Posted on 08/21/2017 8:25:04 AM PDT by Djl3668
Today the USS McCain collided a merchant vessel, marking the 4th incident in the past year at the Navy. The timeline is as follows:
8/19/2016 USS Louisiana 5/09/2017 USS Lake Champlain 6/17/2017 USS Fitzgerald 8/21/2017 USS McCain These ships share similarities, they are all based in Yokosuka Naval Base, and the USS McCain & USS Fitzgerald are both part of Destroyer Squadron 15 and the Seventh Fleet.
While accidents and mistakes do happen, the number of collisions in the past year is extremely rare, and it is now within the realm of possibility that these accidents were not accidents. Both China and Russia have tested their cyber-warfare capabilities at sea with success.
(Excerpt) Read more at realcleardefense.com ...
Given the outcome, a questionable assumption; assumes among several other things there was no equipment failure.
...a tanker, even 5 nms away is a looming hulk that you can't avoid seeing...a Burke class DDG has far more power and maneuverability.
If the OOD was in control and he or others couldn't avoid seeing the distant vessel, some but not all possible conclusions pending further info are he (?) was suicidal (or suffering an aggravated hissy-fit) (and secured the bridge, holding its occupants at gunpoint) or, he was maneuvering in accordance with atypical orders that he considered achievable. (Wonder if a ranking officer was on the bridge?)
As I mentioned above, IMO negligence or poor seamanship is the low-hanging fruit.
Good point.
I am not a Navy person. I defer to those with experience.
I am trying to make sense out of a disaster.
My observation. After the first incident, why were back up systems not put in place? Was the cargo ship running dark? Were the cargo ship engines turned off? Was the surface covered with localized fog patches?
Standing on the deck of a ship, how are you surprised to discover a big chunk of metal bearing down on your position?
At the very least, a Participation Medal
Um, we will never know/
The only thing a hacked GPS would cause you to run into is the ground. These ships don’t have an auto-steering Google computer or anything. And yes, they have lookouts out all the time, at least two - fore and aft.
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