Navy ship collisions thread from 2017

[medicchick]

Officer of the deck during fatal Fitzgerald collision pleads guilty at court-martial

Lt. j.g. Sarah Coppock received a punitive letter and will forfeit half a month’s pay for three months as part of her sentence, according to a Navy statement.

Seems like a light punishment to me although I understand it hasn't been decided what will happen to her in regards to remaining in uniform.

 

[DA SWO]

Officer of the deck during fatal Fitzgerald collision pleads guilty at court-martial



Seems like a light punishment to me although I understand it hasn't been decided what will happen to her in regards to remaining in uniform.

She's toast. Doubtful she gets promoted to O-3, so I would expect a resignation to follow, but I could be wrong.

 

[CQB]

Terrible tragedy, I’ll leave it to the enquiry for answers. I’m just thinking watching the ship turning in the vid, the sailors on the starboard side must have shit themselves.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

Roh Roh!

I’ll bet Big Navy was not banking on this....has it happened before where a relieved officer has come back and publicly calls out the Navy?

Bryce Benson, commander of USS Fitzgerald in crash, faults Navy

The Navy commander facing court-martial for a deadly collision last year in the Pacific that sparked major questions about the Navy’s leadership and readiness of the fleet is not going down without a fight.

The defense team for Cmdr. Bryce Benson, who commanded the USS Fitzgerald when it collided with Philippine-flagged shipping vessel off Japan last June, killing seven sailors, is digging in against charges of negligent homicide and other violations of military law and is accusing the Navy of prejudicing the case against its client.

Cmdr. Benson’s decision to plead not guilty and to sharply contest the charges, amid claims that top service brass are seeking to try the case in the court of public opinion, will likely bring more bad news for the sea service, which is already reeling from the fallout of a string of deadly and embarrassing missteps last year. The looming courtroom fight also may provide fuel for simmering frustrations among the Navy’s rank and file with the direction of the service’s leadership under Adm. John Richardson, chief of naval operations.

In a surprisingly confrontational one-page public statement released last week, Lt. Cmdr. Justin Henderson, the head of Cmdr. Benson’s legal team, said the Navy’s leadership has participated in a public smear campaign against his client.

 

[Devildoc]

Good for him. I love my Navy (and military at large) as much as the next vet, but everyone knows they will throw people under the bus--er, ship--as fast as anyone; in the Navy, even faster. Everyone is trying to pin blame on a couple key people when the issues range far and wide and are merely symptoms of very old problems.

Guilty or not guilty, he knows the Navy will play dirty pool, and at least he is trying to level the playing field.

 

[AWP]

If the Navy can bury him it lessens the allegations concerning readiness and leadership above the ship level. However guilty he and his crew are, good on him for fighting back.

 

[BloodStripe]

Navy fires CO of destroyer Hopper, the fourth reported command firing in May

Four senior firings in the month of May. 3 CO's and one CMC. Eeesh

 

[Gunz]

Good for him. I love my Navy (and military at large) as much as the next vet, but everyone knows they will throw people under the bus--er, ship--as fast as anyone; in the Navy, even faster. Everyone is trying to pin blame on a couple key people when the issues range far and wide and are merely symptoms of very old problems.

Guilty or not guilty, he knows the Navy will play dirty pool, and at least he is trying to level the playing field.

Big Navy will make sure he fries, no matter what. Then maybe it should start to address the lack of basic seamanship skills apparently rampant throughout the service. IMV the dependence on tech has contributed to that...there's a good reason the USCG has its officer candidates train on this:

 

[Gunz]

Navy fires CO of destroyer Hopper, the fourth reported command firing in May

Four senior firings in the month of May. 3 CO's and one CMC. Eeesh

Fraternization = Banging the crew.

 

[DA SWO]

Big Navy will make sure he fries, no matter what. Then maybe it should start to address the lack of basic seamanship skills apparently rampant throughout the service. IMV the dependence on tech has contributed to that...there's a good reason the USCG has its officer candidates train on this:

View attachment 22634

Making the SWO Course a distance learning course didn't help much. 8months to 8 weeks plus reading and classes to do while underway made sense to someone.

 

[CDG]

Making the SWO Course a distance learning course didn't help much. 8months to 8 weeks plus reading and classes to do while underway made sense to someone.

Numbers game. The Navy was hurting for SWOs. New officers on a ship face a massive amount of pressure to get their SWO quals signed off on so they can start helping out in the watch/bridge rotations.

 

[Devildoc]

Big Navy will make sure he fries, no matter what. Then maybe it should start to address the lack of basic seamanship skills apparently rampant throughout the service. IMV the dependence on tech has contributed to that...there's a good reason the USCG has its officer candidates train on this:

View attachment 22634

You're right, Big Navy will see that he fries. But hopefully while contesting the court-martial and making it very public it will expose bigger issues with navy decision making.

I'm not sure the coast guard is the best metric by which to measure qualified deck officers at sea. The Coast Guard is very very good at what they do but they put much fewer officers on Deck then the Navy does.

Eliminating the SWO residence course was a big big mistake, and those chickens are coming home to roost. We don't see this issue as much with submarine service, because they are qualification course is much more difficult.

 

[DA SWO]

You're right, Big Navy will see that he fries. But hopefully while contesting the court-martial and making it very public it will expose bigger issues with navy decision making.

I'm not sure the coast guard is the best metric by which to measure qualified deck officers at sea. The Coast Guard is very very good at what they do but they put much fewer officers on Deck then the Navy does.

Eliminating the SWO residence course was a big big mistake, and those chickens are coming home to roost. We don't see this issue as much with submarine service, because they are qualification course is much more difficult.

We may see a jury that's sympathetic when the SWO course standards are brought to light in trial.
I am willing to bet someone wrote a paper or letter saying the erosion of standards would cost lives.
The Admiral who signed off on the revamped course is the one who should be facing a board of his/her peers.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

Meanwhile....

Former commander of USS John S McCain pleads guilty, retires after deadly collision

A former commander of the USS John S. McCain pleaded guilty Friday to dereliction of duty when the destroyer collided with a commercial tanker, killing 10 sailors and injuring five in the Straits of Singapore last August.

Cmdr. Alfredo Sanchez, who has served in the Navy for more than 20 years, testified during a special court-martial at the Washington Navy Yard, Stars and Stripes reported.

“I am ultimately responsible and stand accountable,” Sanchez said. “I will forever question my decisions that contributed to this tragic event.”

 

[AWP]

I saw this and immediately thought of this thread.

 

[Gunz]

Navy wants 355 ships. That's a lot of crashing.

 

[CQB]

You can't beat HMAS Melbournes' score; 2-0. One Australian, one American.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

- UPDATE -

See also: No bueno.

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your...doesnt-want-you-to-read/#.XDvrs67r3JI.twitter
A scathing internal Navy probe into the 2017 collision that drowned seven sailors on the guided-missile destroyer Fitzgerald details a far longer list of problems plaguing the vessel, its crew and superior commands than the service has publicly admitted.

Obtained by Navy Times, the “dual-purpose investigation” was overseen by Rear Adm. Brian Fort and submitted 41 days after the June 17, 2017, tragedy.

It was kept secret from the public in part because it was designed to prep the Navy for potential lawsuits in the aftermath of the accident.
Unsparingly, Fort and his team of investigators outlined critical lapses by bridge watchstanders on the night of the collision with the Philippine-flagged container vessel ACX Crystal in a bustling maritime corridor off the coast of Japan.

Their report documents the routine, almost casual, violations of standing orders on a Fitz bridge that often lacked skippers and executive officers, even during potentially dangerous voyages at night through busy waterways.

The probe exposes how personal distrust led the officer of the deck, Lt. j.g. Sarah Coppock, to avoid communicating with the destroyer’s electronic nerve center — the combat information center, or CIC — while the Fitzgerald tried to cross a shipping superhighway.

 

[DC]

- UPDATE -

See also: No bueno.

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your...doesnt-want-you-to-read/#.XDvrs67r3JI.twitter
A scathing internal Navy probe into the 2017 collision that drowned seven sailors on the guided-missile destroyer Fitzgerald details a far longer list of problems plaguing the vessel, its crew and superior commands than the service has publicly admitted.

Obtained by Navy Times, the “dual-purpose investigation” was overseen by Rear Adm. Brian Fort and submitted 41 days after the June 17, 2017, tragedy.

It was kept secret from the public in part because it was designed to prep the Navy for potential lawsuits in the aftermath of the accident.
Unsparingly, Fort and his team of investigators outlined critical lapses by bridge watchstanders on the night of the collision with the Philippine-flagged container vessel ACX Crystal in a bustling maritime corridor off the coast of Japan.

Their report documents the routine, almost casual, violations of standing orders on a Fitz bridge that often lacked skippers and executive officers, even during potentially dangerous voyages at night through busy waterways.

The probe exposes how personal distrust led the officer of the deck, Lt. j.g. Sarah Coppock, to avoid communicating with the destroyer’s electronic nerve center — the combat information center, or CIC — while the Fitzgerald tried to cross a shipping superhighway.

Ahhh my Dept. Of the Navy friend. You know as well as every sailor/Marine that the “The Times” is not a reliable info source. Good only for entertainment and emergency shit paper. The truth is out there.

 

[Devildoc]

@Ooh-Rah , I read that, and I am outraged, sad, and depressed, all at once. That ship had shit leadership (in retrospect), no trust, and an ambivalent crew. I am surprised there weren't incidents prior.