Nuclear Submarine Accidents

Over the last decade there have been 20 submarine accidents, some involving more than one submarine and others that were devastating to friends and families of the men who died at their posts. Others have been more of an embarrassment to countries that owned them. Two of the most deadly accidents have involved United States Naval submarines. The Thresher and the Scorpion went down in 1963 and 1968, respectively, with the loss of 228 souls between them. They were both lost in the springtime. The Thresher was lost near Cape Cod and the Scorpion 400 nautical miles from the Azores.

 On the 20th of March, 2009, the USS Hartford and the USS New Orleans collided in the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz is located between Iran and the United Emirates, among others. While the USS Hartford is a submarine, the USS New Orleans is an amphibious vessel. The USS New Orleans suffered a ruptured fuel tank spilling 25-thousand gallons of oil into the strait. They both arrived at the Port of Bahrain on the 21st of March, 2009. The nuclear plant onboard the USS Hartford was not damaged by the incident.

A month earlier in the Atlantic Ocean, the HMS Vanguard and the French Navy’s Triomphant collided. The culprit in this incidence seems to be over-crowding due to the conditions both navies utilize for training exercises; however, it was described as “embarrassing incident.” As embarrassing, one can imagine, is when the submarine suddenly runs aground on uncharted obstacles in the ocean.

Unfortunately, two serious accidents happened within three years of one another to nuclear submarines owned by the Russians. The first was in 2000 and involved the Kursk which caused the death of 118 onboard the submarine. The accident occurred on the 12th of April, in the Barents Sea. The second also happened in Barents Sea on the 28th of August, 2003 with the loss of nine seafarers.

The latest to happen in 2011 was a Russian submarine, although the incident was far-less fatal and the fire that started on 29th of December was extinguished on the 30th of the month. The list of accidents and incidents that comprise the last several decades are:

·         Thresher 1963

·         Scorpion 1968

·         K-27 1968

·         K-8 1970

·         K-129 1986

·         K-278 1989

·         K-141 2000

·         K-159 2003

The HMS Vanguard, USS Hartford, Triomphant, and USS New Orleans were in 2009 with the last a Russian submarine in 2011 to round off a very distinguished class of naval transport and battle-ready equipment. It’s  hard to believe that as large as the ocean and small as the average submarine, comparatively, that some of these accidents have happened. However, the world under the sea is a black one with many a hidden secrets, and it takes a fine captain to maneuver her without incident.