Sub safety cover-up

Colleges and Universities A-Z Naval Academy - Annapolis
1

<p><a href="http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/10/navy_hamptoninvestigation_071021w/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/10/navy_hamptoninvestigation_071021w/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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Nuclear personnel aboard the submarine Hampton have been punished for lax safety procedures and for forging log books to cover their tracks, according to sources familiar with the ongoing investigation.</p>

<p>The accusations are already sending shockwaves through the tight-knit Navy nuclear community, which prides itself on its devotion to nuclear safety rules and regulations.</p>

<p>So far, one officer and five enlisted sailors have received nonjudicial punishment following a preliminary investigation, but a broader Judge Advocate General’s Manual investigation is underway, said Lt. Alli Myrick, spokeswoman for Submarine Squadron 11, which oversees the Hampton....

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2

<p><a href="http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/10/navy_hampton_071025/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/10/navy_hampton_071025/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>
[quote]
The commander of the fast-attack submarine Hampton was fired Thursday for what officials said was a “loss of confidence in his ability to command.” The relief comes amid reports that crew members skipped necessary chemical tests on the boat’s nuclear reactor and then forged the records to make it look as though those tests were completed....

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<p>Another CO gets sacked by the Navy.</p>

3

<p>Hampton</a> nuke probe spurs larger inquiry - Navy News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - Navy Times</p>

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[quote]
The investigation into doctored reactor logs onboard the attack submarine Hampton continues with a sharp eye on the rest of the undersea fleet, according to Vice Adm. Jay Donnelly, submarine force commander.</p>

<p>“We’re looking very, very carefully at the root causes of what happened on Hampton, and the investigation is ongoing, so it’s a little early to draw conclusions, but I expect we’ll wrap this up in the very near future,” he told an annual gathering of the Naval Submarine League in McLean, Va., on Nov. 1. “We had a group of individuals — not a single individual, but a group — [that] was working together, and they compromised our integrity. I think they were pushing the ‘easy button.’ ”...

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4

<p>This is serious. If there is one branch of the Navy that lives by the motto, "You must do it only if it's in the book, and if it's in the book, you must do it", it's the nuclear power branch.</p>

<p>Some consider it overkill, and they may well be right (I am not qualified to comment either way), but the results speak volumes: the Navy runs the safest nuclear reactors on earth, and has done so for decades.</p>

<p>Somewhere, Admiral Rickover is spinning in his grave.</p>