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。8 h) \! S0 }$ k
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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。 % F' ^$ Q e5 E+ A6 G5 P' T+ j" j/ [1 y9 Q. K p
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。1 v* A, R2 |4 B0 G! R
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。 6 W, S! Y+ Q1 \ 0 _1 x; H7 T, H" ANavy Briefly Loses Contact With Sub Off Florida Coast : w& M* v! q; ] 4 W% W3 e5 `- _% URescue Effort Under Way When Communications Regained3 r3 G6 E2 v4 O/ V @1 c
9 w9 E6 o* } N. R7 V/ uNORFOLK, 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. # Q! \4 }5 b9 b3 b- T( @9 }! [3 @/ @/ x- l3 {$ o6 W
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.4 t; V! B- M' e( s- L7 Y
* c; H, r, Z m5 A5 w4 `The communication lag on Tuesday evening was not explained, and Navy spokesman Phil McGuinn said the incident remains under investigation. , i+ C8 D: i9 f f- i8 E8 J h9 k5 k% y
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./ O/ k4 F% }/ l$ @. }1 a
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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( d" I) G- v
! Z( ]$ o2 _9 gThey 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. l) X u" w ^! u + y1 w" i: R0 |6 ]% a" \"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." * \* C3 u: F' O( r, Y# ] $ H# G- ]3 \( v# Y% v3 ]* j9 T% wThe 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.9 K5 Q, s& m' C7 c, p* u7 s
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