US Destroyer USS Fitzgerald

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

I've ran it through my head a million.......OK a hundred times. You had to have totally lost control of the situation in order for this to have happened................OR THE BRIDGE/CIC WATCH TEAM WASN'T QUALIFIED "IN ACCORDANCE WITH? " To add to the nausea.
I just don't see how it could have fell apart like that. Yeah I know they can do an emergency crash back even with a "birdfarm" all part of that INSERV insp. shake rattle and roll.

OK, enough, we know it's human error, I just want to know who (title of watchstander) and why. THE REAL STORY..........ok go fix the grout and then re-caulk tub.

[Stg1swret]

The testimony of the bridge team , and of the CIC watch team will be most telling. Seeing you are on a closing course with another vessel, the natural reaction is to increase the distance of closest approach, not to close on the vessel and do nothing.

I too have been re-running this over and over in my head. Makes no sense. Will have to wait for the results of the Board of Inquiry.

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

My point exactly, just can't see it happening on "my watch" so I just have to sit here with my thumb up my ass and wait for word from within the ranks. Just like the small boat incident, damn officer's are always screwin something up, hey we're (enlisted) not totally innocent, but when you are supposed to be "in charge" DO IT! The only thing I've as of late is a bunch of Kerrys and McCains, couldn't lead their way out of chow line without getting food on themselves. Just being polite............POS's it's obvious leadership is in the bilge and needs to be pumped up to the countermeasure washdown system and give the Navy a Douche!

[Stg1swret]

We can thank the previous admin for some of this. Sequestration cut an awful lot of funds that in turn cut down on training, and the operations tempo. We are seeing that now with all the recent aviation incidents. Train like you fight, and fight like you train, but when you don't train, you lose your fighting edge. Ship handling is as much an art , as science. If you don't practice you lose that edge. My guy's use to complain abit about getting back into port after deployments, only to find out I scheduled schools for them, until the next tme we went out, and they got to put that schooling to the test.

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

Remember "bumper drills?" As a deck ape, I sure as hell did, then I got Master Helmsman qualed, Oh yeah.

[Stg1swret]

Sure do. My last two commands, I was in charge of the fantail line handlers. As you well know, those lines get under a lot of stress when mooring a ship. More than once had to order onlookers to clear the fantail when we were mooring. Single screw ships, which were my last two sea commands, use the capstan alot to snug/tighten lines. Officers didn't take to kindly to being ordered out of the area by an enlisted man. Was always glad to see the XO overseeing the area.

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

Like I said before...........here's an update on the incident. Now they finally come down to those "individuals" who were directly responsible.......From Military.com

WASHINGTON -- The officer of the deck for the USS Fitzgerald when it collided with a commercial vessel pleaded guilty Tuesday in a special court-martial proceeding.

Lt. j.g. Sarah Coppock's job was to ensure safe navigation of the USS Fitzgerald. On June 17, 2017, she was "derelict in the performance of those duties," resulting in the deaths of seven sailors, according to the single charge she faced Tuesday.

The Fitzgerald's commanding officer, Cmdr. Bryce Benson, was not on deck at the time of the collision. It fell to Coppock to navigate through the heavily trafficked waters off the coast of Japan. She was charged for failing to "communicate and coordinate with the Combat Information Center, report ship specified contacts to the commanding officer, operate safely in a high density traffic condition and alert crew of imminent collision."

As of press time, the court-martial at the Navy Yard in Washington had not ended. Sentencing details were not available.

Coppock was charged along with two unnamed junior officers on board the Fitzgerald.

Those sailors, a tactical action officer and a surface warfare coordinator whose jobs focused on overseeing the gathering and communicating of vital information to the bridge, each face three charges: dereliction in the performance of duties through neglect resulting in death, negligent hazarding of a vessel and negligent homicide. They face a joint Article 32 hearing Wednesday to see whether they will face court-martial.

The tactical information officer is accused of failing in her job to "communicate with the bridge vital contact information and safe speed and maneuvering recommendations, enforce watch-standing principles in the combat information center and support the officer of the deck."

The surface warfare officer is charged with "effectively failing in his duties to supervise those on watch in the USS Fitzgerald Combat Information Center," which monitors the operations of the ships and maintains contact with the bridge and the tactical action officer.

Both lieutenants are charged with negligent homicide for causing the deaths of the seven seamen in their flooded berthing section by "negligently failing to comply with the USS Fitzgerald commanding officer's standing orders" and to effectively ensure the sailors under their oversight carried out their jobs – watch-standing for the tactical information officer. For the surface warfare officer, the job was "to maintain surface contact situational awareness; provide operational recommendations to the tactical action officer and the bridge, ensure proper watch-standing practices were carried out; and properly stand his assigned station."

The Fitzgerald was navigating out to sea near Yokosuka Port in Japan when it failed to recognize the dangers of three ships heading across its path.

They were close enough to present risk of collision, according to a U.S. Navy report. Two of the ships maneuvered to avoid a collision -- one coming particularly close. The report said Coppock was responsible to alert the commanding officer after that close call. The third, called the ACX Crystal, did not.

Tuesday's court-martial proceeding is the first of several in the coming weeks that will put five officers on the stand for two Japan-based ship collisions in the summer of 2017.

Two months after the deadly Fitzgerald incident, the USS John S. McCain collided with a tanker near the Singapore Straits on Aug. 21. Ten McCain sailors were killed.

The collisions were separate, but both involved Japan-based Navy destroyers; the Navy found that both involved poor seamanship and were the result of compounded errors in which crews lost situational awareness.

Benson is slated for an Article 32 preliminary hearing May 21. He faces charges that include negligent homicide, hazarding a ship and dereliction of duty.

A date has not been finalized for an Article 32 for the relieved commanding officer of the McCain, Cmdr. Alfredo Sanchez, who is facing similar charges.

Navy reports found that both collisions were "avoidable," caused by poor seamanship and compounded errors. The Navy has acknowledged that its forward-deployed 7th Fleet in Japan was stretched too thin – undermanned, overworked and exhausted under an intense operational schedule. To meet the high operational demand, training and ship maintenance were deferred, according to a Navy review.

Eighteen sailors faced nonjudicial punishment -- 10 on the Fitzgerald and eight on the McCain. That includes the executive officers of both ships and the command master chief of the Fitzgerald, who were found guilty of dereliction in the performance of duties. Each received a letter of punitive reprimand.

Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, who commanded the 7th Fleet, and the two top leaders below him were fired, while the Pacific Fleet commander and the commander of Naval Surface Forces in San Diego retired early -- the most senior naval officers to step down in the wake of the tragedies.

[Kesephist]

Late to the dance here...

Will these events finally convince the brass that substituting sensitivity training for seamanship training is a clusterfuck, and now proven to be a DEADLY clusterfuck? And that the "doing more with less" doctrine, that was generated by a fat poltroon that "loathed the military", DOES NOT WORK?

Kesephist