Seacoast online ran a story yesterday about the Miami submarine fire, that the fellow may not face a formal indictment, yet, or ever. It’s not on their main site, it’s on the Portsmouth Herald page. Let’s just bury this and any questions the citizens might still have about the matter.
I commented yesterday on the Seacoast online web site on that story, about something that has bothered me from the get go. Supposedly this fire starter was having trouble with his girlfriend, and was “anxious ” at work. That he started the fire in order to get off work, and deal with his girlfriend.
The indictment which I just read again states “he was texting his girlfriend”
Actually after commenting I wanted to change the comment, how could I inquire about cellphones, in a secure area? I hadn’t read the indictment, just remembering the first news story and the line about calling his gal..That can’t be true, the PNSY is spending millions on a new gate, they would not let sand crabs carry phones with cameras, would they? I only checked the Seacoast article this morning expecting a host of replies calling me stupid, phones! are you dumb! Its a secure facility.
My comment was deleted.
Perhaps my adding a link to my comment was deemed unacceptable. Not many folks comment on Seacoast online anymore. It’s no Patch that’s for sure. Maybe that’s a good thing. Why can’t people use their real names and own their comments? It might serve to moderate some of them.
My question.
Are shipyard workers permitted to be on the job with cell phones, with cameras?
Is this a good policy for maintaining security of the submarines and their inner workings?
If I was an employer I would have even my donut counter staff check their phones in a locker.
Why? You are at work and you need to be focused on that and not have your other life intrude and perhaps continue the drama that you left back at home.
Emotional flareups.
I also added a web site link in my Seacoast online comment for a blog I enjoy and have been visiting for some time.
http://bubbleheads.blogspot.com/
I was on the site the night of the Miami fire to see if anyone inside the Yard was commenting(yes) and a commenter said the fire was set.
Make sure you have your salt shaker handy as al- Queda was mentioned too by another commenter.
It is a great site and everyone that visits, including PSNY employees, give a lurker like me great insight into submarines.
Don’t try weighing in though,this is a submariner site, full of stories and experience, and the use of acronyms will make you dizzy.
You are going to learn alot, some disturbing things too. The fellows discuss human issues too, like Command Staff. It’s up to date as well, with a followup to the current story in the news of a sub commander losing his command due to his lying about an affair. You can’t suffer a commander on a submerged boat, that is not top notch, but it seems from time to time, we do with disastrous outcomes.
This is the USS San Francisco which rammed a sea mount at flank speed while submerged and transiting off Guam in 2005 killing one sailor and injuring scores.
The Navy was able to slice off the damage, and attach a bow from another sub, plus, plus , plus. The bow of a sub is the business end.
Honestly, the thought of barreling through the water, submerged at 200 feet without surety of what’s in front of you really is a testament to the technology and the sailors.
The Navy is considering moving the bulk of our subs to the West Coast to counter the perceived new threat, China. I read that some time ago, either in a major newspaper, or online and have yet to see that discussion in our local paper and its possible effect. The North Atlantic is not going to be the theater of operation moving forward.
Have you heard about this from your local paper?
It’s called serving your Community, with real information.
This re tasking of the fleet could have a greater impact on PNSY than the looming threat of Sequestration.
I am not a new student of Defense matters. While not a supporter of the Pentagon budget( we got enuf stuff ) I would buy the Forward Defense Outlook when I was in my thirties,(that was some time ago) from the Gov Printing Office in Boston. Now , all the information is at ones fingertips if you care to be an educated citizen on this juggernaut of weapon platforms, contractors, budgets. In fact, the Defense Department is more forthcoming than the general ( in the tank) Press and Congress on such matters.
AIP subs, do you know what these are? Who is building them, who is buying them,why they might be an issue moving forward The Swedes build the Gotland Class( non nuclear) and they are very quiet, some say undetectable when at rest on the seabed, in the littorals. Our nuclear subs cannot sit down, they only hover, water intakes are an issue. These AIP’s can sit and wait, for a month. One of the Gotlands was loaned to the US Navy for an exercise and it “sunk” one of our carriers. Sure, they cannot transit great distances, but they are defensive weapons, not meant for projecting power, but handling those that do.
Once the communication issues are worked out and autonomous control is too, the submarine fleet seems a likely candidate for going drone. So much money is spent now simply providing life safety systems for the humans aboard.
This damaged boat, the USS Miami, should be towed to a training facility and written off as an active duty asset.
Mike