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