一艘载有大约140名官兵的美军潜艇，在佛罗里达州对开海域游弋时，一度与美军控制中心失去联络。海军担心潜艇沉没，于周二晚启动应变机制，派出战机和船只进行大规模的搜索行动，到14日清晨终于发现它的踪影，证实只是虚惊一场。当局现正调查潜艇一度失去联络10个小时的原因。 / d/ w/ b( ?' f2 g6 ] 4 |9 F* r1 P( R$ c 海军证实，已于14日早上重新与一度失踪的洛杉矶级潜艇圣胡安号取得联络，并确定潜艇并无出现重大问题。潜艇上的无线电通讯系统可能出现故障，才引发这宗事故。据美国哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS）报道，事发时，一支航空母舰战斗群和三艘潜艇正在佛州对面100哩的海域，进行演习，圣胡安号扮演敌军潜艇的角色。突然，有人见在海上闪出红光。传统上，这是潜艇发出求救讯号的方式。 & b8 y: B6 \ |7 C9 @) T 8 ~+ c. }1 f! A2 ~! ? 航空母舰战斗群上的指挥官马上尝试与三艘潜艇联络，两艘作出响应，但圣胡安号却失去踪影。在美国东岸时间14日凌晨3时半，位于维珍尼亚州的诺福克潜艇中心发出一段罕有的重要讯息：潜艇沉没！由于事态严重，国防部长罗伯特．盖茨也接获通知，军方高层整晚留意事态发展。海军也开始派人通知圣胡安号上140名官兵的家人。 5 r8 `: |' }5 P' Y 到清晨5时许，控制中心才与圣胡安号再次取得联络，各方都松一口气。由13日晚7时至翌晨5时，圣胡安号与外界失去联络十小时。派驻艇上的军官表示，所有人都安然无恙，根本不知道发生了这件事。当局正调查引致这宗事故的原因，并安排于15日与其中三十名军人家眷见面，向他们作出解释，保证圣胡安号运作正常和安全。美国对上一次发生严重的潜艇事故是39年前，即1968年，潜艇蝎子号在美国东北部对开海域沉没。 + F0 E+ N( v; n/ f; I6 K2 E. V% _ I0 ~3 f8 U: A
Navy Briefly Loses Contact With Sub Off Florida Coast $ i' k" j7 T2 R. D$ e' S( ?" C9 R3 ~! m$ b4 k* Z
Rescue Effort Under Way When Communications Regained ; m+ P0 Y. ?6 Z* Q& ]' s2 N! |- J" B3 q2 g }/ \4 B
NORFOLK, Va. -- The Navy said it lost communication with a submarine off the Florida coast for several hours Tuesday night and began rescue efforts before communications were re-established early Wednesday. 0 q) z- h: C4 b8 N) W) k 3 a5 H2 @) T4 |- LThe Naval Submarine Force said in a statement that there were no problems with the USS San Juan, a Los Angeles class submarine is based in Groton, Conn.; f+ w; f, ~; R. G3 E$ s* C
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The communication lag on Tuesday evening was not explained, and Navy spokesman Phil McGuinn said the incident remains under investigation. , D$ G2 B8 {/ H0 Y2 F' z6 m 3 h1 c7 R" Q: p" \' B) U) F& cMcGuinn said units of the USS Enterprise Carrier Strike Group saw a red flare in the vicinity of the missing submarine Tuesday night and activated missing submarine procedures.( r1 X4 Q- b1 y( z
$ b4 s) j/ x0 H) Z+ C9 PBecause the Navy maintained communications with two other subs in the area and observers spotted the signal flare, commanders believed the San Juan had gone down.2 o8 a7 Q: N$ n! M1 U' C1 A) f
! K' J& a+ C0 qThey began search-and-rescue missions, alerted the International Submarine Escape and Rescue Liaison Office and notified crew members’ families about the possibility of a lost submarine, officials said. ; r, k' A: D) ?0 g5 o1 k 7 y) N/ }$ g& b0 Z/ c+ h2 P+ z"We had a false alarm," Lt. Cmdr. Chris Loundermon, public affairs officer at submarine force headquarters in Norfolk, told Navy Times. "We're investigating the details of what happened." 6 e; b# G" Z" K* T" o0 {$ E' n7 N9 [7 I( Z+ p) R4 ~! j/ [" u; ~
The initial reports went to the top of the chain of command: Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were notified.+ q; t/ i& w5 q/ P4 I' h0 c
图片附件: [「圣胡安」号潜艇] San Juan.jpg (2007-3-15 09:20, 32.65 KB) / 下载次数 92