While smoking played a role in this, the bigger issue, IMHO, is all that oil stored improperly and dangerously. That’s probably what got their butts fired.
I spent some time on a ship myself and I know damn well that the Captain can’t be everywhere or watch everything, but it all comes down to him anyhow — even more so on the XO because it is HIS job to lean on the Department heads to make sure that they are leaning on the Division officers to make sure that you do not have umpteen whatever gallons of hazardous oil improperly stored where a pimple-faced squidly having a nicotine fit can somehow set it off.
I don’t have much sympathy for these Captains. If they’re smart they will shut up and retire because there are probably a couple of admirals who are thinking court martial here.
And for it to have caught fire, you know the containers weren't properly sealed. Very likely, the oil had leaked and was all over the floor -- then some idiot tosses down a lit cigarette butt.
Never been on a ship myself.
As a civilian, it would seem to me that, on a military vessel, everything would have a designated place and that storing items appropriately would be an accepted fact of life.
I guess I could maybe understand some degree of chaos on an army base, but this is a warship - a mostly closed, constantly moving environment whose job is to go into battle. Its difficult to comprehend things just lying around. Not only is it inefficient, its dangerous. It would seem that seconds or minutes wasted either scrambling around things where they aren’t supposed to be, or not being able to find things because they aren’t where they are supposed to be, could mean the loss of the ship or life during a crisis.
I’m sorry for the loss of the officers’ careers, but we’re at war and this is an expensive and important piece of hardware, damaged by a small chain of preventable events.
agreed! The breakdown in discipline in this case is systemic. The flamables should be constantly secured, the lack of training that allowed 80 spaces to burn.