Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 853
| Subject: 4-9 history
Atlantic 04/09/62: The USS Thomas A. Edison (SSBN-610) collides with the USS Wadleigh (DD-689) during antisubmarine warfare exercises 200 miles east of Norfolk, Virginia. The Edison's topside rudder is slightly bent and the destroyer's forward bottom plates are pierced. The Edison is repaired at Newport News, Virginia, in several hours while the Wadleigh goes into dry dock for several weeks. According to a Navy spokesman the collision resulted from a misunderstanding between the two ships and occurred as the Edison was surfacing. No one is injured.
Atlantic 04/09/68: The USS Robert E. Lee (SSBN-601) snags the nets of the French trawler Lorraine-Bretagne in the Irish Sea, causing the trawler to lose considerable amounts of fishing equipment. The submarine is undamaged.
Pacific 04/09/81: The USS George Washington (SSBN-598) collides with the 2,350-ton Japanese freighter Nissho Maru in the East China Sea about 110 miles south-southwest of Sasebo, Japan. As it is surfacing, it runs into the underside of the freighter, damages its hull and causes it to sink in approximately 15 minutes, killing two Japanese crewmen (13 others are rescued). The submarine suffers minor damage to a small section of its sail. The accident sparks a political furor in Japan, straining U.S.-Japanese relations a month before a meeting between Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki and President Ronald Reagan. The United States is criticized because: it took over 24 hours to notify Japanese authorities; the submarine and a U.S. P-3 Orion aircraft overhead did not make a rescue attempt; and the submarine was operating so close to Japan, less than 20 miles outside the 12-mile limit. The U.S. Navy initially says the submarine surfaced but could not see any ship in distress due to fog and rain. On 11 April President Reagan and other U.S. officials express regret over the accident, make offers of compensation and reassure the Japanese there is no cause for worry about radioactive contamination, but refuse to say what the submarine was doing so close to Japan or whether it was armed with nuclear missiles. Over the next several months as the controversy continues, the U.S. Navy:accepts responsibility to preclude lengthy litigation; is criticized for its preliminary report which says the submarine and Orion claimed not to have realized the freighter was sinking; and relieves and reprimands the commanding officer and officer of the deck of the submarine. On 31 August the Navy releases a final report which concludes the accident resulted from a highly coincidental set of circumstances, compounded by errors on the part of some members of the submarine crew.
4-9-1953 Submarine Croaker received the new designation SSK-246.
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4-9 history
