The chief of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Vice Admiral Ray Griggs, has accused a report in The Australian newspaper on Saturday that a RAN submarine was involved in a 'near disaster' last month of being sensationalist.
The Australian reported that HMAS 'Farncomb' was conducting operational training off Western Australia on August 23 when the boat suffered a propulsion failure and began "a terrifying, powerless descent towards the bottom of the Indian Ocean". However, according to a statement released by Australia's Department of Defence (DoD), various aspects of the report were either incorrect or are exaggerated, and risked upsetting the families of the RAN submarine force.
The DoD stated that, as there was a delay in restoring propulsion in emergency mode, Commanding Officer Glen Miles chose to take the submarine to a safe depth, "in accordance with standard procedures". Having been unable to restore propulsion immediately, he then conducted a normal blow of the vessel's ballast tanks, and the submarine started to ascend. To increase the rate of ascent, Miles used the emergency blow system to surface. Propulsion was restored on surfacing and HMAS 'Farncomb' returned to port under normal power.
According to the DoD, HMAS 'Farncomb' operated well within her safe operating depth profile throughout. Since the incident, the defect that caused the incident has been rectified and the vessel has returned to sea for further operations. Vice Admiral Griggs praised the crew's response to the situation, saying they 'handled it superbly'. He expressed concern regarding The Australian's reporting of the incident because of the impact.
"Our submarine families have to deal with their loved ones operating in a very challenging environment every day, this type of sensationalist reporting takes no account of its impact upon them," he said.
