Sub CO Was Fired Over Near-Miss With Cargo Ship

The U.S. Navy fired a submarine commander after a near-miss encounter with a merchant ship in the Strait of San Juan de Fuca.

Commander Joseph Nosse was transferred from the USS Kentucky a week after the Oct. 12 incident.

Navy Times obtained reports on the incident under the Freedom of Information Act. The Kentucky and the M.V. Midnight Sun, an 839-foot cargo ship, came within 900 yards of each other with the submarine traveling at periscope depth.

The report said a series of miscommunications and lapses in attention while the submarine was changing course led to the near miss in the Strait of Juan de Fuca between British Columbia and Washington state. The Kentucky was apparently unaware the Midnight Sun was in her path until the merchant vessel alerted her.

A former submarine commander who looked at the report said the situation was very dangerous.

"When you look at this, you say, 'If the guy on the merchant hadn't been playing heads-up ball, he could've slammed into this guy carrying a boatload of nuclear weapons,' " the former commander said.

The Kentucky is based in Bangor, Wash. The Midnight Sun, owned by Totem Ocean, makes regular runs between Tacoma, Wash., and Anchorage, Alaska.