“Uncovered Manhole”: The Reason Why a Navy Nuclear Submarine sank

What you need to know: China's recent submarine disaster, in which a nuclear submarine sank in port, brings back memories of the USS guitar Incident in 1969. The guitara Sturgeon-class nuclear submarine, sank during construction due to a series of communications failures between two civilian teams, resulting in severe flooding.

-Although no lives were lost, the accident caused significant financial damage and delayed the submarine's commissioning by 32 months. The incident prompted the U.S. Navy to revise safety protocols in shipyards.

– China's mistake is a reminder that human error can jeopardize even the most advanced naval operations and underscores the need for strict security measures.

Submarine Mishaps: From China's Latest Mistake to the USS Guitarro Disaster

China's new nuclear-powered attack submarine has been making, shall we say, international headlines in recent days.

However, not in the way Beijing hopes.

You see that Wall Street Journal reported – and the Pentagon has since confirmed this – that the Chinese submarine sank in the port of Wuhan earlier this spring. It is believed to have sunk due to human error. Everyone rightly laughed at China's expense.

But it's not the first time someone has made a stupid move, like leaving a hatch open. This happened to an Indian submarine not long ago. More importantly, it happened to an American submarine. Admittedly, it's been a while. May 15, 1969 to be exact. Even though the date is so far from today, it is important to remember the USS guitar Incident.

It is considered one of the most bizarre and important – yes, important – mistakes in the history of the U.S. Navy's nuclear submarine fleet.

What happened?

The guitar was a Sturgeon-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (This was the Navy's main class of attack submarines shortly before Los Angeles-class submarine came into the picture). While it was still under construction, the… guitar sunk at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California. A comedy of human errors about management (or rather: the misManagement) of the submarine's ballast tanks led to the submarine's sinking.

Fortunately, no people were killed and the nuclear reactor was not damaged. However, there were significant delays guitarCommissioning – around 32 months! During the Cold War, this was a significant loss for the Navy, which found itself in a global cat-and-mouse game with the Soviet Union.

Two civilian teams were behind the sinking of this boat. A civilian engineering team had to fill the ballast tanks with water. At the same time, the other group of civilian engineers attempted to correct the submarine's trim by adding water to the forward ballast tanks. Neither team knew what the other was doing.

Of course, this created an imbalance. The forward section was brought too deep below the surface, so that water entered the submarine through an open manhole when the wake of passing boats washed over the hull.

The submarine eventually sank at the bow due to the flooding.

Because the two civilian engineering teams lacked adequate communication between each other, the Navy needed to implement better communication protocols in high-tech, high-risk environments. New safety protocols also had to be implemented, such as covering all openings on the submarine – even at the risk of inconveniencing maintenance workers.

Submarine lessons learned

Finally, the financial impact of this incident was significant. The repair costs at that time ultimately exceeded the cost of a new submarine. The Navy ultimately reviewed and modified its protocols at all shipyards, emphasizing the need for integrated management systems that allow the actions of multiple maintenance teams that impact a ship's stability to be tracked in real time by all teams involved in the operation.

While the guitar As the incident has faded from public memory, it is important to remember. China's recent experience with human error in its submarine maintenance operations is a reminder that it can happen to any navy on the planet.

Without proper protocols in place to protect the submarine even during routine maintenance, the risk of the submarine being lost due to human error is high. And when dealing with nuclear submarines, the risk of nuclear leaks affecting the environment becomes even greater.

Author's experience and expertise: Brandon J. Weichert

Brandon J. Weichert, a National Interest national security analyst, is a former congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who writes for The Washington Times, The Asia Times and The-Pipeline. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China's Race to Control Life and The Shadow War: Iran's Quest for Supremacy. His next book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine, will be published October 22 by Encounter Books. Weichert can be followed on Twitter @WeTheBrandon.

All images are Creative Commons or Shutterstock.

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