Yes mate, terrible, I live on Plymouths Barbican and the tragedy was front page news in the local Herald paper.
Apparently the sub was safely inside the breakwater so I can't imagine what went wrong. Here's what the paper said -
11:50 - 30 December 2006 Two American sailors were killed after a massive wave hit a US nuclear submarine in Plymouth Sound.Four people were washed overboard in severe weather from the nuclear-powered USS Minneapolis St-Paul near the breakwater at 1pm.
The servicemen were rescued by Ministry of Defence police but two were in a critical condition.
Officers desperately tried to resuscitate the pair as they approached the shore at Millbay towards a waiting fleet of ambulances.
All four were taken to Derriford Hospital but Devon and Cornwall police later confirmed that two of the servicemen had died.
The other two sailors have been discharged from hospital and were last night recovering in the sick bay at HMS Drake.
Police have launched an investigation and the coroner has been informed.
Brixham Coastguards said that the sailors were attached by ropes on the outside of the 373-tonne submarine.
But a spokeswoman said that the crew members had been unable to get back inside the vessel in a Force 8 gale and heavy seas.
A US Navy spokesman could not say why the personnel were on the outside of the submarine in such severe weather. The navy has launched its own inquiry.
Coastguards scrambled a helicopter from RNAS Culdrose and sent the Plymouth Lifeboat out to the breakwater.
But an MoD police launch and the Plymouth pilot boat Opal rescued the casualties first with the aid of other crew members.
A spokesman at the American sixth fleet naval base in Naples, where the USS Minneapolis-St Paul is attached, said: "Four sailors fell overboard while the submarine was getting underway from Devonport.
"The four sailors were rescued by fellow crew members and British authorities and taken to a local hospital where two of the sailors were pronounced dead.
"The two other sailors were treated for minor injuries and were later discharged. The names of the deceased will be released when next of kin have been informed."
He added that the submarine, normally based in Norfolk, Virginia, had just finished a week-long visit to Devonport.
Devon and Cornwall police said yesterday that the vessel was waiting for the weather to improve and was due to return to Devonport last night.
There was initial confusion about the number of casualties involved. Ambulance controllers said that they treated seven sailors.
Police said later that only four people were involved.
One eyewitness said that sheets of fine rain driven by strong winds reduced the visibility across the Sound. From the shoreline the breakwater was not visible.
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