Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 3, 2001, Winnipeg, Manitoba Focus a15 Winnora of Iii Maii ii 2001 t submarine collision with fishing boat subs War Alert a peacetime risk cold War mentality bigger problem than civilians by Eugene Carroll and James Bush the silent service is understandably committed to perfecting the ability of american submarines to roam the seas undetected by during the 40year course of the cold american and soviet sub marines operated under near wartime each seeking to detect and Trail the other without revealing their own no other military service came close to operating at the tense level of confrontation with its soviet counterpart As did submarines in this game of cat and could this historic pattern be part of an explanation for the tragedy 14 Kilometres off of Honolulu on 9 the reason to ask this question goes to the heart of the Challenge a Navy court of inquiry will face in its Forth coming investigation Why was the uss Greeneville unable to detect the presence of the chime Maru before beginning its fateful ascent under maritime a submarine has the sole and absolute responsibility to avoid collision with any and All other Craft when it the reason for this is civilian surface Craft have no Means of detecting a submerged submarine and thus can do nothing to avoid a whereas submarines have multiple sensors that can guide them safely to open areas free of surface the Navy courts primary inquiry will focus on How effectively the Greeneville used these sensors before commencing a training exer Cise r an emergency ballast blow that brought it to the surfaces a destructive threatening the safety of any object in its from information released to it appears the court will find that the Greeneville used Only two of its sen sors to make sure the surface was Clear of All ships before these two sensors were its passive sonar and its passive sonar consists of acutely sensitive listening devices that enable opera tors to detect and Analyse any sounds generated by surface ships and other these sounds Are created primarily by the rotation of screws propelling the Craft but also by the sound of machinery within the periscopes pro vide visual coverage of the surrounding area while the submarine lurks about 20 metres below the sur by there has been no reference to the Greeneville using its two other sensors Active sonar and both of which Are capable of locating even the quietest of surface contacts that the first two might Here is where the practices of the cold War May have come into both Active sonar and radar Are like Bea cons that could reveal the presence of the Greeneville to an this could be fatal in it May Well be that the court will find that subs still normally follow wartime procedures and avoid overt use of the sensors that might reveal their presence to a potential Adver understandable As this May be in the Greeneville was operating not Only in peacetime conditions Welcome guests blend very easily into Shi Srou tines and can take part As participants in without any adversary but also in an area heavily used by commercial and recreational the absolute Legal requirement to ensure Surfac ing Clear of All other traffic demanded the use of every available had this been it seems inconceivable that a ship As Large As the chime Maru could have escaped detection by the with accurate information on the location of that and any other the Greeneville could then have turned to an open area and surfaced away from All Many Media reports have focused unduly on the presence of civilians aboard the Greeneville who might have distracted the Crew from the proper performance of their in our personal experiences with civilian guests during training opera this possibility has been greatly Welcome guests blend very easily into ships routines and can take part As interested spectators and Active participants in various if our experiences Sug Gest that Crew members and officers Are especially attentive to their duties in order to impress the guests with their professional skills and precise execution of demanding if the Greeneville Scott observed any interference or confusion caused by his he had the responsibility and plus ample to order the control area cleared of civilians before initiating an emergency bal last the court of inquiry will carefully examine this Factor to determine if the Captain maintained orderly conditions in the control area at All times in order to ensure Safe it will also closely examine the Greeneville training records to determine if the Captain had routinely maintained the highest standards of personnel performance consistent with the same High standards traditionally enforced throughout the sub Marine service during the cold if the court does find indications of confusion before the it should be considered evidence of a failure of the commanding not an indictment of a valuable program used by All of the armed services to demonstrate military capabilities to american among the responsibilities of the court of inquiry is a requirement to submit relevant recommendations to higher authority on How such tragedies May be prevented in the in it finds that All of the Greeneville sensors were not employed effectively because of wartime it is hoped the court will strongly recommend that prudent safety pre cautions be Given priority in All peacetime training our submariners can always shut Down Active sonars and turn off radars and combat effectiveness must again take priority Over safety considerations in Carroll is a Admiral who once commanded an aircraft Carrier a retired served 10 years in nuclear submarines and commanded this piece first appeared in fit tiffs Tel pc Pucio Effii tolf free press welcomes letters from they must include the authors address and Telephone number letters a be be Aress an Lepone number letters May be letters to the 1355 Mountain fax email Canadian insurers cover replacement re Check your insurance policy in the majority of the insurance companies still do guarantee replacement Cost on Homes built after these companies include Halifax Cru Wawanesa insure optimum Frontier Canadian and american insurers have Many different underwriting and coverage differences due to the obvious reasons of liability Lori King Turnbull Whitaker insurance Winnipeg target foreign Aid on Basic health globalization of Trade is inextricably linked to the globalization of while the headlines speak of the incur Able diseases such As an even More serious threat to Canada and other developed nations is those Dis eases that Are curable or manageable in developed but which Are out of control in the developing world diseases such As diarrhoea diseases and with widespread Dis eases Are literally a plane ride away from Canada and also put canadians at risk As we travel and pursue business opportunities in the developing consider that 50 million mainly in the developing have drug resistant to and two million a year die of we should be nervous about a potential to global isolationism and a harsh immigration policy Are not if we want to maintain a global presence business and then the Best solution is a massive International Effort mainly in Basic health and Basic education to help directly reduce the incidence of infectious disease and also to reduce the global poverty that contributes to rampant spread of Dis the significant new Money that was promised for Canadian International development Agency Cida in the throne speech needs to be exclusively targeted on Basic health and education Richard Ernst Ottawa what next from City Hall thank goodness for the visionaries at City with the Pesky gravel debate out of the Way and private Enterprise roundly one can Only Hope that Council will now look to further civic improvement perhaps by implementing Winnipeg transits proposal to Force residents to ride the bus by Banning parking this citizen cant Peter George Winnipeg time to allow mixed health care Peter Holle writes that profit is the antidote to ailing health care delivery system he then goes on to say that we should follow the Lead of Germany and our politicians Are so firm in their opinion that our system should not be american that they have eliminated any Choice for people to pay for their own medical care if they three countries in the world have Laws that make the state the Only provider of medical services North Cuba and what a Trio All three ration medical services Avail Able to their according to our Canada has a medical system that is envied throughout the then Why Hast anybody else copied it do North Korea and Cuba know some thing that no other country knows David Lowy Vancouver nigerian teen got 100 lashes i am replying to a letter printed on 28 from Larry inquiring about a Young girl from Nigeria who was flogged in i am a Mem ber of amnesty International and can answer some of his the whose name is Bari a Ibrahim Magazu and who was originally reported to be 17 but reports say she May be 13 or was flogged in january in front of her she received 100 lashes and was said to be Able to walk Home after the so far there have been no further updates on her she was said to be married probably a Good Chance she had to marry one of her the men accused by her were never investigated and do not face any criminal if Wiebe would like More information or would like to write letters on the girls or ask for an he May still do so by getting the information from amnesty internationals web site Sherri Jennings Winnipeg Gas Price Spike Lon term memory on natural Gas was priced somewhere in the Range of to per last year it was priced at about per when it Rose to Over a few months the Gas companies in North America raised the rates they charged their customers no one in Good deny them the right to raise their rates if their costs went in fact if one looks at the graphs on one will quickly see that Natur Al Gas was Only in stratospheric Price ranges for a Short time Between the end of november last year and the beginning of february this yet this is the period during which the Gas companies petitioned local Public utilities boards and Energy commissions of their respective jurisdictions to allow for Large increases to cover their increasing simply because natural Gas prices spiked for two we will feel the pain for Ever More acutely effected will be those who responded to natural Gas brokers urgings to lock in now before the prices spiral out of control even More when natural Gas was at last month and they Are locked in at those rates now for the next five for the two month aberration in natural Gas prices will be a Lon term Walter Mrak Winnipeg doonesbury by Garry Trudeau in ;