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。' }& f& F* w( X7 }: z8 ~! Z
: X% T% V" r& Q# N* Q7 f 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。- Q/ a2 X4 {& g& ]
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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。3 h. m" v) _. T
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。/ ^$ T* U6 [1 D# |
+ j5 ~2 D/ J, E: `# ]% m4 P( g* o6 ^Navy Briefly Loses Contact With Sub Off Florida Coast 2 ~, q6 i. Y7 E- H: g* }! R 3 c0 |. {9 E2 I8 FRescue Effort Under Way When Communications Regained w1 N9 V- S% |" h2 Q' p" `: D6 H4 E& m R4 S/ 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.; m3 v) I2 `; E4 e! I/ Z
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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. 6 Q& I5 S- @; N! W" l2 R4 ]* @. s3 U6 y; W4 g
The communication lag on Tuesday evening was not explained, and Navy spokesman Phil McGuinn said the incident remains under investigation.3 L5 l( ~2 l7 _: o
" R8 Z- ~+ B! u. O* W7 QMcGuinn 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. , B+ w% x* U) q+ O( c: x; |+ w 9 [9 f$ [* q6 eBecause 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. ) f2 |9 k9 T6 L/ ]$ n" I+ {4 |: e
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.( O$ i ~+ [ Y) g" `
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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."0 O# s$ X6 }: j+ g" {
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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. % A' B5 E4 o0 Y- P( k: M 0 @8 `7 P6 P% `- W[ 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 91