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Hawaii-based US Navy submarine damaged in Persian Gulf

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US submarine's periscope hits vessel in Persian Gulf

A Pearl Harbor-based submarine was damaged early Thursday when one of its periscopes struck an unidentified vessel in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. Navy said Thursday.

U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said in a statement that no one was hurt in the pre-dawn incident Thursday involving the nuclear-powered USS Jacksonville.

The submarine surfaced from periscope depth to see if the collision damaged the vessel, but the ship continued “on a consistent course” offering no indication of distress or acknowledgement of a collision.

According to a U.S. Navy official, the submarine was submerged when there was a “thump.” When submariners tried to see what happened, they were unable to raise the periscope. When they raised the other periscope, they realized the first one had been sheared off and that a vessel — believed to be a fishing trawler — was motoring away and appeared to be operating normally, the official said.

The official, who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the vessel did not appear to be in any distress. The Navy tried to contact the vessel and determine what it was and what country it belonged to, but was unable to do so. The Navy also reviewed surveillance of the area later and found no vessels in distress, he official said.

The Navy said in its statement that one of the Jacksonville’s two periscopes was damaged. A P-3 Orion aircraft searched the area but saw no debris in the water or vessels in distress, officials said.

The Jacksonville is currently deployed to the Middle East, conducting normal patrol operations in the gulf.

Source – Fox News

Submarine Diary 2012 in review

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Statistics of this site since its birth in early Dec 2012.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 8,800 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 15 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Full details of submarine fatal shooting to be heard

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Lt Cdr Ian Molyneux

Lt Cdr Ian Molyneux

THE details of how a hero sailor was killed in a shooting on a nuclear submarine docked in Southampton will be heard today.

A two-week inquest into the death of Lieutenant Commander Ian Molyneux on board HMS Astute last April will be held at Southampton Coroner’s Court.

The 36-year-old father-of-four this year posthumously received the George Medal – the second highest civilian award for gallantry, belowthe George Cross.

As reported, he was killed when he ignored the obvious risk to his own safety as he tried to stop Able Seaman Ryan Donovan, who had begun shooting a semiautomatic rifle on board the submarine while it was on a formal visit to Southampton.

Ryan Donovan

Ryan Donovan

The officer, with 20 years of experience in the Navy, was shot in the side of the head at point blank range as he rushed towards the gunman, who had been acting as sentry on the vessel.

Donovan was eventually overpowered by the then leader of Southampton City Council Royston Smith and chief executive Alistair Neill, who had been on a civic tour of the submarine.

In September last year, Donovan was sentenced to at least 25 years behind bars after admitting the murder of Lt-Cdr Molyneux, and the attempted murder of two other officers

 Winchester Crown Court heard Donovan was as an “immature” fan of violent computer games and gangster rap who failed to cope with the stresses of cramped submarine life.

Despite spending four years in the Royal Navy, the then-22- year-old able seaman was said to have struggled to deal with the strict authority of the armed services and resented those he believed had unfairly targeted him.

Under the nickname “Reggie Moondog”, Donovan, from Dartford, Kent, wrote rap songs with lyrics about guns and killing, including a reference to the SA80 rifle he was to later use on his murderous rampage.

The court heard Donovan had repeatedly spoken of his desire to kill, and just hours before his terrifying gun frenzy he told a colleague he would shoot someone that day – advising him to “watch the news” later.

Donovan was said to suffer no mental illness, and far from being a crazed loner, was popular with many friends, relatives and colleagues, but saw “no way out”

of his predicament.

Angry at missing out on a draft to another ship after getting into trouble and facing military imprisonment for refusing orders over cleaning duty, he decided to kill the officers he held responsible.

He waited two days for the chance to murder Petty Officer Christopher Brown and Chief Petty Officer David McCoy, after which he planned to turn the gun on himself.

But his revenge mission failed when his shots missed the officers, and courageous Lt-Cdr Molyneux, from Wigan, Lancashire, made his fatal intervention.

Source – Daily Echo

Submarine Highway’ tells of a County Louth fishing trawler sunk by a British submarine in 1982

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‘Submarine Highway’ airs on Newstalk on December 22nd at 7am-8am

During this period of the Cold war and Falklands war the Irish Sea was nicknamed ‘Submarine Highway’. Many fishermen lost their lives due to submarines getting caught in their nets. In many cases the submarines did not submerge to save those on the trawlers, but continued to dive so as not to reveal their position.

This is what happened in the case of The Sharelga. The crew which consisted of skipper Raymond McAvoy, his brother Billy McAvoy, his Uncle Noel Kirwin, brother in law Micky Kelly and non-family member Gabriel Hesnan set off to fish for prawns in April 1982. Their boat suddenly stalled and was dragged backwards. Within fifteen minutes the boat had capsized and the men almost drowned.

Only that the incident occurred during the day, the sea was calm and there were other boats in the area at the time, the men believe they would have lost their lives.

Luckily however all five crew members survived the incident and it was for that reason the illegal activities of submarines in the Irish Sea was highlighted.

They were rescued by other boats in the vicinity but had lost their livelihood in a matter of minutes.

The photo features l-r Gabriel Hesnan, documentary maker Mark Hogan and skipper Raymond McAvoy on the right with the life ring that was used during the incident.

The sinking of the Sharelga caused financial devastation for the crew and thirty years on they remain bitter at how they were treated by both the Irish and British governments.

It took almost two weeks for the British Navy to admit liability and four years later the crew received compensation in a Belfast court. The compensation however as Raymond McAvoy puts it “didn’t even match half of what he paid for the boat”.

The documentary features the crew of the Sharelga, skipper Raymond’s wife Barbara McAvoy, Naval affairs expert Pat Sweeney and ex Finanna Fáil TD Hugh Byrne who raised the issue in the Dáil on many occasions.

Submarine Highway will open people’s eyes in to what was going on beneath the Irish Sea during this period. As people got on with their daily lives a new danger lay in the ocean for our fishermen. A nuclear accident was also waiting to happen as submarines from Britain, the USA, Russia and other nations staked each other out under the surface.

Submarine Highway was made and produced by Mike Hogan.

‘Submarine Highway’ airs on Newstalk 106-108 fm on December 22nd at 7am-8am

Source – NewsTalk

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