Budget cuts spell end of fire-ravaged nuclear sub

[bananas]

Source: CNN

Casey James Fury simply didn't want to be at work, and in the process cost the Navy nearly a half-billion dollars and one attack submarine.

Fury admitted to setting fire to the USS Miami, a nuclear sub, in May 2012 while it was in dry dock. He was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison in March and ordered to pay $400 million in restitution -- roughly the cost of the damage.

The Navy won't see anything close to that amount from Fury, of course, but neither will it from Uncle Sam.

On Tuesday, the Navy announced that despite the demand for attack submarines being "as strong as ever," the Miami is being inactivated. The reason: Under sequestration, the federal government's forced budget cuts, the Navy simply can't afford to make the repairs.

"The type of damage was unlike anything we'd seen in recent memory," Rear Admiral Richard Breckenridge, director of undersea warfare, said on a Navy Live blog post. "The anticipated scope of work is four times greater than any previous submarine repair due to damage," the post continued.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/07/us/navy-submarine-lost/index.html

[Demeter]

1. Not the Onion? People are going crazy this year! And last year...

[Ash_F]

2. Demand for nuclear attack subs "strong as ever"

I didn't ask for another one and I don't know many Americans who did.

[eppur_se_muova]

13. You obviously haven't seen the lines at Attack Subs'R'Us !

PS: "Strong as ever" is literally true -- think about it for a minute.

[Hubert Flottz]

3. The sequestration is coming back to bite the GOP.

But what about the reduction in our "National Security?" The country would also have a lot more money to "protect us" if the NSA's secret budget wasn't being spent spying on you and me.

[Kolesar]

4. Just assign one of the boomers to replace it for "protecting the fleet"

Our submarine launched ballistic missile fleet is of scant value today, anyway.

[hack89]

6. Why do you say that?

just curious why you think it has scant value. What has changed in your opinion?

[Kolesar]

8. Kruschev isn't going to pulverize us in our sleep tonight

Nobody is going to hit America with a preemptive nuclear strike, so a few ICBMs with nukes and bomber fleet ought to be adequate. Electric Boat and all those Navy types are going to have to move to other opportunities and careers in the free market.

[hack89]

9. I would keep the SSBNs and get rid of the land based systems

they are much more secure - which is even more important as we reduce our nuclear arsenal.

[AtheistCrusader]

10. With modern satellite surveilance?

I kinda doubt they are still more secure, or will be secure for long...

[hack89]

11. There is no space based system that can track submarines

A 800 foot protective blanket of seawater comes in handy. The basic laws of physics come into play here.

[AtheistCrusader]

12. Yet. That you know of.

When a sub moves through water, there is a 'piling' effect of the water above it. (Water is incompressible.)

Let's say you had enough optical sensors and computational power to 'level' the average wave height on the surface of a body of water.

Now you can track and count the number of large objects like whales for migratory research by following the ripples. But wait, you also see some 'things' like whales that never surface to breathe. Interesting...

Maybe they can't do it today. Maybe they can. Either way, someday it is coming.

[rppper]

15. While there is no warship capable...

....of a 4000 foot dive as another poster alluded too earlier, there are way to many salinity and temputure variations in the water to track a sub from space. The reactors are shielded well enough to prevent any type of heat tracking as well. Helos and asw aircraft can find you from just overhead, but a quick trip below 400-500 feet eliminates that advantage. Waterborne noise from the sub or active sonar are the only reliable ways to pinpoint a subs location. I say this as a crewmember onboard 4 different boats during my time in the service.

Shame about the Miami....she was one of the "improved" Los Angeles class boats and probably had another 10-15 years of service left in her. There is talk of gutting her forward non-machinery areas and turning her into a floating school for navy nuclear engineers(to replace the old USS Daniel Webster in charleston SC.

[AtheistCrusader]

16. Using radar altimeters we can 'see' a 1cm wave height

propagating from a tsunami from two different civilian satellite platforms. (Jason-1 and TOPEX/Poseidon) And it can do so in the open ocean, where the wave is imperceptible to humans.

That's just civilian satellites. Declassified public data.

When a sub moves, it places an upward pressure on the water column above it. If they can't do it yet, they will soon with military satellites. If you can see generally where it is, you can then vector in surface ships and ASW to suss it out with active sonar. A boomer or even an attack sub is very quiet, but it can't hide from nearby active sonar. Not for long. Not when it is very close.

It is a shame about the boat. It's an impressive hardware platform, and a considerable investment. Not to mention sailors get understandably attached to their ship.

[rppper]

17. You would still have to account for....

Each underwater anomaly that is capable of creating a 1cm shift in the water. An Ohio class ssbn is 560'x42' and weighs in at 18k submerged....a 688I class like the Miami, is 360'x33' and just under 7k tons submerged...the new Virginia's are similar to the 688s, the 3 sea wolves 350'x40' at 9k tons....I could see a rise very locally if a sub were close to the surface, but as it goes deeper the displacement is offset by the distance....not to mention topside winds, storms, high seas, tides....it would be very very difficult, even with such advanced radar systems, to pinpoint a moving sub, even at a flank bell. Old fashioned active and passive sonar is still the best way to find one. We've tracked loud freighters that were hundreds and hundreds of miles away...sound travels thousands of miles through the water...look at whale mating calls for example...

You'll have to pardon the air of invincibility I have towards a sub....like you said, love of the boats, crews and experiences does hard!

The Miami fire apparently affected the forward spaces, where the crew live and eat...where the torpedo and vls tubes are, as well as the controlling and sensors stations, so the reactor and engine areas were unscathed. I realistically see them parking it in a reserve fleet area and waiting until the funds become available to fix her....the 688I's are great multi purpose boats. She was a trouble free boat up until this happened.

[Kolesar]

14. No country is going to wipe out our Air Force missiles in a matter of hours...

...and accomplish disabling the US. Khrushchev dead.

[marble falls]

5. Burn more.

[Orrex]

7. They should have gone with a subcontractor

Get it?

[font size=8]SUB[/font]contractor!


God damn that's funny!