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

Naval wisdom-----"a collision at sea will ruin your day"

If the Captain "steps off the bridge", someone is in charge, but the CO has ultimate responsibility.

This seems extremely weird or extremely FU'd. How do you not see a ship like this on radar? I don't think it could sneak up on you if it wanted to, no way.

Radar man asleep, playing with his fidget spinner? The freighter is not likely running darken ship, if it was that's weird. What about the deck watches?

The captain is done because he owns it under his command. The radar man (or woman) will stand before the man when they review the radar logs, most likely. Bridge personnel and deck watches, yeah, all will be handed their balls ( unless they are women, then their ovaries).

How does a US warship allow any vessel to get that close? I did see that the Captain took over the vessel just over a month ago. My sympathies to all the family's involved.

I will be very interested to find out what happened here, God Bless these Sailors and their families.

It almost seems like the U.S.S. Fitzgerald would have to have been running darken ship and emissions silent. I can't see any other way. But then you have to have deck watches and the ship has to be in condition Zebra. As I remember, at dusk the ship normally would go condition Yoke.


As I also remember, when you went darken ship and emissions silent you doubled the deck watch.

What pizzes me off are the headlines "Destroyer collides with..." Because the destroyer didn't hit anything: it was hit BY the freighter. Fugging news people either can't get anything right or they are deliberately trying to besmirch the Navy. Either is likely.

It was hit in the starboard side. When a vessel is approaching your starboard side you have to give way by stopping or turning to starboard. It's essentially the same as you failing to yield and getting T-Boned.

Here's the thing, an Arleigh Burke-class is highly maneuverable. She looks like she can darn near turn back on her own wake. Somebody, and more than one, eye was off his (or her) job.


Look at the turn radius:

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=DE&hl=de&feature=related&v=mzveUz-WRGQ[/video]

I understand the maritime "rules of the road" that say the ship on the right has the right of way. That doesn't men that all collisions are avoidable, however.

I'll wait until the official inquiry comes in before I pass judgment.

Impressive!

Sounds like the USN needs a "collision avoidance system" installed on their ships. Jeez what an embarrassment!!

I don't know but I bet they already do. I bet the computer in the radar warns them of possible collisions. Of course the man on mid-watch was probably young and thinking of Sally the Sailors sloppy slit. Eye's off the ball, criminal dereliction of duty. Only way I can see the outcome. Article 92 violation to the felony level.

I was on the Midway on the night of July 29, 1980 when it was t-boned on the port side by a Panamanian freighter in the Strait of Malacca. It was almost catastrophic when the rigging of the freighter tore the tails off of several Phantoms, one of which had both engines turning. The bow crushed the LOX plant and killed two sailors there. Hundreds of gallons of fuel spilled all over the flight deck and running down the side of the ship by the LOX plant and on a couple of missiles that were loaded.

If I remember correctly, the captain of the of the freighter (the Cactus) misinterpreted the Midway's running lights and made a right turn into us from about 10:00 to 11:00. We went to abandon ship stations a while later. Search Midway/cactus collision at sea.

Hard to dodge something in a ship that big.

I bet I know what happened in our new Navy. A female sailorette, and a male sailor were on watch.
He started banging her and they both quit watching the ocean.

That is possible, we all know Poontang can kill.

I had no idea that they were that maneuverable! Wow!
Hoping all 7 are found safe.

those boy's on the starboard rail could have dipped a cover full of sea water on that come about! awesome.

Which goes to prove there is no danged way a container ship deliberately runs down a Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer.

I figure the container ship saw the Fitzgerald and figured it would give way. Until the last minute when it realized she wasn't. Can't stop or maneuver a ship of that size in that situation with any kind of speed. The Fitzgerald did not give way as required. This falls all on the command and crew of the Fitzgerald, no way around that fact.

Black Shoe incompetence. They have little concept of closure rates. Cardinal rule of Sea and Airmanship: CONSTANT BEARING DECREASING RANGE..... simple.

only other option is to have the Fitz turn across the bow of the barge.