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。 # f1 F! `0 E' ?5 k+ O0 Y }/ C; f" e0 w+ B' h( H3 m
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 r! i7 C9 g. y2 Z# h! J# b7 b) a+ |7 H9 G. l+ m% 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。 9 z5 ]7 z( c* b* J2 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。 2 o6 V" I; t" |( J8 n `; U" O }, }! r" ~8 JNavy Briefly Loses Contact With Sub Off Florida Coast 3 J/ m, C7 E5 A/ c: Q( a" x, L: n* ~5 V- N9 ^
Rescue Effort Under Way When Communications Regained' o$ \) N7 k. a9 l3 h
7 V3 h7 e/ k7 E# lNORFOLK, 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. 7 g( h6 X+ C# W% n& S, a$ W& u2 e$ r! r" s$ K; X6 V( }6 Z
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.; S- j4 y1 E8 P5 F" 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.- R; x; o+ \$ ]6 ?( r2 ~
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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. 4 C+ A& c) F, A4 m* y6 I 1 ^; U% R9 |0 XBecause 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., a) d% x8 U+ |) I1 z
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They 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.2 \0 H. [( F& Q3 Z0 H0 k
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"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." + Y% K+ p+ q% N4 z+ \& l1 o& {, c$ Z+ i# x9 F2 [% c
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. # R" R! y7 @3 A3 o* w9 n 0 k6 H$ W5 o* M! h! a2 }[ 本帖最后由 日月光 于 2007-3-15 09:22 编辑 ]