The Hartford's command leadership routinely observed informal behavior by sailors operating the submarine, the report says, but did not immediately correct it. Those driving the ship would often slouch in their seats with one hand on the controls, and sometimes take their shoes off. Sonar operators and radiomen were missing from their stations for extended periods. Stereo speakers were added to the radio room to listen to music during work.And...
There were five known "sleepers," or sailors who would routinely nod off on watch, but no disciplinary action was taken, the report states. Two of the five sailors were working during the collision, although investigators found no evidence they were asleep.
The hands-off leadership style created a climate that "gave the appearance of tolerating routine inattentiveness and lax professional standards," the report concludes.
On the night of the crash, sonar operators chatted “for the majority of the time [in the hour before] the collision.” An officer of the deck did not look through the periscope prior to the collision after taking over contact management duties.Please read both reports; they include some interesting info on how the submarine's crew was able to get onto the bridge after the collision (it took 4 hours using wedges and a portable hydraulic jack).
The navigator, off-watch, was found to have been taking an engineering exam in the wardroom “while listening to his iPod,” despite the hazardous evolution underway.
Brookhart was never in the control room during any time crossing the strait, the investigators found.
Prior to the accident, speakers had been installed in the ultra-sensitive radio room “that allowed music to be played from an iPod while on watch. This was hidden from the Chain of Command.”
Here's my take: the report is pretty damning. But honestly, I think that you'd be able to find similar examples on most boats if they had an investigating team crawling up their butts looking at everything. We've seen this before, where Big Sub Force seems to go out of their way to make the crews of boats that have mishaps look like the biggest bunch of shitbags in the Fleet. I think that it's more likely that most Submariners could look at what goes on in their own boats and think, "There but for the grace of God go I". That being said, this particular instance does look pretty bad, considering where they were at.
