Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Seven Sailors lost today. YGBSM

Seven sailors inside the flooded compartment. They will find some when they go into dry dock most likely.

How do you get hit by a merchant ship?

very strange. Always the human element but I agree, how does a thing like this happen?

That's how.

So you can dodge it in a veritable speed boat? They missed it on radar?

WTF? thats like hitting an island! everybody asleep on both ships?

It musta snuck up on them. How big it is is not how it happened.

with all the electronics on a modern ship they snuck up on them?

Jaguartx: Thank you for the link to that unbelievable article and short video.
This collision should NOT have occurred!
Someone is going to be court martialed.
I hope those sailors can be accounted for safely but the damage to the Navy ship leads me to believe loss of life is a certainty.
Sad.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

The rules of the road always apply, until you realize the other guy is not following them, particularly if he is larger. You then save your ship. This is what my father explained to my brother and me when we got into off shore fishing 45 years ago. He was a Naval officer in WWII. His second word of wisdom with ships was, size matters.

Its really sad to hear of service men killed by our own idiots. Can you imagine being told your son or brother " was killed by a merchant ship this morning". I know it wouldnt be put that way but thats about what it boils down to. Lots of crushed parents, brothers and sisters in our country tonight.

I'll wait to hear the reason before 'passing judgement'. One of the perks of not being a 'christian'

According to the second article the Fitz hit the Merchant which had scratches on it's bow.. How do you hit another ship with the side of yours? OH yeah- these are the same people that were sure Hildabeast was winning...

Sure sounds like wasn't watching the radar, or taking action off it.

It will be interesting to learn the details but generally speaking, if you get hit on your starboard side, it was your fault.

Seems hard to believe thinking about how big the ocean is. But having been the Officer of the Deck on a few Navy combatants over the years, it can easily happen. Ships will pass in the night and if the other guy turns unexpectedly in your path, it can get ugly fast, especially a merchant ship that has a turn radius of about a nautical mile, and your ship takes a half mile to come to a complete stop.

Here's a story that hits home for you. I was the weapons office on my 3rd ship, standing tactical watch down in the combat center. We had about 30 merchant vessels in our proximity, ranging in size from small trawlers to 800 foot big boys with hundreds of cargo boxes stacked up. The Captain took a break from the bridge and went to go to the bathroom. I saw a merchant turning erratically on the radar but of course I was down below and had no visual. I spoke to the conning officer and ask what was going on and what the Captain thought about the guy. They told me the Captain had stepped off the bridge momentarily. I ran up to the bridge, I looked out into the darkness and I immediately ordered the officer of the deck to ring up a full speed bell and turn with a hard rudder. I had no time to explain and they followed my orders. We ended up passing the merchant at a 150 foot closest point of approach. That's swapping spit between 2 large ships. The Captain worked his way back out onto the bridge to see the ship pass his bridge wing close enough to see what brand of cigarettes the Filipino captain of the other ship was smoking. He looked at me and said what the Fugk??? And then he sat down happy that he still had a job.

Im not passing judgement. Im feeling sorry for the close family who are having trouble breating tonight and wondering what went wrong. What a downer you are Steel. Im sorry for the schitt you went through that negatively affected you. May God bless you as your needs be. Thanks and take care, eye.

Why dont you just be honest and tell the Fire what it is about old farts who believe in Jesus Christ that gives you a hardon rather than let Fire members think you're a mental case? Just a thought.

If Lieutenant John F. Kennedy was captain of the Naval warship, he would have gotten a medal.