GULF OF OMAN - A Canadian destroyer on anti-terrorism patrol in the Gulf of Oman accidentally fired a torpedo Wednesday, the navy said.

HMCS Iroquois, flagship of coalition Task Force 151, fired the unarmed anti-submarine homing torpedo at about 1 p.m. local time during a training exercise.

No one was hurt.

It's the second embarrassing event for the ship in six weeks. It was forced to return to Halifax in February after its Sea King helicoper crashed just after the ship left Canada to take up its anti-terrorism role.

The Mk 46 torpedo dove harmlessly into the seabed 100 metres below the Iroquois.

Commanding officer Capt. Paul Maddison has ordered the ship's six torpedo tubes be taken out of service while investigators try to figure out what caused the firing.



Written by CBC News Online staff


CBC NEWS

   

I wouldn't be surprised if DND tried to send a diver down to get it, with only a mask and snorkel.
They can't afford to have their employees using all that air.

   

Hmm, this is a very shitty thing, all I can say is at least it wasn't armed. I really do hope it was a eauipment failure and not human error, but as you know, mistakes can be made.

   

GO NAVY!

   

Canada's recent naval misfortunes aren't really bad when put into perspective . I was aboard the U.S.S. Eisenhower for a six month mediterranean cruise deployment in 1988 . During the cruise , one of our sea kings went down for a water landing about 5 miles from the ship after launch . It was piloted by the helo squadron's CO . He had a reputation for being quite an asshole towards the enlisted guys in the squadron . Rumour was that the skipper was given a message to ease off the mechs. Foul play was never proven , but the skipper's attitude towards the grunts did change shortly thereafter . Upon our return home to Norfolk , the Eisenhower struck an anchored Spanish freighter , causing millions of dollars of damage to both vessels , and I saw it happen on the ship's closed circuit T.V. The Captain was relieved of his command a few days later . A week after we'd been back , an F-14 pilot whom I used to talk to during the cruise , plowed into the atlantic during mock combat excercises off virginia beach and was killed along with his back seater .

As for mechanical/human error - I was also on the Eisenhower during carribean excercises when the U.S.S. Iowa turret exploded . Our offer of assistance was declined for some reason . Here's a link about the Iowa :

http://www.aarrgghh.com/no_way/iowa.htm

And then there was the shoot down of the Iranian airliner - I was on the Eisenhower when that happened .

http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/5260/vince.html

And for many years since these events , there have been dozens of peacetime accidents and foul ups . There's more from just the period of time I was in , but I listed most of the major stuff . All in all , a misfired torpedo , and a helicopter accident don't seem to bad .

   

The bottom line is that smart, well trained people will fuck up...it is just that only the people that are in positions that matter will be noticed

   

Nothing is as easy as it looks.
Everything takes longer than you think.
Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong. Corollary: If there is a worse time for something to go wrong, it will happen then.
If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway.
If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which a procedure can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop.
Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.
If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
Nature always sides with the hidden flaw.
Mother nature is a bitch.
It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
Whenever you set out to do something, something else must be done first.
Every solution breeds new problems.

   

Murphy's Corollaries
Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.
It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious
Law of the Perversity of Nature (Mrs. Murphy's Corollary):
You cannot successfully determine beforehand which side of the bread to butter.
Corollary (Jenning):
The chance of the bread falling with the buttered side down is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet