laidbak,
I too remember the said incident. It happened in the days when USN subs were based only a matter of miles from RN ones. It happened in an area frequented by subs of several nations transiting to/from and participating in military exercises. The fishing vessel in question had its nets deployed. These nets are huge, spread over a wide area and are trailed a long way behind the fishing boat. They are constructed of fine twine that is invisible to sonar. As a result the submerged submarine was unaware that it had snagged the fishing nets until it was too late. I am not apportioning blame at the feet of any nationality, it could have been a sub from the Navy of several countries, including the UK.
However, as a result of the incident several lessons were learned and changes have been made both in the way submarines operate in our waters and the way fishing vessels are informed of any exercises involving submarine movements. When such exercises are taking place there is always a 'Fishing Vessel safety Ship/aircraft' on scene to warn fishing boats of the presence of a submerged submarine and to alert the submarine to come to the surface if a fishing vessel with its nets out gets within a certain distance of it. Non-operational submarine movements are broadcast on the marine radio frequencies. Devices have been developed to be attached to fishing nets to enable them to be seen by sonar.
The incident you have brought up is nothing like that previously discussed. The submarine crew were almost certainly unaware of the fishing net. It is very unlikely that the crew made such blatant operating errors as those on the USS Grenville. Lessons were learned and changes to procedures and equipment have been made.
MadMark!!!
