Navy report blames sailors on sub for ship collision

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http://hamptonroads.com/2014/06/navy-report-blames-sailors-sub-ship-collision



The Los Angeles-class attack submarine Montpelier operates in the Atlantic Ocean on Oct. 14, 2012

Navy report blames sailors on sub for ship collision
By Corinne Reilly
The Virginian-Pilot
© June 11, 2014

NORFOLK

The Navy on Tuesday released its investigation into an October 2012 collision between two Norfolk-based vessels. It concluded that mistakes by the commanding officer and other sailors aboard the submarine Montpelier were to blame.

The sub hit the guided missile cruiser San Jacinto during a training exercise with the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman off the coast of Florida. No one was injured. Although both vessels were able to continue under their own power to shore, the investigation calls the damage "extensive."

The Montpelier's commanding officer was relieved of duty three months later.

The principal cause of the collision was human error - poor teamwork by the Montpelier watch team, and the commanding officer's "failure to follow established submarine periscope depth operating procedures," Adm. Bill Gortney, the four-star head of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, wrote in his endorsement of the inquiry.