Submarine commander removed after collision with Japanese tanker
ASSOCIATED PRESS
6:49 p.m. January 29, 2007
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Navy on Monday relieved a submarine commander of his
duties three weeks after his vessel collided with a Japanese oil tanker in
the Persian Gulf.
Cmdr. Matthew A. Weingart was removed because of "a lack of confidence in
his ability to command," according to a statement the Navy issued Monday.
The USS Newport News, a nuclear-powered submarine, rear-ended the
supertanker Mogamigawa Jan. 8 in the 34-mile-wide Straits of Hormuz,
through which 40 percent of the world's oil supplies travel.
No one was injured in the accident.
The submarine will return to the United States after undergoing temporary
repairs in Bahrain. Legal and safety investigations are in progress,
according to the Navy statement.
The Newport News is based in Norfolk, Va., and is part of a U.S.-led
multinational task force patrolling the Persian Gulf and nearby seas. It
has a crew of 127.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20070129-1849-us-japan-submarine.html
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