SRC received two accounts of the Pomfret collision with a seamount described in bulletin 92. They are paraphrased as follows:

Richard Soderholm reports the following in reference to Bulletin 92 which described Pomfret's collision with an unknown seamount off the Island of Luzon. "I was a junior officer in Pomfret at the time, and was awake and alert when the event occurred. Pomfret was on a WestPac deployment in 1958 and was involved in a major HuK (Hunter Killer ASW Group) exercise off the Philippines. It involved a very large area, with four or eight DDs forming a barrier (fairly far apart) and two or three subs attempting to penetrate the barrier.

The boat was at normal watches except that the fire control plotting party and extra sonar operators were stationed. Pomfret had been tracking faint sonar contacts for a long time. The boat was at either 300 or 400 feet and operating very slowly, about 2-4 knots. I was in sonar room, below the control room (Guppy IIA). It was just after midnight. I had been diving officer for the prior watch.

The boat hit a solid object; shuddered. The collision alarm sounded and the boat must have backed. Orders were shouted from the conning tower to the control room. Main ballast tanks were blown and the boat assumed a large up angle. Lots of noise came from things falling; tools in control and pump rooms and items in crews mess and after battery. I believe the bubble was lost in the narrow-range bubble indicators and they had to be removed and reinstalled. The bubble had gone up into the end space. There was no depth excursion.

Pomfret surfaced, with a steep angle and took a big list or roll and then settled onto the surface with the low pressure blower running. There were no other ships nearby. There was no loss of watertight integrity. Each compartment was carefully checked. Some sort of damage report was sent by radio. We proceeded into Subic Bay and were docked in a floating dry dock for repairs.

All damage was to the bow and forward torpedo tube shutter doors. No damage to torpedo tubes or tube outer doors. Confirmed bits of rock in the bow damage area. Clearly, we had hit a rock, not another ship. Damage was repaired within two weeks. I think part of the chin mount BQR2 sonar dome was torn, but none of the hydrophones were damaged. Several crew members suffered injuries during surfacing, from falls or falling objects. There was a lot of loose gear flying around. None were serious; no fractures. Mostly sutures by the Corpsman. Do not recall any official medical care ashore.

There was minimum documentation of this incident. The division commander came to Subic Bay and conducted an investigation. He decided we had hit an uncharted seamount. There was nothing on the charts and the rock residue in the bow indicated we had hit a rock. He determined that no negligence by any crew member or captain had contributed to the event. Submarine Force commanders were usually tolerant of accidents if there was no negligence by officers or crew. Such events were kept quiet. I do not believe that other boats in Squadron Three were aware of the Pomfret event.

Electrician Norm Schneider was in the after torpedo room relaxing in his bunk. When Pomfret hit the seamount the boat shuddered and leaped into a steep up angle. The collision alarm sounded and someone slammed the watertight door and bulkhead flappers into maneuvering. I was stuck in the after room and could contribute nothing to the emergency. As the collision bill was being executed in the ATR the ballast tanks were blown and Pomfret began to rise with a steep angle. For some reason only the tanks on one side blew and when Pomfret hit the surface she rolled about 40 degrees. The ten pound blow righted the boat and we made our way back to Subic Bay.