U.S. Navy says casual atmosphere on submarine contributed to collision

GROTON, Conn. - U.S. military investigators say crew members of a U.S. submarine made dozens of errors before the vessel collided with an American warship in the Persian Gulf.
They also found the sub was led by officers who improperly tolerated sleeping, slouching and a radio room rigged with music speakers.
The Navy Times newspaper first reported the findings after obtaining a heavily redacted report through the Freedom of Information Act. A Connecticut newspaper, The Day of New London, also obtained the report.
The USS Hartford, a submarine based in Groton, Connecticut, collided with the USS New Orleans, a Navy amphibious ship, on March 20 in the Strait of Hormuz. It caused a fuel leak and minor injuries to 15 sailors.
The commanding officer was relieved of his duties and the sub's chief of the boat, an adviser to the commanding officer, was reassigned. Several crew members were punished.
The report said the crew of the New Orleans bears no fault, and that crew members aboard the USS Hartford made numerous errors in the hour before the collision.
During the hour before the collision, investigators say, sonar operators in charge of monitoring nearby ships were chatting informally; the supervisor left his station; the navigator was taking an exam while listening to his iPod; and the officer in command did not check the periscope.
Commander Patrick McNally, a Norfolk, Virginia-based spokesman for the Navy's Submarine Force, said lessons from the accident are now part of training.