The hearing heard that the three officers had failed to notice on a chart that they were heading towards a pinnacle that rose to 132m as the submarine travelled in about 1,000m of water in the Red Sea.Interestingly, it looks like the Navigator is continuing his career in submarines. Glad to see the Royal Navy understands the concept that people can learn from their mistakes.
Cpt Stuart Crozier, prosecuting, told the hearing that when the submarine collided with the pinnacle, the vessel was brought to an almost immediate halt...
...Cpt Crozier said: "The submarine collided with the underwater obstacle reducing its speed from 16 knots to three knots in a very short time...
...She said Cdr Drysdale, who has served in the navy for 25 years, had inspected the chart but had misread the depth of the pinnacle as 723 metres rather than 132 metres.
Brit Submariners Reprimanded
It looks like the Royal Navy leaves their submarine officers who crash their boats dangling in the wind a bit longer than we do. Here's a story about the court-martial of the former CO of HMS Superb (S 109) that grounded while running submerged in the Red Sea in May 2008. Excerpts:
