Looking at the photos of it, I'd say you could have walked on the stern planes. I'll bet they were JUST under the water. The stress on the hull is HUGE in situations like this. She will be in a drydock VERY soon I'll bet.
As for them running the diesel? I would say that was a prudent thing to do. With water that shallow I would have been worried about cavitation of the MSW pumps and silt injesting into the condensers. No cooling is a bad thing.
One other thing most people do not realize. There is NO SHIELDING on the side of the boats. There is SOME shielding on the top of the reactor compartment so you can walk topside at very low power levels, but NONE on the sides. As far as they were out of the water, they would have a radiological consideration to think of. There are also other operational aspects to consider. I know on a 688, we would have been shut down if that high and dry.
Its is gonna be a BAD day for somone.
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