You Got Supertanker on My Nuke Sub

This is a curious story about the USS Newport News colliding with a Japanese Supertanker in the Straights of Hormuz. The Nuke Sub was at a shallow enough depth to navigate either visually with periscope or with radar, but it still somehow managed to bump the supertanker in the stern. Was the Nuke Sub masking its presence on sonar and radar by shadowing the huge ship? Or was this just a case of bad driving?

From the AP here:

A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine collided with a Japanese oil tanker in the Straits of Hormuz, through which 40 percent of the world’s oil supplies travel, officials said.

No one was hurt in the accident that happened Monday night in the 34-mile wide straits, which are bordered by Iran and Oman and serve as the entrance to the Persian Gulf.

Damage to the fast-attack USS Newport News submarine and the supertanker was light and there was no resulting spill of oil or leakage of nuclear fuel, officials from the U.S. Navy and the Japanese government said.

The bow of the submarine was traveling submerged when it hit the stern of the supertanker Mogamigawa as the vessels were passing through the Straits, causing minor damage to the Japanese vessel, the U.S. Navy and Japan’s Foreign Ministry said.

Fleets of U.S. and allied navy vessels patrol the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea and western Indian Ocean, attempting to block smuggling of weapons to Iraq and Somalia, nuclear components to Iran, as well as the movement of drug shipments and terrorists.

U.S. and coalition ships started patrolling the coast of Somalia in recent weeks in a bid to capture any al-Qaida suspects fleeing Ethiopia’s December invasion.

I think I will skip my usual crack about Asian Drivers regarding the skipper of the supertanker. The sub is much more nimble and should have been able to avoid this collision.

There are lots of other bloggers who complain that the United States is doing too little about Iran and their buildup to a nuclear arsenal. I am beginning to think that the United States has Iran well contained. I think it is rather clear now that there is already a strong nuclear arsenal in the Persian Gulf- It is carried on these Nuke Subs, which have first strike capabilities. This accident should also make the Iranians wonder how many more nuke subs have slipped into the Persian Gulf?

I used to work on nuke subs back in the day. I didn’t have a hand in working on the Newport News, but I know guys who did.