BBC NEWS
Two crew die in submarine tragedy
Two crew members of an American submarine have died after falling overboard in Plymouth Sound.

They were among four crewmen who were working in poor weather on the outside casing of the USS Minneapolis-St Paul off the Devon coast.

A rescue helicopter from RNAS Culdrose, a tug boat and a lifeboat were sent to the men's aid while they were tied on to the side of the 110m (362ft) vessel.

The sailors were brought back to shore and taken by ambulance to hospital.

A spokesman for Brixham Coastguard said: "The four got into difficulties while on the outer casing of the submarine.

"They were unable to get back on board, they were tied on but getting battered about by the weather."

Two men appeared to be breathing with difficulty and were given CPR as they approached the shore.

They were taken to Derriford hospital in Plymouth, where two of the servicemen were pronounced dead.

The two other men were transferred to the sick bay at the HMS Drake and later released.

Names withheld

A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesman confirmed two of the crew were pronounced dead on Friday afternoon and the coroner had been informed.

A joint investigation by police, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the United States Navy has begun.

A US Navy spokesman confirmed four sailors from the vessel had fallen overboard as it was getting under way from Devonport naval base.

"The names of the sailors are being withheld until their next of kin have been informed.

"Our thoughts and sympathies are first and foremost with the families and loved ones of the sailors who sadly lost their lives today in this incident."

He said the vessel had just completed a week long visit to Plymouth.

The American nuclear-powered submarine, which is based in Norfolk, Virginia, was leaving the harbour at the time of the incident and has since continued on its journey.

It has been operating under the US Sixth Fleet since October.

The MoD said it could not comment on what the vessel was doing in British waters.

However, submarines have to travel through the Sound to get to and from the city's Devonport Naval Base.

The submarine, which has a complement of 137 officers and enlisted crew, can reach speeds exceeding 25 knots (29mph). Its weapons include torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/6217471.stm

Published: 2006/12/29 20:59:10 GMT

© BBC MMVI

RIP, Shipmates...

That sucks.  Water is cold there.  Must have been a bit rough for them to have been hooked up to the track, if I'm reading correctly.

On my second boat, we pulled a guy out of a rowboat in the Firth of Clyde.  He was in pretty bad shape, and never went in the water.

I know people are going to wonder why these guys died, and the CO probably will have some explaining to do, but the truth is, there are some things that have to be done when getting underway, regardless of conditions, and the sea is a dangerous, unforgiving environment.  I hope thier families can understand.  

And, I feel for the crew.  Guys on a sub are closer than family, in many ways.  I know they are pretty low, right now.

RIP, Shipmates...


I spent meny days and nights burthed next to her in Norfolk.

RIP Sailors

Having never been near a sub, I'm wondering what happened.

Did they fall in the water and drown or succumb to the temp. or fall in and then get hammered senseless against the hull?

Quoted: Having never been near a sub, I'm wondering what happened. Did they fall in the water and drown or succumb to the temp. or fall in and then get hammered senseless against the hull?

Really hard to say.  Not enough info in the article.  Probably a combination of things. It would be nearly impossible for them to get back on board without help, though, if the sea was at all rough.  Then you run the risk of losing more guys.  This may in fact be why four of them ended up over the side.  When we put guys up top in the open ocean, we only put two up at once.  One to work, and one to help the worker not die.

We only did this once, in my six years at sea.  But this was, apparently, a different situation, as they were leaving port.  As I said, you have to do certain things topside getting underway, regardless of conditions.  If they had a problem getting some of that stuff done, I could see where this could happen.

The topside of a sub only has about 5 feet of non-skid applied down the center.  On either side, it's steep and slicker than snot when wet.  Topside guys are harnessed to the deck, but if you fall, it still ain't gonna be fun.

I would guess that they slipped and hung there against the side getting beaten by the waves until they could be pulled aboard.  Injuries were probably anything from head injuries to inhaling sea water.  Very sad in any event.

oh crap...I hope it wasnt one of my old buddies.  I used to do exactly what they died doing. It is very dangerous, especially on a fast boat.

I just finished a 5,000 mile sailboat trip from Cali to FL.  At night on watch alone, we always wore safety harnesses and lifelines.  However, we always joked that it was so we would have a body to send home.  If you fell overboard on a sailboat on autopilot going about 8-10MPH, there is no way you can pull yourself aboard. You would just be dragged along the hull until you were drowned, most likely.  The boat was so noisy with the hull pounding over waves etc, that it's unlikely the sleeping off-watch crew would hear your screams....when your head was above water.  To fall from a sub would be worse, because of the much greater speed and forces involved.

Quoted: Having never been near a sub, I'm wondering what happened. Did they fall in the water and drown or succumb to the temp. or fall in and then get hammered senseless against the hull?

It says they were "tied on."  The is a rail that extends along the top of the pressure hull on a fast boat (or the turtle back on a Trident) that the line crews tie off to for line handling going in and out of port.  As low as the fast boats sit in the water one could easily get swept overboard by a wave.  The deck is practically awash on the surface most of the time anyway.

My guess, wave action got bad and they started getting swept around.  When the Philadelphia pulled into Kings Bay I saw a couple guys get knocked off their feet by the prop wash off the tugs as they were pulling in.  Luckily for those guys they were in the Basin and only got wet.

Even with the nonskid surface the top of a fast attack is no place to loiter.

The only place I have been topside not at pierside was when we were anchored at Lahaina.  The wave action against the side of the hull looked like it would created a bad undertow after the wave smacked against the immovable hull.  

If you fell overboard, in condiitons like this, you would be in a bad spot.  What would  MSHA or OHSA say about this?  We got a hefty fine when the MSHA inspector saw old footprints along the top of a 20,000g fuel tank which had no provision for a safety line.