and it knocked out the radios in BOTH the Seahawks too... tight??? that's pure bullsh!t
Posted on 06/25/2017 7:21:19 PM PDT by TXnMA
By: Sam LaGrone
The crew of the guided-missile destroyer that was struck by a merchant ship on Friday off the coast of Japan fought to save the ship for an hour before the first calls went out for help, Japanese investigators now believe.
According to the current operational theory of Japanese investigators, the deadly collision between USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) and the Philippine-flagged merchant ship ACX Crystal knocked out the destroyer’s communications for an hour, while the four-times-larger merchant ship was unaware of what it hit until it doubled back and found the damaged warship, two sources familiar with the ongoing Japanese investigation told USNI News on Wednesday.
Investigators now think Crystal was transiting to Tokyo on autopilot with an inattentive or asleep crew when the merchant vessel struck a glancing blow on the destroyer’s starboard side at about 1:30 AM local time on Friday. When the crew of Crystal realized they had hit something, the ship performed a U-turn in the shipping lane and sped back to the initial site of the collision at 18 knots, discovered Fitzgerald, and radioed a distress call to authorities at about 2:30 AM. U.S. Navy officials initially said the collision occurred at around the time of the distress call at 2:30 AM.
Meanwhile, when Crystal’s port bow hit Fitzgerald, the warship was performing a normal transit off the coast of Japan, USNI News understands. Above the waterline, the flared bow of Crystal caved in several spaces in the superstructure, including the stateroom of commanding officer Cmdr. Bryce Benson.
The impact not only ripped a hole in the steel superstructure in the stateroom but also shifted the contents and shape of the steel so Benson was “squeezed out the hull and was outside the skin of the ship,” a sailor familiar with the damage to the ship told USNI News. “He’s lucky to be alive.”
Fitzgerald sailors had to bend back the door of the stateroom to pluck Benson from the side of the ship and bring him inside. He and two other sailors were later evacuated from the ship via a Japanese helicopter to a Navy hospital at Yokosuka.
Pictures of Benson’s stateroom from the door show the steel bent back to reveal open air, and a photo of the ship’s exterior pier-side shows almost the entire stateroom was crushed.
Meanwhile, below decks, the glancing blow of Crystal’s bulbous bow had ripped a 10-feet-by-10-feet to 14-feet-by-14-feet hole below the waterline of the ship, flooding a machinery space the berthing area that was home to about half of the crew, the sailor said.
Over the weekend, U.S. 7th Fleet commander Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin confirmed the spaces that were affected by the collision.
“Three compartments were severely damaged,” Aucoin said at the Saturday press conference. “One machinery room and two berthing areas — berthing areas for 116 of the crew.”
The seven sailors who died aboard were sealed in the berthing area behind a watertight door as the ship’s company fought to keep the ship afloat, according to a description of events the Navy told the family of Fire Controlman 1st Class Gary Leo Rehm Jr., according to The Associated Press. It’s yet unclear if the ship’s watch had time to sound the collision alarm or call general quarters before Crystal hit the destroyer.
In addition to the damage to the spaces, the collision knocked out Fitzgerald’s communications for the better part of an hour. At about the same time the crew was able to reactivate their backup Iridium satellite communications to radio for help, Crystal arrived on the scene and called in its own distress call, the sailor told USNI News.
investigators are being tight-lipped about details of the investigation, even inside the service. However, information USNI News learned from the Japan Coast Guard investigation indicates Fitzgerald was operating normally when the collision occurred, raising questions more questions regarding why Benson wasn’t on the bridge when a contact was so close to the destroyer.
On Monday, U.S 7th Fleet began a flag officer-led Judge Advocate General Manual (JAGMAN) investigation to determine the facts of the collision, as well as a separate U.S. Navy safety investigation. The U.S. Coast Guard will take lead in a maritime casualty investigation.
As for the ship, five days after collision active damage control efforts are ongoing to prevent further damage to the hull. The force of Crystal’s impact combined with the flood not only dented but twisted the ship’s hull. Crews are continuing to pump water in and out of the ship to keep Fitzgerald stable.
Naval Sea Systems Command is now assessing if the ship can be repaired in Japan or would have to be transported to the U.S. for repairs.
While investigation and repairs are ongoing, the ship’s crew has been given time away from the ship in an attempt to recover from the collision. The burden of ships’ watches is being shared by other crews on the Yokosuka waterfront, Navy officials told USNI News on Wednesday. Both Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Steve Giordano both visited Yokosuka to speak with Fitzgerald sailors and their families.
There are a number of uncommon items in the article, such as a photo of the interior of the Captain's "stateroom", the fact that he had to be rescued from "outside the ship's 'skin'", and discussion of the size of the underwater damage to the USS Fitzgerald.
In addition, this is a Navy publication; not the usual MSM junk...
Sumbodys got a lot of splainin to do.
Heads up for an information-loaded Naval Institute article on the USS Fitzgerald collision...
How did the destroyer, with all that fancy equipment, did not detect and avoid that much larger, and slower, ship?
So far, our analyses come out looking pretty sound...
The one thing that astonishes me — over 200 people on Fitzgerald survived (including several who were awake at the time of the collision). All 20 people from Crystal survived.
And yet no one seems to have any idea what happened. Only just now are people starting to know the time of the collision. Did the US Navy really have absolutely no information about the collision other than what the Japanese Coast Guard told them? (OK, sure the collision knocked out communications for a while — but surely one of the first questions asked once it was restored would be “What happened?”)
People are pouring over the navigation tracks of Crystal, looking at where the damage occurred on both vessels, and making speculations about how they were maneuvering at the time of the crash. In other words, they are using the same clues that would be used if both vessels had sunk with all hands. Where are the witness statements??
and it knocked out the radios in BOTH the Seahawks too... tight??? that's pure bullsh!t
Like I said...
I strongly suspect that they were in a "stealth" mode with no radar or radio emissions.
But, they should have been listening for the active radar on the freighter, if it was turned on. I suspect it was turned off.
OTOH a definitive answer may very well reveal too much information about USN operations, and the public will probably never get one.
“As for the ship, five days after collision active damage control efforts are ongoing to prevent further damage to the hull. The force of Crystal’s impact combined with the flood not only dented but twisted the ship’s hull. Crews are continuing to pump water in and out of the ship to keep Fitzgerald stable.”
If the article is accurate in its description of the level of damage the crew should be considered for a Navy Unit Commendation (NUC) for saving the vessel. This is really massive damage. If the keel has been broken it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that the ship could end up being declared a constructive loss.
Were there any bridge to bridge comms on VHF during this incident?
there is out there a suggestion that the USS Fitzgerald was subjected to an EMP attack by the container ship. - There was one rumor that...the RUssians did it. That said, there was a recent event, only a couple months ago, where an American ship patrolling in the Black Sea was hit by an EMP-style attack by a Russian jet.
The main contention is that the one hour lag in reporting the collision was due to loss of power from the attack. You decide.
that i don't know, but there was NO damage to the radios in the helicopters... putting a call out on guard isn't rocket science
No, it isn't.
Your first clue should be a lack of .mil or .gov address, but there's always Wikipedia. " a private, non-profit (EIN:52-0643040), professional military association"
Lower right: knocked down his “I love me” wall... ‘-)
The captain’s state room door has a plaque with all of the former CO’s names on it. Every ship has that. It’s tradition.
Thanks for the clarification...
As for who was in charge when this happened. Meh. Nothing will happen to him or her.
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