Otis Frank recently wrote an account of a narrowly-missed submerged grounding of the USS Skate (SSN-578). It will appear in a subsequent "American Submariner", and should be read by all submariners. The narrative is typical of quick action by crew members to save a boat from impending disaster. Frank is concerned that submarine officers and those involved in the navigation of submarines may be lacking in experience relative to practical seamanship. His opinion is well-taken by those of us at SRC.

Submarines are vulnerable to seamanship problems when running on the surface and of navigational problems when running submerged. Risk of collision with a surface craft when surfacing continues to be a problem as does a submerged grounding when ship's position is in doubt.

Submarine Research Center is aware of several such incidents as well as those that have resulted in serious damage to submarines with accompanying loss of life. We need to hear from you if you were aboard a boat that experienced a collision, a grounding or a narrow-miss of either.

If you were aboard a diesel-powered or nuclear-powered boat from the Second World War to the present and witnessed your boat's going aground or collision or close call of either please contact us so that we can collect eye-witness accounts for publication. It is our hope that an assembly of narratives can serve those aboard currently operational submarines as well as interested retired submariners. Readers will be afforded the opportunity to learn from the experiences of retired submariners and to profit from their knowledge.

Just as NWIP-16 was a help to submariners in the past, this new SRC publication will go to each operational submarine without charge. Call us at 360-437-8015, email us at subres@cablespeed.com or write us at Submarine Research Center; Box 6088; US Naval Submarine Base, Bangor; Silverdale, Washington 98315. We'll work with you to insure that your narrative is accurate and technically correct and will give you full credit for your contribution.

We thank you in advance for your help.