- ROME -- An American nuclear-powered
submarine ran aground last month off the north coast of Sardinia. The 7,000-ton
USS Hartford hit the rocky Mediterranean floor with such impact that rudders,
sonar and other electronic equipment were severely damaged.
-
- The vessel, 362-ft long and carrying Tomahawk cruise
missiles, possibly with nuclear warheads, had left its Sardinian base at
La Maddalena and was sailing east past the island of Caprera soon after
midnight on 25 October when it ran aground. The US Navy kept the accident
secret, but it leaked in America this week after relatives of crew members
on the Los Angeles class submarine learnt that the ship's six-month tour
was to be cut short, only a month after it started. After temporary repairs,
the Hartford will sail back across the Atlantic to the naval dockyard in
Norfolk, Virginia, for a full refit.
-
- The US Navy says there was no damage to the Hartford's
nuclear reactor and no injuries. But the severity of the incident was clear
from the fact that both the captain, Commander Christopher R Van Metre,
and his squadron commander, Capt Greg Parker, who was also on board at
the time, were summarily sacked. When another US submarine, the USS Oklahoma
City, hit a Norwegian merchant ship east of the Straits of Gibraltar a
year ago, the captain was only relieved of his duties two weeks later.
-
- A spokeswoman for the US Sixth Fleet, which is based
in Gaeta, near Naples, said yesterday that the two officers were immediately
removed from their posts because their commander, Rear Admiral P Stephen
Stanley, "no longer had confidence in their ability to command".
Six other crew, including two officers, have also been disciplined.
-
- There was furious reaction to the accident within Italy,
as much because of the cover-up as because of what actually happened. In
Parliament a Green Party MP, Mauro Bulgarelli, said: "It's the umpteenth
demonstration not only of the grave risks to which the civilian population
is exposed ... but also of the culture of silence that invariably covers
military activities in Sardinia."
-
- He continued: "Our country was denuclearised nearly
20 years ago, due to the wish of the overwhelming majority of the Italian
population. It is unacceptable that, thanks to American troops based in
our territory, the nuclear risk should be reintroduced. In another age
that would be called colonisation."
-
- The Minister of the Environment, Altero Matteoli, conceded
that it was "a serious incident" and said an official had been
sent to investigate. But "first reports did not mention environmental
problems".
-
- © 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
-
- http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=463191
|
