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A fire broke out on a nuclear submarine in Maine, injuring seven people, but officials say there's no damage to the reactor and no nuclear threat. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.
A fire that broke out Wednesday evening on a U.S. Navy nuclear-powered submarine docked at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine injured at least seven people but there were no deaths, a Navy spokesman said on Thursday.
Damage from the fire, which began shortly before 6 p.m. on the USS Miami, an attack submarine docked at the Kittery, Maine, shipyard, was limited to the forward compartment spaces, which include living as well as command and control spaces, Rear Admiral Rick Breckenridge said in a statement.
The submarine was undergoing maintenance.
Breckenridge, who is in charge of submarines in the region, said the ship's nuclear reactor has been shut down for more than two months and remained in safe and stable condition throughout the event. There were no weapons on board in the torpedo room, he said.
The cause of the fire has not yet been identified, Breckenridge said. A full investigation is taking place.
The fire spread to spaces within the submarine that were difficult to reach, Breckenridge said, making it challenging for firefighters to battle the blaze. The fire was brought under control by Portsmouth Naval Shipyard's department, along with several area fire departments. It took hours for the blaze to be extinguished.
The injured personnel included three Portsmouth Naval Shipyard firefighters, two crew members and two civilian firefighters providing support. They were either treated on scene or taken to a local medical facility. All have been released.
The submarine, whose home port is Groton, Conn., arrived at the shipyard in March. It is worth about $600 million, typically carries a crew of 13 officers and 120 enlisted personnel, and is armed with Tomahawk missiles.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
It's funny how they refer to all our subs as Nuclear Submarines, but not Nuclear Aircraft Carriers...
not all air craft carriers are nuclear powered but all of our subs are.
Robert--no, all of our Aircraft Carriers ARE nuclear Powered.
I may be mistaken but I believe all carriers in active service are Nuke powered at this time. Also until 2007 we had a Diesel boat still in service - USS Dolphin. Yet at that time they were still using the moniker "Nuclear Submarines".
My thoughts are with the crew/firefighters as they fight this fire. May all be safe and the injuries minor!
The USS Kittyhawk is currently our one non-nuclear aircraft carrier. So Robert is correct, we have only nuclear submarines, but not all our aircraft carriers are nuclear powered.
Nuclear subs are relatively small and generally get painted black. Nuclear bird farms are quite big and generally get painted gray. Even the media understands this and seldom refers to one generic type as if it was the other.
Kittyhawk was decommissioned three years ago. All US carriers are nukes.
I would imagine we have much smaller submarines used for special ops and such that aren't nuclear powered. They may be small but they are still submarines.
Actually amphibious assault ships, which are aircraft carriers, are not nuclear powered. So not all American aircraft carriers are nuclear.
Not to belabor the point too much but, generally when reference is made to an Aircraft Carriers they are refering to thos with the CV or CVN designator this include the general use by the US Navy - www. navy. mil/ navydata/ ships/ carriers/ cv-list.asp
Those ships with the LHA/LHD/LHA(R) designation; while they do carry aircraft are referred to as Amphibious Assault Ships - www. navy. mil/ navydata/ fact_display. asp?cid=4200&tid=400&ct=4
In the instance used by Dennis I believe him to be referring to the CV/CVN Ships.
I believe it is a Nuclear Submarine because Admiral Rickover said so.
Who cares if it is a Nuclear Carrier. The design parameters for a carrier is to launch ALL planes in under 15-minutes......
Because life expectancy of a carrier is 22-24 minutes once war is declared.
But a cool note on carriers....they are one of the fastest ships in the fleet. I think there is a hydrofoil or two that is faster but about it. Last I saw Janes has them at 55knots at normal turns.
Glad no body died and they weren't out to sea.
While you are correct about USS Dolphin (AGSS-555), I would not count it since it was a test boat, often operated by civilians. I meant real, active duty Navy Submarines, SSN, SSBN, and now SSGN boats. Note the N. It's just that people in the general public think Nuclear Submarine means a submarine with Nuclear Missiles. What we could call the SSBN's. They don't generally think the Nuclear means how the electricity is generated.
For the media calling anything nuclear is sexy and dangerous. Nevermind that this fire was up forward and the reactor is back aft. They wanted to make everyone antsy about a nuclear release. jack holes!!!
Wiley, although Kitty Hawk was decommisioned in 2009, it's still part of our Inactive Ships Program so she hasn't left the Navy yet.
Im pleasantly surprised by the commenters . It appears most of them actually have DD-214s . Bravo guys .
Forgive me for this ignorant question but what's a DD-214?
DD-214 Discharge paper. Lists assignements, awards, decorations, type of discharge among other things. Nifty piece of paper.
Some of these guys may still have their DD-2xx
I keep mine in my desk at home. It's starting to look really old...
Mine is starting to age, but I hold it with great respect.
Dennis sorry if my comment on the Dolphin made it sound as if I was arguing with you. As an SSN sailor I always found the fact the media shouts "Nuclear" before they say Sub every time to be just another form of fear mongering.
My comment was meant to be in total agreement with your original statement.
Thank you rebel don't know what I'd do without you hun ;D (joking)
Perfectly clear. The media would sensationalize a whale fart if it thought it would sell advertising.
Welding fire? Portsmouth Naval Shipyard famous for them.
All shipyards are famous for them not just Portsmouth. Portsmouth its just harder to hide.
It's in New Hampshire...it's called Portsmouth Naval Ship Yard, not Kittery Naval Ship Yard. Good point, Dennis!
Long and contentious battle, eventually played out in the supreme court. Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is on Seavey Island, which is part of Kittery, ME. so its the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, located across the river from Portsmouth, in Kittery, ME.
It is called Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, but it is located in Kittery Maine. If you go to Prescott Park in Portsmouth, you can look across the Piscataqua River into Kittery and the shipyard.
Ahhh...I remember the good old days of the lobster wars between NH and ME.
Boat captains shooting at each other, cutting each others lines on traps or stealing buoys.
Kinda brings a tear to my eye. College and 17 years in NH. Don't miss the black flies though.
Another correction the home port is GROTON Connecticut, nitwits.
thank god this didnt happen while out at sea because the only thing scarier than a fire aboard an sub is a "destroyer above."
Hey Robert - we always thought that a "destroyer above" was an "opportunity" ;-0
Hey 658... 657-G!
Did you think anything through before you said that dennis?
658 G 68-70
Whoa... 84-88 on the key. You make me feel young! :D
Ever get to Mare Island to see the 658's sail? I was on the 643 for one patrol. It's cut up and stuck in the dirt in King's Bay.
Not really. Did you?
Another "I'm on a mother smoking boat" parody is in the making; sure I'll see it on YouTube by week's end.
And it's "rotten Groton", you would see that Croton doesn't exist if you were to do a little research prior to writing the story. When all of the submarines in the US Navy are nuclear, save a few relics that aren't in service for anything other than for special events and not combat; its safe to just call them submarines and leave out the obligatory source of power. Its the same reason automobiles are not called "gasoline cars," while the ones that are diesel and in the minority are referred to as diesel cars or trucks. If it's understood then you can leave it out of the description... unless you have an agenda or are ignorant of this fact?
Please name me the few "relics" still around? DBF!!!
Fires happen all the time on ships, be they Navy or a cruise ship, why is this news? because of its power source and the fear mongering boogy man the press is trying to stir up to make ratings and sell more ads. Give me a break!
I would tend to agree with you except for the fact than when any accident happens in the military that tends to reach the national news. The fact that this is a nuclear submarine, yes I know that most are, only adds to the story.
Might be a good thing. Now some gutsy admiral (but in these PC days I wonder can one be found) can go to the congress and aver that since this boat is gonna be down for however long unexpectedly, then the lack of one of the few of these invaluable boats is going to be underlined by missing commitments, delaying maintenance, screwing the white-hats and their families and other either foreseen or unforeseen consequences. We need to settle on a class and build these things by the dozens at a lower cost/unit and maybe have enough to get by with.
Gee I tumbled down the ladder dozens of times and it never made the press............
How about the firefighters - both ship's crew and others. Well done and thanks for risking your lives to save others - let's remember those who face making the ultimate sacrifice to serve their country this Memorial Day. BZ boys.
Call Jethro Gibbs and the NCIS team.....sounds like sabotage to me.....fire easy way to delay return of sub to active duty.....Thank God no one got hurt, but this will still cost us. Global threats will not end...we need to keep our Navy fleet updated and in safe working order.
Having served on subs, fire is scary as hell on a sub. It is probably worse than flooding.
Migdatig,
If you had served you would know some of these things instead of just running off at the mouth.
I don't know, they both sound pretty crappy on a submarine.
Having worked at the shipyard I hope all you all remember 911.... The poeple working on these subs are keeping us SAFE and don't ever forget it. Thank God no 1 was KILLED protecting us.
Migdating, there are no "grunts" on submarines. Every member of the crew is very highly trained. You might be surprised how many enlisted service members have bachelor's and master's degrees these days, and yes, even a few have PhD's.
Thanks for standing up for the sub crew! My son is one of them and he has trained very hard! GOD bless the USS Miami!
When I first entered the Navy back in the late 60's, they were still taking a certain number of illiterates. As time went on the Navy, as did all of the services, came to realize the importance of education, not just for their officers, but for enlisted personnel as well. By the early 80s, you couldn't get in without a high school diploma. Even a GED wasn't good enough in most cases. By the time I retired in 2002, there was a huge push and a large number of programs to encourage and help personnel continue their education. Not having, at least, an associates degree would almost guarantee no advancement to E7 or above. Bachelor's and Master's degrees were almost a requirement for E8 and E9. This is all in addition to the service schools required for many rates and positions. Education is a critical component in today's military and all levels.
Yes indeed.
Fire on a sub is indeed scary. I remember a small electrical fire while underway in a breaker box in machinery space upper. Even though it was a minor incident, the entire space was filled with smoke in about a minute. And the other posters are right; there is no reason to mention "nuclear" in this story other than to cause public hysteria. I always thought the battery compartment sitting underneath the torpedos was far more dangerous than the reactor.
This is exactly why we need to ban all nukes.
GET REAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here we go again.
Even though the reactor was shut off (no neutrons bouncing around in the core there), and the fire had nothing to do with the reactor, we have to ban all nukes. What a well informed decision based on factually accurate information and weighing the costs and benefits, sarc.
Even though nuclear is the only proven capability for which our subs can move without having to surface to recharge batteries. There is a reason the USS Nautilus was a big deal. It was the first submarine able to make a submerged transit to the North Pole. There is a reason all subs and most if not all aircraft carriers are nukes. It's so they can stay out indefinitely for the most part. It also makes them deadly as he77 to our enemies.
Yes, ban all nukes, switch to coal, (or maybe just row) ;=p
Yes, ban all nukes because of a welding fire in the living quarters on the OPPOSITE end of the ship. Did you even read the article?
Tell me why there wasn't a fire watch posted?When i was in the navy,even in port under repairs there was always a posted fire watch 24/7 and that wasn't just for people welding or using torches.you also had a posted watch from the ship's company 24/7.
so many very intelligent comments, not like the comments re trayvon the gang banger
Let's get this boat back in the water. We will need it soon to deliver Tomahawk Cruise Missiles to our friends in the Middle East !!!
Hope the ice cream machine was saved! Can't run the boat without one.
How true, I have seen boats go out with blown ballast pumps or worse but never if the boat had a non functioning ice cream machine. The Captain would put his foot down.
Anal friction.
100 tons of steel up in smoke
hey migdatig,
grunts? no.
top 10% of the miltary? yes!
Thank GOD indeed that no one was hurt! My son is one of the crew members! They are all highly trained but he said it was very scary!
glad to hear your son is ok Shirley
Thank you VH! So was I!
Admiral Rickover would say...I built it that way you dweeb press suits.
seen fires on the flight deck and that is a pucker factor raiser in itselft, can only imagine in a sub...
BZ Bubbleheads! way to save the ship, and use that DC training
I will send this over to FBI AGAIN but,I told them its the Russian gypsy jews in Riverside,ca (some of them came from RI,and some have a tow yard) that broke into 155T field artillery in RI,they used stolen UN,US Government and APEC vehicles for "Cold Plates" ,FBI out there takes bribes,mini-mansions,Lexus,vettes,strippers-they are holding children hostage,the one that has my child was in the army at the 1st Battalion 103D,has a military history of "unreal thoughts"mesculine and lsd abuse and addiction ,kidnapped my daughter and broke into Chev.Silverado,I'm a UN Peacekeeper/U.S.Government agent.