Submarine rams into ship as navigator listens to iPod

LONDON/WASHINGTON - A US nuclear submarine rammed into a ship causing damage worth nearly 60 million pounds as its navigator was listening to his iPod - a portable media player, a media report said Sunday.

The Sun Sunday cited an official report as saying that sailors on the USS Hartford were also using loudspeakers so they could play music while on duty.

Fifteen sailors on the Hartford were injured when it collided with the transport ship USS New Orleans in the Persian Gulf in March 2009.

Sonar operators and radio men were not present at their posts while others managed the submarine “with one hand on the controls and their shoes off”.

The report criticised the navigator who was listening to his iPod in his cabin.

The submarine’s captain, Commander Ryan Brookhart, was relieved of his duties after the navy probe found over 30 errors that led to the “avoidable accident”.