Will the USS Nebraska's (SSBN-739) "Curse" End?

UPDATE 4: May 4, 2010- Machinist's Mate Fireman William Mack was given a full military funeral over the weekend, according to the Chattanooga, TN, Times Free Press. .Lt. Cmdr. Dave Benham, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet submarine force at Pearl Harbor said yesterday the Navy is waiting on medical reports, including autopsy and toxicology results.

UPDATE 3: April 23, 2010 4:20 PM South Pittsburg Sailor Killed; Family Remembers His Life - (video) Mack was on his second deployment with the nuclear submarine, and was due back in June. His mom says, "He had a big heart and a big soul." His dad adds, "He would do anything for you."

UPDATE 2: William Gerald Mack obituary, Rogers Funeral Home.

UPDATE 1: Potentially deadly fungus spreading in US, Canada - The new strain appears to be unusually deadly, with a mortality rate of about 25 percent among the 21 U.S. cases analyzed, they said. "From 1999 through 2003, the cases were largely restricted to Vancouver Island," the report reads. The new strain is genetically different, the researchers said. "This novel fungus is worrisome because it appears to be a threat to otherwise healthy people," said Edmond Byrnes of Duke University in North Carolina, who led the study.

Apr 22, 2010 15:12:55 EDT ..... NavyTimes - Sailor found dead aboard sub Nebraska

A sailor was found dead Monday aboard the ballistic-missile submarine Nebraska at sea, according to a Navy spokeswoman, marking the third death aboard the ship in the last five years. ... The cause is under investigation, said Lt. Kellie Randall, a spokeswoman for Submarine Group 9; she said there was no damage to the ship and there had not been an accident.

It surfaced this week “off Hawaii,” Randall said, to take aboard agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, who conducted an investigation for about 36 hours.
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Machinist’s Mate Fireman William Mack, 21, was found dead at 10 a.m. in the submarine’s berthing spaces. Mack, who was on his first deployment (apparently his second [see update #3 above]), is the third USS Nebraska sailor to die aboard since 2005. On Jan. 6 of that year, Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class Aaron Scrimiger, 25, hanged himself in the machinery spaces while the ship was in port. On Sept. 20, 2008, Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class (SS) Michael Gentile was killed after being “entangled and pinned” as he worked on the rudder machinery while Nebraska was at sea.
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The prayers of Submariners everywhere are with the familiy and friends of William Mack and the men of USS Nebraska.
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U.S. submariners are decidedly not superstitious. For instance, USS Shark (SS-314) was sunk Oct 44 during its 3rd WW2 patrol by depth charge off South Formosa (all men lost). Earlier, Feb 42, USS Shark (SS-174) had been sunk on its 2nd war patrol (all men lost) more. On the contrary, however, Submariner Lieutenant Igor Vasilenko, an officer from the Irkutsk submarine, committed suicide when the Irkutsk arrived at Zvezda one November. He shot himself in his cabin on board the submarine, or so they say.
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Submarines are always silent and strange.