A crewman has died from injuries sustained when the US nuclear submarine USS San Francisco ran aground yesterday off Guam in the Pacific Ocean.
Medical personnel rushed to the submarine continued to treat 23 other injured crewmen, some critically, suffering from broken bones, lacerations and bruises, a Navy spokesman said.
A spokesman for the US Pacific Fleet, said the name of the sailor was being withheld for a 24-hour period following notification of the next of kin. He said there was no damage to the nuclear reactor that powers the submarine nor the ship's weapons systems in the accident.
Though the ship's hull is intact, external damage to it was being investigated, the spokesman said.
The submarine, which ran aground 350 miles (560 km) off Guam, a US territory, remains on the surface and is continuing under escort toward its home port in Guam, where it is expected to arrive tomorrow afternoon (Guam time). The cause of the accident is under investigation.
The depth of the ocean at the point of the incident was not immediately known.
The submarine, commissioned in April, 1981, was carrying 137 crew members and was en route to a routine port visit in Brisbane, Australia, when it ran aground.