Tweet
Army Ship Off To Survey Russian Sub
By PHILIP MORGAN The Tampa Tribune
Published: Aug 11, 2007
TAMPA - Ahoy, soldier!
An Army ship - yes, an Army ship - sailed from Tampa on Friday bound for Providence, R.I. There it will assist in the survey of a sunken Russian submarine that once served as a St. Petersburg tourist attraction.
The 175-foot USS New Orleans departed the Army Reserve's 824th Transportation Company near Port Tampa. It'll be the platform from which Army and Navy divers investigate damage to the sub, which sank in 35 feet of water during an April storm.
The 1965 Juliett class cruise missile submarine was used in the 2002 Harrison Ford movie, "K19: The Widowmaker." Before that, it failed as a tourist attraction in St. Petersburg. Under pressure from the city council, the Finnish company that owned it had it towed out of Tampa Bay in 2000.
As divers survey the damage and determine how best to raise the sub, the crew on the Army ship will go about their routine chores, "chipping and painting like any good seaman would do," says the skipper, Chief Warrant Officer Tony Tartaglia. The New Orleans is known in military jargon as an LCU 2000, or landing craft/utility.
No doubt its crew will have to explain to some why "U.S. Army" is emblazoned on the bow of the ship. It surprises people everywhere they go.
"It's quite a joke sometimes," said Tartaglia, 55, of Spring Hill, a building contractor in civilian life.
By PHILIP MORGAN The Tampa Tribune
Published: Aug 11, 2007
TAMPA - Ahoy, soldier!
An Army ship - yes, an Army ship - sailed from Tampa on Friday bound for Providence, R.I. There it will assist in the survey of a sunken Russian submarine that once served as a St. Petersburg tourist attraction.
The 175-foot USS New Orleans departed the Army Reserve's 824th Transportation Company near Port Tampa. It'll be the platform from which Army and Navy divers investigate damage to the sub, which sank in 35 feet of water during an April storm.
The 1965 Juliett class cruise missile submarine was used in the 2002 Harrison Ford movie, "K19: The Widowmaker." Before that, it failed as a tourist attraction in St. Petersburg. Under pressure from the city council, the Finnish company that owned it had it towed out of Tampa Bay in 2000.
As divers survey the damage and determine how best to raise the sub, the crew on the Army ship will go about their routine chores, "chipping and painting like any good seaman would do," says the skipper, Chief Warrant Officer Tony Tartaglia. The New Orleans is known in military jargon as an LCU 2000, or landing craft/utility.
No doubt its crew will have to explain to some why "U.S. Army" is emblazoned on the bow of the ship. It surprises people everywhere they go.
"It's quite a joke sometimes," said Tartaglia, 55, of Spring Hill, a building contractor in civilian life.