Oops, Sorry I didn't see that rock

Rum_Pirate

Rum_Pirate

Well-Known Member
Joined
23 Aug 2004
Messages
27,982
Location
A tiny Island, Caribbean
Visit site
A navy commander has pleaded guilty to crashing a £32million British nuclear submarine that was deployed in support of the 2001 assault on Afghanistan.

Commander Steven Drysdale, of Miskin, South Wales, will be sentenced in March after he admitted an offence of failing to ensure the submarine's 'safe direction' at a court martial yesterday.

HMS Superb was left stricken in the Red Sea after she was steered into underwater rocks - despite the massive stone pinnacle appearing on maritime charts.

None of her 112-strong crew were injured but the 272ft submarine was badly damaged and was officially decommissioned four months later.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...sure-crafts-safe-direction.html#ixzz0czYWMt3k
 
rallyveteran said:
Not surprised the Mail got this so spectacularly wrong but thanks for copying it anyway.
Click to expand...

Yes, typical Daily Mail spouting the usual loads of complete b*ll*%ks, except of course, a small detail that often bypasses Daily Mail haters, they are 100% correct.

Operation Enduring Freedom started on the 7th October 2001 in response to the 9/11 episode and was fully supported by UK air and long range sea forces with cruise missiles, mostly bombing in support of the Afghan Northern Alliance.

In December 2001 the UN started ISAF and in 2002 the British launched operation Herrick.
 
I am intrigued as to how they valued a nuclear submarine at GBP 32 million....... was this the purchase price new in the 70's, or her current value then, or a figure-made-up-on-the-spur-of-the-moment by the reporter because it sounded impressive..........

Edit - just read the Wiki link above - they reckon she cost GBP 41 million to build in 1974.....
 
Last edited:
It didn't read well but there we go, dates are correct.

Must have been a rather interesting few minutes for the off watch snoozing away in the forward compartment of the boat! Lots of pale faces, but 3 red ones in the Control Room.....
 
Major Catastrophe said:
Yes, typical Daily Mail spouting the usual loads of complete b*ll*%ks, except of course, a small detail that often bypasses Daily Mail haters, they are 100% correct.

Operation Enduring Freedom started on the 7th October 2001 in response to the 9/11 episode and was fully supported by UK air and long range sea forces with cruise missiles, mostly bombing in support of the Afghan Northern Alliance.

In December 2001 the UN started ISAF and in 2002 the British launched operation Herrick.
Click to expand...

One bit the Daily Wail did get wrong was to refer to her as The HMS Superb! A common (and to me irritating) mistake!
 
Kilter said:
One bit the Daily Wail did get wrong was to refer to her as The HMS Superb! A common (and to me irritating) mistake!
Click to expand...

Yes, I am self flagellating at this faux pas.
icon7.gif


If you try Googling "The HMS Superb" you get over 27,000 hits with Wikipedia and Sky News topping the results.

But better still, HMS Superb's online guestbook uses the term several times.

Disgusted

Tunbridge Wells
 
Oops I didn't see that rock - more or less what the skipper and crew of Cork said when they hit the reef the other day.

But to be serious it sounded like it could have been very scary and what a shame the boat can't be recovered.
 
rallyveteran said:
I'm not sure I remember a 2001 assault on Afghanistan good old wiki tells us it was in 2008: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Superb_(S109)

Not surprised the Mail got this so spectacularly wrong but thanks for copying it anyway.
Click to expand...

Funny, I was just about to mention "dont Rely on wiki for anything" like a navigational aid, but I thought it rather odd the Daily Mail mention "this is not the first time" then to write "in 2002..." which according to the dates they used would of course be the "second" time.

Humans ay cant be relied upon to do anything right, first time. (*<---- Actually as I have since edited this post, I just had a jolly good laugh at myself :-))) *)

Edited:
Ahh I see, The writer is saying, The Assult on Afganistan which occured in 2001 (October 2001 assault on Afghanistan) as if the Sub had been on permanent active duty since 2001, misleading, obviously otherwise Rally would not have gotten there Nickers in a twist about it. But a quick google search "2001 assault on Afghanistan" nothing comes up of any importance.....

Daily Mail: Never bought it, Never will I say!! FT all the way!
 
Last edited:
Jamesuk said:
Funny, I was just about to mention "dont Rely on wiki for anything" like a navigational aid, but I thought it rather odd the Daily Mail mention "this is not the first time" then to write "in 2002..." which according to the dates they used would of course be the "second" time.

Humans ay cant be relied upon to do anything right, first time.
Click to expand...

It's quite common for subs to hit the bottom or rocks, normally it's not too much of a problem. I think it was Torbay or Tireless that couldn't get past a year without touching the bottom and i think she dried out one year.

Problem being that there be no windows or GPS! I'm pretty sure all the navigation underwater is Dead Reckoning, aided by a few computers. I'm not completly sure as i'm in the air not down deeps! :D
 
monkfish24 said:
It's quite common for subs to hit the bottom or rocks, normally it's not too much of a problem. I think it was Torbay or Tireless that couldn't get past a year without touching the bottom and i think she dried out one year.

Problem being that there be no windows or GPS! I'm pretty sure all the navigation underwater is Dead Reckoning, aided by a few computers. I'm not completly sure as i'm in the air not down deeps! :D
Click to expand...

Used to the air right !! Oh you must have enjoyed reading Vulcan 607 if not its a very interesting read, they found there way with abit of Long range radar and some balls of steel aswell as alot of inflight refueling and a crash course on Celestrial navigation although I dont think they used it in the end all while travelling at 400 knots or so :-))
 
Be interesting to see what his sentence is, sending him to prison wouldn't be of any use to anyone would it, you can hardly dock it from his wages, and telling him to be a bit more careful in future would be a bit lame. Dishonourable discharge would be unfair?
 
Major Catastrophe said:
Yes, typical Daily Mail spouting the usual loads of complete b*ll*%ks, except of course, a small detail that often bypasses Daily Mail haters, they are 100% correct.
Click to expand...

The article has been changed since it was first published to add the following date:

Two of his officers, Lt Cmdr Andrew Cutler and Lt Lee Blair, also admitted neglecting to perform their duty before the crash on May 26, 2008.

which make the still present references to the "2001 assault on Afghanistan" look rather odd.

The first version of the article had no date for the accident in it at all, so it looked as though Court Action had taken about 10 years to mount. Now it looks as though the military have taken a decade to tame Afghanistan, which may be closer to the truth but is still a ridiculous distraction from the story of a sub hitting a rock in 2008.
 
Bajansailor said:
I am intrigued as to how they valued a nuclear submarine at GBP 32 million....... was this the purchase price new in the 70's, or her current value then, or a figure-made-up-on-the-spur-of-the-moment by the reporter because it sounded impressive..........

Edit - just read the Wiki link above - they reckon she cost GBP 41 million to build in 1974.....
Click to expand...

Maybe it's only the scrap value, like a Space Shuttle? NASA has knocked down the price of a used space shuttle to an affordable $28.8m - a considerable saving on the $42m it originally wanted for Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavour.

More --> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/18/shuttle_sale/
 
Kilter said:
One bit the Daily Wail did get wrong was to refer to her as The HMS Superb! A common (and to me irritating) mistake!
Click to expand...

The Old Superb was barnacled and green as grass below,
Her sticks were only fit for stirring grog;
The pride of all her midshipmen was silent long ago,
And long ago they ceased to heave the log.

Four year out from home she was, and ne'er a week in port,
And nothing save the guns aboard her bright;
But Captain Keats he knew the game, and swore to share the sport,
For he never yet came in too late to fight.

<all together now>

So Westward Ho! for Trinidad, and Eastward Ho! for Spain,
And "Ship Ahoy!" a hundred times a day;
Round the world if need be, and round the world again
With a lame duck lagging, lagging all the way.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top