USS San Francisco (SSN-711)#Allision with seamount
{{short description|Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine of the US Navy}}
{{other ships|USS San Francisco}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=USS San Francisco (SSN-711) Apra.jpg |Ship caption=USS San Francisco (SSN-711) }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{USN flag}} |Ship name= San Francisco |Ship namesake = City and County of San Francisco |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded=1 August 1975 |Ship builder=Newport News Shipbuilding |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down=26 May 1977 |Ship launched=27 October 1979 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed= |Ship acquired=7 April 1981 |Ship commissioned=24 April 1981 |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned=15 May 2022 |Ship in service = |Ship out of service = 11 May 2017 |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport=Norfolk, Virginia{{cite press release|url=http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=97547|title=USS San Francisco Holds Change of Command, Farewell Ceremony|last=Derek|first=Stroop|publisher=United States Navy|date=7 November 2016|access-date=20 November 2016|archive-date=8 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161108132937/http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=97547|url-status=dead}} |Ship identification= |Ship motto=*Oro en Paz, Fierro en Guerra
|Ship nickname= |Ship honors= |Ship captured= |Ship fate= |Ship status=Currently a moored training ship at the Nuclear Power School |Ship notes= |Ship badge=150px }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass|Los Angeles|submarine}} |Ship displacement=5,759 tons light, 6,145 tons full, 386 tons dead |Ship length={{convert|110.3|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|10|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draft={{convert|9.7|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= |Ship decks= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=S6G nuclear reactor |Ship speed= |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship test depth= |Ship complement=12 officers, 115 men |Ship time to activate= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes |Ship notes= }} |
USS San Francisco (SSN-711) is a {{sclass|Los Angeles|submarine|0}} nuclear submarine, the third ship or boat of the United States Navy to be named for San Francisco, California.
History
Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia was awarded the contract to build USS San Francisco on 1 August 1975, and her keel was laid down on 26 May 1977. She was launched on 27 October 1979, sponsored by Mrs. Robert Y. Kaufman, and commissioned on 24 April 1981 with Commander J. Allen Marshall in command.
San Francisco joined Submarine Force US Pacific Fleet following an initial shakedown cruise, and moved to her homeport at Pearl Harbor. She completed deployments in 1982, 1983, 1985, and 1986 with the U.S. Seventh Fleet and various independent operations in the Pacific in 1986, earning the Battle Efficiency "E" for Submarine Squadron Seven in 1985. She earned a Navy Unit Commendation and a second Battle Efficiency "E" for Submarine Squadron Seven, and her crew was awarded the Navy Expeditionary Medal for independent operations in 1988.
San Francisco entered a Depot Modernization Period at Pearl Harbor from 1989 to 1990 and then went on to conduct deployments to the Western Pacific in 1992 and 1994. The submarine was awarded the 1994 Commander Submarine Squadron Seven "T" for excellence in tactical operations and a Meritorious Unit Commendation for the 1994 Western Pacific deployment.
On 18 December 2002, San Francisco arrived at her new homeport at Apra Harbor, Guam.
The submarine was homeported at Naval Base Point Loma, San Diego, California in 2009.{{Citation
|first = Gary
|last = Robbins
|title = Submarine San Francisco leaves on deployment
|url = http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-submarine-san-francisco-leaves-on-deployment-2012dec18-story.html
|publisher = U-T San Diego
|date = 2012-12-18
|access-date = 2014-04-10
|archive-date = 13 October 2017
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171013120746/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-submarine-san-francisco-leaves-on-deployment-2012dec18-story.html
|url-status = live
}}
=Grounding with seamount=
On 8 January 2005 at 02:43 GMT, San Francisco suffered a collision with an undersea mountain about {{convert|675|km|nmi|order=flip}} southeast of Guam while operating at flank (maximum) speed at a depth of {{convert|525|ft}}.
Official US Navy reporting subsequent to the grounding cited the location as "in the vicinity of the Caroline Islands".{{cite web|
title=Command investigation of the apparent submerged grounding of USS San Francisco (SSN 711)|url=http://www.cpf.navy.mil/content/foia/pdf/BASIC%20080%20TO%20099.pdf| website=cpf.navy.mil| publisher=Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet| access-date=24 November 2017| archive-date=1 December 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201035718/http://www.cpf.navy.mil/content/foia/pdf/BASIC%20080%20TO%20099.pdf| url-status=dead}} The position of the impact was estimated by a newspaper account as {{coord|7.752|147.210}},{{cite web|last1=Drew|first1=Christopher|title=Danger zone wrong in crash of submarine USS San Francisco|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/danger-zone-wrong-in-crash-of-submarine-uss-san-francisco/|website=The Seattle Times|date=23 January 2005|access-date=11 November 2017|archive-date=12 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112074917/https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/danger-zone-wrong-in-crash-of-submarine-uss-san-francisco/|url-status=live}} between Pikelot and Lamotrek Atolls.
The collision was so serious that the vessel was almost lost; accounts detail a desperate struggle for positive buoyancy to surface after the forward ballast tanks were ruptured. Ninety-eight crewmen were injured, and Machinist's Mate Second Class Joseph Allen Ashley, 24, of Akron, Ohio, died from head injuries on 9 January.{{cite news
|last = Martin
|first = David
|author-link = David Martin (journalist)
|title = Who's To Blame For Sub Accident? – Retraceing Events That Led To USS San Francisco Crash
|url = https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whos-to-blame-for-sub-accident/
|publisher = CBS News
|work = 60 Minutes
|date = 2005
|access-date = 2014-04-10
|archive-date = 11 April 2014
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140411205545/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/whos-to-blame-for-sub-accident/
|url-status = live
}} Other injuries to the crew included broken bones, spinal injury, and lacerations.
San Francisco{{'}}s forward ballast tanks and her sonar dome were severely damaged, but her pressure hull was not breached and there was no damage to her nuclear reactor. She surfaced and arrived in Guam on 10 January, accompanied by {{USCGC|Galveston Island|WPB-1349|6}}, {{USNS|GYSGT Fred W. Stockham|T-AK-3017|6}}, and {{USNS|Kiska|T-AE-35|6}}, as well as MH-60S Knighthawks and P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft.
The Navy stated that there was "absolutely no reason to believe that it struck another submarine or vessel." Later, an examination in drydock showed unmistakably that she had struck an undersea mountain.{{rp|294}}
File:USS San Francisco (SSN 711) shown in dry dock during repair.jpg in Guam during her temporary repairs for her voyage to Puget Sound, May 2005.]]
San Francisco{{'}}s captain Commander Kevin Mooney was reassigned to a shore unit in Guam during the investigation of the collision. The Navy concluded that "several critical navigational and voyage planning procedures" were not being implemented aboard San Francisco, despite Mooney's otherwise remarkably good record. Consequently, the Navy relieved Mooney of his command and issued him a letter of reprimand.
Six crewmen received non-judicial punishment hearings for hazarding a vessel and dereliction of duty, and they were reduced in rank and given letters of reprimand.
Twenty other officers and men received awards for their actions in the crisis, including letters of commendation, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal.
The seamount that San Francisco struck did not appear on the chart in use at the time of the accident, but other charts available for use indicated an area of "discolored water", an indication of the probable presence of a seamount. The Navy determined that information regarding the seamount should have been transferred to the charts in use{{snd}}particularly given the relatively uncharted nature of the ocean area that was being transited{{snd}}and that the failure to do so represented a breach of proper procedures.
Nonetheless, a subsequent study by UMass Amherst indicated that the Navy's charts did not contain the latest data relevant to the crash site because the geographical area was not a priority for the Defense Mapping Agency.{{cite web|url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/what-happens-when-us-navy-attack-submarine-crashes-mountain-88886|title=This Is What Happens When a U.S. Navy Attack Submarine Crashes Into a 'Mountain'|first=Sebastien|last=Roblin|date=17 October 2019|website=The National Interest|access-date=22 October 2019|archive-date=17 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211017115926/https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/what-happens-when-us-navy-attack-submarine-crashes-mountain-88886|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last1=Wright|first1=Dawn|last2=DiBiase|first2=David|last3=Harvey|first3=Francis|date=17 June 2008|title=Case study: Submarine Crashes into Uncharted Seamount|url=http://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1287&context=esence |url-status=live|access-date=17 March 2021|website=scholarworks.umass.edu|archive-date=15 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220615212914/https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1287&context=esence%C2%A0}} Moreover, a subsequent report "found that the (submarine's parent) squadron and the group could have done more to prepare the ship for sea." Specifically, it determined that the submarine's squadron "did not take adequate action to correct previously identified deficiencies in open ocean navigation onboard SFO," and did not provide adequate oversight of San Francisco{{'}}s navigation performance. Additionally, "The report also notes the document known as a 'Subnote' from the Group, which laid out a path and average speed, was delivered to the ship two-and-a-half days before San Francisco sailed, and the Group's own requirements are that it be to the ship three to five days before sailing." Ultimate responsibility for navigational safety rests with the ship's captain and crew, not the Subnote; however, "The report found that the Subnote did route the San Francisco through the area where it hit the seamount."{{cite web|url=http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/macslog/NuclearSubmarineUSSSanFra.html|title=Ahoy – Mac's Web Log – US nuclear submarine USS San Fransisco[sic] hits seamount on Saturday the 8th. of January 2005, at 35 knots, 1 sailor dead., 24 injured.|website=ahoy.tk-jk.net|access-date=22 October 2019|archive-date=17 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190917022826/http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/macslog/NuclearSubmarineUSSSanFra.html|url-status=live}}{{page needed|date=October 2022}}
San Francisco had recently replaced her nuclear fuel and she was thus expected to remain in service until 2017, so the Navy determined that repair of the submarine was in its best interests. Temporary repairs were made in Guam to provide watertight integrity and forward buoyancy so that the boat could safely transit to another location for more extensive repairs. San Francisco steamed to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) in Bremerton, Washington via Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where she arrived on 26 August 2005.{{Citation
|last = Munsey
|first = Christopher
|title = Sub repaired on Guam headed for Puget Sound
|url = http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050901/NEWS01/509010309/1002
|publisher = Pacific Daily News (Guam)
|work = E-Edition
|agency = Navy Times
|date = 2005-09-01
|access-date = 2014-04-10
|archive-date = 15 June 2022
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220615212917/https://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article/?AID=%2F20050901%2FNEWS01%2F509010309%2F1002
|url-status = live
}}
In June 2006, it was announced that San Francisco{{'}}s bow section would be replaced at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard with the bow of {{USS|Honolulu|SSN-718|6}}, which was soon to be retired. San Francisco is four years older than Honolulu, but she had been refueled and upgraded in 2000–2002. The cost of her bow replacement has been estimated at $79 million, as compared with the estimated $170 million to refuel and overhaul the nuclear reactor of Honolulu.{{Citation
|last = Pone
|first = Hodges
|title = USS Honolulu Holds Final Change of Command Ceremony
|url = http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=27010
|publisher = United States Navy
|work = Fleet Public Affairs Detachment Northwest
|date = 2006-12-14
|access-date = 2014-04-10
|archive-date = 30 October 2013
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131030113844/http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=27010
|url-status = dead
}}
On 10 October 2008, San Francisco undocked after a successful bow replacement at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The dry-docking project involved cutting more than {{convert|1|e6lb|t|spell=in|abbr=off}} of forward ballast tanks and sonar sphere off the former USS Honolulu and attaching them to San Francisco.{{cite web
|title = USS San Francisco Undocks With New Bow
|url = http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=40390
|publisher = United States Navy
|work = Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility Public Affairs
|date = 2008-10-20
|access-date = 2014-04-10
|archive-date = 13 November 2008
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081113151605/http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=40390
|url-status = dead
}} San Francisco completed repairs and sea trials in April 2009, then shifted homeport to Naval Base Point Loma, San Diego, California.
=Final deployment and conversion=
San Francisco returned to Point Loma from her sixth deployment in October 2016. Her change of command and farewell ceremony was held on 4 November 2016, after which she was homeported to Norfolk for conversion to a moored training ship (MTS) at the Navy's Nuclear Power Training Unit in Charleston, South Carolina.{{cite web|title=US Navy decommissions submarine USS San Francisco after 35 years of service|url=http://navaltoday.com/2016/11/07/us-navy-decommissions-submarine-uss-san-francisco-after-35-years-of-service/|website=NavalToday.com|date=7 November 2016|access-date=11 November 2017|archive-date=12 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112074610/http://navaltoday.com/2016/11/07/us-navy-decommissions-submarine-uss-san-francisco-after-35-years-of-service/|url-status=live}} On 11 May 2017, the ship was placed in "'In Commission Special' – stand down for MTS conversion", a 32-month long process that was expected to begin in early 2018. The conversion was completed in mid-2021 and on 16 August she was moved from Norfolk to Charleston.{{cite web|url=https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Media/News/SavedNewsModule/Article/2738772/norfolk-naval-shipyard-sends-future-moored-training-ship-uss-san-francisco-to-c/|title=Norfolk Naval Shipyard sends future moored training ship USS San Francisco to Charleston|publisher=navsea.navy.mil|date=19 August 2021|access-date=19 October 2022}} She was decommissioned on 15 May 2022.{{cite web|url=https://www.nvr.navy.mil/SHIPDETAILS/SHIPSDETAIL_SSN_711.HTML|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025110019/http://www.nvr.navy.mil/SHIPDETAILS/SHIPSDETAIL_SSN_711.HTML|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 October 2016|title= San Francisco|publisher=nvr.navy.mil|date=31 August 2022|access-date=19 October 2022}}
See also
- Major submarine incidents since 2000
- USS Connecticut (SSN-22), a submarine that collided with a seamount in 2021
References
{{reflist}}
{{DANFSNVR}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050112102326/http://www.guam.navy.mil/711.htm Official site]
- {{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=SSN711|title=Official NVR Entry}}
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4527459.stm BBC story on grounding report]
- ({{coord|13.444315|144.659772 |format=dms |scale:2000_type:landmark |display=inline}}) [https://maps.google.com/?hl=en&ie=UTF8&z=18&ll=13.444315,144.659772&spn=0.002786,0.003487&t=k&om=1 Satellite photograph of USS San Francisco in dry dock at Guam, 2005] (maps.google.com)
{{Los Angeles class submarines}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Francisco (SSN-711)}}
Category:Ships built in Newport News, Virginia
Category:Los Angeles-class submarines
Category:Cold War submarines of the United States
Category:United States submarine accidents
Category:Maritime incidents in 2005