Navy ship collisions thread from 2017

It is rumored the Japanese captain graduated from the Chappaquiddick Merchant Marine Academy.

easy_buster_cropped.jpg
 
CNN reporting input from "two defense officials". Nothing we didn't expect

Initial investigation blames Navy for USS Fitzgerald collision - CNNPolitics.com

Preliminary findings in the investigation into the collision between the USS Fitzgerald and a Philippine cargo ship off the coast of Japan in June suggest the accident was caused by multiple errors by the Fitzgerald's crew and a failure to take action in the minutes leading to the collision, according to two defense officials.

"They did nothing until the last second,"

"A slew of things went wrong."

the crash "will wind up being our (the US Navy's) fault."


The initial findings are just the first stage in what is expected to be a lengthy inquiry. Both officials said the initial investigation found that the Fitzgerald crew failed to understand and acknowledge the cargo ship was approaching and failed to take any action necessary to avoid the collision. It's also not clear if the crew ever called the commanding officer to come to the bridge.


Pic shows a good side view of the relation of the above water line / below water line damage...

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The CO has just been relieved.

From USA TODAY

Navy: Fitzgerald commander lost "awareness"

Commander of stricken destroyer Fitzgerald relieved after Navy report cites failures

WASHINGTON — The head of the Navy's 7th Fleet has relieved the skipper of the USS Fitzgerald and two other officers for losing "situational awareness" in the hours leading up to a fatal June collision that left seven sailors dead, the service's deputy chief said Thursday.Adm. Bill Moran, the deputy chief of naval operations, said that Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin relieved Cmdr. Bryce Benson for cause after a report detailing the June 17 collision between the Fitzgerald and the freighter ACX Crystal was released by the Navy.The ship's entire leadership, Moran said, will be relieved, and about a dozen sailors face punishment, including all of the destroyer's watch.
 
0624 local time, so it's shouldn't have been dark as fuck.

You think after the last collision/firings that the surviving skippers would ratchet things up a bit.

10 missing, 2 berthing areas.

:(
 
I got a NYT breaking news alert on this, and it legit took me a minute to process that this just happened again. Unreal.
 
I got a NYT breaking news alert on this, and it legit took me a minute to process that this just happened again. Unreal.

Agree. I was shocked and saddened last time; now I am angered and left questioning. A lot.

To add - knowing nothing about ships, other than they are one of the Marine Corp's primary transportation devices, what should I be left questioning?

And was my comment about stopping the reliance on electronics and starting to look with human eyes again actually something we should be doing?

Signed,

Frustrated and embarrassed.
 
Agree. I was shocked and sadden last time; now I am angered and left questioning. A lot.

To add - knowing nothing about ships, other than they are one of the Marine Corp's primary transportation devices, what should I be left questioning?

And was my comment about stopping the reliance on electronics and starting to look with human eyes again actually something we should be doing?

Signed,

Frustrated and embarrassed.

When I was on a destroyer, there used to be watches with binos out unless it was bad weather. The Navy is incredibly reliant on technology, and my experiences did not instill a lot of confidence in the Naval officer ranks. The junior O's were frat boys more concerned about getting drunk and looking cool than anything else, while the senior O's were more concerned about cementing their status and treating the enlisted with condescending disdain. Chiefs were akin to 40 year old frat boys who only cared about shirking any work or responsibility in order to hang out in the Chiefs mess drinking coffee all day. I got out of the Navy for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was the lack of quality leadership.
 
@CDG - Hate cause, I feel you are right in everything you said.
Yeah brother. I thought for a minute before posting that, because it could easily come off as shit talking. I was in the Navy from 2004-2008, so I've had years of other experience to put those 4 years in context. As a JTAC, I've worked with O's and senior enlisted from all the branches, several foreign countries, and equivalent GS guys from other agencies. I say that to say this, the Navy is still the most poignant example of toxic systemic leadership that I have personally experienced.
 
An old mentor of mine tells about being on the Joint Staff in Italy all of the Naval Officers went to the front of the chow line while the Army and Marine Officers went to the back.

Now, in regards to this I'm guessing the Squadron and possibly fleet commander could face sanction.
 
This may come across as callous, but bear with me.

Aviation incidents are on the rise lately and while troubling, flying is an inherently dangerous business. You expect to lose planes, the services even build loss rates into purchases and yearly budgets, but ships? The recent loss of so many aircraft is bad, but to have two collisions like this in such a short order? According to CNN it is 3 with a fourth incident this year?

10 US Navy sailors missing after destroyer collides with merchant ship - CNN

C'mon man...

I want to believe there was a system failure or alien event or...something other than the thoughts I'm not typing. On the plus side we have...really good damage control experts now?

Blue Skies.
 
I read an article last week in Proceedings, written by a retired captain, former CO of destroyers. His thought was 'but there for the grace of God go I,' said that the straits is the busiest sea lanes in the world, many ships don't navigate under the 'rules,' those that do change course with enough frequency to question right-of-way, there is an over-reliance on technology, etc. he said that almost every Navy CO that has gone through more than once probably had a near-miss. Think of three times the air traffic over NYC with no ATC.

Not excusing what happened, but hopefully providing some context.

Fair winds, Shipmates.
 
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