Ok, if the freighter was used as a muzzie weapon to ram a ship then they would have had to lure the DDG in close then really hit hard speed wise. To lure in the DDG that close the freighter would have called the DDG on ship to ship radio on channel 13 with a fake emergency. Since the CO was in his cabin it is unlikely they had VHF radio comms with the freighter.
I never stood a bridge watch, so I don’t know, but what you say sounds plausible...FWIW, I am of the “equipment malfunction exacerbated by human error’ persuasion instead of hostile attack, but until we have more info, keeping all options open.