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。9 d* E/ y1 ^7 G' | m, J
: e5 ]2 R8 {; G' U 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。! S. z5 \) R! p$ S) H3 b
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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。 : L9 g0 W5 f% u$ e+ |+ u/ g) _ 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。 / J' w7 S7 D6 V 1 U: v y9 d i/ nNavy Briefly Loses Contact With Sub Off Florida Coast5 {) I% A+ i# P6 i1 E
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Rescue Effort Under Way When Communications Regained 1 J0 b4 u/ `: E2 L& ]4 U1 [2 `$ K2 t1 I& U. R; }6 r
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. + [/ i0 E1 I2 g5 N - Q: D# p4 c. w7 Z7 v7 @The 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.' ?7 X, l: ]# q$ N, P
: B: I! r, N6 W& e- S* vThe communication lag on Tuesday evening was not explained, and Navy spokesman Phil McGuinn said the incident remains under investigation. ^( O, d" \" ~ K; h" W" r' z# _4 @+ U
McGuinn 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.( R: Z* x ^3 g: }% J
6 {8 W7 w. q/ u5 fBecause 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. 0 I) _- K4 a( ~$ m6 L9 ] F; ?. `4 g) b# K1 I- j9 t# bThey 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., F: G4 V7 d0 _" a( b Y
* i7 S( {% A" T" H"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."& E$ K; Q4 ~! S9 W* F) d; k
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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. # L& A* k1 ^, K8 e% @! _ 5 a* L H0 X, F& z9 O8 l; p; m- p[ 本帖最后由 日月光 于 2007-3-15 09:22 编辑 ]
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 95