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Navy inspects damaged ships after collision

Navy engineering teams were at work Monday in Bahrain inspecting the damage to two warships that collided Friday in the Strait of Hormuz, hurting 15 sailors.

The fast-attack submarine Hartford crashed into the underside of the amphibious transport dock New Orleans early Friday morning while both were underway in the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf with the Indian Ocean. Both ships arrived in Bahrain under their own power on Saturday, although Hartford transited on the surface. At the time of its collision it was at or near periscope depth, about 65 feet below the surface, the Navy said.

Navy photographs show severe damage to Hartford’s sail, which cracked on the port side where it joins the ship’s hull, apparently because of the impact and strain from colliding with New Orleans. The photos showed a decided rightward lean to the sail, plus damage to the metal and sensors along the leading edge, and a long scrape along its port side. The ship’s crew sewed together vinyl sheets from the ship’s galley to cover the sensors inside the sail, a Navy spokesman said.

Navy photos did not appear to show any damage to New Orleans above its waterline.

Cmdr. Jane Campbell, spokeswoman for 5th Fleet, had no new information about the ships on Monday other than inspectors were continuing to assess what kind of repairs Hartford and New Orleans will need. She could not say whether the damage New Orleans sustained to its ballast tanks affected its ability to ballast down for well-deck operations.

A Navy press release did say that officials believed the 25,000 gallons of diesel marine fuel that spilled from New Orleans had dissipated; patrol flights over the Strait of Hormuz found the slick had mostly evaporated.

The Navy has released no initial explanation for what could have caused the collision. It’s possible Hartford was trying to hide under New Orleans to disguise its entry into the Persian Gulf, although unless that maneuver was coordinated in advance, New Orleans’ crew may not have known the submarine was there.

The gator has no sonar with which to listen for submarines, said naval analyst Norman Polmar, and even if it did, Hartford is designed to operate quietly and avoid detection. He also said the submarine’s crew members might not have known how close they were to New Orleans if the narrow channel was crowded with surface contacts.