” I think they blamed it on an 18 year old who did not know how to work the equipment properly.”
Yeah... I just bet they did hang a collision in a busy ship channel on an 18 year old. Convenient...very convenient.
I think in the case of the McCain collision, it was poor training combined with what sounds to me like poorly designed software.
I lay it squarely at the feet of the Captain of the McCain...I laud him for wanting to give his crew a bit of a break, but that isn’t the time for it, entering the busiest sea lane in the world without his experienced Sea and Anchor detail manning the stations.
A key component of leadership means compelling people to do things they would rather not do due to fatigue or laziness.
That said...I feel some sympathy for that young sailor. Sure, he should have spoken up if he didn’t know the job well enough. And the military does heap responsibility on young people often at the cusp of when they are ready for it. Most of the time they rise to the occasion, and no young man worth his salt wants to be seen as the “weak sister”. Not a good thing, but that is how a lot of young guys are.
I fault his superiors for putting him into that situation. Now he has to live with it.