The curse of the Greeneville
Remember about eight years ago, when a nuclear submarine named the USS Greeneville shot to the surface underneath a Japanese fishing boat, killing 9 people in waters off Hawaii? It was a big deal at the time. The same sub lost another skipper later the same year when it ran aground off the coast of ...
Remember about eight years ago, when a nuclear submarine named the USS Greeneville shot to the surface underneath a Japanese fishing boat, killing 9 people in waters off Hawaii? It was a big deal at the time. The same sub lost another skipper later the same year when it ran aground off the coast of the western Pacific island of Saipan, causing $120,000 in damage. Then, early in 2002, it collided with another Navy ship off the coast of Oman.
The jinx continues: Two sailors assigned to the boat allegedly severely beat the former chairman of the town council in Kittery, M.E., and left him for dead on May 22.
U.S. Navy/Newsmakers via Getty Images
Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1
More from Foreign Policy

America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose
Global war is neither a theoretical contingency nor the fever dream of hawks and militarists.

The West’s Incoherent Critique of Israel’s Gaza Strategy
The reality of fighting Hamas in Gaza makes this war terrible one way or another.

Biden Owns the Israel-Palestine Conflict Now
In tying Washington to Israel’s war in Gaza, the U.S. president now shares responsibility for the broader conflict’s fate.

Taiwan’s Room to Maneuver Shrinks as Biden and Xi Meet
As the latest crisis in the straits wraps up, Taipei is on the back foot.