Damaged U.S. Sub Hit Undersea Mountain
United Press International
January 12, 2005
WASHINGTON - U.S. Navy officials say the weekend nuclear submarine accident in the Pacific was caused by running into a undersea mountain at high speed.
Pentagon officials said the USS San Francisco was 350 miles south of Guam, bound
for Australia at about 33 knots, or 35 mph, when its nose cone containing the
sonar dome smashed into the rock formation.
Machinist Mate 2nd Class Joseph Ashley, 24, of Akron, Ohio, died Sunday in the
accident, and 24 others were suffered broken bones, lacerations, bruises and a
back injury. They are being treated on Guam.
The nuclear submarine docked Monday at a U.S. naval base on Guam, and some
external damage was visible, although the ship's reactor was not damaged, a
spokesman with the U.S. Pacific Fleet told CNN.
The vessel's commander, Kevin Mooney, has not been relieved of duty while
investigators assess the sub's speed, its location and whether the undersea
formation was on navigational charts.
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