USS Hartford (SSN-768)
_Naval_Academy.jpg) The Hartford 1999 in the harbor |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Order | June 30, 1988 |
| Keel laying | February 22, 1992 |
| Launch | 4th December 1993 |
| 1. Period of service |
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|
| Commissioning | December 10, 1994 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
6300 tons surfaced, 7100 tons submerged |
| length |
110.3 m |
| width |
10 m |
| Draft |
9.7 m |
| Diving depth | approx. 300 m |
| crew |
12 officers, 115 men |
| drive |
An S6G reactor |
| speed |
30+ knots |
| Armament |
4 533 mm torpedo tubes , 12 VLS tubes |
The USS Hartford (SSN-768) is a nuclear-powered submarine of the United States Navy and is part of the Los Angeles-class submarine to.
technology
As a Los Angeles-class unit , the 110 meters long and 10 meters wide Hartford is capable of reaching speeds of over 30 knots underwater. It is driven by a single, seven-bladed screw; Around 35,000 PS, which are generated by a pressurized water reactor, act via a wave .
The Hartford belongs to Flight III , the third modification stage of the Los Angeles class. Therefore, the depth rudders are no longer on the tower , as in earlier boats of the class, but directly in front of the tower on the hull and can be retracted to make it easier to descend through surface ice.
The boat has four bow torpedo tubes through which Mark 48 heavyweight torpedoes , but also UGM-84 Harpoon and UGM-109F Tomahawk missiles and mines can be ejected. There are also twelve vertical launch tubes for Tomahawk cruise missiles in front of the tower , but these cannot be reloaded while the vehicle is in motion.
history
The Hartford was launched on December 4, 1993 at the Electric Boat shipyard . She was baptized after the city of Hartford , Connecticut by the wife of Sean O'Keefe . The entry into service with the United States Navy took place on December 10, 1994, its first in command was Commander George Kasten.
In 2000 and 2001 the Hartford moved to the Atlantic and later ran into the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf .
In October 2003, the Hartford sailed towards the Mediterranean, on October 20, she reached the naval base in La Maddalena on Sardinia . There she moored at the submarine tender USS Emory S. Land (AS-39) , where she was outboard next to the USS Springfield (SSN-761) . The performance of the crew during the approach was rated average , several errors in the navigation were found.
On October 24, the Hartford should leave port, but because there were problems with her sonar , the scheduled patrol was postponed. A day later, the Springfield left port and cast off the tender, the USS Miami (SSN-755) was to take her place, as she needed repairs, for which the inner berth was needed. The Hartford was supposed to leave port for the maneuver .
While leaving the port, several devices failed, including the ring laser , which serves as a gyroscope , and the electronic navigation plotter. A short time later, a waypoint that is important for navigation in the narrow canal was entered incorrectly in the Global Positioning System . The commander on the bridge did not notice anything of the incorrect position and signaled the tug that the Hartford could now go on alone. When the pilots on the ship found that the necessary change of course to the north was not taking place, they tried to reach the Hartford by radio and a short time later also by mobile phone, but without success. So there was a hard grounding with about ten knots. To prevent the Hartford from getting stuck, the commander ordered a higher speed; after two more ground contacts, the last of which rolled the boat 10 to 12 ° and lifted it out of the water, she finally came free.
Divers of the tender examined the hull of the Hartford on October 26 and found several spots that were scratched to the metal. Hydrophones were also damaged in three places . The worst damage, however, was found on the rudder, parts of which had been torn off. After initial repairs, the ship drove back to Norfolk under its own power, where she spent two months in the dry dock of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard . As a result, there were fears in the Italian press that radioactivity might have escaped, especially since the incident did not become public until mid-November. However, this was not confirmed. The squadron's commander and commodore were released from their command, and six crew members were warned.
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In 2007 the Hartford was modernized, in 2008 the Hartford moved alongside the USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) , and in 2009 with the USS Boxer (LHD-4) in the Persian Gulf. During this voyage, the Hartford collided with the USS New Orleans (LPD-18) at shallow diving on March 20, 2009 in the Strait of Hormuz . 15 Hartford crew members were slightly injured. The Hartford was damaged on the tower and a down rudder and was able to continue on its own, but on the surface. In the New Orleans three sections were flooded and a diesel tank torn open, around 95,000 liters of fuel poured into the sea. Both ships called at the port of Mina Salman in Bahrain to investigate the damage . Around four weeks later, the commandant of the Hartford was relieved of his command, and later the Chief of the Boat . In an investigation report, the US Navy denounced several errors and violations of the team. Several seamen dozed regularly during their watch, two of whom were on watch during the collision. In the radio room, loudspeakers for listening to music were misused.
At the end of April, after initial repairs, the submarine began its transit back to the United States under its own power and on the surface of the water. A month later, the Hartford reached the US coast, where it will be docked at Electric Boat and completely restored. The cost of this is over $ 100 million.
See also
Web links
- Entry in the Naval Vessel Register (Engl.)
- Official Homepage (Engl.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Navy Times: Hormuz collision has sub, amphib out of action ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (engl.)
- ↑ Navy Times: Report: Lax leadership led to Hormuz collision ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (engl.)
- ↑ Navy Times: Hartford repair bill reaches $ 102.6 million ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (engl.)
