How's my driving? Call: SSN-765

[HomerJay]

I was slightly alarmed to read a few years ago that modern submarines don't have to rely on any external information (satellites, triangulation etc.) to calculate their position and depth because they have to be able to operate in an environment where the infrastructure for such things has been destroyed. They therefore have a virtual model of the world on the computers and use internal info concerning speed etc to calculate where they are. This struck me at the time as inherently prone to error!

Maps supplied by Apple Inc.

[rasetsu]

I was slightly alarmed to read a few years ago that modern submarines don't have to rely on any external information (satellites, triangulation etc.) to calculate their position and depth because they have to be able to operate in an environment where the infrastructure for such things has been destroyed. They therefore have a virtual model of the world on the computers and use internal info concerning speed etc to calculate where they are. This struck me at the time as inherently prone to error!

Maps supplied by Apple Inc.

[klr]

The blood will spill when the repair bill gets totted up.

How the fuck do you crash a nuclear attack submarine into a cruiser? Or vice versa? They aren't exactly small.

~600 feet each, IIRC. The circumstances of the collision aren't available yet, are they? I can see a completely accidental collision, and a collision due to inattention by one or more parties, and something in between.

Hmmm, pity the AEGIS cruiser doesn't have some sort of radar that would have allowed it to see if there were anything nearby.

That would be a job for the ASW escorts, surely? Something in the Oliver Hazard Perry class? AEGIS is strictly above water.

But even still, you'd think the AEGIS ships would have some basic gear to check if there were any underwater nasties in their path. Even if it was meant mainly for rocks and suchlike. Of course, rocks don't move at 30 knots.

EDIT: The Ticonderoga-class AEGIS ships do have sonar ... that's what actually got damaged in this incident.

[rasetsu]

But even still, you'd think the AEGIS ships would have some basic gear to check if there were any underwater nasties in their path. Even if it was meant mainly for rocks and suchlike. Of course, rocks don't move at 30 knots.

EDIT: The Ticonderoga-class AEGIS ships do have sonar ... that's what actually got damaged in this incident.

That must be why they weren't able to see the sub to avoid it.

[Clinton Huxley]

There is something a little Douglas Adamsy about this whole incident.

[klr]

But even still, you'd think the AEGIS ships would have some basic gear to check if there were any underwater nasties in their path. Even if it was meant mainly for rocks and suchlike. Of course, rocks don't move at 30 knots.

EDIT: The Ticonderoga-class AEGIS ships do have sonar ... that's what actually got damaged in this incident.

That must be why they weren't able to see the sub to avoid it.

It mightn't have been switched on
It might have been operating properly, or operating in its most capable mode
The crew might not have been using it properly

... etc.

Or maybe the sub did it deliberately.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Sonar dome is the scrotum-looking thing a the bow.

[HomerJay]

But even still, you'd think the AEGIS ships would have some basic gear to check if there were any underwater nasties in their path. Even if it was meant mainly for rocks and suchlike. Of course, rocks don't move at 30 knots.

EDIT: The Ticonderoga-class AEGIS ships do have sonar ... that's what actually got damaged in this incident.

It mightn't have been switched on
It might have been operating properly, or operating in its most capable mode
The crew might not have been using it properly

... etc.

A much simpler and more elegant solution would be if merkin warships had an observation window built into the hull and stationed a matelot on watch:

[Clinton Huxley]

Maybe the cruiser should have an underwater speaker fitted, and play that horn noise that the General Lee used to do in the Dukes Of Hazzard. That's what I would do.

[Ian]

[Cormac]

There is something a little Douglas Adamsy about this whole incident.

It reminds me of a certain sofa, positioned halfway up and (curiously) halfway down the stairs...

[Cormac]

Maybe the cruiser should have an underwater speaker fitted, and play that horn noise that the General Lee used to do in the Dukes Of Hazzard. That's what I would do.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Insider info?

[Ian]

Insider info?

No, or at least not yet. I'm just trying to find out more about what happened.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Insider info?

No, or at least not yet. I'm just trying to find out more about what happened.

You're probably in a better position than most of us. I don't want to invoke phone numbers of great and terrible power just for something I'll find out anyway soon enough.