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Author Topic: Sub off Florida Coast  (Read 5362 times)

AZRedhawk44

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Sub off Florida Coast
« on: June 21, 2010, 02:59:36 PM »
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/boater-chases-mysterious-periscope-off-hollywood-beach-752917.html

Quote
Talk about the big one that got away.

Ryan Danoff was fishing with two friends about four miles off Hollywood beach Sunday when he spied what appeared to be a mast on the horizon.

Funny thing: There was no boat underneath it.

Danoff, a Fort Lauderdale fish farmer who's on the water at least three days a week, aimed his 31-foot center console Fishy Business at the mysterious upright and found himself eye to eye with a periscope.

"It was crazy," he said. "If it was just myself out there I wouldn't believe what I saw."

Danoff moved closer. "It took off," he said. Very fast, about 20 knots. The periscope sank beneath the waves, and whatever was below the surface blew its ballast, sending aloft a mighty hiccup of bubbles. After five minutes the sea lay once again undisturbed.

Danoff, 30, reported the episode to the Coast Guard. They said they'd get back to him, but never did.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Barry Bena said Danoff's information went to the proper authorities. "As of right now, they're still looking into it," he said.

So could it have been a Navy sub taking a peek at the beach? "It's kind of uncommon," Bena said. "But it's a definite possibility."

I would expect the Gulf to be crawling with US Navy vessels, including subs right now.  However, Ft Lauderdale is on the Atlantic coast of Florida.

Wish the guy had a pic of the periscope.  I bet Russian/Chinese/other periscope designs look different than ours.

Jamis:  Gonna take the SS SugarMama out sub-hunting?
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Scout26

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Re: Sub off Florida Coast
« Reply #1 on: June 21, 2010, 04:12:17 PM »
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Submarine_Base_Kings_Bay

Looks like someone was asleep at the periscope..........
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280plus

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Re: Sub off Florida Coast
« Reply #2 on: June 21, 2010, 04:31:23 PM »
Somehow I am reminded of this. startted with the image of a guy looking through a periscope and saying, "There's Klingons on the starboard bow."

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Re: Sub off Florida Coast
« Reply #3 on: June 21, 2010, 05:32:07 PM »
Quote
whatever was below the surface blew its ballast, sending aloft a mighty hiccup of bubbles

That would be just letting out air  ;/

Blowing the ballast would cause the sub to fly out of the water.
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Re: Sub off Florida Coast
« Reply #4 on: June 21, 2010, 06:52:08 PM »
Quote from: Tallpine on June 21, 2010, 05:32:07 PM
That would be just letting out air  ;/

Blowing the ballast would cause the sub to fly out of the water.

Did it look like this?



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Re: Sub off Florida Coast
« Reply #5 on: June 21, 2010, 06:53:15 PM »
just another coke sub underway
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Re: Sub off Florida Coast
« Reply #6 on: June 21, 2010, 07:59:55 PM »
Obviously, you were between the sub and a bikini-clad person on the shore.

That explains everything that happened, and maybe even the Coast Guard's foot-dragging.

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Re: Sub off Florida Coast
« Reply #7 on: June 21, 2010, 08:02:35 PM »
Probably running a few drills close to CONUS before heading out for a patrol.  If I saw it I would tell the Coast Guard but no one else.  Other nations don't need to know our departure times.  Oh well.
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Re: Sub off Florida Coast
« Reply #8 on: June 22, 2010, 04:07:10 AM »
They probably wanted to surface and the doofus wouldn't leave the area. You always want to do a visual check of the surface traffic before you surface the boat, don't want to bump into things.  =(

bob
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HankB

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Re: Sub off Florida Coast
« Reply #9 on: June 22, 2010, 08:54:38 AM »
It would have been amusing if the small craft had lobbed a few cherry bombs into the water . . .  :O

Anyway, this reminds me of a story from some years back when Soviet subs were probing Sweden's harbors. A bunch of Swedish college students got a bunch of PVC pipes (or the Swedish equivalents) and put a cap on one end and an elbow on the other. They weighted the capped end with sand or rocks as ballast, and put them in the water; the ballast kept them upright, and a good length of pipe (with the elbow on the end) stuck out above the surface - instant periscope!  =D

They put them in the water so the current would carry them to the Swedish naval base at Karlskrona, where they caused a bit of a furor.

Swedish naval authorities were not amused.
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Re: Sub off Florida Coast
« Reply #10 on: June 22, 2010, 11:07:03 AM »
Quote
Danoff, 30, reported the episode to the Coast Guard. They said they'd get back to him, but never did.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Barry Bena said Danoff's information went to the proper authorities. "As of right now, they're still looking into it," he said.

Coast Guard presumably knows when the Navy is running subs around inshore.  If the CG didn't care about a sub that close in, then the logical conclusion is that it was Navy.  Especailly with the recent spike in the use of drug subs....

Quote from: BobR on June 22, 2010, 04:07:10 AM
They probably wanted to surface and the doofus wouldn't leave the area. You always want to do a visual check of the surface traffic before you surface the boat, don't want to bump into things.  =(

bob

What he said. 
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Re: Sub off Florida Coast
« Reply #11 on: June 22, 2010, 11:35:35 AM »
Quote from: HankB on June 22, 2010, 08:54:38 AM
It would have been amusing if the small craft had lobbed a few cherry bombs into the water . . .  :O

Anyway, this reminds me of a story from some years back when Soviet subs were probing Sweden's harbors. A bunch of Swedish college students got a bunch of PVC pipes (or the Swedish equivalents) and put a cap on one end and an elbow on the other. They weighted the capped end with sand or rocks as ballast, and put them in the water; the ballast kept them upright, and a good length of pipe (with the elbow on the end) stuck out above the surface - instant periscope!  =D

They put them in the water so the current would carry them to the Swedish naval base at Karlskrona, where they caused a bit of a furor.

Swedish naval authorities were not amused.
Considering this little incident, I'm not surprised. I do wonder if we'll ever find out just how much they were around in our waters...
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Re: Sub off Florida Coast
« Reply #12 on: June 22, 2010, 12:39:35 PM »
Maybe someone was looking for their hat? 

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Re: Sub off Florida Coast
« Reply #13 on: June 22, 2010, 03:49:30 PM »
Quote from: Harold Tuttle on June 21, 2010, 06:53:15 PM
just another coke sub underway
Quote
Especailly with the recent spike in the use of drug subs.

The drugrunners aren't submarines, they are semi-submersibles. Basically just boats designed to run really low in the water (mega load capacity) with sealed hatches so they don't flood when the waves wash over them.
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Re: Sub off Florida Coast
« Reply #14 on: June 22, 2010, 11:11:18 PM »
US subs operate in that area but like to stay in deep water, >600'.
Couple of things in the story don't pass the smell test. Particularly the "blowing ballast" bit. No reason for a sub already submerged to blow a bunch of bubbles just to go deeper from PD (periscope depth)It would kind of blow the whole stealth thing. The ballast tanks would already have been vented to dive and cycled once submerged to make sure they are clear of air pockets.
Don't know about the Seawolf class boats but the ones I was on couldn't do 20 knots submerged with the periscope (or any other mast) raised, they would bend from the pressure.
Also that in that area IIRC the 100 fathom curve runs somewhere around the 4 nautical miles from shore. Things may have changed but generally subs don't operate submerged in less than 100 fathoms as SOP.
Entirely possible he saw a periscope but IMO he likely embellished his story.
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