Posted on 08/12/2012 8:40:19 AM PDT by JerseyanExile
An oil tanker collided with a U.S. Navy destroyer near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday but no one was hurt and shipping traffic in the waterway, through which 40 percent of the world's seaborne oil exports pass, was not affected, officials said.
"Both vessels are okay and the Strait of Hormuz is not closed, and business is as usual there," an Oman coast guard official told Reuters, declining to be named under briefing rules.
The collision nevertheless left a gaping hole in the starboard side of USS Porter, a guided-missile destroyer suffered, but no one was injured on either vessel, the U.S. Navy said in a statement. The collision with the Panamanian-flagged bulk oil tanker M/V Otowasan occurred at approximately 1 a.m. local time.
The cause of the incident is under investigation, the Navy said, adding that there were no reports of spills or leakages from either the USS Porter or the Otowasan.
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnews.nbcnews.com ...
Just forward of the Bridge....
Any grounding or collision is the end of the Captain’s career. Sorry to hear of this incident.
Technically it is called an Arleigh-Burke class Destroyer, but it’s main defensive systems are missiles, not deck guns or depth charges. One of the little friends that protects the carriers.
That big flat thing above the ‘gaping hole’ is one of the faces of the Phased Array Radar that comprises the AN/SPY-1 radar which is the ‘reach out and touch’ part of the missile system.
Based on the damage and the rippling in the hull and other superstructure, at least that face of the phased array radar is likely very much “uncalibrated” now. This is a lot of damage and I’d bet much more internal damage to critical defense systems exists. It will spend some time in port.
That going to leave a mark.
Which may indicate a starboard turn in front of the tanker...
Getting PT-109 split in half worked out OK for a Kennedy.
Grounding an Oldsmobile didn’t seem to have any long term effects on another.
Yep. (but there are four guns on deck. Lucky me, I got to shoot one during a family cruise)
if the tanker was full, might that be about anchor lever???
The Spruance I was on and later left with an honorable in 93 went back to the PG later that year.
Several months after I got out, an acquaintance of mine ran down my phone and called me up. He had transferred on a little after I left but he kept in touch with some of the former crew.
He found out from one of them that the CO had ran the old tub aground on some reefs in the Indian Ocean and went silent for a couple of days. He hoped for a tide to lift him out. It never did. He finally called home to report his problem.
The next day, a chopper landed just long enough for a real captain to come on board and the commander to get on.
A few months back I was talking to some guy at my church who is an officer in Naval Reserves. He was active then. We got to talking some and the Nicholson reef incident came up. He confirmed the story as it was quite the hot topic in some circles.
Thankfully it wasn’t in front of a carrier. Ooops..
"Tanker? What tanker?"
"That tanker!"
"Oh. Uh oh..."
then CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NYT and the WaPo should be screaming Obama nearly sank a US Destroyer and an Oil Tanker and almost closed the Strait of Hormuz!
...near the Strait of Hormuz... Panamanian-flagged bulk oil tanker M/V Otowasan...
Now it really does look like a tin can.
IMHO, where were the watches?, where was the OOD? Where was the helmsman? I’m surprised the close proximity warnings weren’t sounding nor the Phalanx not locking onto the approaching vessel.
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