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。 - h+ L" n, O+ W c) e A+ S0 @! V& g
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。 # v" r/ ]+ q# a- K+ G$ ^# \6 D: g" t G% m* e! B
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。 + Q6 `& U' m- `' F) l) E( W2 e8 l' O3 } 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。- Z, r4 i9 w& \
9 T* }1 E( _# } n0 l; V( v8 bNavy Briefly Loses Contact With Sub Off Florida Coast - j( w/ n% R; s' |9 Q4 B- ~3 {( |9 o! H2 d C9 m
Rescue Effort Under Way When Communications Regained - w6 C4 u# U* f ~% Q5 {2 S* P5 L
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. 9 O% a' h) ~8 M; A p; u) n/ y$ z% B4 d1 n) o4 r+ c7 u
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.9 V+ X' K+ _9 V9 ~
$ s3 ]. z7 `7 g8 TThe communication lag on Tuesday evening was not explained, and Navy spokesman Phil McGuinn said the incident remains under investigation. 1 k0 Z$ {" U) _1 \) m$ `# b5 Q& r% i/ q$ W* _/ j
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& L& Y9 J+ j, X% t' ]) H/ m# s; Q5 a
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.8 i6 C( y0 ^3 ~9 u% `
4 w3 W* D. V! i1 R o- _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. 0 |, A5 Y3 B: O2 n5 G; j, ` }. \) U" E- }" ~# ]0 S7 N
"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." & ^; R- X# `. n% W$ F* R+ I3 q% s; e2 i: v$ k i, |9 H W. v
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. , g8 U! q/ f. o w! {1 C3 N 7 d$ F, N4 q! V[ 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