Royal Navy nuclear sub “Astute” runs aground: Dated charts to blame? October 29, 2010
Posted by Cameron Shelley in : STV202, STV302 , trackbackThe Daily Mail reports that the HMS Astute ran aground in shallow waters of the Isle of Skye recently. The sub has state-of-the-art navigational electronics, of course, but may have relied on outdated charts for some reason:
Senior Navy sources said submariners on the Astute would have also used computerised maps of the area and printouts to judge the vessel’s safest path in the shallow and it is these that may have misled the crew.
No word yet from the makers of the navigational system but it is traditional to blame the user in these circumstances, at least where GPS navigation systems are involved. If only the commander had realized that he, not the electronic chart, is the boss of the submarine.
(Image courtesy of PenumbraLpz via Wikimedia Commons.)
Of course, there is another possibility: The commander was texting while navigating. Has the Navy not yet banned this practice?
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