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。$ `) o2 d; `% j/ q) P8 r4 }
( o4 _, F& P0 |5 x+ _
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。9 K$ {$ [1 d" c4 F8 B: t
' N" M. l) ?% w
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。 ( ~: O& f" x- }! M* Z, y$ s 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。 7 z5 }2 S# I9 K) { 2 p. e. U3 d/ V2 |Navy Briefly Loses Contact With Sub Off Florida Coast * X0 [' [3 |5 ^) o/ ] 7 l* o( o- ?0 XRescue Effort Under Way When Communications Regained ' `" v6 U; f& [0 c% \% L3 `1 j : q3 q% w0 U) ?% h& K- C3 HNORFOLK, 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.2 i1 z: h9 H' i
# n2 J0 ^4 A7 ~9 ~7 N4 g1 {
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 y$ M3 }( O" a1 d! y; x) t8 _; h: L- F/ p! n, P/ t) G; _
The communication lag on Tuesday evening was not explained, and Navy spokesman Phil McGuinn said the incident remains under investigation. # {9 Q S$ f1 x$ X( s' g* P * ]: }! v/ m/ q0 P) W( nMcGuinn 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.8 F+ k- E% `4 r( Q' S+ b
. [6 _; f# O. i
Because 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.# ]! q. _+ z: u: x1 o. A
5 `' g. _& y$ e0 ~. |' UThey 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. 7 p' v! ?. I1 ?# f* u3 S - a: f0 @ `- W5 J- U0 g"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."8 C* F5 Q5 M/ x2 R M
3 p+ {* n! f4 w4 w
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. , T3 B" o+ _, p0 A/ n! I5 e " p& m) z, `$ e5 m[ 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