USS Hartford grounding

Rudder reparations The Coast

On 25 October 2003, Hartford was ordered out of the harbor at La Maddalena, Italy, to make way for another submarine. She was to run on the surface for 34 minutes, then return to the harbor. However, several pieces of navigational equipment failed and the captain ordered 12 knots, faster than the 9.5 knots allowed for the trip. Meanwhile, a waypoint was entered several hundred yards off its correct location, taking the boat into the shallows. A watchstander warned the control crew that the depth under the keel had suddenly decreased from 150 to 100 feet, a three-minute warning that should have been enough for the boat to stop, but no such order was ever given. Hartford began to run aground two minutes later, slowing abruptly. "Speed on," Captain Parker ordered, a decision that dramatically worsened the damage to his boat and cost him his command.

Hartford returned to La Maddalena for temporary repairs, thence to the United States. During the transit, the boat was restricted in her speed and diving depth, which extended her return trip from two weeks to nearly a month. Most of her lower rudder had been carried away and deep gouges were cut into the submarine's pressure hull, raising questions of structural integrity. The boat remained in the shipyard until January 2004. Repairs cost more than US$9 million for heavy damages in the lower rudder zone and for a 66m² wide hole near the reactor, hardly supposed responsible of wide range contamination in the archipelago.

Commander Christopher Van Metre, the submarine's commanding officer, and Captain Greg Parker, commodore of Submarine Squadron 22, were relieved of duty. Six crewmen on the navigation party were punished for dereliction of duty.

The Case

On 25 October 2003 submarine nuclear USS Hartford, making part of the attack unit fleet of the USA base of the Maddalena, endured, as it is famous, a serious incident. Immediately the American military authorities, in concert with Italians, decreed informative blackout about the incident. Only 12 November the US Navy rendered an official notice that reported, diminishing it, the episode: commander Kate Mueller, megaphone of the sixth USA fleet, asserted that the submarine had hit on founds them, receiving damages to the rudder and the inferior part of the hull, without consequences for crew and environment. On 17 November the General Director office of the marine transactions of Corsica communicated that the submarine had been already repaired and that would have resumed its browser. Nothing particularly serious, therefore, even if, later the incident, the US Navy declared “to have lost confidence in the abilities of Commodore Greg Parker and Commander Van Metre”.
Nothing particularly serious, even if, contrarily to asserted how much from the Regional Direction of the marine Transactions of the Corsica, the Hartford submarine could not be repaired on the place and, after a temporary participation, it had to share by urgency to the time of the shipyards of Norfolk, in Virginia. The damage will be revealed very more serious, much to involve the expense of 9 million dollars, although official optimism of rigor.

On 12 November 2003, the Italian minister for the Environment Matteoli had assured “Fortunately, the first information in our possession indicate that you they have not been consequences for the environment”. Sin that, to 12 November, the environment minister had not arranged any scientific analysis that allowed to exclude a meaningful radioactive risk for the Sardinian population. In effects, several associations enviromentalists had captured vary champions of seaweeds in proximity of the USA base of the Maddalena, without that in they the presence of radioelements was found of artificiale origin. But the French independent institute of researches CRIIRAD published quiqly after the incident turns out its surveying, in which they turned out in the seaweeds "abnormous quantitatives" of Thorium 234, radionuclide pertaining to the Uranium 238 chain. In conclusions, were asserted that the presence of thorium could be associated to the activities of the military base of the Maddalena. On 20 september 2004, the Italian group of search “Scientists against the war” published turns out of a new research work that put in evidence the presence of one alarming concentration of Plutonium 239 in the seaweeds.

Official Timeline

Thanks to Antonio Zonza, director of the maddalenino magazine “Lo Scoglio”, we have come to acquaintance of the content of the relationship written up in March of the 2004 from the US Navy, from which evince clearly dynamics of an incident that could have catastrophic consequences. The relationship has been obtained thanks to the Freedom of Information Request. Of it we bring back of continuation the extracts more meant to you:

December 2001: the US-Navy currency that Hartford does not satisfy the professional standards of navigation

July 2002: an expert of the Groton submarine base marks it that the crew of Hartford has need to improve the techniques of positioning for the tacking and recording of the position of the boat vessel

Beginning 2003: the crew, subordinate to test, still do not satisfy the standards and need to face one new appraisal

14 april 2003: the crew, engaged in navigation ends, for two times, outside broken off

3 june 2003: the crew comes reproached in order not to hold with sufficient emergency the route

9 October 2003: Hartford leaves from Groton to the time of the Maddalena

20 October 2003: arrival to Isola di Santo Stefano (center of the USA base). the way out previewed for 24 October comes sent back to day 25 for regarding problems with the sonar apparatus

22 October 2003: an evaluator of St. Stefano attributes famous "sufficient" to the crew, but it finds also problems to the navigation system. It emphasizes that the instrumentation of depth and the alarm systems measure beeing in feet while the nautical papers in meters;

25 October 2003: the Hartford receives orders to leave place to the USS Miami. The route towards East is considered easy, the visibility is good, the port is illuminated, the wind is of 12-15 nodes

hours 11.55: the Hartford leaves, with a program of four tackings in order to find itself in free waters after 34 minuteren. System VMS, that it manages the electronic nautical papers ago and the point, jams

hours 12.09: the crew found a difference of four nodes in two arranges of survey of the speed

hours 12.23:the captain orders a speed of 12 nodes, advanced to that one previewed of 9.5 nodes. The navigator and the electronic technician leave know it it of control in order to go to verify the malfunctions, without to perceive the captain

hours 12.28: the submarine enters in the third stage of its travel, 500 yards (450 meters) outside broken off ; a technician will later on assert not to never have "meant nobody to perceive the footbridge approximately inability to have a good fixed point and not to have felt nobody to recommend to proceed slowly until it had not been possible to have a good fixed point. The boat finds 400 yards more neighbors of Isola delle Bisce of how much was believed. The captain communicates to the tug that Hartford is continuing with own means

hours 12.34: the submarine turns for the drawn quarter. The captain will declare to have thought that the navigator had given the order. The navigator thought from the song its that order came from the footbridge. The commodor he will assert to have meant the commander to ask the distance for the tacking and that the submarine began to turn, broken off north the northeast

hours 12.37: the sailor assigned to the control of the instrumentation for the survey of the water depth perceived by crew, that it had been stable until that point to 150 feet, is diminished to 100 feet (33 meters). The Italiano Guardiacoste from his tug that goes away marks it that the submarine cannot turn towards north, tries to call on marine radio frequencies, then tries to contact the commodor on mobile phone, without success

hours 12.37.30: the depth detector perceived that depth is to 83 feet and, 15 second after, to 50 feet (17 meters) but the submarine countinued to proceed quickly

hours 12.40: on the point to catch up free waters, the Hartford touches the bottom to approximately 1100 yards (1000 meters) from island of the Bisce, in the Bocche di Bonifacio. Immediately the speed is lowered but Commodore Greg Parker orders to increase it ("speed on!") for fear stranding. The submarine touches the bottom others two times, the last which are most violent, and the boat is tilted of 10-12 degrees on the flank. The tug sees the submarine to exit from water, to tilt itself and then to emerge

hours 13.40: the Hartford tries to re-enter in the port ; the navigator is victim of a panic crisis and must be cured for approximately 45 minutes. The rest of the crew is not found in better conditions

Sub Repairing rudder 26 October 2003: the skin-divers of USS Emory Land inspect the submarine. Here comes group of skin-divers of the US-Navy of Livorno and a team of 14 private skin-divers, beyond to expert from the "Virginia" and the "Bahrein". From "Washington", a team of 30 specialists examines the photos and prepares an participation plan.
The more serious damages are situate to the stern on the bottom of the boat vessel, and the final part of the rudder is destroyed. The damages include the loss of the main tank grids of the case, one long lesion the circumference of the hull not under pressure and in proximity of the tank, damages to the hydrophones and the jutting parts of the boat vessel, 600 feet squared (66 sqm) of damages to the cover. The rudder is crooked of 25% approximately and is pushed towards the hull of the boat vessel. The immediate jobs of repair comprise the removal of the parts damaged of the rudder and 13 fairing feet of the same rudder in order to increase to the space between this and the hull, additionally installation of the new adaptations. The boat vessel therefore is prepared in order to return to Norfolk, in "Virginia", for being put in sand bank and finally to re-enter to "Groton"

18 November 2003: the bureau office of the sixth fleet prints and diffuses an official notice in which it becomes famous that USS Hartford will leave next day towards the USA in order to complete the jobs and that commodore and the captain has been removed from their functions. It is specified moreover that the officials of the US Navy have communicated the news at the moment of the incident to the competent authorities of the Italian Navy and that the "reactor has not suffered any damage";

17 December 2003: the Hartford arrives to "Norfolk"

23 December 2003: according to the Navy Times, newspaper of the US Navy, the damages are much more serious than how much in the beginning was believed, the damages on the hull are deep much and can succeed in to threaten the structural integrity of the USS Hartford

04 February 2004: according to the Navy Times, "the damages pile to approximately 9 million dollars".

Actual Situation in the Archipelago

The Island

The Island

On 2 February 2004 the Registry of Tumors of the province of Sassari published his study of analisys of cases. While it's well knowed that sardinian race is universally recognised to have extraordinary low incidence of tumors compared to other european populations in the little Maddalena archipelago (12,000 inhabitants) the cases catalogued are 283. Escalation of the carcinomas of the skin: 58 (44 between males and 14 between the females). Lymphomas: 5 between women and 12 between the men.
On 10 February, comes instituted a registry tumors from the generic doctors. From the data on the cases of tumorale pathology records in 2003, it turns out that of the 78 new cases that have hit persons of advanced age to the 65 years, 46 have regarded persons of male sex and 32 those of feminine sex 32. Fourtytwo cases (feminine sex 18, male sex 24) is records to you in inferior age to the 65 years. Thirty cases (feminine sex 17, male sex 19), of inferior age to the 50 years. On 3 March, the responsible of the gynecology unit and obstetrics of the hospital maddalenino Gaetano Judge gives the numbers on the malformations, from 1975 (three years after the arrival of the Americans to "Isola di Santo Stefano") until arriving to 2003. Carrying out a statistics uniform for decades this survey has been taken place: from 1975 to 1984, they have been a total of 1449 parts for a number of malformations of 15: with one percentage of 1,03 for hundreds. While from 1985 to 1994, in according to decade, therefore, they have been 1197 parts, for a total of 13 malformations with one percentage of 1,09 for hundreds. The last decade - than but it is limited to last the nine years because it leave from 1995 and arrives until 2003 - we have had 825 parts with a total of 4 malformations and one percentage of the 0,40 for hundreds ". Reassuring data, regarding the average national, say Gaetano Judge. Finally, the data, supplied from the Apat, the agency of the ministry of the Atmosphere, on Thorium to the Maddalena: there is, is advanced to the average, but not legacy to the incident, but to natural causes, the technicians explain.