Posted on 08/28/2017 8:51:54 AM PDT by Oldpuppymax
A few days ago, Aug 23, I sent a post explaining the workings on the navigation bridge of a typical Naval Vessel. A few of my fellow Naval Veterans corrected me on something. We never referred to our Officer on the bridge as the OIC (Officer in Charge). His title was OOD! (Officer of the Day) Sorry, I knew that, but must have had a brain freeze! I also was incorrect on the number of personnel involved on a vessel the size of a CRUISER or DESTROYER. I should have known better!
My navigation experience was mostly aboard the USS PENGUIN (ASR-12), short for Submarine Rescue ship. We were somewhat close to a tugboat in appearance. We were 205' long with a peacetime crew of around 44. A typical CRUISER is 567' long with a crew of 330. A typical DESTROYER is 509' long with a crew of about the same. Visually, to the untrained eye, they are very similar.
With crews that size, there were usually positions for about 12-15 people on the bridge. I don't think that many people would fit on the Penguin bridge and besides, it would be close to 1/4 of our entire crew!
This correction to my synopsis makes matters even worse! With that many people, supposedly awake, how in Hell could someone NOT notice a modern cargo ship bearing down on them?
The USS ANTIETAM (CG-54) ran aground near Tokyo in January. As I recall, all ships have Sonar and Fathometers (depth finders) on the bridge. When in shallow waters, we actually had a man on the bow with a lead line (a marked line with a lead weight) checking depth! Sound a little ancient? Well, we never ran aground! You see, electronics can fail and in shallow water, it can be hazardous!
On May 9, the USS LAKE CHAMPLAIN (CG-57) was struck by a 70' fishing vessel off the coast of South Korea. The fishermen later said that they had no radio on board and therefore never got any warning! I think that could be BS, but there was no serious damage to the CG and there were no injuries. BUT, when the Captain and crew could actually SEE this vessel coming and NOT responding to radio warnings, why not BLOW THE HORN? They could have heard that in SEOUL!! Even a bullhorn could have alerted the fishing vessel! Another option would be to change course and/or speed to avoid an imminent collision.
Next was the USS FITZGERALD (DDG-62). She was hit by a merchant ship the size of a warehouse. This time it was on the opposite side and the merchant ship kept going! Nothing was reported for hours!
We already covered the McCAIN. Now put all four together. Could one of these "accidents" happen aboard one ship? Sure. But what are the odds of these happening to FOUR vessels in the same Fleet Area of Operation??
I have my theory, for all it is worth. I was fortunate enough to be invited aboard the USS HUE CITY for a family cruise. While there, I spent most of my time on the bridge, along with their bridge watch. In my day, the QM had a table to keep his charts on. This ship had none. EVERYTHING on that bridge was electronic! It seems the charts are on electronic TV screens! Too much automation and not enough personal responsibility! In time of warfare if the power was lost onboard any of our ships, they would be lost! How long could batteries keep up a shipload of electronics and other necessitates? No one could tell me if they even had a sextant, much less whether anyone knew how to use one! It's old school and QM in my day was trained on one. And NO, I was not aboard the Mayflower, the Nina, Pinta OR Santa Maria!
Preliminary investigation seems to show a possibility of some unknown force hacking the GPS systems on the McCain and Fitzgerald. OK. Let's say that is true. It would NOT have affected the lookouts, unless they were robots.
Could those ‘robots’ be more like Obama-bots? One of his goals was to destroy our military. Why not plant some of those 30,000 followers in the Deep State onboard our ships? It would only take a dozen or so on each ship to sabotage them. Maybe I am stretching things. I hope I’m wrong, but I don't believe we have ever witnessed 4 ship accidents in such a short period of time in our history!
More later.......
Ed. Please help Candidate Roy Moore defeat Mitch McConnell's GOPe yes-man Luther Strange in the Mississippi run-off election on September 26th. Roy Moore is a strongly religious, pro-life conservative. Help him defeat Mitch McConnell’s choice by donating to Moore at this link. https://www.roymoore.org/Support-Judge-Moore/
“Next was the USS FITZGERALD (DDG-62). She was hit by a merchant ship the size of a warehouse. This time it was on the opposite side and the merchant ship kept going! Nothing was reported for hours! “
I wonder if these collisions aren’t actually done on purpose. As a Navy vet, I can’t believe these ship did not have people on watch, especially someone manning the ship’s radar.
Dude, the title is “Officer of the Deck,” not “Officer of the Day.”
I retired in 1999, and that’s not something I will ever forget, if I live to be a hundred. I find it hard to believe that you were ever in the U.S. Navy.
“With crews that size, there were usually positions for about 12-15 people on the bridge.”
Nonsense. Helm, Lee Helm, phone talker, QM, OOD, JOOD.
My guess is the sailor with the binoculars said “she’s going to hit us” and the OOD spent the remainder of the time berating the sailor about the inappropriateness of assigning a gender to a ship.
he must have been in during 1812
Yea, I question this guys cred. I have never been in the Navy I knew the correct title. This person got it wrong TWICE.
Doesn’t it trouble anyone and give you pause when you consider that all of the “accidents” occurred with ships not only in the 7th Fleet, but also in the same destroyer squadron?
There’s another thread going about these wrecks.
The original article makes the claim that junior Officers arrive at their first ship virtually untrained for their duties.
The Captain of the ship is expected to train them.
I researched institutional training versus unit training when I was in the Army.
Prior to WWII, the majority of the training a Soldier received was from the unit he was assigned to.
There are good points and bad points for both types of training.
The difference with the Navy, as I see it, is that we are talking about Officers and not new Enlisted Sailors. That sets up a whole load of problems.
The young Officers expect their orders to be followed, but they may not be trained or experienced enough.
The Enlisted Sailors might know more which is going to lead to orders not being followed and then all discipline breaks down.
Not good.
Don’t send Ensigns out to ships who aren’t at least minimally trained.
I’m a landlubber, but even I know that Navy ships have to be prepared to fight, win and survive as soon as they leave the dock.
Find the money.
I realize this could be considered sarcastic BUT
in todays world one would never know...HA HA
I saw the list and Most were ETs & ICs with a 1st class or two in the mix.
I had heard after the Westchester County incident that the berthing arrangements were changed so a whole division wouldn’t get wiped out at the same time.
When I was on that class of T Chiefs had their own mess,
1st class had their own compartment, we had our own compartment (2nd Class - Operations Div) had about 8 in it ..RM2s, ET2s, RD2s, and we opened into the tank deck.
Have a read here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3581184/posts
From the article:
“In 2003, SWOSDOC was shuttered, largely for financial reasons,,,,,,,,
officers went directly from commissioning sources to their ships with only a packet of computer disks........
Now it was incumbent on the ship’s CO to replace a year’s worth of intensive dawn-to-dusk training, in addition to his or her other considerable responsibilities”.
Has anyone mentioned yet this guy is a poser who doesn’t know what the eff he’s talking about?
Officer of the Deck. OOD.
You make some interesting comments but your OP is marred by fundamental errors as pointed out by others.
Don’t make long comments about that which you have no knowledge of.
I did six trips across the Pacific on MSTS before I was a teenager in the 1950s.
I know what an officer of the deck is.
Ya, and if you make that mistake again, I’ll shove you out of one of those little windows.....
Agree. I think this whole article is fictional nonsense.
When I was one the Enterprise we first class had a corner of a very large berthing area.
Seems to me that with just one of these collisions, every Command at sea would say to themselves, “Well that damn sure ain’t gonna happen to me!”.
And then take the actions and training necessary to ensure it doesn’t happen.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.