[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

My dad was a Naval officer. Sleep deprivation seems to be a way of life in the Navy, and none of his ships ever had these kinds of accidents. He mentioned two specific ships in the Pacific Fleet that, around the time of the Gulf War, were generally known to be screw-ups. I’ll have to ask him which ships they were and check if they ever bungled like this.

[AndyJackson]

generally known to be screw-ups

Each ship develops a culture that seems to persist with the ebb and flow of individual crew members. Changing a culture requires an extraordinary level of attention, force, discipline and training driven from the top with the cooperation of some JOs and most of the goat-locker. Oh and firings. Massive firings.

[ThunderSleeps]

Ships make mistakes all the time. I was "associated with" the US Navy back in the 80s and 90s. I was either present for or got first hand accounts from personnel present for a dozen incidents involving poor seamanship and/or ah "mishandling" of equipment resulting in such things as accidental discharge of a naval gun (think turret, not a little rifle or even M2), main-space fires, etc. Miraculously, none of the incidents resulted in serious injury. Proof that God has a sense of humor and watches over fools.

You put men and a lot of gear together in complex situations, stuff happens... Heck, even in simple situations...

[Revel]

In a “Big” War all of these ships will be the first to go. With the age of satellites they cannot hide. And the missiles being built now could take them out in mere minutes. WWIII will not be fought with surface ships for very long. Anyone serving on them will be sitting ducks IMHO.