Something is going on with the USS Hampton

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http://www.wtkr.com/Global/story.asp?S= ... v=ZolHbyvj

Stacy Davis Reporting
Navy Investigating USS Hampton

Oct 18, 2007 11:16 AM EDT

She was built in Hampton Roads, stationed here, but now the Navy is taking away the keys to the USS Hampton.

The fast attack submarine is moored down at a pier in San Diego and the Navy says it's not going anywhere.

USS Hampton was based here in Norfolk for years. It left in February on a 7-month deployment, but instead of returning home, the sub went straight to its new homeport at Point Loma Naval base in San Diego. It's only been there about a month, and it's in deep trouble.

The submarine is under investigation. The Navy has already disciplined one officer and five enlisted sailors, but the Navy isn't exactly telling us why. All it's saying is that a recent routine review "fell short of high Navy standards." It may be an issue with maintenance problems on the ship as they were wrapping up their deployment, but again, the Navy isn't saying.

There are also some who theorizing that a music video that recently posted on YouTube entitled, "What is submarine life exactly?" may be part of the controversy. It was made by a Hampton crew member on the recent deployment and it's fun pictures of the crew joking around together. The worst thing we saw on the video was someone giving the middle finger and slapping someone on the butt. But several blog sites on the internet are wondering whether this music video has something to do with the investigation.

Submarines are very serious about their security. When NewsChannel 3 photographers are on board the subs, the Navy is extremely particular about what we can take video of. But again, the Navy won't say if that video has anything to do with the trouble the sub is in. Again, they'll only say it's "issues" that they're looking into. We'll keep you posted.

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Nuclear sub crew faked inspection

Nuclear sub crew faked inspection records
From Barbara Starr
CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Six Navy personnel on board the nuclear-powered submarine USS Hampton have been punished for forging inspection records for the cooling system of the ship's nuclear reactor, Navy officials said Monday.


The misconduct was discovered on September 17 but was made public after completion of an initial investigation.

One officer and five enlisted personnel received a "non-judicial punishment" after other Navy personnel discovered their actions, Navy officials said.

The crew neither maintained inspection records nor conducted the required inspection of the chemical levels associated with the cooling system, the Navy officials said. The crew then went back and falsified existing records to make it appear the work had been done, the officials added.

"There is not, and never was, any danger to the crew or the public," the Navy said in a statement.

A fact-finding investigation is under way, and further action against Navy crew members is possible, a navy official said.

In all, the $900 million vessel's crew is composed of 13 officers and 116 enlisted personnel.

It is not clear if the disciplined personnel were still on board the vessel. The Hampton remains in port in San Diego.



Evening Echo News
http://www.eveningecho.ie/news/bstory.a ... =235239254
US nuclear sub crew forged safety records

22/10/2007 - 2]http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hhb_ ... fXcgumMEZg[/url]
1 hour ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sailors on the submarine USS Hampton failed to do daily safety checks on the ship's nuclear reactor for a month and falsified records to cover up the omission, a Navy investigation shows.

The revelation is sure to raise new questions about the military's handling of the nation's nuclear assets following an Air Force incident in which a B-52 bomber was accidentally loaded with nuclear-tipped missiles and flown across the country without any one realizing it for more than a day.

In the case of the Hampton, it appears from a preliminary investigation that sailors in Submarine Squadron 11 had skipped the required analysis of the chemical and radiological properties of the submarine's reactor for more than a month, even though a daily check is required.

"Some of the Hampton's operations and records fell short of high Navy standards," said Lt. Cmdr. Ryan Perry, a Navy spokesman at the Pentagon.

"There never was any danger to the crew or the public," he said.

Other members of the squadron discovered the lapse during a routine examination required as part of the redundancy built into the system so that problems are caught, he said. The examination was done as the submarine was nearing the end of a West Pacific deployment, which was completed Sept. 17.

Officials also discovered that logs had been filled out to make it appear that the daily checks of the reactor water had actually been done.

Six nuclear personnel have received an undisclosed nonjudicial punishment after a preliminary investigation, but the probe is continuing, Perry said.

A nuclear powered fast attack submarine, Hampton is the most advanced nuclear attack submarine in the world, carrying a torpedo, cruise missile, and mine-laying arsenal, according to information on its Web site.

The investigation was first reported in Monday editions of Navy Times newspaper, which quoted an unidentified source as saying that failing to measure and maintain the correct water chemistry in the reactor over the long-term could cause corrosion in the propulsion system.

"We measure also for general radioactivity levels in the water to make sure the reactor (fuel elements are) intact," said the source, whom the newspaper said had knowledge of the investigation.

The reported problems with procedures and record keeping in the Navy squadron comes just after the Air Force disciplined some 70 airmen in the B-52 incident.

The plane was loaded with nuclear warheads on Aug. 29 at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota and flown the next day to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. The mission was to ferry cruise missiles that had been slated for decommissioning but the warheads were supposed to have been removed beforehand.

Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne blamed the incident on "a breakdown in munitions-handling procedures" and called it "an unacceptable mistake and a clear deviation from our exacting standards."

"There has been an erosion of adherence to weapons-handling standards at Minot Air Force Base and Barksdale Air Force Base," Maj. Gen. Richard Newton, the Air Force deputy chief of staff for operations, told a Pentagon news conference Friday after a six-week investigation.

Newton acknowledged that the Air Force needs to "restore the confidence" lost among the American people after the August incident, which raised questions about the safety of the country's nuclear arsenal.

"We are making all appropriate changes to ensure this has a minimal chance of ever happening again," Wynne said.

The ferrying mission has been suspended.

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Friday, October 26, 2007
Nuclear-sub commander

Friday, October 26, 2007
Nuclear-sub commander is removed from his duty

JOURNAL WIRE REPORT

LOS ANGELES — The commanding officer of the nuclear-powered submarine USS Hampton was relieved of his duty yesterday because of a loss of confidence in his leadership, the Navy said.

Cmdr. Michael B. Portland was relieved of duty after a U.S. Navy investigation found that required daily safety checks on its nuclear reactor were not done for a month and records were falsified to cover up the omission.

“His oversight of the crew’s performance did not identify these issues” without an outside inspection, Navy Lt. Alli Myrick, a public-affairs officer, said.


http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/10/n ... on_071025/
news/2007/10/navy_hampton_071025
Hampton skipper fired amid investigation

By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Oct 26, 2007 10:09:51 EDT
SAN DIEGO — The commander of the fast-attack submarine Hampton was fired Thursday for what officials said was a “loss of confidence in his ability to command.” The relief comes amid reports that crew members skipped necessary chemical tests on the boat’s nuclear reactor and then forged the records to make it look as though those tests were completed.
Cmdr. Michael Portland was relieved by Capt. Paul Jaenichen, commodore of Submarine Squadron 11 at Naval Submarine Base Point Loma, Calif., said Lt. Alli Myrick, a squadron spokeswoman.


Portland has been temporarily reassigned to Submarine Squadron 11, Myrick said, along with one officer and two enlisted crew members. Their names and job titles were not released.

The actions are in addition to previous administrative punishment levied against one other officer and five enlisted crew members. No details were provided.

“These actions are part of a continuing investigation of issues discovered on Hampton during a routine review of operations,” a squadron statement said. “Hampton’s operations were conducted safely but fell short of high Navy standards.”

Portland’s firing was just one month shy of a scheduled change of command, the statement said. Cmdr. William Houston, who had been slated to take command of the Hampton in November, is now the boat’s CO.

A standard post-deployment inspection revealed problems aboard Hampton that officials characterized as impacting operations, record keeping, training and qualifications. Jaenichen ordered a wide-ranging investigation under the Judge Advocate General’s Manual into the submarine and crew, which is continuing, officials said.

But the Los Angeles-class submarine remains docked at Point Loma and “will not conduct operations until the Navy has confirmed that those high Navy standards are met,” the statement said.

Navy officials, citing the ongoing investigation, provided no details about the specific failures by Hampton’s crew.

But sources told Navy Times that crew members had skirted required checks and testing of water in the submarine’s reactor plant. One source said preparations for an Operational Reactor Safeguard Examination found that checks of the system’s water quality — which are typically performed daily — hadn’t been done in at least a month, even as the Hampton was crossing the Pacific on its way home to Point Loma. The review also found that the logs tracking the daily checks were doctored to make it look as though the sailors had been doing the required checks regularly.

Five weeks ago, Portland led Hampton and his crew to their new home port at Point Loma to wrap up a seven-month overseas deployment and permanent move from their previous home in Norfolk, Va.

Portland, a native of Ottawa, Ontario, who received his commission in 1987, took command of the Hampton on Aug. 3, 2005.

His previous assignments include executive officer of submarine Parche, combat systems officer aboard the Hampton and engineer officer aboard the Sturgeon-class submarine Spadefish. During his first tour aboard the ballistic-missile submarine Ohio, he served as the chemistry and radiological controls assistant and damage control assistant, according to his official command biography.


And a selected abstract from

Nuclear Submarine Commander Removed
By CHELSEA J. CARTER

"Portland is the fourth commanding officer of a submarine to be relieved of duty this year. The other three, who were relieved for various unrelated actions, were: Cmdr. Edwin Ruff of the USS Minneapolis St. Paul, Cmdr. Matthew Weingart of the USS Newport News and Cmdr. William Schwalm of the USS Helena."

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The commander did not meet

The commander did not meet his own (too high) standards.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mili ... mpton.html

Probe finds cheating and falsified tests
By Steve Liewer
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

March 8, 2008

SAN DIEGO – Officers and sailors aboard the San Diego-based submarine Hampton falsified weekly chemical tests for the boat's nuclear reactor and cheated on advancement exams during a seven-month deployment last year to the western Pacific Ocean, according to a Navy investigative report released yesterday.


Despite being redacted heavily, the document did provide some details of widespread abuses aboard the nuclear attack submarine, which was transferred to the West Coast in September from Norfolk, Va.
Four officers and seven enlisted sailors have been disciplined as a result of the investigation, said spokeswoman Lt. Alli Myrick of Destroyer Squadron 11, the San Diego-based command that includes the Hampton. The squadron commander dismissed the submarine's commanding officer and chief engineer.


A preliminary investigation began in the last weeks of the Hampton's deployment – during a standard examination of the submarine's records. The probe showed that chemical tests involving high-purity water for cooling the Hampton's nuclear reactor had been falsified as far back as November 2006.

Details of those tests are classified material, but it's generally known that improper chemical levels can cause corrosion inside the reactor. Samples of the coolant were analyzed after the Hampton's return to San Diego, and they showed no damage to the reactor core.

A wider investigation also revealed dozens of integrity violations aboard the submarine, according to the report released yesterday. An officer whose name is redacted from the report alleged that he and others had falsified test scores or received answers in advance for exams to certify various officers.

The report laid much of the responsibility on the shoulders of Cmdr. Mike Portland.

“Commander Portland set unachievable standards for his crew, was intolerant of failure and publicly berated personnel,” wrote Rear Adm. Joe Walsh, commander of the Hawaii-based Pacific Submarine Force.

These and other leadership lapses, Walsh said, “directly contributed to problems identified in this investigation . . . (and) his failure to identify these problems for over one year.”