Posted on 11/03/2017 10:23:13 AM PDT by Retain Mike
The fatal collisions of the two guided-missile destroyers USS John S. McCain and USS Fitzgerald between merchant ships that killed 17 sailors were rooted in fundamental failures in the crew’s ability to operate their ships effectively, according to a summary of two investigations the Navy released to the public on Wednesday.
“Both of these accidents were preventable and the respective investigations found multiple failures by watchstanders that contributed to the incidents, said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson in a statement. “We must do better.”
(Excerpt) Read more at news.usni.org ...
I have “heard” that ships are being sent out without full compliments of crews because of downsizing of the military. It makes me wonder if this was a contributing factor in the collisions.
I’ll bet its “inclusive” standards rearing their ugly head.
One would think that would go double for Arleigh Burke class destroyers, which carry the super-powerful, super valuable Aegis Combat System.
I wonder if another factor is in play here.
“USS John McCain”
This is the first time I;ve heard of a ship named after an traitor idiot other than Giffords. I would suffice they would rather kill themselves than have that name on the ship.
As I posted when this crap happened:
In 2003, SWOSDOC (Surface Warfare Officers Course) 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
Bringing back the SWOSDOC would be a good start
Good detail in the article at the link. I believe it is being updated as information from the hearing is finalized and released.
fundamental failures in the crew’s ability to operate their ships effectively,
How does this happen in today’s Navy? Tolerance, Diversity, Do Standards even exist anywhere anymore?
They should have named it the “USS NotTheSeniorSenatorFromArizona”.
It was actually John S. McCain who was his father and a WW II admiral.
That article is almost impossible to believe. At the time of the collision the McCain bridge was in the hands of sailors from a different out of commission vessel, and who lacked familiarity with the McCain’s controls? And keeping in mind many Fitzgerald and McCain sailors died in their sleep - “Both crews did not attempt to contact the merchant ship bearing down on them, sound a warning horn, sound a collision warning or sound general quarters before the impacts.” Ending a few Navy careers isn’t nearly enough. Some deserve jail for a very long stretch for that level of dereliction, including officers who were sleeping and survived, but failed to train their crews properly.
Who behaved worse?
These sailors or Bergdahl?
The current Chief of Naval Ops is an Obama appointee, as was his predecessor. Both are career submariners. Did surface ship training and in general take a back seat to submarines in recent years?
No $hit, Sherlock.
That's seamanship 101. If you are at the helm and have any ability at all to maneuver, then you must never, ever, EVER, FREAKING EVER allow your vessel to strike or be stricken by another vessel.
Concurrent with that is when posted on lookout watch you are to remain at your post and vigilant at all times, until properly relieved by another qualified sailor.
It made no difference if it was raining buckets in the tropics or 40 below in the Arctic. You stood watch and stayed at your post, period, no exceptions. The safety of your ship and the lives of your shipmates was on your shoulders.
That's how I was trained. That's what the COLREGS demand.
Even with radar, we posted watches in periods of poor visibility (squalls, fog, haze, smoke, whatever) and from dusk until dawn. And this was even while we had at least one radar set working at all times.
As a corollary, when the lookout sights an object, he or she must immediately call out the sighting to the officer of the watch. The officer of the watch is required to immediately acknowledge the sighting and take action to avoid the object.
And God help any man caught sleeping or away from his assigned lookout post. It would not go well with him. It used to be okay to shoot them on the spot and throw them overboard for endangering the ship and crew. Now they just put him ashore.
But that was the Merchant Marine. It appears that in the Navy, sloppiness and lack of diligence on watch are acceptable. The lookouts and ODs aboard those warships should be nailed to the wall. But since our UCMJ system allows deserters to get off without punishment, then these squids will probably have ships named after them.
Well, I don’t know about the Navy, but in the AF we would call this a career ender. Apparently it is.
My ship was homeported in Yokosuka, so I know I stood at least 20 bridge watches as OOD in heavy traffic around Tokyo Wan, and I stood a couple watches at the base of the Straits of Molucca around Singapore. I have a clear memory of being completely exhausted coming off those watches. But this was the Vietnam era. God help the new Navy. Now I always tell people that you don’t want any part of it.
Great reply! I think the military as a whole needs to get back to BASICS that made America’s military the gold standard that won wars and protected freedom.
“Did surface ship training and in general take a back seat to submarines in recent years?”
It has for a long time. Also, Officer Candidates select the community they want in order of merit (class standing), and the Surface Warfare community has a horrible reputation of tyrant leadership, backstabbing, poor training, and constant training/deployment cycle. The top students look to be Pilots, NFO’s, Submariners, Nuc’s, USMC, etc. This results in the Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) community getting less than the “best of the best”. Those that make it to the fleet find out the reputation is well earned and retention is low. Not that there are not some great SWO officers, but...
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