The commanding officer and executive officer of the submarine USS Jacksonville, based at Pearl Harbor, were relieved of duty Sunday because the sub’s periscope struck a vessel last month while operating in the Persian Gulf, Navy officials said.
The relief of Cmdr. Nathan Sukols and Lt. Cmdr. Lauren Allen came following an investigation and administrative hearing known as an "admiral’s mast," held in Manama, Bahrain, the Navy said.
The commander of Task Force 54, Rear Adm. Phillip Sawyer, relieved Sukols "due to loss of confidence in Sukols’ ability to command," and Allen "due to loss of confidence in Allen’s ability to serve in the capacity of executive officer," according to a Navy news release.
The Navy said Sawyer "also reviewed the actions of other Jacksonville crewmembers and held accountable those whose actions did not meet the high standards we expect."
The additional disciplinary action taken was not disclosed.
Sukols and Allen have been reassigned to administrative duties at the Pacific Fleet Submarine Force headquarters at Pearl Harbor.
No one was hurt when the periscope on the Jacksonville, a Los Angeles-class attack submarine, struck a vessel in the Persian Gulf at approximately 5 a.m. Jan. 10, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command public affairs said previously in a release.
The Jacksonville then surfaced from periscope depth to determine whether there was any damage to the unidentified vessel. The vessel continued on a consistent course and maintained its speed, offering no indication of distress or acknowledgement of a collision, the Navy said.
The submarine’s nuclear reactor remained safe, the Navy previously said, and there was no damage to the propulsion plant systems or concern regarding watertight integrity.
A U.S. P-3 Orion aircraft conducted a search of the area and saw no debris in the water or vessels in distress.
Damage was limited to one of Jacksonville’s two periscopes, the Navy said.
ABC News reported that it was believed that the submarine had struck a fishing trawler. A Navy official said the crew was conducting normal operations "when they felt a shudder, they felt the ship vibrate."
When they put up the submarine’s other periscope, they discovered the first periscope "had been sheared off, cut right off," ABC quoted the official as saying.
The sacking of Sukols and Allen is part of a string of commanding officer firings by the Navy in recent years.
Before Sunday’s steps, The Associated Press reported that the Navy, although it is the second smallest of the four military services, has relieved the most commanders, 99, over the past eight years. By comparison, it was 83 for the Army, 41 for the Marines and 32 for the Air Force, AP said.
The Navy says that it has high standards for its commanders and that it holds commanders to those standards in a publicly transparent way.
An unidentified poster on the submariners website bubbleheads.blogspot.com said in response to the Jacksonville incident that "A lot of those ‘fishing boats’ are smugglers making the nightly run from the (United Arab Emirates) to Iran. They run cross channel at night with no lights and don’t stop for anything. I’ve had quite a few run right up my stern."
Doug Sampson said on the blog that having been at periscope depth in the Persian Gulf, "I’ll say it’s very, very tough and requires intense concentration from beginning to end by the entire team."
In 2009, Cmdr. Doug Sampson, then commander of the Pearl Harbor submarine USS La Jolla, was relieved "due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command," the U.S. Pacific Fleet submarine force said at the time.
The problems with Sampson, the Navy said then, had to do with concerns over in-port planning and operations and administration, "which fell short of the high Navy standards."
The Doug Sampson who commented on the submarining blog said on Jan. 12, "I have also served with Nate (Sukols) at sea and have been under the microscope that he and his crew are about to endure. Nate is an excellent leader and tactician, and a very good (nuclear officer) for those that care, but no one knows better than he does that the microscope is necessary. What the result is, when it comes, will certainly be arguable, no matter what happens."
