$100 Million In Damage: US Nuclear Sub Rams USS New Orleans Because Navigator Is Listening To iPod
Apr 9, 2010 12 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
USS New Orleans
A US nuclear sub rammed another ship causing nearly £60MILLION damage – while its navigator was listening to his iPod.
Sailors aboard the USS Hartford had also rigged up loudspeakers so they could play MUSIC on duty, an official report found last night.
Sonar operators and radio men were missing from their posts. Others drove the attack sub while “with one hand on the controls and their shoes off”, it said.
The captain, Commander Ryan Brookhart, was relieved of his duties after the Navy found that more than 30 errors, – including “an informal atmosphere” and “a weak command” – led to the “avoidable accident”.
Fifteen sailors on the Hartford were injured when it hit the transport ship USS New Orleans in the Persian Gulf in March 2009.
Navy chiefs approved a whopping £57million repair bill for the Hartford and another £1.5million for the New Orleans.
