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 V/ G, v9 |; V, s
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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。 3 Q5 F V2 V$ b7 t; O- u! ^ 4 P/ ?/ Z# }6 t) m( m: t 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。+ p9 C( ~9 ~; E7 x* |3 i' J' ^
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。 : `, @8 h, C9 u# y3 X. _0 I6 `3 O, b. ? b
Navy Briefly Loses Contact With Sub Off Florida Coast c* g! Q; h7 i. d2 X( t3 L
0 z, U& N7 S4 j- ^. ~( @Rescue Effort Under Way When Communications Regained 9 J9 |5 D* H# ]& n7 H4 @* A; u: J; g) N+ N0 }% \
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. * T6 {# T5 {) r; } T+ m% ]# N: i# e& x " j8 u( z' ^4 v$ gThe 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.: g+ [/ r& a. C$ g, r) N
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The communication lag on Tuesday evening was not explained, and Navy spokesman Phil McGuinn said the incident remains under investigation. 0 ^7 N+ N5 v) n6 D& Q% i' H3 Q , K1 B; _( F4 O7 [2 DMcGuinn 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. : q' t! ^) Q' S% Q% h- w) q/ g: {1 j. j% h+ p6 j' i7 K* V5 l: ~
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.9 T, G$ P0 w3 R) O, S3 j9 F
/ a3 f7 l Q# _* x* ~- r! @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.7 r2 L# w1 w/ a5 r+ R
( N( H, Z) b5 H0 c8 ?# v* K4 ]"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, z' w3 k! r8 @- Q$ S+ l* O: }* y( O! _ S
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.1 s. X5 h* T( B4 f
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 91