When the USS Kitty Hawk collided with a Soviet submarine. 

My brother was stationed on the USS Kitty hawk. He died at sea on that ship. He was only 19 yrs old. His job was to direct aircraft to land. He got tangle up on something and fell over board. They were off the coast of Vietnam and it was night time. They never found him. They have a building named after him at Millington Navel base in Memphis Tn. His name was Thomas B Goetsch. Still miss him and always will !!

The fact that the crew painted a red submarine on the Kitty Hawk's side is by far the best part.

I remember this incident well. I was a pilot stationed at NASNI back then. We never once thought the incident had any potential to escalate into anything more than a good laugh at the expense of Ivan. Lots of snickers at that red sub painted on the bridge and I was not aware anyone made them paint over it. And all the stuff about Soviet aircraft and ships coming out was standard fare for that era. Every battle group was visited by Bears and often May patrol planes (a P-3sky). There were clear rules of engagement and everyone followed the rules. Cowboys were frowned upon. Their ships would try to get close to the carrier and our ships would get on either side and, um, escort them away so close their wakes blended together. We played a little rough sometimes but the Russians weren't suicidal and were mostly professional. Everyone wanted to go home to their families.

The saddest end to this story is that on Jan 15, 2022, the Kitty Hawk left Bremerton, WA bound for Brownsville, TX to be cut up and scrapped. This was the first supercarrier in US history and as much as we former Sailors raised in money and pleaded with out government to turn her into a floating museum, all was for naught. The govt felt she was better off being scrapped rather than see her sit alongside the USS North Csrolina in Wilmington, NC. I spend 4 years onboard her. The longest time I spent on any ship during my career and by far the largest (my career included the kitty, 2 frigates, a destroyer, and an ammo ship, as well as attached to 2 sub groups in an aux position.) This ship proved a lot of firsts to this country in shipbuilding, warfare, and seamanship and should have never been destroyed but here we are.

The Russians now carry FlexSeal for such events.

I was there when this occurred, I was in my berthing compartment getting out of my rack as I had the mid watch coming up. As my feet hit the deck I noticed an odd sound of a clanging against the hull, my berthing was on the starboard side at the waterline, the clanging got louder then faded, I could hear it passing by from fore to aft. The hull at that location is a double hull with a void of maybe 10 inches between them but the steel is pretty thick. Right away I knew we hit something rather sizable. I was planning to eat but instead decided I’d better get to my space and check that there are no problems. This collision was not very violent at all, 10 feet from where I heard the clanging was our TV lounge with about a dozen people engrossed in a movie on site tv, asking them if they noticed anything they sad I was nuts, there was no collision. Once down in my space the first thing I noticed was the smell of fuel, I yelled at the watch standers to start paying attention, smell the fuel, something happened! Well, first thing I diverted my distilling plants, all 3 of them. We took samples and all 3 had fuel carrying across the distillant side, that would only happen if the feed water pump ingested fuel, the suction for these pumps is 40 feet under water on the bottom of the hull dead center of the ship. I ran up to the central control station and told the Engineering officer of the watch what I’d heard and what I found in my space, all this occurred in about 10 minute period. I went back down in the pit to check the status, the ship slowed and then came to a stop. A few minutes later the CO came up on the 1MC asking if anyone had seen or heard anything. At the time we had just made a turn to head south and were making turns on the shafts for 18 knots, we had been on station for a few days just keeping a steady back and forth course, predictable and steady. That turn and speed change caught those Russian submariners by surprise, the next day we found we hit them broadside right in the middle, we had rolled them over. The EOOW later told me it was my report that brought us to all stop, a few minutes after we stopped a lookout saw sparks in the distance, that ended up the severely damaged submarine, they were lucky to have been able to resurface after that collision.

My father served for many years on The Kitty Hawk. Although he attained master chief status, he is now gone. The "Kitty", is still moored in Puget Sound .I appreciate any stories that pertain to her, or the Vietnam War, where he served.I salute all those who served, and did their duty in Vietnam. There are still those out here, that respect what you did, and what you lost. Thank You brave warriors!🇺🇸

I was the OOD for this event and had the Conn as was the procedure before before UNREP events. We were in a very small turn of a few degrees when it happened. The seas were a bit rough and I thought we hit a wave. The reports of the sub on the starboard side and the fuel leak were immediate. I was standing next to the CO and told him about the sub on the right side. Things remained very calm on the bridge, we slowed down to the speed of our escorts. I witnessed the CO and Admiral call PACFLT with the report. A lot happened before I was relieved on my 20-24 at 0130. The hour before, during and after are all I recall after all these years.

We would have Chinese subs following us quite often while running around in the South China Sea. One particular incident was quite humorous. I was on a guided missile cruiser while escorting the USS Ranger. We knew there was a sub following the battle group and was shadowing the carrier so we actually allowed them to get a bit closer. We engaged a deceptive sound decoy and at the same time the carrier trailed two of it's 4 shafts as we closed in to UNREP distance. We then had helicopters conduct touch and go's off of our flight deck so that the sub would think WE were the carrier(due to them hearing flight ops) and then we split off after a few hours. It worked. The sub followed US and the carrier peeled off north. After about two hours or so we resumed our normal posture and the sub immediately slowed and came to periscope depth undoubtedly to see WHO we really were!lol! After a quick peek, they also peeled off and headed home. I'd LOVE to had been on that bridge when they realized they'd been dupped!lol!

The fact we haven't seen a RU-vid Russian Dashcam video of this event proves the Russian's guilt!

I'm proud to have been a sailor on the Kitty Hawk from 1966 to 1969 , Damage Control petty officer. It's an experience I'll never have again. I'll always miss it.

I was on USS Midway CV-41 when she went to Japan in 1973, and when she drydocked at some point in the next year or two, we got to walk underneath, an interesting experience. Someone said they found a 264 (?) foot long scratch on the bottom which had not been noted at the previous drydocking. There had been no log entries of any kind of collision, not with floating trees, containers, or submarines. Lots of speculation, no (public) answers.

I ran into a fellow in 1989 while in the navy who said he was on the helm during the incident. He said the captain said " What? They put speed bumps out here now? "

I talked to a guy who was on the Kitty Hawk when that happened and he said by the time they got to Subic Bay the stores in town were selling t-shirts that showed the Kitty Hawk running over the sub and said "Kitty Hawk the cutting edge of the Seventh Fleet."

As an air Force veteran in 1988 I participated in team spirit in South Korea as an early morning defense specialist. I found this video very informative. Thank you!

I worked in the Philly shipyard where we fabricated a new lower bow for the Kitty. I remember it had been temp repaired with concrete before it came into dry dock. The prop blades were also damaged and were replaced.

As a member of the last full crew of the long serving CV-63 USS Kitty Hawk, there wasn't a chance in hell that I wouldn't watch this video immediately.

That piece of propeller, hanging in the hangar: coolest Navy trophy evar.

It’s hilarious how the Russians try to act like nothing happened and the Americans are like “lol u good bro?”

I was aboard the USS Ouellet (FF-1077) and was a witness to the event. The video describes the incident very well. There are a couple of more things that I would like to add. I was on the Snoopy Team and photographed the stricken vessel. There was quite a bit of smoke escaping through the conning tower and sailors were actually topside. Apparently the incident had caused some fires. We were concerned about the reactor, but no radiation was detected. The smoke eventually cleared and the submarine was towed to Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam. My vessel shadowed them. The seas were rough, and it must have been a horrible trip for those submariners.

never really gave a hoot about history when I was a kid. can't get enough now

One of my favorite aspects of seamanship is that everyone at sea knows that the ocean is no one's ally. When a ship is in distress, you render aid without regard for the flag. The ultimate goal of a nation's navy is to stop the ship, not kill its sailors. The KMS Admiral Hipper and the HMS Glowworm is one such example. The captain of the IJN I-58 testifying that the captain of the the USS Indianapolis could not have saved his ship from the torpedo attack was another. When the Soviet submarine Kursk sank, the US, UK, and France offered aid to the USSR. It's a shame that the aid was refused. Nations may go to war on the ocean, but when the ocean joins the fight, it's man against water.

My grandpa worked for the Philadelphia Navy Yard and was all over the world on the Kittyhawk and other ships during the 70s, 80s, and 90s, and he told me about this collision (he wasn’t on the Kittyhawk at the time) and how he had to dispose of the destroyed rudder of the ship. Not as exciting at the actual event, but it’s always fun to hear his stories.

I served aboard Kitty Hawk CVA 63 in the South China Sea in 1965. An experience of a lifetime! Shortly after making MM2, just before Kitty Hawk returned to Viet Nam, I was transferred to the Bon Homme Richard CVA 31. The “Bonnie Dick” was short Machinist Mate Petty Officers and I was junior. Broke my heart to have to leave her. I really loved the “Hawk”! I live in South Carolina now and every so often, We go to Charleston just so I can walk around on the USS Lexington. How I miss the “feel” of a ship! The smells, the the paint, the ladders everything about the ship seem somehow to transport me back to those days aboard “The Hawk”.

Tracking an aircraft carrier is like catching a bus: Step 1. Don’t get run over by the bus/carrier.

“The submarine did not answer Kittyhawk’s offers of assistance “ Yeah, the captain was busy making reservations at a gulag in Siberia.

I was part of that battle group on the USS O'Brien DD 975. At the time of this incident the O'Brien was the only one that it qualified for independent steaming so we were not in direct eye sight of the carrier and we were the only ones that didn't get in trouble for not spotting the submarine!

I joined and served on USN submarines from 84' - 04' and had never heard this story. Thank you for passing this along.

I remember this incident well. I was a college student in the Philippines at the time and read and heard the news reports about it. The Kitty Hawk pulled into Subic Bay shortly after. Almost exactly 10 years later, I got orders to and served on the Kitty Hawk for four years.

I was on the USS Long Beach at the time of this collision with the Kitty Hawk. We were about a mile away. We immediately went to General Quarters. The pucker factor was HIGH! We knew the sub was there for a week or so during our war games. The deceptive lighting trick is accurate. I was part of the team that rigged the lights. Nice job telling this story. We offered assistance to the Russian sub but they refused. I have been told that 12 Russian sailors died when the sub was rolling over. God Bless the sailors from both sides.

Looking at the comments are awesome on this. Great veterans telling their story and posting during the event. I personally feel the cold war was one of the most interesting points in world history. Thank you to all the vets. I was a teenager when this stuff was going on. Thank you vets again for your service. Keeping us safe in most uncertain times.

I was there as part of the Hawk crew. I was on watch when the guys and I felt a weird abnormal shudder on the ship. My sister in Wyoming head it on a newsbreak on the radio and thought we were lost at sea, since there was not much information about it immediately. We got to leave freezing Korea and go back to tropical Subic Bay in the Philippines.

I was in my berthing on the O1 Level when we hit the sub... Lance Geiger's reporting in this video is dead on! I'm pretty impressed with The History Guy's accuracy. Well done Lance...

The best part of this video is the crews of the ships involved are having a chat about it in the comments like it's Facebook.

I love everything yout stand for - factual accounts of forgotten history! Thank you for taking the time to tell us what's really happened in our world!

I happen to remember this incident in 1984 as a young Marine Lance Corporal (2651 mos). A very serious condition for the Navy. It seemed to pass easily away. Coming home after my 18 month assignment my nephew who happened to be on the US Kitty Hawk was wearing a T-Shirt with “Sub Buster” on it. I felt a little left out after we were involved in the Comms of the incident!!

CIA; We need a paint sample from a Russian submarine. USS Kitty Hawk; Hold my beer.

I served in the U.S. submarine force from 1985 to 2005 and found this very interesting. The Soviets definitely operated differently than we did.

This is definitely a story for humanity during a fragile time in our history.

This is a great review of the events that happened. Thank you for your great historical reminders

I was one of the divers at SRF Subic when this happened. The blade that was stuck in the bow wasn't removed until they Kitty Hawk pulled into Subic. We dove on the ship for two weeks round the clock with two teams of divers. The blade was removed in the first day or two at the start of that two week period. It was loaded into a truck and sped off with who know who they were. The damage was significant to the bow yet all damage was below the waterline. Opened like a sardine can. Perhaps 20 feet up the bow and 30 feet along the keel. Used cutting torches to remove metal for several days and tucker patches to seal up internal compartments. Eventually had the Seabees come with concrete pumps. A hole was cut above the water line and the concrete laid on top of the tucker patches to seal.

I was a Chief Yeoman aboard the Kitty Hawk, working in the Admin Office. We all worked late at sea and at 22:10 hours just after the Chaplain gave the evening prayer and sounded taps, we all felt a slight shutter. Probably like an 18 wheeler running over a tricycle. The seas were rough outside, but the Hawk rode like the Queen Mary with wonderful up and down movement. They sounded the special damage control detail over the 1MC (PA system) and we knew we hit something. I heard the next day, the after lookout was screaming to the bridge, “There’s a &#*@=% submarine against the ship!” We did offer assistance to Ivan, but he would not acknowledge us. We went to US Naval Station, Subic Bay in the Philippines so divers could remove a piece of Ivan’s propeller out of the damaged fuel tank in the bow. They did patch the hole and filled the small fuel tank with cement. They sent that piece of propeller to Wash DC for inspection ASAP! Later the Pentagon gave the Hawk a small piece of the prop on a plaque with the inscription, “From the victor comes the spoils.” We were very proud of our red painted Russian sub on the bridge, but the PR folks at COMNAVAIRPAC made us remove it shortly after returning to San Diego, CA. After my departure from the Hawk, I was ‘deep selected’ for Senior Chief Yeoman with fond memories of that ship, my shipmates, and Capt David Rogers who brought every crew member back home safely. I loved the Navy and spent 20.5 years on active duty with 2 destroyers, 1 amphibious ship, and 2 aircraft carriers (USS Ranger the other one). Fair winds & following sea History Guy! :-)

Thanks for putting this together for us and presenting it with such enthusiasm.

I do not recall ever hearing of this incident. I joined the Navy in July 1984 and in my several years of service in the Western Pacific saw the Kitty Hawk several times. Thank you for making this video. I remember a few times encountering Soviet ships and aircraft. I participated in Team Spirit in '87 and '88. I think it was in one of those exercises that I woke up one morning to find that our immediate mission was to stay between a Soviet ship and the USS Midway (another aircraft carrier). Oddly enough, those times made the weeks and months at sea a little more exciting.

Thank you for this post. I served on the Kitty Hawk in 1969-1970. I am supporting the efforts by the USS Kitty Hawk Veterans Association to preserve this ship (the last conventional steam powered carrier) as a museum.

The history guy is a valuable, great source of information, and as a Naval Veteran i can appreciate the lessons learned by the site. Thank you History guy for your service.

THG Your delivery and The way you tell your stories reminds me so much of one of my heroes America's legendary Paul Harvey "And now you know the rest of the story"

@thehistoryguy great service you provide. Thank you !!!!!

...”painted a submarine on the ships island..” LOL... Love to see that piece of soviet propeller in the Hawk’s hanger bay sometime.

So K-314 left the scene of an accident without exchanging insurance details. Not very classy IMO. That said, I hope he didn't spend too long in the gulags.

Your Showmanship is extraordinary you can tell that you don't only love history you love teaching about history I'm honored to hear you tell these stories. And look forward to many more

You are an inspired presenter and your videos are not only informative but also a real pleasure to watch.

9:12 US: Dang dude, you ok? RU: *Man shut up!*

In the early 70s a Soviet missile cruiser was shadowing HMS Ark Royal in the Med, during a night-time Phantom launch it got a wee bit too close, the Ark T-boned it and "opened it like a tin can".

As a Submariner on the USS GROTON that incident is more common than reported. Subs shadow vessels all the time. Sometimes you have a sub shadowing a ship and another sub shadowing the sub following the ship. Some of these collisions go unreported because a ship was somewhere it wasn't supposed to be. Nice channel good reporting 👍.

I was there when it took place. I was an electronic warfare technician aboard the USS Wabash AOR-5 as part of Battle Group Bravo. Shortly after the collision, the sub was identified by a different NATO designation than that in the video but the video is more likely correct. The Wabash was within 300 yards when the collision took place in the dark of night. The reason that the sub failed to see (via SONAR) the Shitty Kitty was it was directly underneath as it ascended. Our captain announced the collision over the 1-MC as just a kiss. The Wabash offered to tow the sub which their captain rightly declined. This was not the only collision my ship was involved in during that '84 WESTPAC deployment. During an under-weigh fuel replenishment, the yawing of both our ships caused a collision with one of the KItty Hawk's CIWS pods. IF the video at 1:34 is of our Battle Group Bravo then the ship at the lower part of the screen was my ship. But it is impossible to distinguish between the various Witchita Class oilers without seeing their painted designations. Ships rarely get this close so this video shows an oiler either coming in to refuel or moving out..

I was in S. Korea at the time as an engineer on a freighter unloading 15,000 tons of ammunition. Even the Merchant Marine gets involved in these exercises too.

THANK YOU HISTORY GUY, my father served his entire NAVY career on this carrier and he takes great pride in that, this is the first time in my 36yrs on Earth that I have found anything about this ship being recognized in this manner. Respect!!

I flew in the Marine Corps back in the mid to late 80s and remember the story of that well. Thanks for posting this. I had largely forgotten the event.

I appreciate how you jump right into the topic. Great video

This incident and the response speaks to the professionalism and (dare we say it) unspoken camaraderie on both sides in the blue-water navy. “... for those in peril on the sea.”

I served aboard the USS Kitty Hawk from 1972-76. Thank you for this video.

I appreciate your content, it's exceptionally well presented and research, and I appreciate that you don't have some long intro theme with music that has become so popular with some creators. Straight to the story that we came here for. Well done, sir!

I am forever entertained and educated while watching these snippets of history. Oftentimes I learn about historical notes that would otherwise have been totally unknown to me. So I am educated and thankful for these posts. Granted my post is over 1 year after the original post but is nonetheless interesting to me. Thank you History Guy and your family for creating, producing and posting these videos.

I left the Kitty Hawk 6 mo before this happened. She was my last boat before leaving the navy. Great job in telling of this story!

Thank you, History Guy. My nephew was on board the USS Kitty Hawk when they collided with the Soviet submarine. So thankful no life was lost and minimal damage to both ship and submarine.

I was on one of those escorts, fast frigate (FF1065) USS Stein, 14 days before this happened. The Stein at the time was one of the US Navy's best sonar ship in any US fleet. The US was and is the very best in the world at sonar detection. 14 days earlier, I left the Stein with my service to the USN complete. Back on ship, I was in charge on the sonar one work group. The best of the best sonar men. I heard about the incident first on the evening news back home in Texas. Then again from my old shipmates when they returned to San Diego a few months later. The sub had been detected and was trying to hide in what's called an inversion layer in the water directly underneath the task force. The inversion layer was too shallow and the sub not deep enough so decided to come to periscope depth. Inversion layers can make it near impossible to track other vessels when you're in it. Sound bounces everywhere in every direction, echos and can produce multiple harmonics. It was obviously a glancing blow, otherwise the sub would have been sunk by the Kittyhawk. I wasn't there, but I was brought back there and lived it through my mates.

I got assigned to the Hawk just a couple years after this happened.

Very interesting video! As a sailor that didn’t serve aboard the “Shitty Kitty” it’s still great to hear stories about other ships. I served on the Nimitz, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush as part of the flight deck crew and saw many wonderful things during my time in the Navy. Thank you for all that you do!

The Kitty Hawk, what a cool name for an aircraft carrier... you know Neal Armstrong had a swatch of fabric from the wright flyer 1 in his pocket during his moon walk.

HG, you do Great Work! Thank you for all you do. Cheers.

I love these kinds of stories. Another great video! Thank You, Dave

I was stationed aboard the Kitty Hawk from 2000 to 2003. The basics of that story were still being told while I was on board.

Did the US Navy receive a bill for Barnacle removal from the Russians?

My Uncle was stationed on the Kittyhawk in the late 70's into the early 80's. He spent several in the Persian Gulf during the Iranian conflict. I had the honor of going on the ship twice. Watching the F-14 takeoff and being top side watching was the most impressive. To this day the F-14 are my favorite plane. CV-63 will always hold a special place in my heart.

I was on the flight deck, working nights in V-1 division. It was a heck of a jolt. I saw the submarine surface and get escorted away. Everything in this report is very accurate. We had seaweed pumping out of the fuel hose. That’s how we figured out that we had a hole in the tank.

"Sometimes the things that didn't happen are as interesting and important as those that did"...……. and that simple thought keeps historians writing, writing and writing to the enjoyment of all of us who love the study. Good job to the H.G. team on this one.

Wow. I never thought The History Guy” would produce an episode that I was part of! I was on USS Long Beach’s bridge securing from a special sea and detail evolution when CIC called the bridge and announced the Hawk hit the sub. As always- there’s more to the story.

I remember reading about this in the news back then but without some of the details provided in this video.

Your Stories are Awesome 👌Never miss a beat with the entertainment! Always on Point

This is bar none my favorite channel. I can spend all day watching this!

My father served abroad her during that era. He was a Storekeeper. She was his favorite ship. Thank you for talking about the USS Kitty Hawk

Another great history lesson! Thank you, and keep them coming!!

Thankyou for the video! I was involved as well in TeamSpirit 84. I was an SM3 aboard the USS Bristol County (LST-1198) and as we entered into the exercise I was sent aboard the Korean LST, (possibly the one shown?) as the Amphibious Communications Liaison Officer to help with maneuvers during the duration.

This may sound weird but when i read texts books for my education I've been reading them as if The History guys voice was Narrating them to me. It makes it easier to read boring books, don't ask me why.

"Made contact with...one submarine" Well that's certainly one way to 'make contact.' Don't worry it was just a marine fender bender, it probably just needed polishing out of the Russian submarine.

That was Great.! Thank you for all your well described content. You have such an easy going yet persuasive speaking cadence, reminiscent of tv news information shows that I grew up with. It’s a pleasure listening to you.

I was there. Earlier in the day, I was talking to a classmate of mine from USN AFTA Class graduating Dec. 1981 who was an aircrew member of the embarked S-2 Viking (sub hunter) Squadron. He told me that his aircraft "sunk" (simulated) the Russian submarine shadowing Kitty Hawk 3 times that day. Later that night, at about 2300 hrs, I was in the head brushing my teeth before hitting the rack. Our berthing compartment was located forward, near the bow of the ship. All of a sudden, the bow went up, up, up, up, up... higher that it ever had even in the biggest waves we had previously gone through in rough weather. Then the bow went down, down, down, down, down.... Then the bow again went up, up, up, up, up... and down, down, down, down, down, and then the contact was done and over with. One of the guys in the head said: "What in the hell was that???" I said: "We either hit the biggest whale in the world, or we just ran over that Russian submarine that's been following us."

Great coverage, I was there serving as an Anti-Submarine Warfare Technician PO2, with VS-38 the Flying Griffins who flew the S-3 Viking, our carrier based Anti-Submarine aircraft. We tracked the sub until the exercise was over and carrier was headed back to the Philippines. It was like an earthquake on the carrier but lasted just 15-20 seconds for the most part. We had great photos from the F-14 TARPS cameras showing panels missing off the submarine and active welding the following day. The damage was confined to a compartment containing JP-5 (jet fuel). When we got back to Subic Bay we were told the repair was to fill the compartment with concrete and we'd just run with less ballast.

I was on board " The Hawk " in starboard after steering watch when we collided with the sub. Was quite the experience. Ripped two gashes in our hull and gave us a couple of extra weeks in Subic Bay Phillipines for repairs. Remember it like it was yesterday.

This was 14 minutes of my life WILL SPENT. Thank you so much.

Love your work. Thank you.

7:13 Who had the right of way? Don't say a word and don't sign anything. Until you call us. Bernstein and Piazza attorneys at law.

All history deserves to be remembered regardless if it is pleasant, annoying, or disturbing. It’s what really happened at that time.

I served with Naval Intel during this incident and played a role in the documentation of the screw fragment logged in the bow of the Kitty Hawk. While the skin fragments were telling for the intel community, the screw blade was the most significant score. The single blade fragment provided much-desired details of Soviet submarine technology which ultimately required major changes for the Soviet Navy submarine design. This was a major victory for Navy Intel as well as overall morale during the heated cold war~

Thanks for sharing!!

Thank you for this piece of history. The reaction from my fellow aviators on Kitty Hawk that I was with at the time of the collision was as you reported. Many said that to say we hit something was crazy but we could feel the sub bumping down the hull. Thank you again.

I wish my history classes in school were half this good. Kudos on a great channel!

You're doing a great job at finding interesting subjects and presenting them.

You always made my day with your stories