Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 853
| Subject: 11-2 Incidents
gone tomorrow, posted a day early
Atlantic 11/02/61: During its sea trials the USS Thresher (SSN-593) docks at San Juan,
Puerto Rico. Its reactor is shut down and a diesel generator is started up to provide electricty
in keeping with usual docking procedures. But after seven or eight hours of operation the diesel
generator breaks down. While sailors work on the generator, electricity is provided by an
electric storage battery. The generator takes much longer than expected to repair, however,
and so the decision is made to restart the reactor. But, a nuclear reactor takes several hours
and considerable electricity to restart, and the Thresher's battery is depleted before the reactor
becomes critical. With no electricity to keep the ventilation system going, the submarine
starts to heat up. Temperatures in the machinery spaces reach approximately 140 degrees.
Some men are ordered out suffering from the heat and fumes, and the captain fears the heat
and humidity could damage electrical equipment and lead to a general evacuation.Ultimately
the problem is solved by hooking up electrical cables to the diesel-electric powered submarine
Cavalla (SS-244) which is moored alongside early the next morning. With electricity from the
Cavalla, the Thresher's reactor is able to be restarted.
Atlantic 11/02/81: At the Holy Loch naval base in Scotland a Poseidon submarine-launched
ballistic missile is dropped 13 to 15 feet as it is moved aboard the submarine tender USS
Holland (AS-32) after an error by the crane operator. The fall is arrested by a safety device,
but critics suggest there was a serious chance that a conventional explosion could have taken
place, dispersing radioactive material. This explosion could have occurred because the
Poseidon warhead uses an unstable conventional high explosive called LX-09. Moreover,the
Navy is upbraided for not immediately reporting the incident or notifying surrounding
communities of possible danger. The U.S. Navy refuses to confirm or deny whether there were nuclear weapons on the missile and states 'there was no damage done, no injuries occurred ;there was no danger to personnel.'
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 932
Location: Milford, PA | Subject: RE: 11-2 Incidents
I was aboard Cavalla for that incident and remember it well. Being in the Deck Gang at the time, it was my duty to help get the cables to Thresher.
Years later, when on the Dogfish (SS 350), I became re-acquainted with Richard (Black) Bartsch, RM1, who was later transferred off Thresher due to serious surgery requirements.
I clearly remember assisting a few of the overheated crewmembers off Thresher to the pier. A scary time for an ignorant 19 year-old kid. |
11-2 Incidents
