US navy ship collides, 7 missing

[viper37]

I will hand it to the USN;  when it comes to accountability, they do not fuck around.

Top Two Officers on Navy Ship in Deadly Collision Off Japan to Be Relieved of Duties
By ERIC SCHMITT
AUG. 17, 2017
The Failing New York Times

WASHINGTON — About a dozen American sailors aboard a destroyer during a deadly collision off the coast of Japan in June will be punished for their roles in the accident, including the two top officers, who will be relieved of duty, a senior Navy official said Thursday.

The disciplinary measures were announced as the Navy released a harrowing preliminary report on the collision between the American destroyer Fitzgerald and a freighter that killed seven people in one of the Navy's deadliest accidents in years.

The ship's captain, Cmdr. Bryce Benson; his second-in-command; the senior enlisted sailor and all who were on watch that night will face career-killing administrative punishments that are expected to be doled out on Friday by the head of the Navy's Seventh Fleet in Japan, Vice Adm. Joseph P. Aucoin.

Dozens of sailors who were rocked from their slumber, the report said, raced in the dark to escape from their flooding quarters. Within 90 seconds, seawater rushing through a gaping hole in starboard hull was at first waist-high, then neck-high as sailors pushed aside mattresses, wall lockers and other floating debris to clamber up a ladder to safety. The last sailor pulled from the chaos was underwater when his shipmates yanked him up.

The freighter crashed directly into Commander Benson's stateroom, ripping open a huge hole and trapping him inside. It took five sailors, using a sledgehammer and kettlebell, 25 minutes to break down the door to his cabin to rescue the captain, who was seriously injured and hanging from the side of the ship.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/17/world/asia/fitzgerald-collision-investigation.html

Redacted preliminary report link below: some hardcore heroism, as per Navy SOP

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/17/world/asia/document-navy-report-on-uss-fitzgerald.html

they don't seem to establish an official cause of the accident, or did I miss it?

[CountDeMoney]

Preliminary report is preliminary.  So no, you didn't miss it.

[sbr]

Was probably buried under viper88's copy of Mien Kampf.

[Josquius]

most likely.  I'm curious to see how this could happen.  it was a container freighter, it should have been spotted by the ship's radar long before they couldn't avoid it.

Rules of the Road.  If you are the Privileged Vessel, you CANNOT change course or speed to avoid a collision - but if the other ship's conn is being manned by Iron Mike, things can get hairy very quickly.

https://youtu.be/sYsdUgEgJrY

[The Brain]

Was probably buried under viper88's copy of Mien Kampf.

I think the word mien is underused by society.

[Syt]

Iron Mike

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PVOsmGnD1o

[MadBurgerMaker]

Damn.

[grumbler]

https://youtu.be/sYsdUgEgJrY

:unsure%

The first time I heard that "true story" it was Noah's Ark that was supposed to change course. 

[viper37]

Was probably buried under viper88's copy of Mien Kampf.

what's your problem Stalin?  there's no more nazis to kill so now you're targeting the mainstream right?

[grumbler]

When you collide with a ship and your CO is still in his sea cabin, you may be facing jail time.  That's as derelict as duty gets.  Not only do you fuck up, but you fail to call the guy who could maybe unfuck things.

The CO and XO are ruined because they allowed such a fuckup to take the watch.

[The Minsky Moment]

https://youtu.be/sYsdUgEgJrY

:unsure%

The first time I heard that "true story" it was Noah's Ark that was supposed to change course. 

Did you manage to avoid the collision with the Ark?

[Jacob]

When you collide with a ship and your CO is still in his sea cabin, you may be facing jail time.  That's as derelict as duty gets.  Not only do you fuck up, but you fail to call the guy who could maybe unfuck things.

Wonder what happened... did the guy think there was no problem? Did he realize there was a problem, but figure he'd get out of it himself so he wouldn't look bad?

The CO and XO are ruined because they allowed such a fuckup to take the watch.

A bit harsh, but a sound principle of management. They're ultimately the responsible parties.

[Ed Anger]

Grumbler remembers when his commander fucked up. Off Cape Bon when the Vandal fleet run amok the Roman transports.

[CountDeMoney]

Grumbler remembers when his commander fucked up. Off Cape Bon when the Vandal fleet run amok the Roman transports.

He dropped his drumstick on the slave deck.  Whole ship missed a beat, turned left.

[Berkut]

The CO and XO are ruined because they allowed such a fuckup to take the watch.

I was reading a history of the US PAcific War focusing on Nimitz and the command at the top, and how they made the decisions about how, when, where, and with what to fight the Japanese.

One thing I thought was interesting what how quick they were, and how willing they were, to just straight up fire commanders who did not perform, regardless of whether or not there was truly real evidence that the fault was with commander.

Meaning, "Your job was XYZ. XYZ did not get done, you're gone". The justification was that this was war, and the men serving under commanders deserved to have the best possible commanders, and command is a privilege - therefore, the careers or feelings of commanders was not a particularly relevant factor in the equation.

I think that is something that civilians just don't get, and maybe even non-wartime military people for that matter. "Fair" just isn't that important. Now, it may be the case that you need to give someone another chance because to NOT do so may not be the best choice for the service, but even that is not because it is "fair".