I don’t think bringing the helmsman into this serves any useful purpose. He doesn’t maneuver on his own authority and has no real idea of what the proximity of the various contacts is - that’s the OOD’s job. He steers when and where he’s told, and not otherwise.
Did the helmsman steer where told? Or did the helmsman make a mistake? I can’t remember which of the ships was going really fast. Was it this one? Regardless, it was a disaster that should never have happened.