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Approved For Release 2000/08/08
: CIA-RQP96-00789R001 400040001 -2
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Teams Board Boneiish
Unable to Enter
3 Still Missing From Crippled Submarine
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By Molly Moore
Washington Post Staff Writer
Navy teams boarded the crippled
submarine USS Bonefish yesterday,
closing hatches to keep the diesel-
powered vessel from sinking in high
seas, but poor weather prevented
them from going
inside to search
for three missing crew members.
well be
that they simply : ensured;;
that everyone gofclear; and they'
tiiemaelvei^
The submarine's commander or-
dered the crew to evjtwat^^ndaxsy
after the vessel began
filling with
crew-
men hospitalized for injuries, Navy
officials
said 19 were
released
in
Jacksonville,
Fla., yesterday after-
noon and returned
to
their home
port of Charleston, S.Ci
Safety concerns had delayed ef-
USS BONEFISH
Type: Barbel-class submarine
Launched: Nov. 22, 1958
Commissioned: July 9, 1959
Displacement: 2,145 tons surfaced,
2,894 tons dived.
Crew: 92
Background: Barbel-class vessels
were the last nonnuclear combatant
submarines built by the U.S. Navy.
The diesel-powered USS Bonefish,
Blueback and Barbel were
authorized
in the fiscal 1956
construction program.
Subjnaripelwa^^^g^
disabled by ewptosjp.
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W>mM
SOURCE: Jane’s Fighting Ships
THE WASHINGTON POST
gases thatemerged.
"With hydrogen, you run the risk
Navy officials said.
Adm. Carlisle A.H. Trost, chief of
nava! operations,
said the missing
for|s tQ enter
damaged subma-
of a huge explosion with the small
men may have died while saving the?
rine aix)ut, 15(LmjJes„east of-CapeS
est spark,” a Navy spokesman said.
a/
fViaiv
rtnAC
after
were high concentratjtena^
Bonefish, og§ of only four
lives of TheffM^Mgi*^„aftSCJhe
submarine' was rocked by five ex-
plosions in its battery compartment
late Sunday.
“All three of those individuals !
.
were on watch in the ship's control
“room and were
last seen
there,”
Trost told NBC News. “So
it may
Canaveraya? spokesman said. Navy
officials said they believe that the
-219-foot submarine could be
filled;
with
hydrogen
and
other
toxic
fumes.
Last night, a boarding crew be-
gan ventilating the submarine and
testing what a naval spokesman said
“You’ve
really
got
to make
sure
you’ve
got
it
right
before
you
board.”
Attempts to enter the vessel also
were delayed yesterday by
&$ § feet and JtjigLwinds, accord-
ing td"“a "spokesman
for
Atlantic
Fleet headquarters in Norfolk.
H^s^lertim^bmarines :.Jeft!.MnSl
the U.S. Navy, was ppsing ^s a,Sp^
viet submarine"!during antisubmar-^,
in£ warfare daises, with, the <**•**
rier„USS.John~F.*‘Kennedyand
its
escort
ships when
the
explosion
occurred,
according
to Navy
offi-
Cja ]S
Officials said .the submarine was
about 50Ieet;below the surface, atg.|
periscope ilevel^at the time of the
explosion.
Approved For Release 2000/08/08
: CIA-RDP96-00789R001 400040001 -2
Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R001400040001-2 LT Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R001400040001-2
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