switch, it only barely had enough bouyancy to get them to safety. I was lucky enough to never have anything like this happen to me when
grumplestiltzkin
7))with the san fran was that (iirc)) they were using outdated charts that didnt have the mountain on it. As a result they plowed straight
grumplestiltzkin
3)water around the ship. The benefit is that you'll get return sounds from objects that arent making noise, like mountains and other subs.
grumplestiltzkin
9)located in the fore and aft of the ship, and one was obviously no longer intact. So when they hit the "oh shit get me to the surface"
grumplestiltzkin
11) I was on a sub, but I cannot imagine the terror of hitting the embt switch and not moving. Its a miracle that only one sailor died, and
grumplestiltzkin
12)a testament to not only the extreme durability of the LA class, but also the calmness and training of her sailors that the ship survived.
grumplestiltzkin
4)The downside is that subs survive by being quiet, and you just made a loud noise, so now anyone hunting you knows right where you are.
grumplestiltzkin
8)into it and a sailor died. The scariest part is that the ballast tanks that are used to get the ship to teh surface in an emergency are
grumplestiltzkin
6)because your own outgoing sounds are interfereing as much, but the downside is that mountains tend to not make much noise. The problem
grumplestiltzkin
13) And since I mentioned it, here's an interesting look into "random" music/active sonar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RENk9PK06AQ
grumplestiltzkin
2)noise (not an actual PING sound but thats a whole separate talk) and then listens for the return sound to get an idea of what is in the
Hegamonia
SCREEEEeeeee is what it sounds like more than anything, as if they're in some scifi flick
grumplestiltzkin
we must have been in different navies then, because thats not what i remember
Hegamonia
Derp. Should've added a caveat that all I know is from Cold Waters, models a cold war gone hot in either mid 60s or 80s
Ikingg
Would you read a news that said, submarine hits rock after sonar malfunction?
SylvesterMarcus
Yes, but one ping only so......
jtlh2
Always upvote Red October.
DickDastardly404
Yes but as you can see the front of the ship and the sonar array are both smashed in so they wouldn’t have detected it.
positiveleroy
Ken M, is that you?
LeadByBadExample
Are you joking?
TK421isAFK
No, look at it - the front fell off. It had to be moved out of the environment.
FrottNoodleMonster
I get it!
DickDastardly404
are you?
LeadByBadExample
Yes, often.
ButterfaceTaintClown
The sonar operator, moments later
TheProfessionalOne
https://www.npr.org/documents/2005/may/uss_sanfrancisco_sub.pdf
jiynxed
Nope! The sonar would give it away.
VodkaReindeer
Yes, it certainly would give away the mountain.
TheIronWolf
What about passive sonar?
zagibu
Passive sonar is listening for the sonar of other boats. Mountains usually don't have a sonar.
DarkUranium
Sonar, or motor, or ship screw. Or *in theoy* reactor (but good luck hearing that). Mountains typically don't have any of those. I hope.
diphenhydraminehcl50mg
"usually"... What do you know?
tr3buchet
plus sonar super fucks up the fish and whatever
reverendleonard
I remember hearing of this from that mermaid documentary/"documentary"
TangoIndiaTangoSierra
Oh no, not the fish
UserSubHunterOfIndeterminateGender
That's only the MF HF active sonar array. Terrain sonar doesn't do that.
tr3buchet
this is good info!
27yoUGLYvirgin
To be fair I doubt they give a crap about the fish, sadly./
tr3buchet
:(
complainsabouteverythingpmuch
Have they thought about putting a really long stick on the front of the submarine?
ImGoingToEatAllYourApples
I think about it a lot
1970sSalsa
Or a coil that would make it bounce off
DangerZoner
Did this make anyone else think of Down Periscope?
Grahamalam
I did...if they just had the guy with incredible hearing!
wuttwuttinthebuttbutt
It’s called passive. It just listens. Mountains do not make noise.
Agent
They do when you run a submarine into one
dnebdal
Admittedly, that's only useful for the *second* submarine.
haunter64
/russians muffled laughs through the sonar
TicoGuy
*CLANK*
seentoomuchdeath
Too quick. I would expect more like CLANKGROWNSCREECRUNCHBLONGPOWSCRRRRRAPEPINGPANGBOOMERSTOP.
bearypatient
Sneak: 100
Caffynated
How can you sing with all the voices of the mountain if it doesn't make noise?
TargaryenLoyalist
Maybe you’re just not listening to them.
LavaAxe
"aww what the fuck dude that hurts" - the mountain USS SF hit
orbitn
Vesuvius and mt st helens occasionally make a slight *poot* noise.
positiveleroy
You’ve never seen them gouge someone’s eyes out with their thumbs before, then.
Bioman998
I'm sure there's noise from the currents flowing around it, plus distortion from other sound sources. All depends on how you listen.
The5lacker
And then they get drowned out by your own fucking heartbeat if you're listening that closely.
Bioman998
I mean if you're listening closely you might run into the mountain. :P
FightMeYouLongAssBitch
Hit a mountain and keep going. That's some damn impressive engineering.
Laylah77
How about paying attention so you don’t plow into a mountain?
SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE
I believe the faring is made from fiberglass or composite. May have had a crumplezone effect.
Solkanarmy
well, hit a mountain and limp away, at least
murphdogg
Also, terrible navigating
andino66
More so when you include being at a depth of 525 feet. That's something like 15.49 atmospheres.
fatmanandthrobbin
Kinda like when my submarine hits the wrong hole and keeps going...
TheDudeFormerlyKnownAsBro
Considering the cargo, it better be
screamingwinemaker
But we can't get a crane to pick up that darn stuffed animal inside at the arcade?
wafflesandpuppies
Usually takes a crane
StormCrowMith
Sorry to be the one to breake it to you but....its build that way on purpose
ProphetofEntropy
this is what would have happened if the Titanic hadnt tried to dodge the iceberg. lots of bow damage but only one compartment damaged
RoryBlack1
Submarines and planes are 2 of the most perfectly engineered machines on earth. Beautiful things they are.
zenoshogun
Planes tend to have issues getting back to the airport under their own power after colliding with a mountain though.
d0o0o0d
Let me know how it goes when a submarine hits a mountain while going 400 mph.
zenoshogun
Your statement is reminding me of: https://books.google.ca/books?id=tgZIBAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA78&ots=RoaL56rSPC&pg=PA78#v=onepage&q&f=false
jaybird85
Would have been useful to Oberyn
smoothoprater
Looking at you, Airbus
NotRapefortheWilling
One down vote? Must be that mountain.
Metalhead47
Just think of how fast the bugger must have been going to do that much damage.
BaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaBATMAN
Doesn't have to be fast at all if it's very heavy, because of inertia. Also why a train can kill you even if it hits you at slow speeds.
Legomastar
It said... more than 30 mph.
Metalhead47
Right, now... think about it... ಠ_ಠ
StrangePoster
Like... woah, dude.
Z0idberg
I have now thought about it.
Metalhead47
And as a result of your contemplative reflection you have no doubt expanded your own horizons and grown as a person, well done.
HappyJello
UserSubHunterOfIndeterminateGender
They were running at flank bell, about 33 knots. That's about 38 mph.
Castironpeppers
It amazes me how incapable people are from googling things.
mycisturnedsisterscisternscystearnedsixterns
flank bell well i hardly knew her boom.
mycisturnedsisterscisternscystearnedsixterns
good thing they weren't running at t-bone bell then boom.
Justmakingthingsup
shreddedking
some would say hitting a mountain in first place is a massive flaw
furriephillips
Pilot error.
GifsAreMyFetish
Maybe it was dark and the captain wanted to set a new record.
ragingkage
I hope the guy in second place sees it.
cool299
Yeah, icebergs are where it's at
mpf312
Worked at Electric Boat for five years. Story went that the mountain wasn't on the charts. These guys aren't constantly pinging sonar due/1
mpf312
Not wanting to give away position/2
KTHRSS
By engineers?
BitchinBotanist
Probably human error, the computers were probably all like ‘dude that’s a mountain’ and the navigator just didn’t believe it or catch it
Neephington
There were no computers, all navigation was done manually by charts. Commanding officer took all responsibility.
tmspmike
2005 and no computers? What are you talking about?
Neephington
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whos-to-blame-for-sub-accident/2/
MagpieNI
No computers in a submarine in the 21st century, really?
Neephington
There are computers. Just read the article https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whos-to-blame-for-sub-accident/2/