US warship deployed near Sochi runs aground at Turkish port

[Neptune]

The frigate USS Taylor ran aground as it was preparing to moor in Samsun,
which is located about 370 kilometers southwest of Sochi. DHA photo

The U.S. Navy said one of two U.S. warships dispatched to the Black Sea before the Sochi Winter Olympics is being inspected for damage after it ran aground at a Turkish port last week, The Associated Press reported.

The frigate USS Taylor ran aground Feb. 12 as it was preparing to moor at Turkey’s Black Sea province of Samsun, about 230 miles southwest of Sochi. The Navy said the Taylor was able to dock without further incident and no one was injured.

Around 200 liters of fuel is disembogued when one of the fans of the ship was broken, according to the daily Hürriyet.

The Taylor and the USS Mount Whitney were sent to the Black Sea in early February. The deployment was announced after an uptick in reports of security threats against the Olympics, although the Pentagon said the U.S. warships were deployed as part of normal military planning and could perform any required missions, including communications or evacuations.
February/19/2014

 

[Penguin]

ran aground? .... its screws scraped the bottom, that is all.

 

[shiv]

the propeller seems to be damaged !!

 

[Penguin]

ran aground? .... its screws scraped the bottom, that is all.

The Taylor was able to moor without further incident, and there were no injuries,

USS Taylor being inspected after running aground off Turkey - News - Stripes
i.e. it was never stuck.

There were no injuries in the incident which resulted in some damage to the ship’s propeller blades, but none to the ship’s hull. The ship remains in port as damage assessments continue.
...
“The extent of the damage is still being assessed,” Capt. Brenda Malone, spokesperson for U.S. Naval Forces Europe told ABC News. “An initial survey discovered that there was some damage to the propeller blades, but there appears to be no damage to the hull.”

She added that the ship is presently moored in Samsun where it was supposed to have made a brief stop for refueling and that it is too early to determine what impact the incident will have on its scheduled deployment in the Black Sea.

Navy officials said they did not know how close the ship was to the pier when the grounding occurred.
...
The ship initially leaked 175 gallons of fuel from its prop, but it was contained by an oil boom set up by port authorities and the cleanup operation is complete.

US Navy Ship on Olympics Duty Ran Aground - ABC News

She has been docked at Samsun port since then. 39 US citizens and all the equipment needed for the repair were flown. Divers from Turkish Coast Guard are escorting the repair work going on underwater. It is estimated that USS Taylor will stay in Samsun till 24 February 2014.

Update On USS Taylor |

After an investigation, naval commanding officers, along with other senior officers and navigators, are typically disciplined and stripped of command following collisions or related mishaps.

USS Taylor, Deployed to Provide Security for Olympics, Runs Aground - WSJ.com

And indeed:

The captain of the Mayport, Florida-based frigate USS Taylor has been fired after the ship ran aground off the coast of Turkey two weeks ago.

The commander of Task Force 65, Capt. Jim Aiken, relieved Cmdr. Dennis Volpe due to loss of confidence in Volpe’s ability to command, according to a release from the Navy.

Volpe has been temporarily reassigned to the staff of Commander, Destroyer Squadron 14.

Commanding officer of USS Taylor fired after running aground | WTKR.com

USS Taylor in Samsun. Photo:www.6n1k.com.tr

Turkey grants US warship permission to enter Black Sea
Published time: March 05, 2014 16:30
Edited time: March 06, 2014 04:17

Turkey has given a US Navy Warship the green light to pass through the Bosphorus within the next two days as tensions in Ukraine’s Crimea region continue to divide world powers.

Turkish sources, speaking with the Hurriyet Daily News on Wednesday, declined to elaborate on the name of the US warship.

On Wednesday, the Russian Black Sea Fleet Staff confirmed to the Itar-Tass news agency that a US destroyer was expected to enter the Black Sea later this week.

On Sunday, Tass reported that the guided-missile frigate USS Taylor, one of two Navy ships assigned to the Black Sea during the Sochi Winter Olympics was still in the Turkish Black Sea port of Samsun. The frigate was deployed on February 5 along with the amphibious command ship, USS Mount Whitney. According to the Montreux Convention, warships of countries which do not border the Black Sea cannot remain in the waters for longer than 21 days. While the USS Mount Whitney left on February 25, the USS Taylor remained at the Turkish port, ostensibly for repairs after running aground on February 12.

Turkey grants US warship permission to enter Black Sea — RT News

 

[Penguin]