SUBMARINE SUSPECTED IN SINKING OF TUGBOAT

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 6, 1993                   TAG: 9304060300
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PENNSVILLE, N.J.                                LENGTH: Short
SUBMARINE SUSPECTED IN SINKING OF TUGBOAT
A submarine may have snagged the towlines of a tugboat, dragging the vessel under water and killing five crew members, including two Virginians, the tug's operator said Monday.
"The only thing that we can deduce at this point is that a submarine may have been involved," said George Greaves, chief financial officer of the S.C. Loveland Co.
Greaves said past experience, discussions with the two surviving crew members and the speed with which the Thomas Herbert went down all point to a submarine.
The Coast Guard's Marine Inspection Office, which is investigating the March 7 incident that occurred 35 miles southeast of Manasquan Inlet, said the theory was one of many being examined.
"We're not discounting it but it would be speculation on my part to say whether it was or wasn't," said Lt. Cmdr. J. Candee, a spokesman for the Marine Inspection Office in New York.
The Navy has been asked whether any of its submarines were in the area but has not replied, Candee said.
Keywords:
FATALITY

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB